Carpet

Carpet Types

Backing types

• foam rubber
  • feels soft underfoot
  • non-shrinking
• hessian
  • prone to shrink during cleaning
  • prone to rot in damp locations
• felt
  • a lower cost backing
• sheet plastic
  • waterproof, found on 'bathroom' carpets

Pile types

• wool
• wool/synthetic blend
• synthetic
• loop
• cut pile
• shag

Axminster

Wilton

Axminster & Wilton are manufacturing methods, not brand names.

Flotex

carpet tiles

Quality

Quality of carpet depends on

• Pile density

Pile density

Buying carpet

New

Beware of the travelling sellers that show good quality specimens then fit cheaper carpet, claiming its what you ordered and paid for.

Carpet fitting

gripper rod

tacks

adhesive

stair rods

stretching

Carpet and Downlighters

Mixing downlighting with carpets is a recipe for very poor energy efficiency. The darker the carpet, the worse the result.

Carpet Styles

When you wish to create a certain style

• Arabic

• Minimalist

• Practical
  • soft patterns, never plain
  • pile is mixed colours rather than areas of single colour
  • mid to light colours in dull rooms
  • fairly dark colours if very heavy use anticipated
  • 70/30 wool synthetic blend for minimum wear

• Victorian
  • deep reds, blues,
  • Flower patterns
  • Geometric patterns
  • Fine but fairly bold repetitive patterns
  • Rugs and runners rather than fitted carpets
  • Uncarpeted wooden floor borders often painted black
  • Brass stair rods

Carpet in Bathrooms

Unpopular due to hygiene issues

If you want bathroom carpet, a cleaner would be a good idea too.

Pick non shrinking backing

Waterproof backing for suspended timber floors

Permeable backing for masonry floors with no dpc

Carpet Cleaning

Repair & Maintenance

Areas of flattened pile

Spray with water. Brush vigorously until pile stands up. Leave to dry

Fraying or shedding edges

To stop deterioration

• hoover clean
• cut away stragglers
• apply latex glue to backing.

To repair

• cut out a rectangle of damage
• cut a reaplcement piece of carpet from somewhere inconspicuous, eg under a sofa
• Fix patch to trimmed damaged area using carpet tape
• Apply latex to all cut edges to prevent fraying.
• Or glue in place using latex

See Also

Cleaning FAQ

Carpet cleaning thread on ukdiy