Just learned something about carpet backing that surprised me

I was talking to a guy at a flooring supply shop here in Denver yesterday and he told me that a lot of those cheaper carpets with the actionbac backing actually stretch differently than the ones with the softbac. I always thought backing was just backing, you know? He said the actionbac stuff can relax more after install and cause ripples within a year if you don't account for it. I've been installing for about 4 years and never really paid attention to that detail. Now I'm wondering if some of my past jobs with callbacks were from this exact issue. Has anyone else noticed a difference in how these two backings hold up over time?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_dylan24d ago

Buddy of mine had the same problem with actionbac. He did a house up in Arvada, looked perfect for two months. By month eight the homeowner was sending him pics of waves near the doorways. Softbac has more rubber content, seems to hold tension better in dry climates like ours. He switched to only using actionbac if the customer was on a tight budget.

uma_reed2624d ago

Read something a while back from a flooring forum. A guy did a test on both backings. He put samples in a dry room for a month. Actionbac shrunk more than softbac did. Then he stretched them back. Actionbac never held its shape the same way. Softbac bounced back better. Made sense after I saw that. Denver's dry air is probably making it worse too.