Replacement Carpet

[SuzySunshine]

Ok gang, who has had their carpet replaced? I get my bonus on Friday and DH and I have been fighting over getting the house painted or replacing the carpet. I vote carpet so you can guess what he's voting.

Anyone have any good experiences (or bad) with national chains? Our house is about 1,800 sf and other then the kitchen/DR, two baths and entry way the whole house has the same carpet, probably about 1,200 sf.

What we have now is an off/white, kind of a berber. Both of our parents put in frizze (sp?) when they built their new houses last year but I'm not sure if that is practical for the whole house. Also because we have a split do we have to put the same carpet upstairs as downstairs since you see both sets of stairs when you walk into the house??

Any words of wisdom about carpet would be thoroughly appreciated!

We did in our last house. It's been so long I don't remember much.

I do recall...watching the paper for sales. We went to a store that is not a chain but had a good deal on installation or something like that. I don't know if this will work for you since you probably want all the carpet the same, but we bought a remnant. I was surprised by that because remnant sounds small and gross but it was neither. The room and hallway were good size (15x25??) and the carpet was perfectly fine.

[houseelf]

A couple of thoughts on this. Don't pay for them to haul it away at the store. You can always bargain with the workmen once their in your home.

We bought a multi-colored, tightly woven berber carpet for our entire upstairs and it wears like iron. You really don't even want to know what all has been spilled on this carpet and it still looks great. I will always have this type of carpet even though it is less chic-chic-la-la because we live in our house.

RE: painting. I love to paint and it is easy, even for a clutz like me. $50 and a weekend can do an entire level. I say do both carpeting and paint.

Kelly

[Momo]

RE: painting. I love to paint and it is easy, even for a clutz like me. $50 and a weekend can do an entire level. I say do both carpeting and paint.

I would do this...then that way it doesn't matter if you drip , splatter or spill on the old, since it's just gonna be ripped up!

[SuzySunshine]

I may not have been clear the painting is for the OUTSIDE of the house - the house is a split level so the top level is not as high as a 2 story but still pretty high which is why we'll be hiring someone to do it rather then doing it ourselves.

[SuzySunshine]

Cheri, the other thing with exterior painting is that you may need to repair parts of your trim, etc. - we're more comfortable leaving that all to insured professionals.

Yes, exactly - we're not doing either of these projects ourselves. We're hiring someone to do the painting and we'll hire someone to install the carpet - hence why DH thinks we can only do one and not both.

[PrincessFiona]

No carpeting...I vote for laminate wood floors...you can get some good stuff that isn't much more expensive than berber...and I think it adds more value to the house.

we just had the bedroom done by Home Depot. They had some nice stuff on sale. They came in, took 2 hours, worked hard and left. I am very happy with the work and the carpet

[SuzySunshine]

No carpeting...I vote for laminate wood floors...you can get some good stuff that isn't much more expensive than berber...and I think it adds more value to the house.

As much as I would love to do that I'm not sure that I'm ready to deal with area rugs and things like that - maybe in the next house.

[Stella]

What do you mean? Is it hard to "deal with" area rugs? I have wood floors and area rugs now and IMHO it's easier than keeping up with carpet. :huh:

[SuzySunshine]

I don't like picking them out - I can't ever find ones that I like. Plus I don't have a lot of experience with hard wood floors and in this area I think carpet just makes more sense.

[Flynn]

Ahhh carpet. I've spent TONS of time on carpet in the last year.


Let's see. We had a small amount of carpet bought and installed in our old house by Home Depot. They did a fine job. No problems.

Wool verses stain resistent: wool is more expensive but is made more environmentally friendly and is naturally stain resistent -- stain resistent is generally cheaper (synthetic carpet) however. We have both in our new house. Again, the wool is more expensive.

I would get multiple bids from different stores. Some places will have the same price for a specific carpet but the labor and delivery is much different. Look for hidden charges.

Are you looking to do ONE kind of carpet or different kinds? There are upcharges for each additional carpet you add in addition to the different price with installing the carpet usually.

If you are looking for one kind of carpet go with something neutral and high traffic. Most are labled "good in high traffic areas." That way, it won't look worn on the stairs or high traffic areas, and look great in the bedrooms.

I like texture. It's a subtle way to add personality to your house. Our stairs have a "runner style" carpet mix in loop and pile with a subtle stripe in them. It sounds awful but looks awesome. It's all one color but the texture stripe really adds a lot. DD has a buttercream carpet (a neutral yellow) with pokadots in the same color as texture. It looks great in a kids room and adds a lot to the "look" of the room.

I think looking for things $5.00 or less is "reasonable" carpet. (I believe they tally it by the square yard.) Look for carpets where the color is discontinued or the style is for extra savings. You can save a bundle but make sure they have ENOUGH to do your whole space before you get too excited. If they run out or make a mistake in the calculation, you get upcharged for an additional carpet choice.

I will also toss my hat into the ring for hardwoods. They just look awesome. Pergo makes a "hard wood knock off" that my brother just installed. It looks good and won't scratch like some hardwoods will with dog claws. It gives a house a little more sophistication IMO.

When are you planning on doing this Cheri? Soon? Or AFTER St. Patrick's Day (hint hint hint ). We can chat soon if you have a loose timeline.

[SuzySunshine]

No, we're not running out to buy carpet tomorrow. We'll have to look at yours Flynn.

As for wood floors - when I think of houses with wood floors I think of darker wall colors, more sophisticated homes. Our house is neither of those. 90% of our house has white walls. I just don't know that we're ready to take that plunge. Plus if you put in wood floors what do you put on the stairs?

I'll toss it out to DH and see what he says.

[PrincessFiona]

I still vote for the laminate wood, Cheri. Like you said..when you think of wooden floors, you think of a sophisticated house. Area rugs? ehhhh....not that big of a deal. You shouldn't need that many..and laminate wears so much better than carpet or real wood....really!

I honestly think you'd get more bang for your buck when you go to sell the house if you do laminate wood....

But..that's just me obsessively watching Designed-To-Sell giving my totally non-interior decorator opinion.

kris

[houseelf]

Kris, dahlin', you know I love you...

...but

Seriously? laminate flooring after what you've been through? Are you nuts?

Kelly