Shopping
For New Carpet Soon?
By
Alan Fletcher - 30+Year
Veteran of the Carpet Business and Consumer Advocate
Be very careful who's
Carpet buying advice you trust!
Sadly,
most carpet and flooring information available on the internet today is either
wrong or misleading. They fail to provide complete,
accurate or honest carpet and flooring information! Some websites even plagiarize
my content and claim it as their own. Stealing someone else's original content
is illegal for sure but it is also unfair to you the consumer!
Why
should you trust my advice? First, I don't make any money from
your flooring purchase, no matter who you choose to buy from. Second, my goal is to help
educate homeowners about how to buy new carpet and flooring wisely. Third, I have
been online now for over 18 years as a consumer advocate. I have no negative reviews and have links
from hundreds of trusted online consumer sources like HGTV magazine and
Houzz.com to name a few.
Everything you need
to know about buying new carpet or flooring is available totally free on my
websites.
Please bookmark my website and visit as often as you like. Feel free to print out my
free articles, coupons, useful Forms and Checklists!
Visit
my Sitemap
to find specific answers to your Carpet and Flooring Questions. If you have
a carpet question, feel free to email
me and I will do my best to answer. Please put "Carpet
Question" in the email subject line so it doesn't end up in my Spam
folder.
Visit
my free Carpet Q & A pages to see my Answers to Common
Homeowner Carpet Questions!
Q.
Why
do most homeowners OVERPAY for new Carpet and Flooring?
It's
because they don't do their Carpet homework! By doing just a little bit of research on my websites, most
homeowners can quickly learn how to select the right grade of
carpet or flooring products to meet or exceed their needs, goals, lifestyle and expectations. You
can also save money by learning how to avoid common
scams
I
first started educating consumers about carpet in 1998, I have become the most trusted
source of carpet-buying
information website on the internet today.
Learn
How To Choose Wisely
& Avoid Retail Carpet Scams!
Three
Things You Need To Know Upfront:
-
I
do not sell or install any
Carpet or Flooring products. I retired after 30+ years in the business.
-
Since 1998, I have been helping homeowners with
free advice and informative articles!
-
I don't make
any money from your carpet purchase no
matter who you choose to buy from!
You
Need Rock-Solid Answers to These 4 Key Carpet Questions...
-
What
makes one Carpet More Durable than another? Carpet Specifications
-
What
one main characteristic makes a Carpet able to Tolerate Heavy
Foot-Traffic? About Carpet Fibers
-
What
characteristic makes a Carpet capable to Resist Stains better than
another Carpet? Carpet
Comparison
-
What
steps you need to take to avoid common retailer Carpet Scams &
Rip-Offs? Locally Owned Carpet Retailers
These
are just a few of the important Questions & Answers you need to learn
about before you agree to buy
new carpet from ANY retail source. I have dozens of free articles posted on
my website to give you all the answers you need to make wise and informed choices. My ultimate goal is to help make sure you end up happy with your
carpet purchase for many years to come.
Have a
Carpet Question? Read through
my Carpet
Q & A Pages or Search my website
How
to Avoid Common Carpet Scams
Buy
the wrong grade of carpet and you stand to lose hundreds or even
thousands! Choosing
the wrong grade carpet can cost you dearly! You might hope to buy carpet
that will last for 15 years. What will you do when your carpet wears out in just 3 years?
Take
your time and learn your
Carpet ABC's before you begin shopping for new Carpet! Choosing
the "right grade" of Carpet is not as easy as most folks think. Take
my Free Carpet Foot-Traffic Test to see
what grade of carpet you might need to buy to meet your needs and goals.
Times
have changed! It's not like it was
50 years
ago when there were limited styles and colors but all carpets were well-made
and able to last a long time. Today there are thousands
of different colors, textures, patterns,
grades and quality levels to choose from. Choose the wrong grade of carpet today
and you may end up having to replace it much sooner than you think!
You
need to know... Some Carpets are designed to last for
only 3 to 5 years... and
some carpets are made to last 7 to 10 years. Some are designed to last 15 to 20 years or longer!
Whatever
grade of Carpet you buy, it will eventually wear-out based mainly based on YOUR level of foot
traffic you have in your home.
What level of foot traffic do you have? Low traffic, medium traffic, heavy traffic? Learn
more: What Grade of Carpet Should I Select?
