I will be waiting to see what brand of carpet padding is the best since we will be replacing our carpet next year. This will be the first time we have ever had to purchase carpet and I need to know as much as possible before deciding on carpet and padding brands.

The best value for you dollar when it comes to carpet padding is a combination rebond and memory foam 8lb pad with a moisture barrier. There are many different brands of this type of pad and it just depends on where you're shopping. The memory foam adds resiliency and the moisture barrier will prevent any spills from getting to your subfloor.

A step above that would be a full memory foam with antimicrobial, such as Healthier Choice. This is also a "green" choice because it is fully recyclable. The downside is, some people do not like the firmness of the pad. With a combination memory foam and rebond (recycled foam) you will get more of that squishy feeling under foot if that's more comfy to you.

a compressed hair pad is the best I used this under orientals and wall to wall and it was always good. If your house hold has pets that pee on the carpet and guests who spill copious amounts of red wine so a moisture barrier is needed, etc I do not see the wisdom of carpets at all. I do not like the trampoline like bounce sensation of foam padding. Unless it is latex foam, it will out-gas. any pad you are considering, needs a walk on stand test.

I suggest to go green and either a wool or 'green' version of pad. It will cost you a little extra, but the off gassing of the cheaper standard versions creates a noxious odor and is harmful for air quality - people and pets!

Don't remember what we had put down, I just remember being told that even cheap carpet will last a long time with good padding under it. We installed a very high quality pad and medium quality carpet...almost 20 years ago. It's seen children to adults, grandchildren, lots of pets, spills/accidents, a seeping mini-flood in the living room, etc. Thanks to buying a good steam cleaner, it's still in great condition. Sure, there's some spots here and there, but overall...wow. Keep the padding quality as high as you can afford, and keep it dense (not poofy). Ours is still comfortable enough to sleep on!

When we had our house built, we chose a high end white wool berber for our formal living room. We decided to use a very thick pad as recommended by the salesman. Worst mistake ever. Anywhere that there is furniture the dents will not come out. I have tried steaming, brushing etc. So, needless to say I can't move anything in that room. Be very careful of the pad thickness!

I re-carpeted the living room and dining room in September. The carpet is a medium grade laid over a Temperpedic memory foam pad. I absolutely love the feel (no bounce) and the fact that it also is a moisture barrier is a plus. The other thing I am happy about is that it doesn't leave dents. I am very happy with my choice.

Err on the safe side, and use the padding the mfg recommended for your carpet. A great pad won't help or improve cheap carpet, but a cheap pad can age a very good quality carpet, and quickly. Don't get me started on pet wee wee. Tile and no rugs would be my advice. Or a different dog?

My advice, do not be enticed by the free carpet pad offer when you buy carpet. Always upgrade to a better quality with a moisture barrier.

If you have heated concrete in your basement a rubber pad is necessary. The heat will transfer nicely through the pad up to the surface of the carpet. Rubber pads come in different thicknesses, so you can select which thickness you prefer. If you use a rebond pad on heated concrete, it will most likely trap the heat under the carpet.

As my wife and I are getting older, we are both falling a lot...not the occasional geriatric tumble, but falling daily...sometimes thrice. . We were going to double up on carpet padding (memory foam 22lbs, Bavarian ball weed water wick) to soften the falls, but double padding didn't allow my walker wheels to spin with ease...hence more falling. So we went back to single padding and made knee pads and elbow bumpers with the second, unused layer of padding. Works great.

It depends on the type of carpet you are installing. Generally if you are installing a wool carpet the manufacturers recommend a rubber underpad. For standard nylon and poly carpets the most common is chip foam (recycled foam mostly from the furniture industry). We recommend a Stainmaster undercushion that has a thin plastic type sheeting on the top that prevents pet (and people) accidents from soaking into the pad and subfloor, and this particular type also contains an enzyme that breaks down pet urine and prevents it from getting smelly. We had an old dog that had health issues and kept having accidents in one particular spot, it was not her fault as it was from her illness and medication, but even with steam cleaning we could not get the smell out. So when this product came out we gave it a try to see if it actually worked. We pulled the carpet back in the area, removed the old pad, cleaned the subfloor, and replaced that area with this Stainmaster product and made such a difference. If she had an accident it didn't soak into the pad and subfloor and we could clean it up and not have any stinky smell! It worked perfectly for us in our own home so we continue to recommend it to our customers if they have pets in their home.

