New Carpet

Friends,
Thinking of changing the carpet in home which is 12 years old. Can someone please advice on how/where to start?

Mine is approximately 1500 sq foot house.

How much do you think is reasonable to spend ?

Does home depot have good ones. Thanks for advice/suggestions.

about 4 yrs ago, i had about 1000sq ft carpeted, including the stairs. i called 2 of those do-it-the-same day places (Empire and i can't remember the other one), as well as home depot. i think empire came out the lowest price. i had their thickest carpet pad put in("free upgrade" the guy said) and then some decent middle of the road carpeting. i think the total cost was about $3,000.

in terms of picking out the carpet, if i had to do it again, i think i would pay more for that "shag" carpeting - the one where the carpet fibers are long. the carpet i have, you can see has been padded down, especially in the high traffic areas. that shag stuff, doesnt get padded down as visibly. not sure if that makes sense.

so call home depot/lowes, generally their pricing will be the same, unless you can tag on a 10% off coupon or something. remember that if you have furniture on your carpeting, the install cost usually doesnt include moving any of that furniture.

Our Lowes ad that came in today has whole house installation for $249 which includes "moving normal furniture" & removal and haul away of old carpet. That may be something to check out. But I wouldn't go cheap on the carpet at all. We made that mistake once and it was terrible. The carpet was constantly shedding fibers and didn't look like a new carpet after just a few months! Get something with the best wear warranty possible even if it means spending more. You'll be much happier.

Quote from dealsfreak : Friends, Thinking of changing the carpet in home which is 12 years old. Can someone please advice on how/where to start? Mine is approximately 1500 sq foot house. How much do you think is reasonable to spend ? Does home depot have good ones. Thanks for advice/suggestions.

If it were me I'd check out HD, Lowes, and Empire (and maybe some others as well).

I seriously recommend you considering getting a better pad. It makes such a huge difference! A lot of people think it's the carpet that makes your floor feel so comfy and while it's part of it I'd venture to say the pad is equally important if not more so.

Go to a carpet store. Big box store are not good for this you get cheapo carpet at a high price. Research the carpet names like Dupont. DON'T buy the "store" brand NO MATTER HOW MUCH OFF THEY OFFER YOU. This is the one that will be listed as "Normally $15,375/sq foot, now just $25 a square foot!".

Get a decent name brand for around $3-5 or so a sq foot. Also make sure you WATCH the guy when they measure. A BIG way they pad the bill is to measure for too much.

Also I highly suggest you get the thinner carpet and not the "plush" or "shag" style. The thinner, better stuff will last longer and look better. Don't waste you money on spray on crap like the stain stuff. Good carpet typically includes (requires) good padding. Cheap carpet typically gives you an option.

Quote from dcrob : Our Lowes ad that came in today has whole house installation for $249 which includes "moving normal furniture" & removal and haul away of old carpet. That may be something to check out. But I wouldn't go cheap on the carpet at all. We made that mistake once and it was terrible. The carpet was constantly shedding fibers and didn't look like a new carpet after just a few months! Get something with the best wear warranty possible even if it means spending more. You'll be much happier.

That sounds like a good price. I have a quote from HD after the measuring was done and the charge for furniture moving and carpet removal/ haul away was approx $650 of the total of $6000. Ouch. My wife wants the new carpet but I don't want to spend that much.

Thank you all for your suggestions.