Need to replace the carpet in a house I'm purchasing here in a few weeks. Anybody in the Des Moines area you would recommend?
New Carpet
- Thread starter chuckd4735
- Start date
We just set up with Nebraska Furniture Mart to do a few rooms in our house. Usually they're pretty competitive and have good service. Home Depot has a free installation deal going on right now (with some requirements, of course), and NFM matched that for us, no questions asked.
Why would we want to help you out, you Bill Self defender!?
Installation is not free, that’s just sucker marketing that Lowe’s and HD are going back and forth with. Box stores typically send out subs that can’t get work anywhere else and will be hard pressed to stand behind anything they do. If you have a Warranty issue relating to product or install, there’s the potential for you to be in the middle calling an installer who doesn’t care and a store that says it’s not their fault they just sold the material. Strongly recommend going to an actual flooring store.
You get what you pay for! Don’t buy carpet based on ounce weight, instead buy it based on fiber. If you have kids/pets and it’s a home you plan on keeping, buy nylon or smartstrand. Those two will be your best bet as far as durability and stain resistance.
Cushion is important, if you have kids/pets buy something with a vapor barrier or closed cell foam.
Reasonable quality carpet, cushion, and installation should be somewhere in the $3-5/sqft range. Obviously you can spend more depending on selection. Under $3/sqft all in and you’re likely in polyester products and they will not perform as well as those mentioned above.
You get what you pay for! Don’t buy carpet based on ounce weight, instead buy it based on fiber. If you have kids/pets and it’s a home you plan on keeping, buy nylon or smartstrand. Those two will be your best bet as far as durability and stain resistance.
Cushion is important, if you have kids/pets buy something with a vapor barrier or closed cell foam.
Reasonable quality carpet, cushion, and installation should be somewhere in the $3-5/sqft range. Obviously you can spend more depending on selection. Under $3/sqft all in and you’re likely in polyester products and they will not perform as well as those mentioned above.
We went through Home Depot, newly finished basement bedroom and stairs. He did a great job. I get that it's a sub doing the work, but our guy was really good, courteous, offered to do the Hollywood style installation on the stairs even though we hadn't planned on it. Took him longer but looks much better. I agree with poster above, pay up for the better pad.
Polyester definitely feels better/softer but nylon is the goods when it comes to stain protection.
We did our living room through HD and didn’t have any complaints on the install. Our issues are with the carpet itself. We paid extra for a thicker pad and the higher end (durable) carpet. Think we paid something like $3.50/sf.
We have two large dogs (65 and 85 lbs) and small kids. So we wanted something that could handle high traffic as this room is our main entry/exit from our house. Two years later and the carpet has serious signs of wear. By the couch where we spend most of our time, the carpet is matted down to the point of no recovery. Doesn’t even change after vacuuming. It’s also obvious where the most foot traffic is and is not.
Looking back at the receipt, looks like the brand was “Trendy Threads II”. I’m sure there’s some warranty on it, but it would probably cost me like $500 to replace the area where the issues are and not worth my time to fight with HD or the manufacturer. We’ll be selling in a couple years and I’ll just have it replaced before we put it on the market.
Long story short: find some place that has better products than HD. Like someone else said: the install isn’t free. They role that into the price and use cheaper materials to coax idiots like me into buying from them.
Nylon, smartstrand, and poly all come in varying levels of softness. If price is the only variable you can get into a soft polyester for least cost, but it won’t carry the same durability as the aforementioned premium fibers.
Arguably the softest carpet on the market is smartstrand silk reserve, which is bananas soft and very durable, but it’s is like $5-$6/sqft installed with cushion.
All really depends on how long you’re gonna be there. Rental or listing a property, find best value. Forever home or dog/kids? Spend extra on the premium goods it will be worth it in the long run.
Product notes “15 year limited wear warranty”. They would send an independent inspector over and if you haven’t had it professionally cleaned annually and if you aren’t using the correct vacuum regularly they will likely deny the claim for neglect to care. Wouldn’t hurt to call. You would still be on the hook for labor, warranty replacement only covers material through HD, Lowe’s, etc. in most cases.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Trendy-...ture-12-ft-Carpet-H0104-795-1200-AB/205438513
Polyester carpet right here though is the issue. You bought the “upgraded” thicker version of the same carpet which means more comfort, but not more performance or durability. This is why I recommend looking at fiber not density/ounce weight. Not your fault, to 90% of people carpet is just carpet and you buy it like once every 20 years so it’s not like most anyone knows what is good or bad, but that’s what the point of sale should be helping with which is why I encourage going to a local flooring store.
A good flooring sales person will ask questions to help identify the right product type for your home. “I have two big dogs and small kids” is flooring sales 101 stuff for this individual needs to be shown very durable goods and explained why it’s worth their $ to spend the extra for it.
I used to be in the flooring industry and really every flooring choice depends on how you use your home and the area it is to be installed in.
Pro Source Wholesale. Period. Best price, knowlegdable and experienced staff, quality labor.
Steve French above speaks a lot of truth and facts.
Polyester is affordable, great stain resistance, ok durability but not longevity.
Nylon is awesome in durability, good on stain, except acidic accidents like pet urine, wine, bleach, etc.
Smartstrand is best of both.
Above criteria based on similar style and constructions.
Short and dense out performs tall and fluffy,
Steve French above speaks a lot of truth and facts.
Polyester is affordable, great stain resistance, ok durability but not longevity.
Nylon is awesome in durability, good on stain, except acidic accidents like pet urine, wine, bleach, etc.
Smartstrand is best of both.
Above criteria based on similar style and constructions.
Short and dense out performs tall and fluffy,
Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. Like most people, we didn't know the first thing about carpet and went on what the salesperson recommended. We told him our situation with dogs/kids and he highly recommended the carpet we purchased. I even recall him specifically saying "oh yeah, this stuff is great for families with big dogs. It holds up well against that." Either he was ignorant or willfully sold us an inferior product, or some combination of both.
I know I could call the manufacturer and I MIGHT get some recourse. But this entire room was only a $1300 job and really only half of it has the wear issue (we don't spend much time in one half of the room). So, at best, they'd replace half the carpet, but would only cover the cost of the carpet itself, as you said. The pad is fine, so it's really only the carpet itself. At the end of the day, we're talking about a few hundred bucks saved if they actually even agreed to replace it. That cost compared with the hours of my life that would be needed to actually fight them over it is not worth it. I'll take the loss and probably just put back the same carpet right before we sell...assuming they still carry that brand/color. I'll chalk it all up to a life lesson learned and get a better product the next time.
Nebraska Furniture Mart. They will match or beat any other store's deals (if they aren't already cheaper) and they are great to work with.
Don't be afraid to haggle on price . There is tremendous mark up on carpet. Most places will come out an measure room which is good because it take you off the hook from being short. But, watch at the end of installation to make sure they did not oversell.
That's all I got.
That's all I got.
A buddy of mine has been doing flooring for a while, and just opened up Crown Flooring this year. Give him a call and see what he'll quote. Not sure if he can keep up with the major stores cheap crap, but I bet you'll be satisfied with the quality and value. Call Dana at 515-202-6461.
