Carpet in San Diego: The Different ‘Piles’ Explained

"This article explores the chief kinds of carpets and their subsets, from Cut Pile Saxony carpets to Loop Pile Berbers."

For many homeowners, especially those who live in cooler climates, carpeting is a clear and natural choice. Not only is it more affordable than other flooring types, such as ceramic tile or hardwood, it’s stylistically diverse and provides you with an excellent opportunity to throw a splash of vibrant color into an otherwise dark, dull and uninspired room. Carpet in San Diego is a highly attractive and comfortable flooring option, helping to insulate the floor and overall, maintain a warmer house. Carpet in San Diego is diverse in its applications and can be used to provide wall-to-wall coverage for, say, a bedroom, or as a decorative accent for a study or living room. In addition to the different colors, cuts and patterns, people in the market for carpet in San Diego are faced with a decision of the ‘pile’ or surface type. In order to help you through this decision-making process, we've compiled and discussed some of the primary types of carpet.

First Things First…

The surface of a carpet in San Diego is referred to as the ‘pile’ and it is created by either tufting or weaving fibers through a backing that has been pre-woven. Woven carpets are more durable than tufted carpets, but they’re also more expensive because the manufacturing process is longer and more intricate. There are many different kinds of carpet pile available, but they can all be sub-divided into the following three types:

1. Cut Pile Carpet in San Diego

A cut pile carpet in San Diego is manufactured by shearing or cutting the pile to create a series of tufts as you can see in the above image. There are three general sub-categories of cut pile carpets:

·         Frieze Carpet in San Diego: This carpet consists of tightly twisted cut piles, which minimizes the appearance of footprints and vacuum marks, making it an excellent choice for areas of the home that receive a lot of foot traffic. It’s tightly twisted piles make this carpet in San Diego a little rougher underfoot, but also tougher!

·         Saxony Cut Pile: Saxony carpeting consists of a dense level-cut pile, with closely packed tufts. With its soft and smooth finish, it does tend to reflect track indentations a little more than Frieze carpets, making them a more appropriate choice for lesser trafficked areas of the home.

·         Plush Carpet in San Diego: Plush carpet has a lightly twisted pile, thick clusters of long tufts, is monochromatic (uniform in color) and feels very soft underfoot. Although plush carpets are dense and smooth, they aren't as dense as Saxony cut piles. They also show up footprints and vacuum marks. This is the ideal choice for formal rooms and bedrooms.

2. Loop Pile Carpet in San Diego

A loop pile carpet in San Diego is manufactured by pushing uncut loops of fiber through a pre-woven backing. This carpet is the more popular choice for industrial applications, not only because it doesn't require as much fiber to make, but also because it’s the least expensive carpet variety. The most popular type of loop pile carpet is Berber Loop.  This durable and cost-effective carpet tends to come in dark and pastel tones and generally shows less indentations and foot prints.

3. Cut-and-Loop Carpet in San Diego

A Cut-and-Loop Pile carpet, as the name suggests, combines both weaving techniques to create a more patterned or textured carpet. These work best as throw rugs that are out of the way of main traffic areas or in rooms that aren't used very much. Having said this, it is not uncommon for customers to install pattern carpets on stairs and in dining rooms.

A Final Note on Carpet in San Diego

There are a great number and diversity of options to consider when shopping for the perfect carpet in San Diego. You should take the time to consider all these options, not only visually, but also by thinking about which kind of pile will best serve your home and lifestyle.