Carpet underlay - rubber or foam

[jmk89]

We are replacing carpet that got damaged whent he upstairs neighbour's dishwasher blocked and flooded us.

The Insurance company's carpet company has asked whether the underlay is to be rubber or foam. Any views?

TIA

Jeremy

[Bleedin Thumb]

Jeremy, ring a carpet supplier and ask them whats best, I would think the rubber would be less likely to compress over time but I don't know anythink about them. Good luck.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

What BT said. I'm curious as to why the insurance company thinks it's relevant? Maybe flammability issues?

I've no advice either way either. I have found, when ripping up decades old carpets to rebuild floors that the rubber underlay tended to turn into a resinous gum in high traffic areas, which is a right PITA to clean up (especially when the floor's to be left exposed) while the old foam had often turned to a gritty powder that probably helped to hasten the demise of the carpetting...

I suspect this isn't true of modern materiele though, so forget I even mentioned it.

[jmk89]

Did that and the answer was, use the best foam. So that's what we will do (and what was down before, so it is covered by the "like for like" wording).