How
To Choose The Right Carpet
By
Alan
Fletcher - Carpet Expert, Consumer Advocate
aka The Carpet Professor
What
Homeowners Need To Know First...
I don't sell or install
Carpet anymore, I've retired after 30-years
in the carpet business and now enjoy helping homeowners learn how to Avoid
scams and make
wise and informed Carpet buying choices.
Retail
Carpet Scams
There
are literally dozens of common Carpet Scams and sneaky retailer Sales
Gimmicks to watch out for. Make the
wrong carpet choices and you can easily overpay by hundreds or more. Even worse is
when your new carpet does not last as long as you hope. That's why it's so important that you
take the time to learn how to choose new carpet wisely and then make sure you buy from an honest, reputable, and
locally-owned Carpet
Dealer.
Honest
Carpet Information for Homeowners
First, don't blindly trust anything you read on the internet
because most of the Carpet Information I find posted online is either wrong, incomplete or misleading.
Websites
that sell carpet or who are affiliated with a carpet manufacturer will only
tell you the good qualities of their products and forget to mention any
of the bad qualities that you really need to know about before you can make a
wise choice!
Carpet
Specifications
How
well a Carpet is made plays a huge part in how long it can last and the
materials used will determine its
level of durability. Every carpet made has it's own unique set of manufacturing
specifications that determine the capabilities of that carpet. Take
a look at my special Carpet
Durability Guide
Carpet
Fibers
The most common carpet fibers today are Nylon, Olefin, Polyester, P.E.T., and Sorona.
(aka Smartstrand) Each Carpet fiber has its own good and not-so-good
qualities, traits and benefits. This
is key information you need to know. Learn
what you need to know about Carpet
Fibers
Carpet
Durability
How
long do you want your new carpet to last? This is a very important question
you need to be able to answer before you can choose the right carpet for your home.
Expect to spend more if you want your carpet to last longer. You need to determine your level of foot traffic so you can select the
correct carpet grade or level of durability.
Free
Carpet Foot-Traffic Test
The real secret to choosing the right carpet
for your home is to select a grade of carpet that is capable of meeting your needs, goals,
and lifestyle. Take my free Carpet
Foot Traffic Test to help determine What Grade of Carpet
is
designed to meet or exceed your needs and goals.
Carpet
scams are everywhere and it's hard to avoid them!
The easiest way to avoid becoming the victim of a scam is to buy from an
honest and Reputable Carpet
Dealer.
I never recommend buying
carpet or flooring from a big box
home improvement retailer like Lowe's and Home Depot or from a nationally advertised retail
conglomerate like Empire Today or Costco. Learn about Common
Carpet Scams
I
have found homeowners typically get the best service from locally owned
flooring dealers. I have gathered my own special list of flooring dealers that
I prefer, I may know of an honest and reputable Carpet
Dealer near you to visit and get a free in-home measure and
estimate.
No
matter who you buy from, you need to
make sure to choose your new carpet wisely, select the correct padding
and have your carpet
installed properly. In addition to all that, you need to make sure you get a
fair and square price AND maintain your new carpet within the
strict guidelines of the manufacturer's limited carpet warranty.
Smartstrand
vs Stainmaster Carpet Cost and Pricing
Everyone
wants to know about Stainmaster and Mohawk Smartstrand Carpet Prices and although
these are just two of the many quality carpet brands on the market today, Stainmaster
and Mohawk do a lot of national advertising and their carpet prices are
typically a bit higher as a result of that. Learn
more about Smartstrand
and Stainmaster Carpet Fibers.
Lowe's now carries Stainmaster
Carpet and their prices are difficult to compare with other locally-owned carpet
retailers because they use private labels to prevent you from comparison
shopping. They purposely change the style name and color name on their
samples to make comparison shopping difficult for you. Read more about Carpet
Prices
The main three carpet
manufacturers today are Mohawk, Shaw and Beaulieu (pronounced Bowl-you). These
big three mills have bought up most of the smaller carpet mills in recent years.
This makes for a less competitive marketplace and increases carpet prices for
the consumer. See my List of
Over 60 Carpet Mill Websites
Homeowners
Be On Guard for Carpet Scams!
There are plenty of
unscrupulous Shop-at-home Carpet Retailers who are hoping for the
chance to take advantage of you. Most of these advertise heavily on TV and
offer special deals that sound too good to be true. Their goal is to
scam you out of your hard-earned money by selling you a low-quality carpet at
a high-quality price. They don't care if your new carpet meets your needs or goals,
they only care about making as much profit as possible. They tend to
hire pushy sales people who specialize in closing the deal in the comfort of
your home! Learn more at: http://homecarpetshopping.com/
Choosing
New Carpet wisely and saving the most money possible requires that you learn a
few important facts. So before you begin shopping for Carpet you need to learn
a few things about how Carpet is made and a little bit about padding and
installation too. I've posted dozens of web pages here for you to read and
learn from, and it's all totally free. Learn about Carpet
Fibers
The
#1 Problem with Choosing New Carpet
It can be quite difficult for homeowners to
tell the difference between a cheaply made carpet and a well-made carpet. You
can't always tell just by looking at the carpet or by feeling the top surface
of the carpet. Some carpet salespeople will tell you to rub your hand across
the surface of the carpet to feel how soft it is. Yes it is soft, however this
softness has little to do with the grade level or quality of the carpet in
question. Learn
about Carpet
Comparison
YOU
NEED TO GET ALL THE CARPET SPECIFICATIONS!
Some
carpet salespeople may say they cannot get the carpet specifications or that
they are not available anymore. This is nonsense! The specifications are available
from the mill or from the manufacturers sales rep. It may take a couple of
days to get them, but they are available if the salesperson is willing to take
the time to help you.
The
only mill that does not provide specs is Karastan. They make high-end carpets
and think you shouldn't need to ask for specs since they only make the best
carpet. Buy Karastan carpet at your own risk.
You must have unfettered access to the
Carpet
Specifications in order to determine if the carpet has sufficient quality to meet
your needs, goals and lifestyle. Unfortunately,
unscrupulous carpet retailers often remove, alter or hide the Carpet Specifications so you don't have complete access to them. Without complete
access to all the carpet specifications you cannot determine if the carpet is
capable of tolerating your level of foot traffic for the length of time you
require. Learn about Carpet
Specifications
New
Carpet Warranties Suck!
Based
on what I've learned over the years, you should never choose a carpet based
solely on the new carpet warranty or the Manufacturer's
Wear Rating. The
"Wear Warranty" often called the PAR Rating is not as accurate you
hope it is, and in my 30+ years, I have never heard
of any homeowner getting their carpet replaced due to a discrepancy with a "Wear Warranty".
Sadly, except for the "manufacturing defect" part of the warranty, I think that
most new carpet warranties are practically worthless.
Carpet Manufacturers
know how to word warranties in such a way to make it nearly impossible for
homeowners to substantiate a valid claim. And even if you manage to prove your
claim, they seldom
replace the entire carpet, they usually replace only the affected areas and
just give you a small in-store credit that is pro-rated based on the size and age of the
affected carpet. You may also be responsible for moving your furniture
and paying for some additional installation fees and charges. Learn more about
Carpet Installation Cost
Read more about the
Cost
to Buy Carpet.
