Carpet Buying Guide : Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of this Carpet Buying Guide, you will find it here: Types of Carpet

Although I wrote the “Types of Carpet” post as a whole guide to buying carpet, I realized that deciding on the type of carpet you want to buy, is just one stage in the process you need to go through when buying carpet. So here is a step by step guide to the whole process.

1. Think About What You Need

Consider what you need/would like in terms of the quality, type and color of carpet and set yourself a budget.

When looking at color, look at what will go with existing or planned furniture, curtains and wall colors. Whatever you do, do not choose the carpet first before planning the remainder of the room as you can find carpets (and wall colors) in every shade but you will have more trouble choosing the soft furnishings after you have chosen the carpet than the other way around.

When you are setting your budget, bear in mind that you will need to pay for carpet padding (underlay) and installation as well as the carpet itself and that there will be a certain amount of wastage when the carpet is cut. You buy carpet in standard widths so you can try and buy a carpet which comes in a width nearest to your room size but there will usually be some wastage.

2. Measure Your Room

Draw a rough plan of your room and measure it accurately. Plot the measurements onto your plan. This will help the store assistant give you a rough estimate for the carpet of your choice.

Carpet Buying Guide

Image from sxc.hu : by Stephen Eastop (username Eastop)

3. Shop Around

Take a look around the carpet warehouses and any department stores which sell carpet in your area to get an idea of what is available. Take your room plan and measurements with you and samples of any colors that the carpet needs to match. (If you cannot take an item use a paint color chart to get the nearest color to give you an good idea of the color when you are in the store).

Before looking at the full sized carpets check to see if there are any suitable carpet remnants as you can often save a lot of money by buying room-sized pieces rather than carpet from a full roll.

If there are no suitable remnants, look for a carpet you like from the general selection and then get a rough idea of the cost based on your room plan with the help of the store assistant who will be more familiar with carpet prices and pricing including padding etc. than you.

Ask for free carpet samples of any carpets you are seriously considering and take these home with you to make a final decision. Take a note of which samples belong to which store as you have to return these and trying to remember which almost identical beige carpet came from where is no joke.

4. Use Your Carpet Samples

Lay the carpet samples you gathered in the room where the carpet will be installed. Take a look at them under both artificial light at night and in daylight. It is amazing how colors can differ at home from the harsh lights of a carpet warehouse and how some samples you thought you liked best suddenly become no good at all. Don’t skip this step!

5. Weigh Up Your Options

Check out the samples you like and make sure you are happy with the quality and price of the carpet before you make a final decision.

6. Order Your Chosen Carpet

The store will usually arrange for a final estimate to be done by a professional estimator before the final price is agreed. If you took your original measurements accurately there should be no discrepancy with the price you were quoted. Sometimes an experienced carpet installer will see a way to use less carpet but you are pretty lucky if this is the case.

7. Arrange for Installation

Carpet installation may be arranged by the store or you may arrange it yourself. Always use professional carpet installers for best results as carpet fitting is a specialized job which needs tools and skills that even those of us handy around the home do not normally have. A badly installed carpet will look terrible and it will often pucker and wear badly so do not “save money” by avoiding installation costs. Personal recommendation is best when it comes to choosing carpet installation services, but also look at price, service, guarantee and number of years in business as well as membership of quality trade organizations.

8. Prepare for Installation

Before your carpet is installed, you will need to clear the room. This can be the most difficult part of getting a new carpet as you need to find somewhere to put your furniture, physically move it and lift and dispose of the old carpet. Some installation services may do this for you (usually for an additional charge) but you cannot assume that they will, so always ask if you need help with this. If a company offers a service like this, it may even be a reason to use one carpet installation company above another even if they cost a bit more.

If there are any pieces of carpet remaining after installation, set them aside as they are useful for carpet repair should you carpet ever have a burn or bad stain. If there are any large pieces you could also consider having a piece bound by the store. Bound carpet remnants create rugs in the same color as your carpet which are useful to put down where your carpet may get extra wear.

9. Vacuuming

Once the carpet is installed, you will find that there are bits and pieces of fluff lying about which will need to be vacuumed up. There is no harm in vacuuming a new quality carpet which has been professionally installed so you can do so without fear.

10. Check for Movement/After Care

Sometimes a stiff carpet needs to be “tightened up” after it has been walked on for a few weeks or months as it may become a little loose. This is especially important for stair carpet as a loose carpet there can be dangerous. Your carpet installer should offer this service (often free of charge).

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Cheap Area Rugs from Bound Carpet Remnants

If you are looking for cheap area rugs you are sure to find some but in many cases you will find low quality to match the low prices. If you want a quality rug, but you don’t have a big budget think about using bound carpet remnants.

Carpet remnants are pieces of carpet left behind after carpet has been cut from a roll for a customer or pieces of carpet which are left over when you have carpet installed in your home.

