Flooring systems and methods

A flooring system for use in a residential environment comprising:

• a subfloor adapted to support the mass of a user;
• and
• a plurality of square shaped modular surface covering elements including a plurality of side edges, wherein the modular surface covering elements are adapted to be disposed in edge to edge covering arrangement across at least a portion of the subfloor, the modular surface covering elements comprising a pile fabric face including a primary base and a plurality of high twist frieze yarns projecting outwardly from the primary base defining a pile layer for contact by a user, the modular surface covering elements further comprising at least one layer of cushioning foam material secured in substantially fixed positional relation relative to the pile fabric face at a position below the pile fabric face and wherein the pile layer has a standard pile density in the range of about 500 to about 4,200 ounces per cubic yard and wherein the layer of foam material comprises a rebond foam with a density of about 5-10 lbs. per cubic foot and a thickness of about 4-12 millimeters.