About Carpets
- Installing carpet in your home has several benefits. It ads warmth and comfort to the home. Carpet insulates the home in both the winter and summer and keeps it from getting to hot or too cold.
Carpet can enhance the beauty of the home. Because of the thousands of carpet styles available, carpet will also reflect the personality of the homeowner.
Carpet can cushion the hard flooring in your home and protect people from slips and falls. This is beneficial if you have small children or elderly people in the home.
Carpet is noise reducing and softens sounds of electronics. It softens voices as well.
Carpet can take a bit of abuse when cleaned and maintained well. With regular vacuuming, professional cleaning and spot and stain removal, your carpet will look good for quite a few years and enhance the beauty of your home. - The life of a carpet will depend on how much traffic it gets, as well as how well it is kept clean and maintained. The quality of the carpet will also affect its life expectancy. In general, you can expect average quality carpet to last 7 to 10 years before it needs to be replaced.
- Carpet is manufactured primarily in 12-foot and 15-foot width, but there are other sizes. Carpet is sold by the square foot by law, but many carpet retailers quote the price in square yards.
- Carpet has its roots in southern Central Asia sometime around the 2nd or 3rd century BC. Carpet that dates from the 4th or 5th century was found in 1949 in a Siberian burial ground in Pazryk. The carpet is believed to be Siberian or Scythian and is about 6 feet square with 360,000 knots. Turkish carpet was brought all over Europe. Before the 18the century, the term carpet also applied to wall coverings and tablecloths.
- Due to the widespread origins of carpet, there are many types:
Cut pile is the most popular type of carpet. It is looped carpet fibers that have been cut so that the pile stands straight up. It resembles grass in overall texture but is much more luxurious.
Saxony carpet is made from twisted cut pile that have been heat set. Saxony is similar to cut pile, except that is it softer and has a more textured appearance.
Velvets/plush carpet is lightly twisted, presenting a uniform color. It is the softer than Saxony and cut pile, and looks great in formal areas of the home. Velvet/plush carpet will show every vacuum cleaner mark and footprint.
Frieze carpet is great for casual areas and high traffic. It is made up of short fibers that are tightly curled. This carpet hides footprint and vacuum tracks.
Berber carpet, another very popular type of carpet, has a woven appearance. There will be no footprints or vacuum tracks when you have Berber carpet, as it is low-profile and uncut. It can damage easily from pets with long nails because it can snag and run. Level loop pile and multi loop pile are different types of Berber carpet.
Cut and pile loop carpet is a combination of Berber and cut pile carpet. This combination gives the carpet a highly textured and designer appearance. This carpet is great for high-traffic areas, as it hides dirt and footprints. - When purchasing carpet, there are several things to consider. Besides the style and color scheme that you want for your room, you will also need to pay attention to several things.
Durability of carpet will determine how well it repels stains and how much traffic it can handle. The carpet will be rated with the durability standards, so pay attention to what you are buying and ask the salesperson a lot of questions.
The cost of carpet will vary based on style and durability. The more expensive the carpet is, the more likely it is to be durable.
Included in the cost of the carpet is installation. Installation costs can easily double the price of the carpet. Most carpet stores sell carpet including installation in the price, but some stores may sell carpet for a certain price and add on installation costs. Make sure you find out what you are paying for before you make an agreement.