Common Carpet-Buying Questions & Answers
(Over 200 Carpet Buying Q&A on this website)
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Q. I am looking for a good quality carpet that can withstand kids, cats, dogs and traffic. I have a somewhat formal living room that you land in upon
entering my house. To get to any other part of the house at that point, one needs to walk through that living room. My biggest problem is the traffic
marks from the front door, across the living room and down the hallway to the bedrooms. This gets dirty fast. Any help would be appreciated.
A. There is only one carpet fiber that can potentially withstand all these things, it is Nylon. A textured plush style will hide the footprints and show dirt the least, depending on the color you select. Select a dense carpet with at least 40 oz face weight, this will better withstand the traffic. A good tuft twist of at least five to seven twists per lineal inch is important to keep your carpet looking new longer. You will need to vacuum regularly at least every other day, and have the carpet cleaned when it gets dirty, once or twice a year. You might want to consider laying down a plastic runner in the heavy traffic areas. Stay away from looped styles of carpet like Berber and never buy Polyester carpet (P.E.T.) no matter what they tell you.
Q. I have read that the new PET fiber is even more stain resistant than nylon. Your web site indicated PET is the worst. Why is this?
A. Whether or not it is more stain resistant than Nylon is not the issue, it is that P.E.T. Polyester carpets mat down quickly and have poor resiliency. That means that Polyester carpet will not retain a new appearance very long. Clean it all you like, it will still be matted down.
Q. Does this price range sound reasonable?
I am installing a DriCore subfloor system in the 1,200 SF basement of my newly constructed home. The basement will serve as a family room & play area for my family which includes 2 children under the age of 5 and a declawed (front & back) cat. I have been looking for a good quality frieze carpet to put over the Subfloor. I have received a quote of $4.17/SF installed on the Kathy Ireland carpet listed below. I have had carpet installed from these folks before and have been very pleased with the installed carpet and the professionalism of their installers. The installation is $.44/SF. The carpet pad is an 8 lb. 7/16" rebond made from virgin materials which costs $.50/SF. This leaves the cost of carpet only at $3.23/SF.
Does this price range sound reasonable for the style listed below? The carpet sample from the store does not have any information on pile twist, density, face wt., etc. Ted
Response:
This is excellent carpet and may be just right for you. Kathy Ireland is a brand name carpet and thus is higher priced than other non-branded carpets. However, $5000+ is a lot to spend on 133 yards of carpet! I think you can do it for about $4200 or less and still get the high quality you are after, if you choose a less famous brand name.
The labor cost is reasonable, but I think the padding price is high. Wholesale on 7/16', 8lb. rebond pad is about $1.50, and $3.00-3.50 would be reasonable. They are charging you $4.50. Ouch!
My advice: If you want to save some money here's what you can do: Select a non- branded carpet instead. Sure, Kathy Ireland has great colors and some that cannot be matched, but take the carpet sample, and shop at some other stores and see if you can find a comparable carpet to the one you are considering now. You should be able to find a comparable carpet for about $20-24.00 range. Padding cost should be $3.50 or less. Labor is about right at $4.00
Since you have two young children, and children spill a lot, you may want to consider a lesser grade of carpet and plan to re-carpet in 5 to 10 years. Many people do this because in a few years the children will not be as hard on the carpets and spills and stains will not be such an issue. No carpet warranty covers all types of stains. Either way you go, a nylon frieze is a good choice for you.
Alan
Follow up:
Thank you for the reply Alan! I have been doing a lot of research and price comparisons in the last few days including calling carpet mills to obtain face wt., twist & density on the various frieze carpets I've seen. Is there a reason why many carpet samples no longer include this information? This makes the task monumental and very time consuming to get apples to apples comparisons.
I ended up finding a carpet very similar to the Kathy Ireland frieze but with a higher twist & higher density even though the face wt. is a tad lower. The price came in right under $4,200 installed with a 8 lb. 1/2" rebond with spill guard to prevent moisture from penetrating the carpet pad & the subfloor. The carpet was priced at $21.50/sq yd with a face wt. of 46 oz., twist of 6.75, density of 2548. The PAR rating is 4.25. The installation is $4/sq yd and pad was $3.50/sq yd.
I appreciate your response and I think your website is great. And now I firmly believe that all carpet salesmen were used car salesmen in their former lives...
Thanks, Ted
Nylon Carpet Test?
Is there a simple test to see if a carpet if Nylon or Polyester?Answer:
All fibers used to make carpet have different melting points, and there are burn tests that can be performed to determine what fiber it is. I don't advise consumers to perform these tests, but they can be found on the internet by doing a simple search.
