We had a fire in the wall above our family room fireplace in May; the insurance company will pay for replacement carpeting for the shag we installed in 1979. Any suggestions? I’ve seen some berber carpeting that I like…
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It's too bad about the fire. I hope the damage wasn't extensive.
It seems like damaging the 70's shag is the good news.
Your question is quite open ended and hard to answer without knowing what you want from the room. One thing I can say, though, is that berbers are nearly impossible to seam without the seam showing, so you have to be careful where you put it or be willing to live with it. In a stain-resistant fiber they are easy to clean.
One thing I can say, though, is that berbers are nearly impossible to seam without the seam showing
Waynel5, thanks for that information. That rules out a berber, as the room is L-shaped, with the longest dimensions in each direction 20.29' and 20.25'. It's high traffic in one area that's about 6' by 12' -- where you step down into the room from the kitchen and by the door from the garage. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I'll be sure to ask about seams showing, and if there are other things I should be concerned about, I's appreciate your advice.
25 years is a great life for the carpet. Are you getting replacement costs or prorated value?
I've seen cut berber installed successfully without seams being obvious. This is different from berber in exactly the way it sounds - loops are cut in places to make a textured rug. These are good if you want something that is durable and shows less wear than a normal pile carpet. Another alternative you might consider if you have high traffic areas is to use a commercial carpet, which has a low pile.
Are you getting replacement costs
Yes, aimless, we are getting replacement costs in today'$ dollar$. We checked with a friend who used to be in the flooring business; he has a house TDF and all of its carpeting is berber. The rooms are huge and there are seams everywhere.
He recommended several local businesses that do only floor coverings. He also said that whoever sells you the carpet should install it. This is because the guy who's been selected by the insurance company to do the restoration (after our fire) would find the cheapest installer possible. Any problems with the carpet could in future be disputed by the seller, due to poor installation. If the seller installs it, then any problems are due to poor quality carpet and under warranty.
Our friend also told us that a good seller/installer will look at the room to figure out how the sun shines into it -- to make sure the carpet is installed in the right direction. This should make seams invisible. We went to one of the businesses he recommended and the guy steered us to berbers that will work in our room (it's L-shaped, 20 by 20) and away from ones with repeating patterns.
Thanks for your advice. melanjbil (hope I spelled your name right!), I'd have liked hardwood in this room, but it's on a slab, while the rest of the downstairs is over a basement, so the floor would be cold.
We must have had a good installer with our cut berber then, because the seams were invisible. Didn't know the good thing we had (have since sold the house, so don't know how it held up over the last decade). We did choose a carpet without a repeating pattern, but I guess that was just lucky too, since the seller never looked at our space or even asked about it.
Excuse my ignorance, but what is TDF?
Excuse my ignorance, but what is TDF?
To Die For. I had a lot of problems with acronyms when I first found this place, and managed to work out some of them. Here are a couple that I needed help to decipher:
IIRC If I Recall Correctly
DBMNM_ Don't Blame Me Not My _fill in appropriate word
I'd have liked hardwood in this room, but it's on a slab, while the rest of the downstairs is over a basement, so the floor would be cold.
Basements. How I wish they built those in my area. I understand the cold feet issue. I do have a floating floor and it seems to be softer on the feet and a "tad" bit warmer then my friends with glue downs.
It sounds like you have gotten some really good advice. The way the light hits a room makes a big impact. The issue about the manufacturer blaming the installer and vice versa is the exact one I ended up dealing with. Needless to say I gave up and just tore it out at considerable expense.
The issue about the manufacturer blaming the installer and vice versa is the exact one I ended up dealing with.
Sorry to hear that. Our friend was so helpful; we were on the phone for 45 minutes as he gave me so much advice that my hand was sore from scribbling it all down. It's too bad that I got the good advice after you had the bad experience.
Today, the people from the place which is selling us the berber were here to measure for the carpet we've selected. There will be one seam, but he assured us that it won't show.
I tend to dislike carpets for the same reason meljanbil mentioned--they trap dirt. However, they do cut down on noise.
In our house we replaced old plaster (the ceiling was caving in and had a patch of just wood lath, and one wall had holes in it--my wife's ex's attempts at remodeling) with drywall and kept the carpet. Just the change from plaster to drywall made the room loud. Seemed to get a reverberation at certain frequencies--like the those of my two stepdaughters' voices. I ended up hanging a comforter on a drapery rod on the replacemet wall to make it bearable to be in that room.
>> ... they trap dirt.
Sounds like a feature to me. Dirt trapped in the carpet is dirt you never have to deal with again.
I just tore out my carpet a couple of months ago. It was a beautiful cut berber that was only about 2 years old. I was so sick of seeing the seams and they seemed to get worse as time went on. I went with a cheap installer so got what I paid for. I ended up replacing it with a beautiful laminate. I will NEVER do carpet in a high traffic area again. The best thing about having a hard surface is that my dusting has been cut down by about 75%. I just run a dry swifter type thing over the floor everyday and gross out at the thought of everything that must of been getting trapped in the carpet fibers.