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

[David Combs]

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

[rj]

[AJScott]

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

[David Combs]

Maybe some failure in usenet-service, but I never saw anything from an "RJ". Perhaps you could repost a copy of what he said (if he doesn't repost it himself). (Maybe there's some others who also never got that followup....)

[Mark Jerde]

If you're using Microsoft Outlook Express, frequently using the menu

Tools | Get Next xxx Headers

frequently helps get all the messages. I do it several times a day until nothing else downloads. I have no idea /why/ this is necessary, or why MS doesn't fix it...

-- Mark

[AJScott]

Here's that post:

AJS

[David Combs]

Thanks for all the replies!

Maybe I'll just throw a throw-rug over that critical "twist away the run all the way to the floorboards".

Thanks, all!

David