How
long your new carpet will last has absolutely nothing to do with the manufacturers
warranty limits or the wear-rating they attach to it. It mostly depends on the amount of foot-traffic
you have in your home
verses the grade or quality level of carpet and the padding you select!
Carpet
Quality is Not Always Obvious...
Carpet
specifications are the key to understanding carpet quality. A medium-grade of carpet may last
7 to 12 years in your home, however, a higher-grade carpet may last up to 25 years,
all depending on the Amount
of Foot-Traffic you have in your home and how well you care for your carpet. While
identifying a low-cost, cheaply-made carpet
might be obvious for most homeowners (costing less than $10 per yard), it can be very
hard for homeowners to tell the difference between a medium-grade
carpet (priced $15 to $25 per yard) from a higher-grade of carpet (costing $30 to $45 per
yard or more), just by
looking at the Carpet sample or just by feeling the surface fibers.
All Carpets
Look and Feel Soft When New!
However,
cheaply made carpets made from Polyester and P.E.T. Polyester are not very
durable or resilient and can quickly mat down
in medium to heavy foot traffic areas, hallways and stairs. Once this happens, there is
virtually nothing you can do to fix
the problem.
There is
rarely any new carpet warranty remedy to help you if you choose the
wrong grade of carpet for your application! If your home has heavy foot-traffic and you buy a grade of carpet not capable of tolerating heavy foot-traffic,
virtually any carpet warranty claim you submit will be denied and you will have no recourse.
In fact, most warranty claims are denied for any number of reasons.
Carpets
made from Nylon are generally more capable of tolerating heavy-traffic
applications. Nylon is the most durable and most resilient fiber on the market
today. There are many different grades of the Nylon Fiber and you need to learn
what they are and what it means to your own unique application.
SmartStrand®,
is a fiber also known by four different names. This can be quite
confusing for homeowners.
-
SmartStrand®
By Mohawk, aka
-
P.T.T.,
aka
-
Sorona®
by DuPont, aka
-
Triexta®
Mohawk's
SmartStrand®
Fiber, is made from DuPont's Sorona polymer.
SmartStrand® is also known as P.T.T.;
Triexta; or Sorona and is, to some degree, very much related to the Polyester
fiber. In fact,
they say it is manufactured on the same or similar machines as Polyester.
While
the manufacturers of the
SmartStrand®
Fiber may claim it is as, or more durable than
Polyester, or P.E.T. Polyester, I believe it is much less durable than any
standard denier Nylon fiber, and the SmartStrand®
Fiber is more prone to matting and crushing of the
pile over a Nylon. SmartStrand®
is often touted to be more stain resistant than Nylon, but from my own
experience, I think
SmartStrand may be a bit more stain resistant than Nylon, but only to a small
degree, if at all.
Stainmaster®
6.6 Nylon carpets use the Teflon technology to help resist stains and I think is
a good option to consider if stain resistance is a major issue for you. Learn
more about Carpet Fibers
I
am not as impressed with the SmartStrand®
Fiber as many carpet salespeople are. In my opinion,
Nylon is a far more durable fiber and it also resists stains; is the most
resilient fiber; and cleans easily too. What more can you want? A cheaper price
would be nice, but that is not going to happen anytime soon. Nylon is
more costly than all other synthetic fibers because it costs more to manufacture
and it is the most durable and most resilient fiber available today. Durability is one reason why,
and the cost to manufacture the fiber is the other main reason. There is less
profit to be made selling a nylon carpet than fibers made from other synthetic
fibers like Olefin and Polyester.
Polyester
& P.E.T. Polyester are the cheapest fibers to manufacture
which is why manufacturers / retailers want to convince homeowners to buy it. More
profits!
Sadly,
the polyester fiber, and the P.E.T. Polyester fiber is prone to
matting and crushing of the pile. This means your new carpet will start to mat
down and look bad in a very short period of time, especially in main traffic
lanes, on stairs, hallways and any other area in your home that has anything
more than light foot-traffic. Regardless of what any salesperson tells you,
polyester carpets are not intended for medium, moderate or heavy foot-traffic
applications.
Carpet
Specifications - The Key to Selecting the Right Grade of Carpet.