I am from the UK where a product called Tredair was the no.1 seller in carpet padding, especially for all wool carpeting

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In the US I have used Tredmor padding for wall to wall with much success over the years.

The padding depends on what kind of carpet you pick! Berber requires a thinner padding. I order carpeting from the mills in Georgia, and I have an installer, he gets me the pad, as you don't want to pay to ship a pad. If you don't know an installer, go to a carpet store and tell them to recommend an installer tell them you have a carpet you want to pull up in one room and install in another. they don't like to give you there guys . Ask him to give you a price to install carpet and pad per sq foot . Ask him to get the pad for you.,and tell him you want the best pad for the carpet you choose. Name brand has nothing to do with it. Pad and instillation should be somewhere around $4.00 a yard to $5.00 complete for both. Pleas dont let anyone talk you into synthetic fiber, Stay with Nylon. The other mash down and look old fast.

It's nice to have choices, though some are made reluctantly. I have four dogs (choice) and carpet in most of my house (not a choice). Dollars restricts my choice of flooring. We had to do a quick and unanticipated complete carpet replacement when we bought this house in 2010 because no amount of cleaning would get rid of the cat dander which was making me sick. Hard surface flooring was totally out of our budget.

We chose a mass market dog-dirt-brown low pile carpet which is supposed to be made of recycled plastic bottles. And we chose the "pet pad" to keep liquids at the surface. It's a hard working carpet and everything has held up well. It isn't the prettiest, but I don't have to worry about it all the time. Life is too short! We rent an extractor type machine and clean the whole house regularly. We use professional cleaning services occasionally too, and were pleased when the recent pro complimented our carpet as holding up very well under the circumstances. Nice to hear.

Spills happen, whether it's an oops by a dog, coffee by hubby, tea by me, juice or chocolate milk by a grandchild, a leaking potted plant. My Little Green cleans them up just fine. The "pet padding" has made the difference though. I'm not aware of anything soaking through and smells are not a problem as they have been in the past.

We purchased Stainmaster carpet and pet pad from the big box store. I love it! I have geratic cats who throw up from time to time. It's easy to scoop up the mess and treat the spot with OUT for a total clean up. No smells. I like that when I know I am going to shampoo the rugs down the road.. I won't have moisture going thru 2 layers to the subfloor and the smell that will exist forever then. I'm allergic to dust mites so I vacuum 2-3 times a week with DYSON vacuum to keep my environment safe for me. Hardwood in a 2000 sqft house was out of our budget.

Thanks for all of the info regarding carpet padding! I will definitely get a Stainmaster type pet pad since I have three cats and plan on having cats until I get too old to take care of them. The previous owners of this house put down a very light carpet (creamy white) and it shows everything plus my son and I have accidentally dropped paint on this carpet while painting the entryway, living room, and dining room and we can't get all of the paint out of the carpet! Plus, they must have put down the wrong pad and/or carpet because there are still dents in the carpet from where their furniture used to be. The most noticeable spot is along one of the living room walls where I decided I did not want any furniture. I want to make sure I get a top quality carpet and padding and I do not want either that would allow dents in the carpet from furniture!

you will get dents with any pad . Furniture will leave impression in all ,but tile because of the weight.

Some impressions can be lifted with a steaming. Google it for info.

We purchased a pet pad and through 15 years and 2 carpet changes it worked well. We had older dogs and expected to replace the carpet and didn't want to always replace the pad. HOWEVER, carpet manufacturers will not honor any guarantees unless you replace the pad. And H.Depot refused to place carpet without replacing pad.

Beware of high dollar, non-slip thin rubber pads for area carpets. Spent what I thought was ALOT on one for under my Odegard area carpet in my whitewashed wood floor dining room. Just moved and SURPRISE my whitewashed wood floor is now a sunny shade of yellow!!! Freaked out.

What is that lovely wall colour please?

You can steam carpet pad and remove the dents, but I guarantee if you move that piece back or try and remove one that has furniture on it for a long time it will not come out.

