In article ,
(David Combs) wrote:

SUBJ: while *laying* carpet; anticipating human "cow-trails"?


Purchasing *extra* carpet, for later-fix-up of super-worn spots.

In our house at least, after a few years we get, in our
carpet, spots of *extreme* wear -- always at the same two or places.

For walking across a carpet, when walking in a straight
path, merely squishes-flat the carpet-threads and then
allows them to come back up. Not much wear caused by this.

However, when one *pivots* (the shoe sole) on a carpet, that
causes a forcefull rubbing-together of the carpet-threads; considering
that it's a person's entire weight that's crushing down *during* this
pivoting-action, ie crushing-down *on* the
abrading-against-each-other threads -- well, it's a wonder that
carpet lasts as long as it does!

These pivot-spots: where, on a carpet, would you expect them?

Anywhere the normal walking-path turns, the greater the
turn, the greater the thread-against-thread abrasion
(especially given the inevetible dirt, grit, perhaps even sand,
enabling a *real* grind-away action).

Not too many 150 to 180-degree switchbacks in the normal
house, but 90-degree turns seem to be pretty common.

(For me, my the pivoting of my shoe-sole against the carpet
occurs at the finall moment of a turning-step, where it's the
extended-behind leg that actually makes the
fully-weighted-down pivot that rotates me the
90-degrees. And it's of course that very spot that shows by far the
most wear.)

Of course, once your current carpet is a few years old, the
location of the heavier-wear spots will be
obvious -- you open your eyes, and there they are!

Presumably, you can expect any replacement-carpet to show exactly
the same wear-pattern.

-------------------------------

Now, my question: knowing ahead-of-time the location of
these extreme-wear spots, would it be possible (reasonable?) to install
the new carpet *such that* it will be not only easy but with an
(almost) undetectable result,
to get @i(extra) carpet to pre-cut to store away for later use
replacing *just* the super-worn areas?

That is, when originally installing the (new) carpet, when
installing near that known-wear-spot, to *specially* install it there,
maybe via *separate* carpet-pieces, with that extra carpet
having been cut in *exactly* the same way?

(Would sure be cheaper to have to replace one-twentieth of a
carpet, than the whole thing, when it's only within the
twentieth that any seeable-wear occurs!)


Comments, opinions?

Thanks!

David




The *really* cheap answer would be to get one of those plastic runners
like you'd find in the house of pretty much any elderly person or people
who put clear plastic covers on their parlor couch.

But really, how long does it take for really decent carpeting to
actually wear out at those "pivot points"? 20, 30 years? Personally, I'd
be more fretful over the prospect of having to clean the tracked-in dirt
and other assorted ooze along those cow tracks.

Otherwise, if you're *really* concerned about it all, I'm with RJ --
plop down some click-together laminate along the whole cow path and be
done with it. It'd look really cool with the carpeting, too.

AJS