If you don’t have any suitable pieces of carpet to use (and you don’t know anyone who is just about to order a new carpet) look for remnants for sale in stores. You may have to buy a bigger piece than you need but you can generally pick up something of good quality quite cheaply.

There are a few limitations with this idea (although they may not matter to you) :-

1. Plain and Subtle Patterns

You are unlikely to find remnants with the bright striking patterns that you get in contemporary rugs. You are more likely to get plain colors or subtle patterns and weave effects like you have with Berber or frieze carpet. Also fewer bright colors will be on offer. For example, if you are looking for a bright red rug, you might look long and hard because few bright red carpets are sold. If you want a beige rug however you will have lots of possibilities for using bound rug remnants.

2. No Shag Pile

Not much is sold in the way of shag pile carpeting so you are unlikely to get a cheap shag rug in this way. You will need to save your pennies to afford that leather rug you have your eye on too!

Carpet Binding Tape for DIY Binding (Click Image for Details)

Carpet Binding Tape for DIY Binding (Click Image for Details)

3. Need for Binding

There are no bound carpet remnants for sale. The edges of your remnant will need binding in some way after you purchase it to prevent fraying. This can be done using a process called carpet whipping or binding and is usually done by professional carpet binding services using a special machine (although there is a new option to do this yourself – see below). You will find a number of these services advertised on the web so, although you can’t directly buy bound carpet remnants online, you can arrange the work there and have your carpet picked up and delivered. This process usually takes about a week and the cost is modest (around $1 per foot of binding required)

Making Bound Remnants Yourself

New methods are available which mean that the binding process is something you can do for yourself. It is not exactly the same as carpet whipping as you simply buy an edging that you glue onto your carpet piece. Edges are available in different types and colors to allow you to create a very attractive binding for your rug and you can use a matching or contrast color. To do this yourself need a product called Instabind and you will find instructions and a video on the Instabind website which will help you decide whether you want to tackle this work rather than using a professional carpet binding service.

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Carpet Remnants for All Budgets

There are two types of carpet remnants. They are the pieces of carpet left over from the roll of carpet you bought after your carpet is fitted. And they are the remainder of the roll left in a shop which is left after the rest of the roll has been sold to customers – probably just enough to carpet a small room.

Stores usually sell carpet remnants at a discount compared to the price when they have a full roll of carpet to sell and you can get a great deal with these especially if you have only one small room to carpet. Companies do this to avoid having lots of pieces of carpet left hanging around cluttering up their stock rooms and taking up a lot of space in the store.

However if you want to carpet your whole house in the same carpet it is better to buy from a full roll so that you get the best color match rather than attempting to find discount carpet remnants. Trying to piece sections of carpet together from different rolls rarely works well.

Rolls of carpet remnants

Rolls of carpet remnants

If you are on a budget but don’t want to buy cheap carpet (it doesn’t always look that good or last well) then scour the internet and local stores for quality carpet remnants being sold off. You will have plenty of choice. Just make sure that you have your room dimensions handy to buy carpet remnants the right size. (You should aim for an extra six inches all round to allow for installation and fitting.)

Even if you have a large budget you may be able to get better quality carpet than you otherwise could by looking at the remnants available. Sometimes looking at lots of different carpets of all types as you see in the remnants section of a store sparks off ideas that you would not think of looking at huge rolls of carpet.

You can also make use of carpet remnants (whether from your own off-cuts or from a store selling off the end of a roll) if you would like some cheap rugs around the house. If the piece gets dirty you can just cut off another piece. They are great for saving your carpet in high traffic areas.

In fact, it’s a good idea when getting a new hall carpet to get a piece left over bound at the edges to prevent it fraying. You can use bound carpet remnants as matching runners to prevent wear and tear on your new carpet at the front door where everyone comes in with outdoor shoes.

It’s a good idea to save the leftover pieces of carpet in any case if you have space as you never know when you might need them. Other ways to use remnants of carpet are

  • as matching rugs under heavy furniture to prevent permanent indentations in the main carpet. If you don’t do this it will b difficult to rearrange your furniture in future without your carpet looking strange.
  • as exercise mats under heavy equipment such as treadmill or stationery bike to protect the floor (make sure they can’t slip)
  • as a back up in case your main carpet gets damaged or stained – a professional may be able to do a seamless repair using the remnant carpet
  • as a child’s play area or under their chair in the dining room to save your carpet from spills
  • as a mat under your pet’s bed, dog house lining or feeding station, to be thrown away when necessary

The best place to find remnants are at stores (online or off) which have a brisk trade in carpets and a lot of lines. They are bound to have the best choice as there will be lots of pieces of carpet of different types remaining on rolls. If you are looking for a common carpet color such as beige or blue you will have plenty of choice but don’t give up if you are looking for something more unusual.

You can also find remnants on eBay where you can pick up some great deals (though do remember to take shipping costs into account before bidding).

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