Rather than steaming carpet to ease out dunts left by heavy furniture , which is an issue particularly if it's wool (wool shrinks when you combine wool+water+heat, plus it isn't always colourfast), simply leave an ice-cube to melt, ideally slowly, on the offending dent.

if you are going with a cut pile or a loop-cut loop carpet, I would suggest going with a dealers best pad that is 1/2" & an 8lb or higher rating. your carpet will last longer and your feet will thank you. I would expect to pay between $.59 to $.79 per square foot for this type of pad. Good Luck.

Re dents in carpeting. As someone mentioned, the ice cube application works in most cases (the suction of a vacuum cleaner during the process helps) however I have found if you also rub the dent with a back of the spoon it will usually solve the problem. Exactly why it works I don't know but perhaps it is the friction? Secondly, for heavy weight furniture you can purchase clear foot guards which are barely visible that are made for prevention of dents. (They contain tiny little footed prongs on their bottom.)

I ordered 1500 SF of this carpet pad and we LOVE IT, feels amazing, just the right amount of softness and firmness, 100% no-VOC and NO OFF GASSING. Ask for Mark, he will go over and above for you, an incredibly nice man who wants to help people have healthier homes. This is an extraordinary and HEALTHY product, I highly recommend it over regular stinky toxic pad that would have given me headaches in our new home for weeks.

GreenFloors - Safe Step Carpet Pad

Mark, owner (703) 352-8300

http://www.greenfloors.com/detail.aspx?ID=967

We have found that even when you use a high dollar pet barrier carpet pad, pet urine will still leak through the carpet fibers and get trapped in the backing of the carpet and even though you have a pet barrier on the pad the pet urine is trapped on top of the cushion and the carpet backing is saturated and continues to wick its way back through.

LifeGuard Carpet by Shaw has solved this problem so don't spend the extra money on an expensive pad, instead invest in the carpet itself. The new LifeGuard Carpet has a Thermoplastic backing and pet urine can not penetrate past it, this really is the answer pet owners have been looking for. Here is a link ; LifeGuard Carpet by Shaw

Just had carpet installed and clearly did not do my homework on this one. At the end of a huge whole house reno and this is one thing that I defaulted to my designer and the carpet salesman for the expertise...ugh. It looks nice but it's an 8lb pad and it's not soft or cushy at all. I'm so frustrated at myself for dropping the ball on this one. Wish there was something I could do but I guess we're stuck. So I guess this is just a word of warning to help others but do your research!!!!

I installed top of the line, Karastan carpet pad under some awesome, beige, woolen Karastan Berber wall-to-wall carpet (a ton of it -. four bedrooms) back in 2004. It has been easy to clean, smelled great and looked like brand new. Unfortunately, I just had a water leak. The mitigation company tore out only part of the pad -left the middle part of the damp pad and the carpet- in the room with fans blowing on it. They are saying the pad can be replaced for 51 c per sq foot and recommending just cleaning instead of replacing the carpet..The pad was the absolute top of the line, was spill proof, and spongy, not recycled stuff, with a fabric top and bottom to it. I have not yet found anything similar to it while hunting around online, in an attempt to get a price point to communicate to the mitigation company.. I think a cheapo pad could be gotten for that price and that would of course not at all be "like for like." Does anyone have any suggestions? Several family members are severely allergic to mold and that is a constant problem in the area in which we live. Even though the tan Berber has been great, do you think it looks dated? Is it more likely to grow mold now that it has been sitting in water for a long while? Does sitting in water degrade or "delaminate" wool such that I should urge the insurance co. replace it? Do insurance companies usually replace carpets that get soaked? I was surprised that they did not carry both the carpet and the pad away to dry out the sub flooring..They were covered in about an inch of clean water and it took almost a week dry for the carpet to dry out and the pad is still damp. I would appreciate knowing where to find that top of the line Karastan pad again and any other thoughts you may have on this topic. Thank you very much!

Helene, do you have anyone who could intervene for you with your insurance company?

Not sure what the depreciation would be on carpet and pad after 14 years, but the fact that they aren't totally removing all of the carpet and pad, when mold is a far greater danger and cost after any water damage is a real red flag!

Sounds like they are trying to get done fast and cheap, and will be long gone by the time the mold gets going!

Maybe a little "bad press" for that insurance company here would be some incentive (hint, hint).

In a previous home, we dealt with water issues, and EVERY time the carpet and pad were completely removed and replaced after major cleaning and everything else was dried out.

