Carpet Express' Flooring Blog

At Carpet Express, we take our motto seriously. “America’s Floor Store” is more than just a catchy tag line. It is our commitment to be America’s one-stop-shop for everything flooring. We’ve made a name for ourselves for having the best prices on carpet, vinyl, and hardwood flooring, but don’t forget we also carry America’s most sought after brands of high-end carpet at very low prices. These luxury brands include: Tuftex, Kane, Wundaweve, Stanton, Royal Dutch, Nourtex, and Dixie Home, to name a few. Whether you’re carpeting a starter home or a luxurious penthouse, look no further than Carpet Express.

Private Labels Carpet: A Public Hassle

Private label carpet is a term for when a dealer changes the name of a carpet style to a unique name used only by that dealer. So, the carpet has the dealer’s private label name instead of the manufacturers’.

This is a very common practice among retailers. Big box stores like Lowes and The Home Depot are notorious for private labels. These companies use “private labels” to prevent customers from comparing prices with other retailers. In other words, these retailers don’t want you to see a style you like in their store, and then shop around for better prices elsewhere.

Here is an example of a private labeling. Shaw Industries may have a style that they call “Cadiz.” The Home Depot may sell this style under the name “Forever.” Lowes may call it “Time Out.” When Shaw makes it for Carpet One Stores it may be called “Free Port,” and when it’s made for Carpet Express, we will call it “Hard Rock.” The style that Shaw Industries calls “Cadiz” is literally sold under thousands of different private labels. Private labeling makes it very difficult for customers to compare prices when shopping for carpet. It is very confusing when the same carpet has so many different names.

There are a few ways of working around private labels. That’s why it doesn’t hurt to have some experts on your side. Before you make your next big flooring purchase, give one of Carpet Express’ experts a call first. Saving money isn’t always easy, but the flooring experts at Carpet Express can make sure private labels don’t stand in the way of big savings.

Question: We purchased carpet from Home Depot manufactured by Dixie Home. Began to notice matting and packing down in front of chairs, then in high traffic areas. We have had inspection by Stainmaster and Dixie Home. They say that is normal, not covered as normal traffic, and I have no claim. This began to show after only one and a half years. Warranty was for 7 year against normal wear, against matting and packing. We are in our 60s, and are not in this home but around 8 months of the year, so we just want people to question and read the fine print on the warranty.

Sincerely,
Anita & David

Answer: I am sorry that you are not happy with your carpet that you purchased at Home Depot, but some carpets just look more matted or crushed compared to other types. For instance, a real loose Frieze with a long yarn might look matted compared to short tight twisted carpet. It will not matter what the yarn is, it will just appear to look matted and that’s why the warranty may not apply in your situation.

I don’t know this for sure, but Stainmaster is usually pretty good about taking care of claims. I just don’t know if you were sold the right carpet for what your expectations were. Sometimes inexperienced sales personnel don’t really listen to what the customer’s needs are, and they get lost in just trying to close the sale.

If we can in any way help you get the proper carpet for your home, just call or email us here at Carpet Express. We’d be glad to help you get the carpet you’re really looking for.

Thanks,
Mike Jones

If you’ve never really considered what products are available at different price points, then this guide is has some excellent points to consider. If you’re trying to stick to a budget, then you definitely need to take a look: Product Price Guide

Question: When you say “prices listed are cut prices,” what does that mean? Does that include the pad and installation? For example, I see a Stainmaster saxony carpet for $38.95 a sq-yd. Is that just the carpet price or does it include installation and pad?

-Russell

Answer: Cut pricing means buying less material than is on the standard roll. For transparency in our prices, materials and installation are priced separately. Roll sizes from most manufacturers are between 134 square yards and 200 square yards per roll, depending upon the style and weight of the carpet. As a rule, higher end carpet usually has only one price.

If you have a style in question, please call me at (800) 922-5582 or email jim@carpetexpress.com and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Best regards and thanks for the quesion,
Jim Young, Jr.
Carpet Express, Inc.

Carpet Express has expanded our Stanton and Royal Dutch carpet lines. These luxury carpet manufacturers offer some of the most unique and beautiful styles in our industry. With demand for high end designer carpet at an all time high, we felt it was necessary to offer these complete lines to our customers.

If you haven’t seen their latest styles, drop by one of our Dalton, Georgia showrooms to take a look. You will be impressed. Offering our customers a very wide selection of the top carpet and other flooring products available is one of our goals at Carpet Express. Carpet products like these at the lowest possible price makes Carpet Express your best choice to shop for your new floor. Call 800-922-5582 and let our experienced sales staff help you choose the floor that’s right for you. From product selection and proper measuring, to shipping and installation, Carpet Express will do our best to help you have an excellent shopping experience.

We’ve been asked many times over the years what is meant by promotional grade carpet. We thought it would be a good idea to explain exactly what it means here.

Promotional Grade carpet is a generic term used by carpet manufacturers to describe carpet sold at a substantial discount to its normal price. The carpet is sold through the mills’ promotional goods department and usually does not have a warranty. The carpet may or may not have defects, but you should be made aware of why the carpet is being sold through the promotional department.

