To stretch or not to stretch padding ?

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My dad would stretch the hell out of pad. He could turn 1/2” into 3/8” from stretching it so far. I used to do it too. Then as time went on, I started to realize that we were trying too hard.
now I just scoot it slightly. Seems to be softer.
 
Some Pads we stretch, others we dont. one we use called Cosi 8mm stretches so much that if you dont stretch it, it ends up crinkling itself up under the carpet in walkways
 
Floorist said:
Very little foam pad is used here. Have not seen any since the discount places closed.
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Oh really? We still have some rubber underlays and the crumb felt ones, but everything is pu foam now, even the best stuff. Lasts longer and its all from recycled stuff
 
Ben1191 said:
but everything is pu foam now, even the best stuff. Lasts longer and its all from recycled stuff
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What you are calling pu foam < i'm thinking it is what we call rebond. It is chopped up foam from various industries [auto, furniture] and glued up and shaved to various thickness and density of pad, always multicolored.
 
DarisMulkin said:
What you are calling pu foam < i'm thinking it is what we call rebond. It is chopped up foam from various industries [auto, furniture] and glued up and shaved to various thickness and density of pad, always multicolored.
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Yes, I was talking about the cheap foam pad that flattened out. One of the stores sold it in 1/4 inch. It was like walking directly on the concrete. Does anyone still use "rubber" pad? You know, the stuff they called rubber but it was actually clay based.
 
I always liked slab rubber pad. It’s what I put in my house when I redid it with carpet. It always seemed to dry out and crumble given enough years. The waffle pad was the worst. You would have to scoop it up with a shovel just about when you were doin your R/R.

I’ve seen a lot of PU pad. Spill guard pad is PU and it’s a lot better than the old foam pad from back in the ‘70’s. That stuff flattened out to nothing in the walkways. I wasn’t installing back then but I wonder what the advertising was like for that foam pad. Space age technology? Wonder pad?
 
C.J. said:
I always liked slab rubber pad. It’s what I put in my house when I redid it with carpet. It always seemed to dry out and crumble given enough years. The waffle pad was the worst. You would have to scoop it up with a shovel just about when you were doin your R/R.

I’ve seen a lot of PU pad. Spill guard pad is PU and it’s a lot better than the old foam pad from back in the ‘70’s. That stuff flattened out to nothing in the walkways. I wasn’t installing back then but I wonder what the advertising was like for that foam pad. Space age technology? Wonder pad?
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It was called "life time" That was only true if you died young.
 
C.J. said:
I always liked slab rubber pad. It’s what I put in my house when I redid it with carpet. It always seemed to dry out and crumble given enough years. The waffle pad was the worst. You would have to scoop it up with a shovel just about when you were doin your R/R.

I’ve seen a lot of PU pad. Spill guard pad is PU and it’s a lot better than the old foam pad from back in the ‘70’s. That stuff flattened out to nothing in the walkways. I wasn’t installing back then but I wonder what the advertising was like for that foam pad. Space age technology? Wonder pad?
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I don't think that was urethane like the stuff that's made today.
The mobile home places use that stuff back in the 80s and in reality all it was good for was packing dishes before loading them onto a moving van. We would install carpet on the lot at one of the mobile home outfits. 6 months later after they sold the unit and it was set up, we would go back and reconnect the seams. With only 6 months of foot traffic from random customers walking up and down the hallway the stuff was already flattened out 50%.
The true urethanes today don't flatten out like that.
 
Floorist said:
It was called "life time" That was only true if you died young.
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There was good rubber pad and there was crappy rubber pad. I did a job and the pad was about 20 years old. It looked and behaved like it was when it was brand new and I tore it out to replace it with new pad....... Felt guilty for not saying anything. 😟
Like Daris said about the clay.
I think they use clay as a filler in the same way that they use silica in the carpet backings instead of 100% rubber. If the adhesive used in the backing was 100% rubber you'd be stretching a fuzzy rubber band and I assume that's why they add the filler.
I'm guessing the same thing with the slab rubber or waffle pad. If three and a half percent Clay is good then 15% is better, right? 😁
 
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A store owner I worked for had me put the "lifetime" foam pad inhis house. 6 months later we had to change it. It was flat in all the walkways.
I remember putting 1/4" pad in an apt building Carpet was so cheap that there was not enough yarn on it to hide the seams. It was like fuzzy cardboard. It felt like you were walking on the concrete. In fact, the tack strip was taller than the carpet and pad.
 

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