So I am a fairly new homeowner, and the carpetting that came with the house, which I think was installed by someone who had just brought it and done a quick job of making it look pretty to sell it immediately, is cheap and crappy. So I was thinking of getting new carpeting installed. But that’s a scary prospect.
Do I just pay some company, and they come in and do everything, including moving all the furniture out, ripping out the old carpet, and putting it back in? Or am I supposed to do all the moving stuff myself? Or be there to supervise or something?
And can anyone give me a ballpark figure as to how much it will cost to recarpet a 4-bedroom house (on the smallish side for 4 bedrooms… not sure of the precise square footage)?
Any other words of wisdom/advice?
Thanks
There are so many variables it’s hard to tell you. You can pay the carpt folks to move your stuff for you, and tear out the old carpet, and they will happily do it for you.
Carpet runs from the really cheap, $1 per square foot stuff right on up to 10+ per square foot. One thing to note, most carpet comes in 12 foot rolls, while some comes in 15 foot rolls. The carpet company charges you not for the actual square footage you use, but for the square footage they have to cut off the roll in order to fit your room (which is always more than the simple square footage of your room).
And then you have carpet pad. If the previous owners put down cheap carpet, they probably put down cheap pad, too. Most carpet places will only have one or 2 different kinds of pad to sell you, and the midrange one is usually as good as you need.
Try to go shopping at an off time, when the people at the carpet store will have more time to talk to you and explain the differences. Polyester and Olefin carpets are somewhat softer, but do not wear as well as nylon carpets. Ask what the stain guarantees cover and what the conditions are. for example, some of my carpet requires that you call them and allow them to send a professional cleaner to your house to attempt to get teh stain out. If he does, you have to pay the pro, otherwise they will replace the carpet, but you must pay the labor to have it re-installed.