Carpet Purchase ...need input

We are planning on recarpeting our home... with mid to upper quality
carpeting.
We have 2 children 14 and 11. No dogs, no cats.

We are not at all handy, so we will get the carpet installed.


Generally speaking

1. There are quite a few different types of materials used in
carpets...nylon etc.
Which offers the best value for money ...if one is thinking of having
it for say 10 years or so.

2. Which company offers best value...Home Depot, Lowe's or a small mom
and pop store.
When we checked we found the large stores like Home Depot were less
expensive.

3. In terms of colors .. for resale of home.. ...any suggestions ?


Any input / suggestions on buying /installing carpeting / padding etc ?

Thanks
Susan

wrote in message
2. Which company offers best value...Home Depot, Lowe's or a small mom
and pop store.
When we checked we found the large stores like Home Depot were less
expensive.

They may have been a bit less expensive at the big store, but you probably
won't get the same level of service either. You may even be downright
unhappy with them from what I've been hearing. You may or may not get a good
installer, Crap shoot.

Check a couple of small local dealers. You may find that they are very
competitive, offer a better quality, stand behind their installers, offer
better services. Considering the total cost, the life of the carpet, it is
well worth an extra $100 to have a perfect job over one of the cheapest
installer.

A good dealer will also take a lot of time to answer all of your questions,
especially about material types and what is best for your needs. Our local
dealer had over 35 years in the business, compared to how long for the
salesman at the big box store? Just my opinion, but carpet is too big an
expense and something that you live with for years, so don't take chances.

wrote in message
oups.com...

Carpet Purchase ...need input

We are planning on recarpeting our home... with mid to upper quality
carpeting.
We have 2 children 14 and 11. No dogs, no cats.

We are not at all handy, so we will get the carpet installed.


Generally speaking

1. There are quite a few different types of materials used in
carpets...nylon etc.
Which offers the best value for money ...if one is thinking of having
it for say 10 years or so.

2. Which company offers best value...Home Depot, Lowe's or a small mom
and pop store.
When we checked we found the large stores like Home Depot were less
expensive.

3. In terms of colors .. for resale of home.. ...any suggestions ?


Any input / suggestions on buying /installing carpeting / padding etc ?

I like nylon but make sure it is anti-stat and has soil hiding capabilities
like trilobal filaments and anti-soil finish.
Nylon holds up better than other fibers but look for high basis weight, i.e.
lots of fiber in the carpet.
Neutral colors are best for house resale. Avoid white as it is hardest to
keep clean.
Get a good padding. Cheap ones tend to collapse and you'll have dents
unrecoverable when you move furniture.
Branded and certified best. Remnant stores can be cheapest but it is a crap
shoot what you will get.
Frank

wrote:
Carpet Purchase ...need input

We are planning on recarpeting our home... with mid to upper quality
carpeting.
We have 2 children 14 and 11. No dogs, no cats.

We are not at all handy, so we will get the carpet installed.


Generally speaking

1. There are quite a few different types of materials used in
carpets...nylon etc.
Which offers the best value for money ...if one is thinking of having
it for say 10 years or so.

2. Which company offers best value...Home Depot, Lowe's or a small mom
and pop store.
When we checked we found the large stores like Home Depot were less
expensive.


I like mom & pop stores where you get better service and you actually
are dealing with a responsible person who has reliable installers that
they know and trust.


3. In terms of colors .. for resale of home.. ...any suggestions ?

You said 10 years not 10 weeks so I would buy what you like since you
will be looking at it for 10 years. Appealing to whatever might be
popular in 10 years would be a distant consideration.



Any input / suggestions on buying /installing carpeting / padding etc ?

Thanks
Susan

wrote:
Carpet Purchase ...need input

We are planning on recarpeting our home... with mid to upper quality
carpeting.
We have 2 children 14 and 11. No dogs, no cats.

We are not at all handy, so we will get the carpet installed.


Generally speaking

1. There are quite a few different types of materials used in
carpets...nylon etc.
Which offers the best value for money ...if one is thinking of having
it for say 10 years or so.

Australian or New Zealand wool. You can't shoot a bullet through that stuff.
Will last thirty years, or the lifetime of a sheep.


2. Which company offers best value...Home Depot, Lowe's or a small mom
and pop store.
When we checked we found the large stores like Home Depot were less
expensive.

Neither will have wool. It'll probably be a special order. Check with
commercial carpet companies that provide carpeting for businesses. Imagine
the durability of the carpet at a movie theatre...

In article .com, wrote:

1. There are quite a few different types of materials used in
carpets...nylon etc.
Which offers the best value for money ...if one is thinking of having
it for say 10 years or so.

For quality and looks, one of the wool/polyester blends would
be my choice. Take account of any allergies or skin conditions
in family members -- they sometimes contra-indicate specific
materials.

2. Which company offers best value...Home Depot, Lowe's or a small mom
and pop store.
When we checked we found the large stores like Home Depot were less
expensive.

Home Depot and Lowe's do offer good value for money, even though
their service tends to suck. The good mom and pop stores offer
great service (but you'll likely pay a premium). The bad mom
and pop stores can really suck just as much as the major chains.

