buying carpet advice

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we have been looking for a while and have become over whelmed. Mainly price.
we want to replace 400 square feet. So far we like Shaw and estimates are $1400 or $1600 depending on which carpet we choose.
That price is total, carpet, pad, take up, disposal, install and taxes.
Is that reasonable or nutso??
Current carpet is approx 20 years old.
 
What area of your dwelling are replacing the carpet on?

Are you dead set on carpet? What about laminate or a hardwood floor? That's a price of $3-4 a square foot which seems expensive to me for carpet.

Regards, JC.
 
Worked in a carpet business as a research scientist for 5 years. Here are some things to know.

1. Nylon wears bettr than polyester in a cut pile but is not usually as soft. Poly in the low traffic bedroom is OK but not in a high traffic area.
2. When buying nylon, buy the highest pound per square yard of yarn that you can afford, particularly if you are buying a cut pile carpet. GOOD carpet can go well into the $60-70/sq yd range but good value can be had well below that.
3. If Shaw still sells Anything Goes (or a variant thereof), that is really good stuff. It was invernted at Armstrong when the company was in the carpet business and when they sold off to Shaw, all that technology went along. It will essentially outlast almost any other nylon carpet on the market.
4. If you like loop pile or Berber, be aware that if you pull a yarn out and get it started, you can pull it the entire width of the carpet. This makes for a disister when children and pets are present. But with adults, these constructions will last a LONG time.
5. Pay for a GOOD pad, not a cheap one. Your carpet will last longer.
6. The fiber makers treat the fibers and carpet companies tuft them into into carpet constructions. So lots of the stain resistance gaurantee will reside with the yarn manufacturer in many cases. And buy from a brand name manufacturer of carpet, not from one of those discount carpet places that sells no name stuff tufted from pre-died yarn by a couple of guys in a garage in Dalton, GA.
 
Originally Posted By: Boomer
Worked in a carpet business as a research scientist for 5 years. Here are some things to know.

1. Nylon wears bettr than polyester in a cut pile but is not usually as soft. Poly in the low traffic bedroom is OK but not in a high traffic area.
2. When buying nylon, buy the highest pound per square yard of yarn that you can afford, particularly if you are buying a cut pile carpet. GOOD carpet can go well into the $60-70/sq yd range but good value can be had well below that.
3. If Shaw still sells Anything Goes (or a variant thereof), that is really good stuff. It was invernted at Armstrong when the company was in the carpet business and when they sold off to Shaw, all that technology went along. It will essentially outlast almost any other nylon carpet on the market.
4. If you like loop pile or Berber, be aware that if you pull a yarn out and get it started, you can pull it the entire width of the carpet. This makes for a disister when children and pets are present. But with adults, these constructions will last a LONG time.
5. Pay for a GOOD pad, not a cheap one. Your carpet will last longer.
6. The fiber makers treat the fibers and carpet companies tuft them into into carpet constructions. So lots of the stain resistance gaurantee will reside with the yarn manufacturer in many cases. And buy from a brand name manufacturer of carpet, not from one of those discount carpet places that sells no name stuff tufted from pre-died yarn by a couple of guys in a garage in Dalton, GA.


listen to this guy he knows what he is talking about. I install a floor or two once or twice a month. seams suck! Or at least mine do.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Boomer
Worked in a carpet business as a research scientist for 5 years. Here are some things to know.

1. Nylon wears bettr than polyester in a cut pile but is not usually as soft. Poly in the low traffic bedroom is OK but not in a high traffic area.
2. When buying nylon, buy the highest pound per square yard of yarn that you can afford, particularly if you are buying a cut pile carpet. GOOD carpet can go well into the $60-70/sq yd range but good value can be had well below that.
3. If Shaw still sells Anything Goes (or a variant thereof), that is really good stuff. It was invernted at Armstrong when the company was in the carpet business and when they sold off to Shaw, all that technology went along. It will essentially outlast almost any other nylon carpet on the market.
4. If you like loop pile or Berber, be aware that if you pull a yarn out and get it started, you can pull it the entire width of the carpet. This makes for a disister when children and pets are present. But with adults, these constructions will last a LONG time.
5. Pay for a GOOD pad, not a cheap one. Your carpet will last longer.
6. The fiber makers treat the fibers and carpet companies tuft them into into carpet constructions. So lots of the stain resistance gaurantee will reside with the yarn manufacturer in many cases. And buy from a brand name manufacturer of carpet, not from one of those discount carpet places that sells no name stuff tufted from pre-died yarn by a couple of guys in a garage in Dalton, GA.


Great info! yes, we chose a 8 pound pad and the carpet in the saxony style cut.
We are buying from a local independent guy in business for 65 years selling floor coverings.
The area we are doing is the living room, dining and hall way.
we are finding out how expensive good carpet is. took a peek at Karastan for grins.
sick.gif

We will check on Anything Goes. Been to the big box stores and they nickle and dime you on everything. One even has "free" installation.
Its just the 2 of us, no pets or crumb crunchers, so dont need a top end carpet.
 
