It also provides thermal insulation. In other words your carpet would actually be cold during the winter months and would be very uncomfortable to walk across in your bare feet. It also reduces noise. If you didn’t have a pad and your carpet was rather thin, you could possibly hear people walking across it.

There are basically three different types of pads:

• Re-bond pad (low end, no crush special General Felt Industries): Made out of scraps from the insides of old car seats and old tennis shoes. They mix these scrap fibers together with a fiberglass resin, bake it in an oven, then slice it off to various thicknesses to form the pad. It is the most common pad in use because it’s very inexpensive, and it actually performs well because of the fiberglass resin. The problem is it’s inconsistent when you fill it… in other words… if you have a lower-grade carpet on top of it, it will eventually have lower spots that you can feel underneath your feet. It comes in half-inch, three-eighths and nine-sixteenths widths. Most builders use three-eighths.
• Vinyl pads (mid-range, southwest carpet pad with Berber sticker): This is good for Berber carpet because it’s stable, and you don’t want a lot of movement with Berber because the seems are hard to hide. You want a real dense pad like this one that won’t allow the carpet to move. This pad is popular because of the vinyl front and back… good for pets because if a pet urinates on it, it won’t soak into the pad. Good for people with allergies because the dust won’t settle into the pad… the vacuum cleaner can easily suck it up.
• Polyurethane pads (high end, cloud nine): the difference between this pad and the re-bond is this pad is made with chemicals that foam up and form a pad with very even density. It’s also a very soft pad that’s extremely comfortable to walk on… hence, cloud nine, feels like you’re walking on a cloud. It can also make an inexpensive carpet seem like it’s higher end.
• Carpets: There are basically two grades to talk about: base grade and branded yarn. However, there is a rating you will want to pay attention to when shopping for carpets and it’s called par… no, this isn’t a golfing term… par ratings run from 1 to 5. Most brand name carpets fall in the range of 3… 3.75…3.25… you may occasionally run across a 4-par rating. If it’s rated a 1, chances are the company is not going to give that information freely. Par rating means how well it will hold up to traffic… how well the yarn will resist fraying… how well it will hold up against fading in sunlight... And whether or not it’s coated with any stain resistant chemicals. Trademark terms you will see for stain resistance are Scotchguard and Dupont Stainmaster, which means it’s chemically treated, usually with Teflon, to make it resistant to stains and dirt. You can actually take a wet rag and clean it in most cases.
• Static resistance: Nearly every carpet on the market today is resistant to static buildup… if you’re walking around your new house constantly. Getting shocked when you touch a doorknob or a light switch. Shoot your builder! You got ripped off!

A lot of manufacturers, dealers and distributors have their own rating systems that cover comfort ratings, performance ratings and warranty ratings. So check the scale, some manufacturers give you a scale of 1 to 10… others use a scale of 1 to 5 to rate the quality of their carpet, so read the labels carefully.

• Base-grade, builder carpet: Generally a 25-and-a-half ounce carpet that meets all FHA and VA requirements, costs around $10 per square yard retail. It’s made from what the industry calls unbranded yarns, which means it’s the cheapest yarn available and can come from a variety of mills. There’s no consistency to the yarn. If you try to go buy the same carpet later, you will never know if you’re actually getting the same yarn. …it has no resistance to stains.
• Branded yarn-grade carpet: Branded yarn means it all comes from the same mill. So you know that it’s all made from the same quality of yarn and the finished product will be of the same quality every time. Look for trademark terms like wear dated — that means it’s a branded yarn carpet. It retails for around $25 per square yard.
• Berbers, cut-pile and looped: Very popular right now for family rooms and high traffic areas. Costs can vary from $13 per square yard up to $35.

installation
After you’ve spent a fortune on carpet, don’t penny pinch on the installation. Careless installation can mean disaster for even the best quality of carpet.

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS SEGMENT
Wear-dated carpets with Scotchguard.
Dupont Stainmaster Hollytech Reflections.
Carpet One, Carpet Cushion Cloud Nine pad.
Southwest carpet pad, Berber max pad.
General Felt Industries, No Crush Special Carpet Cushion.

Visit your local home improvement center for these fine products.