How To Buy Carpets

Going out hunting for the best carpet to suit your taste and needs? Buying carpet to enhance your home can be tough, choosing the right color, fabric, style, quality and price can take forever, plus the fact that carpet scams have become so prevalent in the market today.

Before making that huge decision on which carpet to buy or which carpet company or retailer to contact, it might help you to keep these carpet buying tips and safeguards in mind.

Choosing the Right Fiber

  • Nylon – Nylon carpets are the highest selling type of commercial rug, they are also the most durable and stain resistant carpet fiber available. If your home is the type with children and pets running around, then, this just might be your carpet of choice.
  • Polyester – If you want to achieve a luxurious look in your home, then polyester carpets could be the one for you. Polyester rugs come in a variety of colors and styles to fit most any taste. It’s a good value for homes with a normal amount of traffic. It is less durable and stain resistant than nylon, though.
  • Polypropylene (Olefin) – This type of fiber offers good stain and moisture resistance, but comes only in limited styles and colors.
  • Wool – If you want something elegant and beautiful, and have the money to spend for an expensive carpet, then wool is the answer. This type of rug is said to be “favored for its natural beauty.”

Choosing the Most Stain Resistant
When choosing the right carpet for your home, make sure you take into consideration the amount of traffic in the house, like if you have kids, pets, or entertain regular visitors. Buy the carpet that will suit your everyday needs.

Choosing the Color
Your carpet must connect all the other design elements in a room. Your carpet’s color scheme must compliment your walls, window treatments and other furnishings.

To help you decide easier, bring home fabric and color samples from the store you visit. Make sure to check the samples during the day and at night. The lighting in the store could give the colors different shades than how they’d look at home. Also, check out the samples on the floor to get a better view.

Choosing the Style

Woven:
Refined for centuries, weaving is the method by which the ultimate quality carpets are made.

Tufted:
In this modern development, loops of yarn are inserted (tufted) into a pre-woven backing. Tufting brings versatility to designers and affordability to buyers. By far, most carpeting sold today is tufted. Tufted carpets come in three styles:

  • Cut Pile
    This consists of yarns that are cut at the ends. Its soft feel makes it perfect for your bedroom, living room and family room.
  • Loop Pile
    Loop Pile carpet has loops that are not cut, forming tufts that bend over into the backing. This type of carpet has excellent durability, strength and soil hiding capabilities. Generally, they are good for higher traffic areas.
  • Cut & Loop
    Cut and Loop carpet has both types of tufts. You find Cut & Loop carpets in both formal and casual settings. This type are slightly less durable than loop carpets.

Choosing the Most Affordable
Before making your big decision, go to several carpet retailers and outlets and look over various brands and carpet samples. List down and compare prices with atleast 4-5 varieties, in this way you can make a short list of the best picks in terms of affordability. When you find the ones you like, borrow samples of these to check at home.

Basic Need to Know’s
Here’s a quick list of important questions you might want to ask the sales person before buying a carpet. Knowing these will minimize the risk of you being victimized by carpet scams.

  • Do you do in-home carpet estimates for free?
  • If not, then what are the charges and procedures?
  • Can I take samples of your carpet colors and styles at home to check how it will look my room?
  • Are there warranties for the flooring? Padding? Installation?
  • How long will it take for my carpet to be installed after I place my order?
  • How easy is this type of carpet to maintain?
  • Who will take care of removing and disposing my old carpet and padding? Is there an additional fee for this?

Tips on how to detect if there is a scam
When buying carpets, know the following carpet scams, and protect yourself from them.

Scam #1:
After having painstakingly and meticulously chosen the perfect carpet, you’d think you can now sit back and let the carpet companies do the installing. But you just might be shocked to find out that the yarn, color, and density of the rug they have installed on your floor is far inferior to what you’ve actually ordered and paid for.

To protect yourself from this, make sure to keep the exact carpet sample you took and compare its yarn type, color, and density with that which they have delivered and is about to install. If it is not exactly the same as your sample, then say no immediately.

Scam #2:
Untoward and unexpected incidents could happen while your carpet installers are doing their work. Make sure to keep out and put in a safe place valuable and breakable items in the house. Carpet company installers can sometimes be careless resulting in damaged figurines and home pieces.

To make it even worst, if you do not keep an eye on them during your carpet installation, they might not even let you know if they’ve accidentally broken something.

Scam # 3:
Pre-measure each room of the house you want carpeted, take the measurement of its length and width, including closets. Many carpet companies might try to cheat you on the total measurement of the carpeting you need. Even worst, during the installation day, they might not deliver the exact size you agreed on and paid for.

So make sure to take your own accurate measurements so you’ll know if you’re being scammed.

Scam # 4:
Pay the carpet company only until you are completely satisfied with their work, making sure all the details you agreed on and paid for are achieved. Until then, never hand them over the money, because if you do so, you will surely have a harder time demanding your moneys worth.

Scam # 5:
Make sure to make that last check around each room of the house after your carpet company has completed installation. You may find that some work have not been properly done and may require reinstalling, it is best to have them do this right away while they are still waiting to get paid.

But if you are completely satisfied, then sign all the paperwork, keep your important documents, and enjoy your new carpet.

Keeping Purchase Records
After you’ve finally made your decision on which carpet to buy, and after having it successfully installed in your home, you also might want to keep important records of the company or retailer you did business with. Here’s a list of the papers you should keep:

  • Date of Purchase/ Date of Installation
  • Store address/ Store branch
  • Phone Number
  • Name of salesperson
  • Carpet brand name
  • Padding type
  • Style name and color code
  • Type of Fiber
  • Warranty Receipt

6 comments

  1. I do like the suggestions you make about the style of carpet you should choose for your home. After all, a lot of that should be determined by the factors around your home. For example, if you have dogs, then you’ll want to choose a style that is very resistant to them running on it every day. http://www.supacheapcarpets.com.au/carpet

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  2. I like what you say about comparing at least 4 to 5 retailers to make sure you’re getting the best price for your carpet. With so many dealers out there, you can usually find ones that are willing to work with you on a better price. We’re looking to put new carpet in most of our house soon, so I guess I’d better start shopping around. http://redmountaincarpet.com/home.html

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  3. First of all, the interior determines the choice of carpet. If the décor was originally made in the classical style, then the carpet must chosen in the classical version, for the modern interior, the appropriate option is preferable. Difficulties in making a decision can be caused only by a huge assortment of offered products with their bewitching beauty. So when you have decided on the design in which you will have a carpet – you can start choosing the material, pay attention to the touch. Very steep woolen carpets, but they are very demanding to care. And most often expensive. Therefore, I recommend carpets with cheaper materials. And you can compare prices on a large number of sites, for example angieslist.com

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