Carpet Buying Advice
Buying carpet for your home is not just a purchase, it is an investment. Good quality carpeting adds value to your home for resale should you be planning on moving within five to seven years of your purchase. A quality carpet will also have a considerably longer lifespan, and better warranty, than carpeting of a lesser grade. This saves you money over time. Budget carpeting can end up costing you in the long term.
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Style
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Textured and plush carpeting are densely fibered styles that resist indentations and tolerate high traffic. Carpeting with longer fibers, called twist style, is more casual in appearance and, though durable, may shed when vacuumed. Berbers or close looped styles are hard-wearing and often seen in commercial applications. A note of caution, however, regarding close looped carpeting: one pulled loop can unravel an entire row of this carpeting.
Color
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Always take home samples of the carpeting you're interested in purchasing. Lighting effects color. Bringing samples home allows you to see what the color will look like in your lighting. An often-used decorating trick is to install neutral colored carpeting in gray, brown or cream. If you do want a richer color for your carpet, try mid-range greens, rust colors or lighter blues. These are all colors that work well in most design schemes and are neutral enough for future buyers.
Warranties
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Check that any carpet warranty covers color fading and staining. Higher priced carpets usually have 20-year warranties; this can prove invaluable should your carpet fade or stain. Be warned, though. Warranties against staining often have clauses such as "doesn't include mustard or oil-based products". Warranties also demand that carpets be installed to the distributors' standards and that usually means professionally installed through a service offered by the retailer.
Padding
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Expect to purchase new padding with your new carpet. Not only can installing new carpet over old padding void your warranty, the carpet backing may be subject to abrasion, reducing its life span. Purchase the better padding option, and if offered, one with a vinyl spill pad. This not only extends the life of the carpet, it makes cleaning the carpet easier.
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