Hamilton Carpet Installers replaces worn carpet underpad throughout Hamilton, Ontario – the broadloom comes up off the tack strip, the flattened pad comes out, and the same carpet goes back down on a fresh cushion.
Old pad rolled and tied for pickup
Fresh rebond cut to the room
Carpet power stretched back down
Book an underpad check
Tell us the rooms and the age of the carpet and we will tell you what is likely under it.
Or call (289) 204-6246
What an underpad swap involves
Replacing the cushion is a different job from replacing the floor, and it is done in one visit per level.
The carpet comes up in one piece
Broadloom in good condition is lifted off the tack strip along one wall, folded back rather than cut, and set aside so it can be re-laid. Only the pad is destroyed.
Density decides the pad, not thickness
An 8 lb rebond is the usual choice under a residential floor. A thicker low-density pad feels soft in the showroom and bottoms out in a traffic lane within a year.
Tack strip and subfloor get looked at
A third of this city's homes were built in 1960 or earlier, so the strip is often nailed into plank subfloor that has moved. Loose or rusted strip is replaced while the floor is open.
Power stretching on the way back down
The Carpet and Rug Institute's residential standard requires carpet to be power stretched; knee-kicking alone is not a compliant stretch-in installation, so the stretcher comes out every time.
Underpad and warranty coverage
The pad your carpet warranty is written around
Manufacturers do not treat underpad as an accessory. Shaw states that cushion minimum requirements must be met to keep warranty coverage, and that proper power stretching is critical to how a carpet performs. Two things a fitter controls, both of them invisible once the floor is down.
So the pad we quote is the one that carpet is rated for, and the floor goes back on a power stretcher rather than a knee kicker. The quote names the density by weight instead of saying underpad included, so you can hold it against what the carpet maker asks for.
You usually feel a worn-out pad before you see it: traffic lanes go hollow, the floor dips where the sofa sits, and carpet in a doorway rides up because there is nothing firm left to hold it down. Rippling across the middle of a room is a separate fault – carpet that was never power stretched buckles no matter what the pad is doing. Call (289) 204-6246 and we will tell you what is under your floor before anything is ordered.
Underpad questions from Hamilton homeowners
Can the underpad be replaced without replacing the carpet?
Yes, and it is the reason most people call. If the pile still has life in it and the backing is sound, the carpet is lifted, the old pad is stripped out, a new one is laid and the same broadloom is power stretched back down.
How can I tell the underpad has gone before the carpet has?
The floor tells you underfoot first. Traffic lanes feel hard or hollow, there is a dip in front of the sofa, and the carpet lifts slightly in a doorway because nothing firm is holding it. Lifting a corner in a closet settles it in a minute.
What density of underpad goes under a Hamilton living room?
An 8 lb rebond under residential broadloom, upgraded where the room takes heavy traffic or where the carpet manufacturer sets a higher minimum. An upgraded pad adds roughly $0.75 to $1.50 per square foot to the job.
What happens to the old underpad once it is out?
It is rolled and bagged as it comes up, stacked by the door and carried out the same day, because a crushed rebond tears and sheds crumbs.
Who removes and disposes of the old cushion is settled in the written quote before the job starts, along with whether any of it can go for recycling.
What the underpad actually does
Carries the load first
Every footstep is absorbed by the cushion before it reaches the carpet backing, which only flexes as far as the pad lets it.
A crushed pad shows in the carpet
Once the cushion flattens, the backing wears from beneath, the seams take the extra strain, and the floor feels hard underfoot long before the pile looks worn out.
Hamilton calls it underpad, not padding
The City of Hamilton uses the same Canadian term, underpad, in its own waste rules.
How we check the pad
We lift a corner and look
We lift a corner in a closet or behind a door and look at what is under the carpet.
A compressed or crumbled pad gets replaced
A rebond that has compressed to a fraction of its original thickness, crumbled at the edges, or holds a spill from years ago gets replaced.
Sound carpet goes straight back down
Carpet in good shape is lifted off the tack strip, folded back rather than cut, and goes straight back down once the new pad is in.
8 lbStandard rebond density under residential broadloom
$0.75-$1.50/sq ftTypical cost added for an upgraded pad
Find out what is under your carpet
We lift a corner, check the pad and the tack strip, and put the swap in writing.
