The Pad Game!

Why is there so much mystery surrounding carpet pad? Does it really matter about the pad. Can I have free pad?
Carpet cushion, also called carpet pad, is an important component in the over-all performance of carpet. Yet for years the carpet manufacturers would not tell us, the retailers, what kind of pad to use. Though in recent years some of the high-end mills have offered "No Mat" or "No Crush" warranties. It was at this point the manufacturers started telling us about pad. Most mills now want us to use a 1/2 inch or thinner pad and a 5 lb. per cubic foot or heavier.
Then there is the pad game! Upgrade for more money? Or get free pad? We all want something free. But is it really free? Good question. Let's do some simple math. One of our big-box competitors (let's just call them orange) offers free pad. I'm not sure how they can do that and stay in business. Volume? Well, they have about 2000 locations and let's just say that each location sells one carpet job a day (low estimate by the way, but I said simple) and the average job is 100 yards. Let's say they pay $1.00 a yard for pad. (it's actually more but.....simple) That means they would be spending $200,000.00 a day for pad, or $73,000,000.00 per year! I'm not an economist but it would seem as if that could be a pretty big problem.
We at Redlands Floorhouse use the guidelines established by The Carpet And Rug Institute (CRI). You can read about it here.http://www.carpet-rug.org/residential-customers/selecting-the-right-carpet-or-rug/selecting-the-right-cushion.cfm
Actually, we use a 7/16" x 8 lb. pad under all conventional carpet and a 3/8" x 8 lb. pad under berber carpeting. Both products are bonded foam also known as rebond. We just include it with every carpet we sell. No games, just a great pad. That's the best way!