Had no idea carpet padding thickness changed so much by region until a supply house guy in Ohio set me straight

I was ordering some 7/16 inch rebond pad for a job in Columbus last week and the guy behind the counter asked what part of town. Turns out some local codes only allow 1/4 inch for commercial spaces. I've been doing this for 8 years and never even thought to check. Any other installers run into weird local regs that caught you off guard?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonp761mo ago

Wait, 1/4 inch for commercial? That sounds like you'd feel every single tack strip through the pad. I've never heard of a code dictating padding thickness by use like that. We just use whatever the manufacturer spec says and nobody's ever blinked. Did the guy say if that's a fire rating thing or something about tripping hazards? Now I'm wondering if I should be checking city codes before every order.

miller.rowan1mo agoMost Upvoted

Has anyone else just rolled with manufacturer specs and called it a day without issues? Because @simonp76, I actually had this same thing come up last year on a small office job. I always go by what the carpet people say, but the inspector flagged it and told me 1/4 inch was the code for commercial in my city. I ended up having to rip up half the job and redo it with thinner pad, which cost me a day and a half of work. So yeah, I check city codes now before every order, even if it feels like overkill. Better safe than sorry with those inspectors, they're sticklers for detail.