Several reasons may cause both residential or commercial carpet to be sold as promotional goods:

1. Dropped Style: When a style is dropped by a mill and most of the best colors are sold off, often the remaining rolls will be sold at a substantial discount through the promotional department.
2. Off-Shade: This means the color does not match the sample swatch and therefore cannot be sold as a running line product. The carpet is then sold as off-goods through the promotional department. These off-shade rolls are sold as off-goods or promotional goods even though they have no defects. Off-shade carpet is usually a tremendous value.
3. Side-Match: After carpet is dyed, a swatch is cut from both sides of the carpet to be sure they match. If the sides do not match, it is called a side-match problem, becuase placing opposite sides together at the seams will cause an obvious color variation. A bad side match will not be visible in smaller rooms where no seams are necessary.
4. Streaks: There are many degrees of streaking, and many causes. Most streaks are caused  by one strand of yarn having a different twist level than the rest. This may result in what is called chicken tracks. There may also be a high line or low line that was caused by a problem in tufting or shearing. Streaks may be very minor (A seconds), very noticeable (B seconds), or somewhere between. It is best to see streaked carept before you purchase it, or have your sales representative inspect the carpet for you. Small rooms, especially bedrooms with lots of furniture, will hide most streaks.
5. Dye Spots: These spots can be a splothcy look to the carpet or small drops which may or may not be very noticeable. Like streaks, they just need to be looked at and evaluated. Slight spotting is not very noticeable and usually fine for small rooms.

Side-match problems, streaks, and dye spots are only visual defects and in no way hurt the life or performance of the carpet. However, there are other carpet defects which most consumers should avoid. These include loose jute or backing, delamination, wet carpet, and I’m sure there are others. These are structural defects that compromise the integrity of the carpet.

Promotional Goods cover a broad range of 1st quality carpet, carpet with slight visual defects, as well as carpet with major defects. At Carpet Express we are very open with our customers and try to represent the promotional carpet we sell completely and honestly. Your sales person at Carpet Express will ensure you know exactly what you are buying. Promotional carpet can be a tremendous value not only for rental property, but also for your home.

The primary business of Carpet Express is selling 1st quality, running line floor covering complete with Manufacturer’s Warranty.

Just to keep you informed of the upcoming price increases in the carpet industry, here are some excerpts from a couple letters sent to us by the mills.

Mohawk stated in a letter dated April 25, 2008:

“The recent series of increases occuring in the energy sector have continued to plague the floorcovering industry. As oil approaches historical records, the entire raw material chain associated with carpet production has been negatively impacted by these trends. While we have continued our efforts to mitigate the impact of high enrgy and material costs through a combination of aggressive cost controls, expense reduction and increased prices, these latest rounds of further material increases by our suppliers in polymer, fiber, backings and latex have required us to raise carpet prices. Effective with order of all residential and commercial carpet products on June 3rd, and shipments after June 16th, we will be increasing prices by a range of 4-7%…”

On April 29th, 2008 Beaulieu had this to say:

“Raw materials and energy used to produce and transport carpets have continued to increase during the first quarter and into the second. During the past four months, we have been absorbing these additional cost increases. We had hoped to see these increased raw material costs to subside. Unfortunately, they have not, and we must pass them along both in carpet and freight surcharges.

Effective with order on June 2nd and shipments on June 16th we will increase carpet prices 4-8%.”

Here at Carpet Express, we fully comprehend the frustration of rising prices. We will continue to offer our floorcovering products at the best discount prices we can.

Your square yard price is only the beginning. Be sure you’re only paying for enough carpet to cover your floor. Otherwise, you might be paying for phantom carpet, and putting excess cash in your installer’s or your dealer’s pocket.

Beware of low prices from full service dealers!

I’ve asked serveral people about the cost of the carpet they recently purchased for their home. They usually say something like, “Oh it was about $30.00 per square yard.” Or they might say the carpet was $20.00, the pad was $4.00, and installation was $6.00 per square yard. Then I ask how many yards they bought and they say “I’m not sure. About 120 yards.”

Then I ask “how do you know you got 120 yards?” and they say “because it’s on the invoice.”

So you think they actually installed 120 yards? The invoice only tells how many yards you paid for.

At this point, the light goes on, they look bewildered and say “You know, I don’t have any idea how many yards they actually installed in my house. All I know is the installer measuredand told me how many yards I needed. “

Think about it. If your carpet man pads your order by 20%, that’s a lot of money to his bottom line. One million in annual sales a year, and that’s a whopping $200,000 in extra profit! This is the ultimate sale for a retailer or installer. A sale with absolutely no cost. No material cost. No labor cost. 100% of this phantom sale goes to the bottom line.

It might be the local retailer, it might be a Big Box, or it might be the installer. But whoever the scammer is, it’s very hard to catch, and very hard to prove. If it’s the installer, he might say “Oh, I ran the carpet a different direction so your seams won’t show,” or “they must have shorted you at the mill.” You may even catch him taking a roll off the job site, in which case he’ll just say it was extra, and he was returning it to the mill for credit. The point is, it can be hard to prove.

The worst I’ve ever seen was a job that needed about 400 yards and the installer figured the job at 700 yards. When I asked the lady if she really thought her house needed 700 yards of carpet, she said that her other estimate had called for 650 yards! These installers would make between $3,000 and $5,000 extra profit on this one job! At the customer’s expense! The larger the job, the more room for creative measuring.

The only way to protect yourself from this fraud is to review the yardage requirement for your job. This should be done with the installer or your salesperson. If you make a simple drawing of the areas to be computed, the process should make sense. But under most circumstances, you should not need over 10% more carpet than the square yardage you are covering. The larger the house or office, the less overage you’ll need (percentage wise).

I hope this lesson of the phantom carpet sales helps you answer my question. “How much did you pay for that carpet?“