How to Choose the Best Carpet for Your Home
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Posted On :
Aug-04-2011
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Article Word Count :
757
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With all the flooring choices on the market, only one provides a soft, luxurious feel under your feet: Carpet. This type of flooring provides a safe and comfortable place to play and lie and reduces the risk of slips and falls.
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With all the flooring choices on the market, only one provides a soft, luxurious feel under your feet: Carpet. This type of flooring provides a safe and comfortable place to play and lie and reduces the risk of slips and falls. In fact, carpeting is the safest flooring choice for children and elders and offers excellent sound absorption. With all of its advantages, it’s no surprise that carpeting is the first choice for many homeowners. With the endless choices in terms of color, type and density, you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed when selecting the right carpeting for your family.
It’s important to put careful thought into the type of carpet you choose, as it will be an investment that will last your family for years. Unfortunately, many retailers provide little information on the quality and features of their selections, and consumers are left relying on the recommendations from the seller. By taking the time to research the available options and characteristics of carpeting, you’ll be able to find quality flooring at a value.
The first step to selecting flooring is to choose a type. Carpeting includes the following options: Cut pile, berber and frieze. Within the cut pile family, there are the traditional textured cut pile carpets that have alternating lengths of fibers that reduce footprints and vacuum marks. A more formal plush will have the opposite effect, although it is most comfortable against the feet. Cable cut pile is another option and features thick fibers that create a soft feel when walking on them. In general, cut pile is versatile and a great fit for most homes.
Although many people believe that berber is a brand-name of a particular carpeting, it’s actually a style of flooring. Berber is any carpeting that has loops, and standard varieties come with tightly looped fibers that are all the same length. Although berber isn’t known for being soft or plush, it offers excellent durability and strength. It holds up well on stairs and hallways, and it won’t show any pesky vacuum or footprint marks. With the tightly woven loops, homeowners also enjoy the longevity of berber, as it doesn’t wear like other carpets do.
The final option for carpeting selection is frieze, which is becoming increasingly popular. Frieze features twisted fibers that have been crimped at different lengths. The end result is flooring that looks squiggly and has the fibers running in different directions. With this construction, the carpeting hides vacuum marks, footprints and debris, and also holds up well to foot traffic. This is because the fibers are bent in alternate directions and are not walked on the same part each time. Being one of the most durable carpeting selections, frieze is a top choice for many homeowners.
Once you’ve determined the right carpet type for your family, you must then select a color. While you want to choose a hue that will best represent your home, you don’t want to spend too much time haggling over the perfect shade of carpeting. There are no set rules and really, should be the color that you like best.
To decide, bring home several carpeting samples and place them in the room where the flooring will be installed. Place the samples in different areas such as under a window and in the middle of the room. This will allow you to get the best idea of what the hue will look like in each context. In the majority of cases, people choose neutral colors that will continue to outlast the trends and complement any type of furniture.
Your final aspect to consider is the quality of the carpet. It takes more than just running your hand along the sample; you’ll want to look at the density, twist and pile height. The density represents how closely the fibers are packed together. The more dense the carpeting, the better it will wear. Take the sample and bend it back. High quality carpeting will not show the backing and instead, will have you digging through the fibers to reach the back.
For carpeting twist, or how many times the fibers have been spun before being set, you’ll want to look for tightly wound twists. These tighter holds will be the strongest and wear the best. Finally, consider the pile height, or how tall the carpeting is. Although you’ll see higher pile heights resulting in higher costs, it’s worth the added money. This extra carpet leads to better quality and more durability for extended use.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_How to Choose the Best Carpet for Your Home_71116.aspx
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Author Resource :
Janine Green writes about different home improvement ideas and carpet trends out of Toronto. Always looking for the highest quality carpet materials at the best prices, she tends to end up shopping at http://www.carpetone.ca more often than not.
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Keywords :
carpet,
Category :
Home and Family
:
Interior Design
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