I have never purchased new carpet and do not know where to begin. What type of carpet is best for high traffic areas? This will be in our living room. Thanks for the input!
This Site Might Help You. RE: Carpet recommendations? I have never purchased new carpet and do not know where to begin. What type of carpet is best for high traffic areas? This will be in our living room. Thanks for the input!
We just purchased a new carpet for our home, I had never purchased one new before either. The one we got was a Mohawk brand with stain guard on it. Make sure the seller at the carpet place explains the yarn count to you too. This makes a big difference in carpet. Also when buying a padding for underneath the carpet, we bought a platinum one because of the high traffic here and we wanted a little cushion on the floors.
Just my area or expertise. I own a small carpet and flooring store. First thing is style or type. You have three to choose from; berber or continuous loop, saxony or plush, and frieze. They tend to go in that order for price and quality also. If you like continuous loop, it will give you real good balance of price to quality. Be careful not to go too cheap with any of them. You may be able to save a couple of dollars per yard up front, but if you have to replace it in just a few years, it will cost more in the long run to pay for another installation and new pad. In most cases a 6# pad is plenty and it won't help the life of the carpet to waste money on anything more. Make sure you get one (the carpet that is) with some sort of stain repellant. Many will be sold as Stainmaster Tacteese or some other brand name. These are nice since they are coated over the whole fiber. Ones that say that they have Scotchguard are just a topical application put on after production. Shaw makes an unbranded one they call R2X that is full fiber and is lower in price since it is unbranded. I have found that if it is something fairly basic and not a special fancy pattern, I can usually cross real close from one brand to another with substitutes. In so doing, I can usually come in a good bit cheaper in Shaw carpets than any other. Shaw is the main brand but the sub brands are Philadelphia, Sutton, Queen, Kathy Ireland collection and so on. Try to go to an unbranded store. What I mean by that is someplace that is not Carpet One, Abbey, etc. These places put their own names on things and go through a parent company that adds to the markup. Have fun shopping and enjoy your new carpet.
It really depends on what you're looking for. Berber's do snag easily and I don't recommend them, and there are many that are expensive. A thick plush with an upgraded pad works/looks great. A medium color that will hide stains (traffic foot prints) is also better, as apposed to light or to dark and they show everything. A good installer will also make it or break it on how long even the most expensive carpets last. Make sure if your room is to large for the roll of carpet that they put the Seams out of high traffic areas. And taking care of the carpet will also make it last longer.
Nylon all the way. Wool is superb but very $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Saxony, Plush or Frieze with a 40oz+ face weight with a good padding----Slab Rubber and Frothed Foam are the Luxury pads...light years above Rebond. Note: Buy the best pad you can afford. The pad will make the carpet look better and last longer.
