The short answer: Yes, but a great pad won't make up for a cheap carpet. A good pad helps your carpet last longer, sounds better, and is warmer. For most homes, a good rebound pad is the most cost-effective and actually the best kind of pad to use.
Can a really good pad make up for a cheaper carpet?
This is something that is, I would say, routinely misunderstood. I frequently have people come in who say things like, "Well, my understanding is that if I get a really good pad, I can really skimp on the carpet." The general gist is that the pad will make up for the deficiencies in the carpet. While there is some truth to it, on the whole, that's not really accurate. Let me explain.
What does carpet pad actually do?
Padding is a platform that the carpet sits on, and it serves a couple of purposes.
It lets the carpet be stretched. The pad raises the carpet off the floor so we can use tack strip around the walls and stretch the carpet. It gives the carpet a platform to slide on. Without padding, the carpet would sit on the floor and have to go over the raised hump of tack strip. You couldn't stretch it, because stretching would lift it off the floor and essentially turn it into a trampoline, suspended a quarter inch off the floor.
It takes some of the wear off the carpet. It's kind of like a box spring and a mattress. The box spring absorbs some of the impact on the mattress, so the mattress lasts longer. In the same way, padding absorbs some of the impact on the carpet fibers, and it will extend the life of the carpet.
It's quieter and warmer. Good padding provides better sound and insulating properties. If you're putting carpet in a basement and you use a better, denser pad, it's going to be warmer than a cheap pad.
Why does a cheap pad wear out your carpet faster?
A cheap pad is going to wear out and flatten a lot quicker than a good pad. As the pad flattens, the wear moves from the cushion to the carpet fiber itself, and the carpet wears out quicker. A good quality pad will last longer and, to a certain extent, extend the life of the carpet, simply because it won't flatten out over time.
What kind of pad is best?
I'll frequently have people say, "I just want the best padding you have," but it's not quite that simple. Here are the main kinds:
| Pad type | What it is | Our take |
|---|---|---|
| Rebound | Foam pieces held together with a binding scrim | The most common, the most cost-effective, and actually the best kind to use |
| Prime urethane | Solid foam, baked like bread and sliced into sheets | Flattens out very quickly |
| Memory foam | Foam that compresses slowly | A good pad with a unique feel, best over a wood subfloor |
| Fiber | Looks like crushed or ground-up cloth | No cushion; mostly for commercial jobs |
Rebound pad. The most common kind of padding is what they call rebound padding. It's foam pieces that they basically hold together with a binding scrim so it'll stay together. That's the most cost-effective and actually the best kind of padding to use.
Prime urethane. This is solid foam padding. It's basically baked like bread: they put a liquid chemical into an oven, it bakes and rises, and then they slice it into sheets. The problem is that it's full of air bubbles, and there's no real strength to keep it from crushing, so that padding absolutely flattens out very quickly. If you've ever walked down a hallway in someone's home and it almost seemed like a little canyon, with the sides higher than the middle, that's a prime urethane pad that's been flattened.
Memory foam. That's a good pad. Some of it depends on what percentage of the pad is actually memory foam. Memory foam compresses at a slower rate, so it just has a unique feel to it. Ideally, you want memory foam installed over a wood floor, because memory foam gets soft and comfortable as it heats up. Cold memory foam tends to be quite hard. If you put it in a basement where it's cold all the time, it just doesn't have the same feel and comfort it would have on a warmer subfloor, like plywood on an upper floor.
Fiber pad. Very commonly it almost looks like crushed or ground-up cloth. It's typically used in commercial settings so they don't have to glue down the carpet. It gives the carpet a platform to sit on while it's installed and stretched, but there's no actual cushion. On the flip side, because there's no real movement in that pad, it doesn't ever really wear out.
What about moisture-barrier pads?
I've shared my opinion on those in What Carpet Holds Up Best for Kids and Pets? In short, I don't think they do much, and they can spread a spill over a bigger area of the carpet.
What does pad cost?
Our standard pad starts at $3.99 a square yard, and our 8 lb pad is $4.99 a square yard. High-quality memory foam pad runs $6.99 a square yard. Our very top-of-the-line pad is also memory foam: a 5/8-inch memory foam at $7.99 a square yard. For full installed prices, see How Much Does New Carpet Cost in Utah County?
A tip when you compare prices: look at the pad price too, not just the carpet. Some stores advertise a low carpet price, then charge $8 to $9 a square yard for pad, and they won't sell you the carpet without buying their pad. Our standard and 8 lb pads run $3.99 to $4.99 a square yard.
Want to feel the difference? Come see us in Provo or Lehi.