How to Buy Carpet
Whether you simply want to change the look of a room or your carpet is truly worn out and in need of a replacement, adding new carpet to a room is a great way to give a room a fresh new look. There are an endless amount of carpet types and styles that are available, so regardless of what you are imagining that you want your new carpet to look like, if you look hard enough, you should be able to find a type or style of carpet that is almost exactly like what you were imagining.
Requirements
- Measuring Tape-This will be used to get the measurements of each room that you are planning to re-carpet.
- Pencil and Notebook-When you make your measurements of each room that you want to buy carpet for, you will need to write them down in a notebook so you don’t forget them once you actually go to buy new carpet.
Instructions
- Decide exactly what rooms you want to re-carpet. Some people will only want to buy new carpet for one room, while others will want to buy new carpet for their entire home.
- Once you know which rooms you want to re-carpet, carefully measure the floor dimensions of each room. After you get a measurement, write it down in your notebook. It may be tempting to rely on your memory, but it’s quite easy to forget the exact measurements (especially if you are buying new carpet for more than one room).
- Visit a variety of locations that sell carpet and take a look at what they have to offer. In addition to visiting showrooms that only sell carpet, you should also find out what kind of carpets are available for sale in regular home improvement stores.
- Although there are a lot of factors that can impact the price of carpet, as a general rule of thumb, you can expect basic types of carpet to cost between ten and fifteen dollars per square yard. If you start looking at more luxurious types of carpet, don’t be surprised to see prices of thirty dollars and more per square yard. Keep in mind that neither of these price ranges includes the cost of installation.
- Once you begin finding types and styles of carpets that you like, be sure to get samples of the carpet to take home before you make any decisions about purchasing. While a type or style of carpet may look a certain way in a store, once it is in your home, it may look completely different.
- If you take a sample of carpet home and like the way it looks in the room you are re-carpeting, as long as you are comfortable with the price, you can purchase it when you return to the store.
- When you are making your carpet purchase, you will also need to select the type of padding you want (carpet padding is placed underneath the carpet and makes it more comfortable to walk on). Many stores will offer a basic type of padding as part of the overall cost of installing your new carpet, but if you would like a higher quality of padding, you will be able to pay for an upgrade.
- Once you have worked out your carpet and padding purchase, the store should have an installer visit your home to get the exact measurements of the rooms that are being re-carpeted. Before the installers return to actually put the carpet into your home, you should clear out the rooms that are going to be re-carpeted.
- After the installers finish putting all of the carpet into your home, be sure you take a look at all of their work before you sign your name on the invoice for the job.
Helpful Tips
Before you start looking at the different carpets that are available, think about your long-term plans for the carpet you are going to purchase. If you plan on staying in your home for the next nine years, it makes sense to spend extra money on carpet that will last ten years. However, if you are only going to be in your home for two to three more years, you can potentially save yourself money by purchasing carpet that is intended to last five years.
Remember that there are different types of carpet that are available for different kinds of rooms. For example, you should purchase a different type of carpet for a high traffic room (such as your living) than you purchase for a low traffic room (such as your dining room). Purchasing the right type of carpet for the correct kind of room will ensure that it lasts and continues to look good.