There are many wonderful benefits to adding carpeting to your home. Carpet helps to keep your feet warm in the winter, helps to prevent fall related injuries in children and the elderly, reduces noise, and can help to insulate and make your home more energy efficient. Not only that but carpeting can also help to hide damaged or uneven floors and is easy to install making it a great choice for most homes.
There are four main types of carpeting which include cut pile, cut and loop pile, multilevel loop pile, and level loop pile. Cut pile carpeting is one of the most popular styles because of its smooth soft texture. In cut pile carpeting the yarn is all cut and stands straight up. Cut and loop pile carpeting combines cut yarn and looped yarn. The different levels in the pile can help to hide dirt it and footprints. Level loop pile is constructed solely with looped yarn. Berbers are popular style of level loop carpeting. The last type of carpeting is multilevel loop pile which is also constructed solely with looped yarn; however the height of each loop of yarn varies to create an appearance of texture.
The padding that you choose for your carpet is almost as important as the carpet itself. Thick, high quality padding will help to reduce noise and keep your carpet soft underfoot. The thicker the padding the more cushioning and sound reduction it will provide so it is worth investing a little extra money in your padding.
Maintenance and upkeep are two of the most important factors the need to consider when buying a carpet. The type of carpet that is well suited for your home will depend largely upon your lifestyle. Carpeting can be synthetic, wool, or the other natural fibers and each one has different care and maintenance requirements.
You should choose a low maintenance stain resistant carpeted if you have pets or kids. Carpets with textures and patterns can hide stains, dirt and footprint which makes them a great choice for most homes. Keep in mind that lighter colored carpets will show stains and dirt more easily than darker colored carpets. You should think very carefully before choosing white carpeting since it shows every little bit of dirt and every stain making it very high maintenance.
Some people install carpeting in their bathroom. However, you may want to reconsider if you are thinking of installing carpeting in your own bathroom. Bathrooms are wet places that are prone to bacteria and carpet can serve to the enhanced this problem and allow bacteria to grow. Rather than installing permanent carpeting in the bathroom a better choice would be to put in hard flooring and then buy area rugs which can be replaced occasionally.
Because you will have your carpeting for many years it is a good idea to choose a neutral color that is not likely to go out of style. Not only that but unless you want to replace your furniture or don't care about matching you should choose a color that complements your furniture.
Carpeting can be a beautiful addition to any decor. Taking the time to choose the right carpeting for your home helps ensure that it will last for years to come and will be easy to maintain and take care of.
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Graeme Stephens has been running the largest owned carpet cleaning company in new Zealand for 24 years. IICRC qualified "master restoration technician"