Learn all about Carpet and Padding Specifications to be sure
you choose wisely. The "manufacturing
specifications" are what allows you to determine the grade or
quality level of a carpet or padding. Carpets that are
made from low-quality materials will wear out faster than those that are made
using higher-quality materials. This is why you need full access to the
specifications of any carpet or padding you are considering.
The 5
Basic
Carpet
Specifications Homeowners Need To Understand:
-
Fiber
Type - This is most important
- Learn more about
Carpet Fibers
-
Pile
Height - 3/4" pile height or less
helps resist matting and crushing.
-
Tuft
Twist- Less than 5 is considered poor, 6 is considered good. 7 or above is excellent
-
Face
Weight - 35 to 65 ounces is considered
good for most residential carpets.
-
Pile
Density - The higher the number the
more durable the carpet.
Learn more about Carpet
Specifications
Next...
You need to be sure to...
-
Choose
the Right Grade of Carpet - Take my Free
Carpet Foot Traffic Test
-
Have
your Home Accurately Measured... (It's not easy to obtain accurate
measurements)
-
How
to Choose the Correct Padding
(This is very important!)
-
Get
Qualified and Experienced Installation - Carpet Installation
-
Get
a fair & square price on the entire job - (Read
about Carpet
Cost)
After
that... You must properly maintain your new carpet by:
-
Vacuuming
frequently with a good quality vacuum - Learn about best Carpet
Vacuums
-
Professional
cleaning every other year by a Certified
Carpet Cleaner
-
Spot
clean as necessary only using approved methods!
-
Visit
Alan's Best Carpet
Cleaner Directory
-
Retain
all maintenance and cleaning receipts - Read your warranty carefully!
-
Follow
all the manufacturer's warranty care and maintenance instructions to the letter!
-
Carpet Stain
Warranties - What You Need To Know
Confused
About Choosing Carpet?
-
Read
through my website, it's free! Sitemap
-
See
my list of Recommended Carpet Dealers
-
Take
your time choosing carpet and never buy from high-pressure salespeople.
-
What Grade of Carpet Should I Select?
How
to Select The Right Carpet and More...
Many homeowners choose their carpet based
on color, look, feel and price. However, there are many other important factors that need to be taken
into consideration. From start to finish you must make all the right
decisions to be successful and satisfied with the final outcome. Choosing
the right Carpet, the correct padding, getting qualified installation and a
reasonable price is just the tip of the iceberg! Learn more about Carpet
Comparison
Where
NOT to Buy New Carpet
Where
you buy carpet is a major factor because not all carpet retailers have your
best interests in mind, and some carpet retailers should be avoided at all costs!
Never be pressured by any salesperson into buying right now!
Take your time,
take some samples home for a few days and make wise and informed choices!
Buying
new carpet wisely starts with knowing
how to select the right grade of carpet for your home! The last thing you want
to do is buy the wrong grade of carpet and have it wear out in a hurry.
There
are many other key factors for you to consider too including - Selecting the correct
padding;
obtaining qualified installation; and getting a good price!
Learn more about
Best & Worst Places to Buy
New Carpet
Costly
Carpet
Buying Mistakes / Common Carpet Complaints...
Here
is a list of common carpet complaints from homeowners who bought new carpet and why
they were unhappy with their carpet purchase. My
years of experience and ongoing research has revealed that fewer than 14% of consumers
make ALL the right Carpet choices from start to finish. The other 86% either spend too much, choose the wrong
materials, end up with installation problems or unhappy in some way with their
Carpet Buying Experience.
What can
go wrong you might ask? Plenty! Here is a list of unfortunate homeowners
who didn't do their
carpet homework and have lost thousands! Read about how to
avoid Costly Consumer
Carpet Buying Mistakes
How
To Avoid Common "Retailer" Carpet Scams!
There
are plenty of Carpet scams and rip-offs to watch out for. The best way to avoid scams is to
buy from a reputable carpet dealer. Read more about Carpet
Scams and how to avoid them.
How
Much Carpet Do You Actually Need?
Too
many Carpet Salespeople are not proficient at measuring for carpet and that
could spell bad news for you. It's easier for them to just add on a few
extra yards of carpet to the estimate and not have worry about ordering too
little material to do the job. Why should they
take the time and effort to be spot-on accurate when adding a few extra yards
of carpet and padding to your order will only increase their profits?
