I am not now, nor have I ever been fond of performance warranties on carpet. Whatever they cover in the first paragraph, they take away in the next three. The name warranty is perceived by the consumer as a guarantee that the carpet will not do something they don’t want it to. Marketing of warranties or performance characteristics of carpet also leads the consumer to believe the carpet will perform up to every expectation they have and those they have been lead to believe the product inherently possesses.

Pad manufacturers also have warranties for performance that cover the carpet. I’ll share this one with you. It states that the face fiber in certified no mat/no crush first quality carpet will not fail for seven years after the date of installation under normal conditions in residential use. I’ve always had a problem with what qualifies normal use, this is the first loop hole. Only carpet installed over flat, smooth hard surfaces and used in accordance with the carpet manufacturers recommendations is covered. Keep in mind that most carpet manufacturers have no stated recommendations for the use of their products.

Carpet failure is defined as the loss of texture from traffic resulting in tuft busting (this is a new term, I’ve heard of blossoming but not busting) opening or loss of twist. Basically, this is all the assurance policy covers. Now depending on the heat setting and yarn twisting process, some carpets will normally blossom or loose some twist as a normal performance characteristic. This is fairly easy to determine if you understand the products you’re selling. If a base grade carpet is sold over this pad forget about the warranty because this type of carpet is not designed to maintain a high twist level. If you don’t’ understand the aspects of the yarn twist and heat setting of individual products you’re setting yourself up for a potential complaint, especially if you oversell the product and the warranty.

This policy excludes damage caused by tears, pulls, rips, cuts, fuzzing, pilling, shedding, burns, pets, furniture coasters, athletic equipment, vacuum marks, or heavy wheeled devices. Damage caused by improper installation or defects in carpet construction as well as changes in carpet appearance caused by abnormal use, soiling and/or furniture depressions are excluded. All of these things will cause loss of texture and yarn ply separation or blossoming. Only if foot traffic causes the problem are you covered. Then, as we said, it must be determined if the carpet is constructed in such a way as to be inherently susceptible to yarn tip blossoming. If it is, then you’re potential for a complaint increases by invoking this warranty because the consumer will be more aware of an issue that might be normal but not perceived as such. If the carpet has a very tight twist it will perform regardless of the pad under it relative to yarn ply integrity. Either way, this warranty can be a moot point. As all warranties, the window of coverage gets very small indeed when you start to analyze what it covers compared to what normal performance may be for a particular carpet. This policy applies to the original wall to wall installation and only when properly installed over smooth, flat, hard surfaces on or above grade. Another loop hole; any surface which is not perfectly flat or which would offer any compromise to carpet performance or coverage by the warranty. No liability will be assumed for any consequential damages, loss or incidental expense. Only affected areas will be repaired or replaced. This is basically the same as any warranty on carpet you’ll get from anyone.

What’s unusual here is that the pad manufacturer is warranting the carpet going over their product. Keep in mind that the warranty only covers one small aspect of the carpets’ performance which is textural damage or yarn ply separation. Yarn ply separation has nothing to do with anything a carpet cushion may influence on the carpets performance so my question is why are they taking on something that should be the responsibility of the carpet manufacturer.

If the cushion fails from loss of thickness, resiliency or other integrity factor then the cushion manufacturer should be responsible for its failure. If that failure in the performance of the carpet, which would have to be determined from close scrutiny, then that should be their responsibility. To have a warranty that exceeds what I would consider normal carpet characteristics which require special understanding of the product just muddies the waters of an already murky pond the industry has created with warranties which have no substance. If you use a warranties extensively to sell you’re making trouble for yourself. Better to understand the cushion and carpet products you sell, their categories of performance and where they will actually perform as expected and relieve yourself of the headaches of creating claims from useless warranties. This is a dangerous territory, so tread very carefully.