Outdoor Carpeting - Tips And Guide To Buying Outdoor Carpet

Outdoor carpet adds a touch of comfort to the exterior areas in your home. In fact, there are many outdoor locales where you can use this carpet. Here are some ideas where you can put outdoor carpets:

- porches

- utility rooms

- sidewalks

- garages

- garden walkways

- patios

And the list can continue on. There are limitless possibilities for outdoor carpeting. But how do you choose the appropriate outdoor carpet in terms of durability but not at the expense of comfort and appearance.

Important metrics in the selection of outdoor carpeting are those of durability, weather tolerance, and maintainability. It is also good to get an idea of how well the dyes and fibers in the carpet can tolerate sunlight and heat.

One material used to make outdoor carpeting is Polypropylene or olefin. In some cases the terms are used interchangeably (polypropylene is olefin and vice versa). This material is very good for its resistance to fading, good pricing, and its characteristics of low static electricity. And, even better, polypropylene is very resistant to stains. This stain resistance makes it perfect to have an outdoor barbecue party and not worry about spills. The yarn itself is very resilient too.

You need to keep in mind that when installing outdoor carpeting, you need to make sure that construction is such that water will drain away. You don’t want to have a standing water situation on your outdoor carpet no matter how resilient and durable it is. This becomes even more important if you are putting carpet around your pool. In this case, not only should the construction allow for drainage but the carpet itself should be able to handle pool chlorine and any other pool chemical that might be used.

Also, don’t be under the impression that outdoor carpeting will help when the weather is freezing. You are better off shoveling the ice and snow off the concrete sidewalks and driveway. With outdoor carpeting the snow and ice will accumulate and it will be just as slippery as an ice-packed sidewalk.

There are different styles of outdoor carpeting. If you want the most economical then there is the carpet that looks kind of grassy and comes in one color: green. But it gets better from there. They even have plush carpeting for outdoor areas. When choosing plush carpeting for an outdoor area make sure that location is at least covered. The plush carpeting does much better if moisture from rain and snow is kept off it. It probably does not drain as well as other types of outdoor carpeting either.

Shop around. Remember that your outdoor carpet has to be much more durable than indoors so the cheapest is not always the best.

Next article: Carpet Cleaning - How To Clean Carpets Fast, Easily and Right