Ask for indoor outdoor carpet or a low pile turf, tell us the exact dimensions you need, and we cut it. It is one of the simpler things we do and one of the most useful.
The requests come in every summer. This year a gentleman needed a 16 by 16 foot piece of thin turf-type carpeting for a dime toss game at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church festival in Ross Township. Perfectly clear ask, and exactly the kind of thing the material is for.
What the material actually is
Almost all indoor outdoor carpet is olefin, also sold as polypropylene.
Three properties make it work outside. The fiber does not absorb water, so it dries instead of holding damp and growing mildew. It is solution dyed, meaning the color goes all the way through the fiber rather than being applied to the surface, so sun does not bleach it out. And it is inexpensive enough that you are not agonizing over it.
Construction is usually a very low level loop or a short dense needle-punch. Both shed water and neither holds dirt the way a plush pile does.
Artificial turf is a close cousin. Same fiber family, taller blades, usually with a perforated backing that drains. The thin turf people ask for at festivals is really the short pile end of that range, sometimes with a marine-grade backing.
Backings, and why they matter
This is the part nobody asks about and everyone should.
Unitary or marine backing is solid rubber or latex with no secondary layer. Water runs off the surface. It is the right choice if the piece will sit on a deck or a patio where you do not want water trapped underneath.
Perforated or permeable backing lets water drain straight through. Right for turf over grass, gravel, or a surface that drains, and for anywhere you would rather water go down than sideways.
Action or jute backing is what you find on cheaper goods and it belongs indoors. It holds water and it will rot outside.
Say where the piece is going and what it is sitting on, and the backing choice becomes obvious.
Common uses, and what to ask for
Church festivals, carnivals, and fundraiser games. A single cut piece, no edge finishing needed for a weekend, low pile so a ball or a coin rolls predictably. Roll it, store it dry, use it again next year. This is a request we get every summer and the answer is almost always a piece off the remnant rack.
Trade show and vendor booths. Standard booth sizes are 10x10 and 10x20, and cut goods are far cheaper than renting booth carpet from the venue year after year.
Covered porches and three season rooms. Marine backing, and leave a gap at the edges so air moves under it. Do not run it wall to wall against a wood floor you care about.
Decks. Be careful here. Wall to wall carpet on a wood deck traps moisture against the boards and will rot them. Use a bound area rug sized smaller than the deck, on a permeable backing, and pick it up over the winter.
Boat docks, patios, garage floors, basement stairs to the yard. All fair uses. All want a solid or permeable backing depending on drainage.
Pet runs and putting greens. Turf with a perforated backing, and plan for how it drains before you fasten it down.
Sizes and cutting
The material comes twelve feet wide like every other carpet, and often in six foot widths too, which is handy for runners and walkways.
We cut to size on site. A 16 by 16 piece takes a twelve foot width plus a four foot fill strip, seamed, or a fifteen foot width if the goods run that way. Tell us the finished dimensions and whether it can be two pieces or has to be one, because that changes what we pull.
For anything permanent or anywhere someone could catch a toe, bind the edges. Olefin does not fray badly, so a raw cut edge is fine for a temporary setup, but a bound edge lies flatter and lasts longer. We finish edges on site in any shape, covered in our guide to custom bound rugs.
Caring for it
Hose it off. That is genuinely most of it.
Sweep or blow off leaves and grit before they work down into the pile. Skip bleach, because solution dyed goods do not need it and some backings do not like it. And never roll it up and store it wet, which is how a perfectly good piece turns into a mildewed one over a winter.
Store it rolled rather than folded. Folds set into the backing and never fully flatten out.
Getting a piece
Call (412) 885-1444 with your dimensions, what it is going on, and whether you need the edges finished. Or send it through the site.
We are at 2855 Saw Mill Run Blvd on Route 51 in Pittsburgh, with parking behind the building. If you want to see what is in stock, the current remnant list is on the site, and it changes often enough that a phone call is worth it for anything time sensitive.
