Anybody use a Roomba in the workshop?

[DerbyDad03]

Never said - or even thought - that.

I used the words "base of the carpet fibers" meaning the area at the primary backing. I certainly don't expect any consumer level vacuum to suck dirt from below the primary or secondary backing (or unitary backing, if that is how the carpet was constructed).

I'm not even expecting a consumer vacuum to get *all* of the dirt out, just a lot more than any robot vacuum. The more that can be removed, the less abrasion of the fibers that will occur. I'm as concerned about my carpet looking good, not just clean, for as long as possible.

Said the guy that doesn't have any carpets. ;-)

I would imagine that it doesn't take long for dirt and sand to get to the base of the fibers. Gravity sucks, you know. While a daily maintenance run of the robot will certainly help, I'll wager that you'd be hard pressed to find a robot vacuum listed as a "recommended vacuum" by any of the major carpet manufacturers - some of which even hint at a daily vacuuming in certain situations.

In fact, the Carpet and Rug Institute has certified only one robotic vacuum (out of 314 certifications) and it's not going to work in the average living room.

No doubt.

My thoughts haven't changed:

When it come to carpets, robotic vacuums have their place as an appearance maintainer but not as an overall replacement for a quality upright or power-brush canister/whole-house system. Not if you want your carpet to last as long as possible.

[Leon]

Just a few more thoughts. I agree with a lot of what you say. And because flooring experts indicate that a carpet is not a long term flooring choice, it is an alternative to more expensive hard surface flooring. AND carpet is probably preferred in colder climates and or those that want something soft under their feet. Slightly getting off subject here but.... I have not yet seen a carpet that looks good for an extended period of time. We had carpet up until about 20 years ago and went all tile. We got an average of 10 years out of a carpet and we vacuumed regularly.

Where am I going with this? I have to believe that the regular vacuums, with a "beater bar" does damage also. It is after all beating the fibers as the dirt passes through.

I do not think that a robot vac will pull more dirt out unless it is used daily, before the dirt has a chance to sink deeper down into the fibers.

[DerbyDad03]

All of that is true and in my case both the colder climate and soft surface are the reasons I prefer carpet. I have hardwood under my carpets. I choose to cover it with something soft.

BTW...you left out the noise muffling that carpet provides.

It's all relative. "Extended period of time" is an ambiguous phrase. There are different grades of the same carpet and the higher you go, the longer it will last under the same conditions. Besides the basic quality of any specific brand and model, most quality carpets come in 3 face weights, sometimes referred to as Good-Better-Best to keep it simple for the consumer.

When we replaced our carpet a couple of years ago we wanted the highest weight available in the high quality carpet we chose. We had to have an installer come out and test our stairs to see if it would work. We wanted a Hollywood style installation where the carpet wraps around the bullnose and then goes straight down the riser as opposed to Waterfall where the carpet just cascades over the edge and down at an angle to the back of the tread. Certain carpets, especially high face weight carpets, can be hard to wrap around the bullnose. Luckily the installer knew what he was doing and said "No problem. It'll look great." He was right. wRec relate: We tested it with a sample of the carpet and a couple of bar clamps to bend it tightly around the bullnose. ;-)

The higher weight, high quality carpet will give us an "extended period" when compared to the lower weight, lower quality options.

That is a consideration, although a properly adjusted, quality vacuum can limit the damage and therefore extend the life of the carpet. Different types of carpets need to be vacuumed differently to ensure the longest life possible. Speed and direction matter. One of the most important adjustments is the bristle height to avoid matting, fuzzing and loss of tip definition. Some carpets, such as certain berbers, shouldn't be vacuumed with a bristle brush.

If you are interested, the CRI has a pretty stringent procedure for certifying vacuums:

Lots of info here:

Full test procedure here:

[Leon]

I suppose, when we bought and did the walk through our, current home with tile floors, it was echo'y.

After we moved the furniture in, we do not notice.

Carpet does not enough sound deadening to be of any advantage to "us".

Hollywood huh? I did know that there was a nome for that. 99% of new homes being built, down here, have carpeted stairs and everything is covered. Only the spindles and hand rails are not covered with carpet. ;~) Builders claim a slipping liability and rarely will allow wood as an option on the stairs.

We had that for about 4 years and upgraded to all wood steps and risers. Risers being painted.

No doubt, our second carpet outlasted our first carpet on our first home.

Well thanks but no, we are done with carpet, it tends to be a too high of maintenance item, with pets, it stinks. And it does no last as long a hard surface. Do do have small throw rugs in places but that is not an issue.

[Bob D]

shop/garage and clean it weekly.

Great advise, Leon.

Thanks, Bob