Stinky Carpet?I’ve just installed Mohawk wall-to-wall carpet throughout my home. I do not have the paperwork with me as I write this, but I remember it is a new type of carpet that resists pet problems more than any other type, and the pad is the standard type. The problem is a very strong odor has developed within 2 days of the install. The odor resembles mildew...as if someone left wet towels piled up. Every room smells and it seems to be getting stronger every day. Now 5 days later, we have moved to a motel while the carpet people contact a rep from Mohawk and determine what the problem may be. They say they have never experienced this. Any ideas?
Response:
One of my most important rule for consumers for making a major purchase, (car, appliance, carpet) is to never buy a product that has just been released to the public. I always wait until all the bugs have been ironed out and make sure that the product has stood the test of time. In this case, it sounds like you have purchased Mohawk's newly released Odor Eaters Carpet. Now, while I do not know what the smell is, I would be willing to make an educated guess that it has something to do with a reaction between the Odor Eater chemicals, and the type of padding you have used. I am very interested in knowing what the carpet rep has to say.
Power stretchers
I got your ebook and it and this website have been very helpful. Based on your book, I even developed my on 45-question worksheet for each and
every carpet company I talk to. It’s been a real education. As more anecdotal evidence of why it’s absolutely necessary to get two bids, I
called one guy who was listed under carpet layers in the phone book. He said they also like to sell carpet and came out to the house to measure.
He then tried the lump sum pricing, which I asked him to break down. He did so reluctantly, giving me the carpet price and the pad price, and
saying everything else was installation. It worked out that installation was about $17 a sq. yard. Yikes. I went to another company and without
having him to the house asked about installation - $3.50/sq. yard + $1.50 for removal, a bit more for stairs and $2/ft for transition metal
(of which we have maybe 20 feet), working out to about $5.50 sq. ft. I called a carpet installation company and their pricing was similar to
the second company. Amazing.
Another anecdote - you don't recommend Berber for pets. We bought a remnant for our dog to sleep on. Within a day he'd put a run in it. Not
surprisingly, we decided against doing Berber.
Anyway, now to the question. In your book and on your site, you strongly recommend a power stretcher. All three companies say they'll
use if it needed, but, as a general rule won't for residential work unless there's a 50-foot room. For a smaller room, it doesn't provide as
much flexibility in angling (one company showed us a picture and trade article). Any response for these guys?
All right - second question. (Actually it’s my third since I sent you one earlier). Any experience with Mohawk's Forever Fresh line or Beaulieu's
Magic Fresh? I understand they are both good for pets smells and that Beaulieu's carpet (by
Hollytex) has a 5 year limited warranty where they will replace the carpet (labor excluded) for any stain or smell. I do
understand that I have to use a double-sided moisture resistant pad to not void these warranties. Any thoughts?
Response:
Thank you for such a nice e-mail. It really makes me feel good to know that I
am making a difference with my book and website. Now, to your first question:
In your book and on your site, you strongly recommend a power stretcher.
All three companies say they'll use if it needed, but, as a general rule won't
for residential work
unless there's a 50-foot room. For a smaller room, it doesn't provide as much
flexibility in angling (one company showed us a picture and trade article). Any
response for these guys?
Yes! I have a word for these guys. Thanks, but no thanks! No
responsible, qualified installer would ever say that a power stretcher should
only be used in a 50-foot room. Its one thing to say that a small closet can be
"kicked in" but every consumer should know the facts: unless you want
your carpet to develop wrinkles within 1 to 3 years, insist that a power
stretcher is used in every room of your home. "If these installers won't
use a power stretcher then hire someone that will!"
All right - second question. (Actually it’s my third since I sent you
one earlier). Any experience with Mohawk's Forever Fresh line or Beaulieu's Magic Fresh? I understand they are both good for pets smells and that
Beaulieu's carpet (by Hollytex) has a 5 year limited warranty where they will replace the carpet (labor excluded) for any stain or smell. I do
understand that I have to use a double-sided moisture resistant pad to not void these warranties. Any thoughts?
Every year I see and hear about all the great new innovations that
the carpet manufacturers come up with. As the next year rolls around, some of
those great new innovations from the previous year are gone. I have a rule:
never buy an untried and untested product. This goes for cars, appliances,
electronics, and carpet. I usually wait at least three years to make sure that
all the bugs are worked out and that there are no unknown problems. This rule
applies to Mohawk's Forever Fresh and the new Odor Eating products too. I
just received a letter from an attorney yesterday who has been forced to move
into a motel because their newly installed Odor Eating Carpet has developed a
horrible smell. These new products only cost you more money than you
really need to spend.
My Advice: Stick with the tried and true. If you want a learn about the best pet odor and stain
removal product just send me an e-mail and ask
me about it!
"It's what you don't know about carpet that will cause you to buy the wrong one"
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