I’m working to close on a new house and have the opportunity to select carpet for the upper floor bedrooms (I’m going with hardwoods on the entire 1st floor). It seems like Nylon gets the nod for the most long lasting. Are their any brands / price points that you guys have found to provide good longterm value? I’m not looking for the cheapest or the most expensive, but something in the mid-range that will last. Any opinion on which carpet pads to stay away from?
Thanks.
Terry
Replies
Don't know any specific brands, but a dense, tight, lowish nap like a berber is long wearing, easy to vacuum, & hides footprints better than plush.
A neutral color in the beige-to gray line will be easier to live with over time than something flashier.
If you have pets, your carpet wants to be the color they are!
Polypropylene is more durable and stain resistant than nylon, but doesn't feel as good. Either would be fine.
When I had my home built I used a polypropylene berber in the hallway to hold up to traffic the best, and nylon cut pile in the bedrooms. Under the berber I used the felt pad, in the bedrooms used a medium quality foam pad, and in the master used high end carpet and pad. Boy, the difference is obvious. However, I still would only use the best stuff in my master and not in the other bedrooms.
All of the pads were fine, though the store clerk, who is also a friend, steered me away from the cheap foam pad. He said the small difference in price for the upgrade to the middle pad was worth it. I wouldn't use felt under a cut pile carpet because there isn't as much spring and it would not feel a comfortable.
I would not be shy about going with some type of multicolor, especially in the hallway.
Carpet colors change considerably in the light they are seen it. It is vital to paint your walls first, then bring home samples and place them in the room for which they are under consideration. Pick your favorite color in the store, then also bring home a little lighter, a little darker, a little warmer, a little cooler. The amount the color appears to change from store lighting to room lighting is surprising.
I bought from a Carpet One and was very pleased with the service and warranty. In one of the spare bedrooms my first guest spilled some lotion on the carpet which left a bright stain. The dealer came out to look and said that type of stain is not removable, and they replaced the carpet for free.
you hit my hot spot tonight! do not buy shaw brand,heres why,
first i buy quite a bit of carpet for rentals,usally a midgrade and here for the last few years a frize[?] type carpet. i know some carpets wear better than others and you can't always guess which ones.overall most will give you good service until someone spills something bad on them.bottom line i have a pretty fair expectation of money spent/how it wears.
so for my house the only carpet is in the master bedroom so i want something really nice. i buy a shaw brand frize at 42.00 freking dollars a yard . within 60 days it's started to track, at 6 months it looks like krap. so we call the rep in. now this carpet has all the bells and whistles for stain resistance and a 10 year warranty for not tracking. shaw shows up says it's dirty,what? so he takes a white cotton rag and gets down and scrubs the carpet with the rag. not one sign of dirt." well it's dirty but it won't come off on the rag" bs so i ask him why the walkin closet is tracked and matted down? now this closet might be walked in 2 times a day with shoes the rest of the time just showerd and need some clothes. so maybe 4-6 times a day it's walked on. are you ready for his excuse, we have oil on our feet that is causing this.
now if this guy looked me in the eye and said yeah carpet isn't wearing like it should sorry we can't do anything ,fine i'll live with it.
but i come unglued with these bs answers,ask him if i installed the carpet on the cieling would it be ok if a spider walked across it once in awhile,now get out of my house,i'll be sure and spread the word.
so here i am, the warranty on carpet is a complete sham,if shaw, one of the largest companys out there can't come up with a better reason than you can't walk on thier carpet with bare feet,whats the little guys excuse.
i'm p.o.d and am cosidering taking this to small claims just to harrass them,maybe even calll one of our local news ,they like these kinda stories!
shaw sucks,never again even for rentals larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Thanks for the warning. I've learned it's always better to spend a bit more upfront for a quality product, but the question is always which one is the quality product!
Terry
LarryIf I am not mistaken there is a "carpet manufacture's institute" that will supply and independent inspector and/or lab test.You might want to check on that..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I'm carpeting a room I just finished..about 70 yds worth. I usually get it direct from S&S Mills and hire an installer but just for the hell of it I asked when I was at HD for some prices of comparable carpet and was kinda shocked how much cheaper they are for basically the same stuff. I put my order in Thursday..they had a guy here today (Friday) morning to measure who was nice as could be...he really took exact measurements too cuz I dbl checked him. Said I should have my carpet installed within 1-2 weeks
"Even if embryonic stem cells are absolutely good for nothing at all how can anyone in good conscience be against using them for research given that they are going to be destroyed anyway"? J.Hayes
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Thanks for the response. I hadn't thought about HD, but it will be a good place to start looking since I'm in South Florida and the house I'm buying is in North Atlanta. I won't have much, if any time to shop around in Atlanta, so maybe I can find what I want down here and get a good price point.
Terry
I'll let you know how they do. All the specs were the same as what I priced direct from the mill. Even the guy in the carpet department seemed to know quite a bit...more than I thought he would. I was really surprised...I might have just gotten lucky...its still not installed yet so we shall see.
BTW...they told me installation was cheaper if it was special ordered for some reason. $100 off. I found some that was in stock and the salesman said he'd special order it anyway so I could save some money. Still only takes 1-2 weeks.
"Even if embryonic stem cells are absolutely good for nothing at all how can anyone in good conscience be against using them for research given that they are going to be destroyed anyway"? J.Hayes
http://www.john-lennon.com/imagine-neilyoung.ra
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
There are so many different manufacturers and carpet products for each mfg that it's dizzying... I suspect that carpet manufacturers are highly regional too. Being in the SE, I've never seen carpet from the west coast, for example... Might be better to check at a few flooring stores to talk to real carpet salesmen to get some kind of consensus.
Not much help... yea, I know.
I do think you should put some thought into the pad too. Sometimes it makes more sense to get a medium grade of carpet and a better grade of pad. Thicker is not necessarily better and the max thickness is generally 7/16". A basic pad might be 6# rebond (recycled foam) and an upgrade might be 8#. 8# means it weights 8 pounds per cubic foot, so it is not thicker, it is more dense. Also, the softer the foam the more your carpet wears as the softer (less dense) padding gives less support to the carpet backing. Also your pad has to be compatible with your carpet - ie some kinds of Berber require a specific pad. About the best padding is urethane foam.
Edited 7/4/2007 9:54 am ET by Matt