Homeowners
Need Honest and Accurate Measuring
Over-measuring will cost you
money and you may never know you have become a victim. Greedy salespeople might
deliberately try to
sell you more carpet than you actually need just to make more commissions from the
sale. The more carpet material you need, the more you also pay for padding and
installation fees too.
Under-measuring
will cost you time,
frustration and job completion delays. Inexperienced
salespeople can easily under-measure your needs making it impossible to finish
the job without having to order more carpet and make you wait another week or
two before the job is finally completed. Sometimes they can't order more of
the exact same carpet color (dye-lot) and then your carpet will not match.
Some
homes are simple or easy to measure because the rooms are small or square. While other
homes have unusual shaped rooms with varied angles that can create more material waste.
Unusual room dimensions and layout oddities can be very difficult and time consuming for inexperienced salespeople to measure up
accurately. In many cases, it is beyond their capability to measure accurately
in a way that will save you the most money on materials and labor costs.
An
experienced salesperson can measure your home in such a way that will take
advantage of waste materials from one room to help fill in the needs of other
areas are such as stairs, landings, closets or seams for rooms that are wider
than 12 feet. As long as the same carpet or flooring is used throughout the
home, leftovers from one area can be used in other areas, thus saving you
money.
If
your carpet salesperson is not proficient at measuring or doesn't have your best
interests in mind, they can easily add hundreds to your final bill by not fully
utilizing your material waste in a useful manner. Inaccurate measuring can easily add hundreds to the total cost of your carpet job.
You need to learn how to avoid this common carpet measuring problem which in some
cases may be a deliberate carpet over-measuring scam to charge you more for
materials and labor! Read on...
Learn more: How
to Measure for Carpet Yourself!
How
Much Should You $$$ Spend on New Carpet?
If
you are just starting your journey to buy new carpet, you are going to find
that new
Carpet
is more costly than you might expect. There are so many different
factors to consider. Installation is almost always more costly than you might
imagine. There are 3 questions you need to answer...
1.
What grade of carpet do you require for your home?
2.
How long do you want your new carpet to last?
3.
How much money do you have to spend on this project?
There
are no shortcuts and no specials to help you alter any of these three
parameters. Don't fall for those home improvement store specials that
advertise free or whole-house discounted carpet installation. If you do not
have enough money, then consider doing your project in stages. Don't lower the
carpet quality to meet your budget limitations. If funds are tight,
either wait until you have more money or replace your carpet in two or more
stages, for example: Do the downstairs this year and then do the
upstairs areas next year.
Beware of Nationally Advertised Carpet
Advertisements and Scams!
Most
nationally advertised Carpet specials you
see on TV are rarely as good as they appear to be. Don't fall for those offers to sell you
three rooms of carpet for the price of just one room until you get a chance to
read all the fine print. You don't need to buy from any carper\t or flooring dealer who advertises in
this fashion. I truly believe you can get a much better deal buying from a local,
family-run flooring dealer. Not only a better price, but better quality
materials an more qualified installation too!
I
never recommend buying from any nationally advertised carpet retailer.
You would be amazed at the number of horror stories I've heard from
unsuspecting homeowners since I started my first website back in 2000. If the
price sounds too good to be true, then carefully read all the fine print.
Take
a gander at this: Home
Depot & Lowe's Carpet Installation TV sales gimmicks.
Never
Pay for Your New Carpet "In-Full" Upfront!
It
is customary for any reputable carpet dealer to ask that you pay up to 50%
down before they will place your order for new carpet. You will be asked to pay the balance-due upon competition and upon your complete satisfaction of a
job well-done. Never pay the balance due until you are completely satisfied. You should always do
a walk-through with the installer to inspect the job before he leaves your home. Use my free Carpet Installation Inspection Checklist.
Carpet
Buyers
Beware!
Never
pay a fee to have a salesperson measure your home, and never never buy from
pushy salespeople who pressure you to buy right now or say the price is a
"Today Only Price". Never sign any contract until you have received and
reviewed at least three bids or estimates from several locally-owned carpet stores.
Take a look
at my Carpet and Pad Pricing
Chart to get a good idea about how much new carpet is going to cost you. Why
do most homeowners overpay for new Carpet and Flooring?
Free list of locally-owned & Recommended
Carpet Stores Near You