Carpet's not cheap. I had mine done recently, went with a platinum gray Stainmaster 20 year warranty job thru McSwain. I like it, it cost about $2.77/sqft installed
 
MY Dad was in this business for 45 years. Commercial and residential.

IMO who cares about brand. Get the RN number off the back and compare. I can have samples made with ANY NAME I like if I just buy enough. Shaw owns most of the business under dozens of brands. Nylon is great for resilience but all fibers these days are greatly different from ten years ago.

Gauge is the stat you need to know, it's the spacing of the needles in the machine. Smaller is better no matter what. Warranties usually have a ton of "Philadelphia lawyer" in them and don't mean that much. I am a certified inspector and most warranty claims are denied IME.

Retail stores are hit and miss. My advice would be a smaller store that is closely held, even family owned. They care a lot more than a big box store and will have a smaller pool of people who work for them. At the big box there may be a dozen or more installers there who are of varying degrees of skill. You want the BEST installer!
 
Originally Posted By: Boomer
Worked in a carpet business as a research scientist for 5 years. Here are some things to know.

1. Nylon wears bettr than polyester in a cut pile but is not usually as soft. Poly in the low traffic bedroom is OK but not in a high traffic area.
2. When buying nylon, buy the highest pound per square yard of yarn that you can afford, particularly if you are buying a cut pile carpet. GOOD carpet can go well into the $60-70/sq yd range but good value can be had well below that.
3. If Shaw still sells Anything Goes (or a variant thereof), that is really good stuff. It was invernted at Armstrong when the company was in the carpet business and when they sold off to Shaw, all that technology went along. It will essentially outlast almost any other nylon carpet on the market.
4. If you like loop pile or Berber, be aware that if you pull a yarn out and get it started, you can pull it the entire width of the carpet. This makes for a disister when children and pets are present. But with adults, these constructions will last a LONG time.
5. Pay for a GOOD pad, not a cheap one. Your carpet will last longer.
6. The fiber makers treat the fibers and carpet companies tuft them into into carpet constructions. So lots of the stain resistance gaurantee will reside with the yarn manufacturer in many cases. And buy from a brand name manufacturer of carpet, not from one of those discount carpet places that sells no name stuff tufted from pre-died yarn by a couple of guys in a garage in Dalton, GA.


I'm bookmarking this! Thanks!
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
MY Dad was in this business for 45 years. Commercial and residential.

IMO who cares about brand. Get the RN number off the back and compare. I can have samples made with ANY NAME I like if I just buy enough. Shaw owns most of the business under dozens of brands. Nylon is great for resilience but all fibers these days are greatly different from ten years ago.

Gauge is the stat you need to know, it's the spacing of the needles in the machine. Smaller is better no matter what. Warranties usually have a ton of "Philadelphia lawyer" in them and don't mean that much. I am a certified inspector and most warranty claims are denied IME.

Retail stores are hit and miss. My advice would be a smaller store that is closely held, even family owned. They care a lot more than a big box store and will have a smaller pool of people who work for them. At the big box there may be a dozen or more installers there who are of varying degrees of skill. You want the BEST installer!

Thanks! The wear rating is 3.5. The big box stores jam you every where they can. That is why we like this small local business. He called us saying he bought a discontinued style and wanted us to look at it. Price is decent too. Once I see it and see the back I will post it.
 
update, ripped the old carpet out myself. A dirty job but saved some coin. I cut the carpet in strips and put it out by the curb. it walked off. Amazing.

The hard woods are perfect so we will keep the dining room hardwood. Doing a light sand and clean then seal. Doing that first then the carpet.

The small business we are getting the carpet from called and said he bought a discontinued carpet. Half the cost and has better weight and performance rating than the carpet we looked at.

Oh fun.
 
^^^Beautiful.

Those "one shot deals" are offered to all dealers but the smaller ones usually have a harder time with speculation and don't keep much in stock.

I bet Home Depot would NEVER call you back to offer you an even better deal!
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
^^^Beautiful.

Those "one shot deals" are offered to all dealers but the smaller ones usually have a harder time with speculation and don't keep much in stock.

I bet Home Depot would NEVER call you back to offer you an even better deal!


Exactly and his prices are competitive to Home Dept. Doing the hardwood floors Thursday. House is a mess, need to hire a house cleaner. LOL
 
Good deal. We'll need carpet real soon as well. Ours is still the original, and is 19 yrs old. Let us know how it works out. We have a Carpet Corner near our home -- that has been there a long time. I'm always a little worried about mom and pop shops, because they can close anytime. We got burned by a vacuum sale once. The place had been there for 25+ yrs, but then were gone when we needed them.
 
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