3. In terms of colors .. for resale of home.. ...any suggestions ?

For resale -- light neutral colors every time. They're kind
of boring and not so practical in that they will show any
marks and stains very easily. But realtors and builders know
that the standard plain light beige is what sells.

Dark patterned designs are more practical (hide marks) and
can look nice depending on your style of home and furnishings.

For 10 years... select what *you* like. Figure that it
may well be worth putting down some new, cheap, plain
light beige at the time you come to sell. Your realtor
will know exactly what to do (and be aware of any local
regional factors).

Any input / suggestions on buying /installing carpeting / padding etc ?

Select the carpet first and then check the manufacturers
recommendation with respect to padding.

Installation is really very simple for someone that has
done it a few hundred or thousand times before and has
the basic tools. The skill required is really not that
great. What counts is attitude. Hope for an installer
that cares about a neat/tidy/sound installation -- too
many care only about how fast they can complete the job,
collect the check and run.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message

Home Depot and Lowe's do offer good value for money, even though
their service tends to suck.

So you consider poor service as part of a good value? No wonder customer
service in this country is going to hell.

In article , "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message

Home Depot and Lowe's do offer good value for money, even though
their service tends to suck.

So you consider poor service as part of a good value?

That's not what I said or meant.

Sometimes (actually pretty often) I can't afford perfection.

And I will often tend to choose a good product with crappy
service over a crappy product with good service.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message

Home Depot and Lowe's do offer good value for money, even though
their service tends to suck.

So you consider poor service as part of a good value?

That's not what I said or meant.

Sometimes (actually pretty often) I can't afford perfection.

And I will often tend to choose a good product with crappy
service over a crappy product with good service.

I left in exactly what you said. The store offers good value for the money,
even though their service tends to suck. Knowing they offer poor service,
you are willing to buy (that is your choice), but, IMO, if the service sucks
it is not a good value at any price. As long as customers knowingly accept
poor service, the stores will continue to provide it. Business loves
customers like that.

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message
Home Depot and Lowe's do offer good value for money, even though
their service tends to suck.
So you consider poor service as part of a good value?
That's not what I said or meant.

Sometimes (actually pretty often) I can't afford perfection.

And I will often tend to choose a good product with crappy
service over a crappy product with good service.

I left in exactly what you said. The store offers good value for the money,
even though their service tends to suck. Knowing they offer poor service,
you are willing to buy (that is your choice), but, IMO, if the service sucks
it is not a good value at any price. As long as customers knowingly accept
poor service, the stores will continue to provide it. Business loves
customers like that.



I come to the same exact conclusion as you did.

In article ,
says...

wrote in message
2. Which company offers best value...Home Depot, Lowe's or a small mom
and pop store.
When we checked we found the large stores like Home Depot were less
expensive.

They may have been a bit less expensive at the big store, but you probably
won't get the same level of service either. You may even be downright
unhappy with them from what I've been hearing. You may or may not get a good
installer, Crap shoot.

I've heard that too. We just had our entire upstairs done by
HomeDespot. The installers were fantastic. Very professional,
fast, and didn't nickel and dime me for "moving stuff". Great
father-son team. We'll see what happens when we get the first
floor done (I'm going to request the same team).

Check a couple of small local dealers. You may find that they are very
competitive, offer a better quality, stand behind their installers, offer
better services. Considering the total cost, the life of the carpet, it is
well worth an extra $100 to have a perfect job over one of the cheapest
installer.

I'd agree, if it were chump-change. It's often far more than that.

A good dealer will also take a lot of time to answer all of your questions,
especially about material types and what is best for your needs. Our local
dealer had over 35 years in the business, compared to how long for the
salesman at the big box store? Just my opinion, but carpet is too big an
expense and something that you live with for years, so don't take chances.

Carpet is like furniture. There is *huge* overhead for the local
stores.

--
Keith

In article , "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message

Home Depot and Lowe's do offer good value for money, even though
their service tends to suck.

So you consider poor service as part of a good value?

That's not what I said or meant.

Sometimes (actually pretty often) I can't afford perfection.

And I will often tend to choose a good product with crappy
service over a crappy product with good service.

I left in exactly what you said. The store offers good value for the money,
even though their service tends to suck. Knowing they offer poor service,
you are willing to buy (that is your choice), but, IMO, if the service sucks
it is not a good value at any price.

Our opinions differ. I will and do sometimes except some
poor elements of service in order to save a lot of money.
Frankly, I can't afford to do otherwise. Perhaps you can.

I do however go to great lengths to avoid vendors who
offer poor value.

And while Home Depot drives me crazy at time, some aspects
of their service are quite good. In my case, they have a
large inventory of generally useful stuff positioned less
than half a mile from my home and open 12 hours/day.

Their delivery service is overpriced and inconvenient.
But they will rent me a truck my the hour for a very decent
price.

As long as customers knowingly accept poor service, the
stores will continue to provide it.

In some cases, the service levels (or some aspects of them)
really don't matter very much in terms of the overall
value proposition. I dislike queuing at the checkout with
a passion. But I'll do it to save $100.

In other cases, service is everything!

Business loves customers like that.

Business loves customers who will pay massive premiums on
the price. Business is about profit -- what money they can
make minus what it costs them to make it.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Answered in the other newsgroup you posted this to.

Next time, consider cross posting instead of multi posting so all
groups benefit from all replies.

--
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/