Update: I took a trip down to Portland to figure out this carpet mess. We ended up getting a SmartStrand nice Karastan (Division of Mohawk) carpet, installation and removal, 6lb pad, for $4800 for 1300 sq. feet. We used a local company, as they had the carpet in stock, vs. Home Depot, which would have to order it. All in all, I think we did well, and I’m excited about the new carpet. Still spendy though!
My mother is moving back into a rental house that she owns, her only real equity as far as her finances goes.
The house badly needs new carpet.
How much does new carpet cost?
Well, what I’m finding out is that it completely depends. It depends on the carpet mostly. Carpet is like cars. You can get a KIA or you can get a Porshe.
My mother had called empire direct, and I immediately told her to go with someone else (after reading some terrible reviews online). Their price was 4.36 a sq. foot, or 39.24 a sq. yard, including pad and install for what sounded like medium grade carpet. That price is high, right?
From what I’ve read, a decent carpet should run around $20-25 per sq. yard installed. My mother needs about 1500 sq. feet of carpet installed.
What’s been your experience with buying carpet?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I recently replaced 800 sqft of carpet in my rental this year and it cost about $2,000. It was originally $3,000 but I offered to pay cash, so I got a 33% discount.
The carpet hadn’t been changed in 15 years and it was about time. Hard wood floors would have cost about $5,000 or so, but are beautiful looking and can last for multiple decades. Perhaps go with that route?
Our house flooded a few years ago and we had to replace the flooring.
We did get carpet in some of the rooms. We shopped around a lot and Lowes actually had the best deal.
One thing to not skimp on is the padding, good padding makes medium grade carpet feel much better…
We replaced the carpet in our home last summer and ended up buying it at Home Depot. I agree with horace; buy good padding!
I’ve got to do this. Pets and kids on our 15 year old carpet is awful. Even cleaning only seems to make it worse. We’re budegeting to do this in the spring when we hope to try to sell the house, except we’re also preparing for winter flooding–in which case the home-owner’s association would replace the carpet.
It’s bad–I’m actually hoping for the worst-case scneario here.
Don’t worry–I’ll do my due dilligence and get the sandbags up and everything, but still… new carpet will be soooo nice, one way or another.
The best thing you can do for carpet is to purchase the best pad you can. The pad will help even a low grade carpet last longer.