Helen. Def insist it all comes out or get some help. Long story short I had similar water issue last month. We were able to get the water up and dried out within 48 hours and our insurance company is still removing all of the rugs and flooring except the tile. Didn’t have to ask. Keep us posted.

Ok, I’ve been in many multi-million dollar houses and everytime I’m in a house like this that has carpet, and when I step on it it’s super super soft and you sink in and it feels incredible on your feet. Carpet feels thick and I know it’s not the carpet, it must be high end padding. SO, my question is, what do all these super expensive houses have carpet that melts under your feel, super nice feel when walking on it? I’m having a area redone in my house and the came to put the padding down last week, the carpet won’t be ready for another 2 weeks. This padding is super super hard, almost as hard as the wood floors before it! My old padding was 20 years old but I took a carpet sample and layed it overtop my old padding and did the same thing with the new padding, and it’s super super hard, not comfortable at all when walking on it. The padding they used was 8lb pad 1/2″ with pet block scotch guard on top. I called the company and asked for who makes the padding and they said scotchguard only makes that top cover that’s on it. Here is picture:

https://i.postimg.cc/XJ0PbZRG/IMG-0749.jpg

Also, all the other old carpet we have in the house feels soft to walk on, with our old padding in other areas….

(again, why does it seem that houses over 1+ million has super soft padding that feel thick and luxurious)

Most broadloom carpet has a recommended padding, unique to the carpet material and backing. Deviating can shorten the life of a carpet. When you walk on "super luxury" you are walking on a plush wool. That is almost a guarantee. It IS the carpet.

Ok, but today I took my basic carpet and went to a few carpet places. I put it over my old padding, and did the same thing with the new padding. It's NIGHT AND DAY difference. The old padding, is FOAM, and 10 times softer when walking with shoes or socks...

My old padding is FOAM. The new padding is 8lb rebond and hard as a rock compared to the foam…. I went to a few more carpet places today and the FOAM like I have, new generation, looked similar and was the most expensive. Funny, the rebond is the least expensive and for high traffic areas. I’m just saying it’s not comfortable to me. All our carpet is soft when you walk on it, with our foam padding. It’s just a shame these places today don’t tell you this and just tell you to get 8lb rebond. It’s horrible to me. After a long day you take your shoes off and go into your family room, walking on wood floors as you go, then your new padding is almost as hard at your wood floors. So, I’m convinced I need to have the current 8lb rebond padding ripped out as again, it’s hard as a rock. These are all low traffic areas and should feel plush if you ask me… Money is no object, I just want to comfy when walking. I don't believe it's all the carpets fault, as again, I put my carpet over the different types of padding on a hard surface to test it.

I agree with jason7370 that the rebond pads feel hard! Some more so than others.

I like the quality and feel of this much better:

http://www.healthierchoice.com/

Firm enough for the carpet warranties (for what they're worth! LOL), but more comfortable than the rebond!

Lots of places carry it - Home Depot for one. It does go on sale once in a while. I did see it priced very HIGH from one carpet store, so just be aware.

Thank you! Do they carry that actual brand or something rebadged under their name that's similar?

This is an old post, but still of interest.

Hands down: Smart Cushion by Mohawk.

Why? When something spills on your carpet, that spill goes into the pad. You clean the stain and a few weeks later it is back. Because, the pad holds the stain. Smart Cushion has a moisture proof top…nothing gets below the carpet. If you are doing wall to wall, and the padding needs to be cut, have the installer “duck” tape the seams.

Thanks for the tips everyone! My original post was referring to my parents house and that new padding they put in which was 8lb rebond that we think is horrible. We will be changing it! Will also try to show them the mohawk as well.

Now, at my own house tonight, the only carpet I have is on my basement steps (no worries for spills as basement unfinished, but it's super soft feeling like the other parts of my parents house which I found out had foam. I had to look under mine to see, and yep, FOAM PADDING. It's cheap carpet on these basement steps,, but the foam makes it's super soft on your feet and shoes. I'm learning a lot here, and foam is SOFT and rebond for us is the enemy!

What's the chicken wire on the top do?

jason7370,

Healthier Choice is it's own brand (there may be knock offs, of course), but I have seen the price vary some. Sometimes on sale and can be ordered through Menards.

It comes in many different thicknesses and corresponding density designated by color. Their website gives all the particulars.