What is Padding Glue?

Padding glue is an adhesive compound that attaches carpet padding into place, ensuring that there is no movement from underneath the actual carpet once it has been installed. Carpet padding extends the life of the carpet and reduces its wear, as well as offering various levels of comfort, depending upon the type and thickness. Even though this padding can be installed by using various sizes of staples, common practice within the construction industry is to secure it down with glue. In some circumstances, the only way to effectively hold the padding and carpet into place is to use some kind of adhesive.

When installing carpet over the top of a concrete floor, padding glue will have to be used. There is no way to secure the padding down with nails or staples, so in this instance an adhesive is the only way to accomplish the task. Good quality glue will ensure that the carpet and padding remain in place without folding or moving.

Another instance when padding glue is required is when outdoor carpeting is installed. Whether padding is being installed or not, nails and staples should not be used because of the adverse effects that they will have from the changing weather conditions. Adhesive is spread over the entire surface area, including over the edges, and the carpet and padding is secured down.

Stairs also require the use of an adhesive in order to properly mold the padding and carpet to them. In this application staples are used as well, but to make the stairs retain their original shape and design, padding glue needs to be spread on the sides and tops. Landings do not necessarily need this type of treatment, but it is still common for carpet layers to do it since it saves on time struggling to get the small pieces into place properly.

Very small areas, such as entryways, are hard sections of a building to effectively cover with carpet. Carpet padding glue makes this task easier because it allows the padding to be attached without having to use an extreme amount of staples and tack strips. Even though many people skip this step because they feel that small areas do not get as much traffic, professionals will use the adhesive before they attempt to complete laying carpet in these types of areas.

The final place that padding glue will be used is in large rooms. The reasoning for this is that by adding small sections of adhesive throughout the large room, there will be less chance that the staples will fail, allowing the padding and carpet to move. Of course, there is no need to cover the entire floor with glue, but it should be applied in random areas towards the middle of the room.