Carpet Express' Flooring Blog

Question: I am considering Mohawk Wunda Weve Highrise Retreat carpet for the dining and family room. I would appreciate comments regarding the quality and wear ability of this carpet.

Thank you,
K.

Answer: This carpet is in the Premier Series from Wunda Weve, and should provide long lasting durability. I would highly recommend using a certified installer for Highrise Retreat, because of the pattern. This type of carpet is a good example of why carpets need to be power stretched, and not knee kicked.

Also, being a Weardated nylon, this carpet should keep its beauty for years to come.

Thanks for the question,
Jim Young, Jr.

Ever wondered what style of carpet is right for your home? Often times, this is quite a hard decision. So you’ve picked out a color, now what? Or you know what style of carpet you want, but can’t decide what type of fiber fits your needs.

Whatever the case may be, we have a new, handy carpet selection guide that walks you through some of the facts on carpet. It offers an overview of carpet styles, textures, and fiber content, as well as dye methods. Check it out if you have any questions on how to choose the right carpet:

The Carpet Express Guide to How to Choose the Right Carpet

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.

Question: How do I know how much carpet I need?

-Scott
Dalton, Georgia

Answer: You usually need abut 10% more carpet, and about 5% more pad, than the actual square footage you are covering. However, the following steps are absolutely necessary in order to purchase the correct amount of carpet and pad needed for your job.

First, make a simple drawing of all the areas to be covered. Include, for example, living room, den, halls, master-bedroom, 2nd and 3rd bedrooms, and closets. Then measure each room in feet and inches, and add to sketch. Now you are ready to insert the carpet into the rooms.

Be sure you know the width of your carpet. Also, remember it is usually best for carpet in adjoining rooms to run the same direction. All carpet within the same room must run the same direction.

Installation can be a bit tricky, but if you take your time and actually draw out the carpet to be cut, and place the cuts in the appropriate room, it will make more sense to beginners. Be sure to save the waste from one room to use in another room or closet. Also, try to keep seams out of door ways.

Always remember to check your square footage to be covered against the amount of carpet your installer or dealer says you need. If it’s more than 10-15% extra, this should be a HUGE RED FLAG.

If you have any questions, or need help with your measurements, feel free to contact us at (800) 922-5582. We’ll be glad to help.

This is another great article taken from DoItYourself.com:

Some people think that a few squeaks in a floor give a home character, to others squeaks are a major pain in the neck. If you agree with the folks who think floors just shouldn’t make any noises, you may be in luck. As long as you have access to the underside of that squeaky floor, you can probably fix your squeak. Unfortunately however, if you have finished ceilings below your squeaky floor, your chances of being able to fix it without taking on a major project are hit and miss.

What causes squeaky floors?

Floors squeak because something is moving. The main culprits are:

• the edges of sheets of subfloor rubbing against each other (because
• loose nails are allowing the boards to move)
• rubbing between tongue and groove wood that has dried a little over time leaving a gap for movement
• floor joists shrinking away from floorboards overtime leaving a small gap that squeaks when you put weight on it. The fix is simple, stop the movement and you will stop the squeak. You stop the movement by nailing or screwing the boards, shimming under the joists or adding bracing between the joists. The challenge is to figure the cause and get access to fix it.

To read the entire article, follow this link:
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/silencesqueakyfloor

Question: My wife and I are building a new home. To save money, we decided to make a few upgrades ourselves (myself) instead of having the builder charge us for them. My first project will be to build a mantel and tile surround for our fireplace. Basically I need to remove a small section of  carpet (about 6′x2′) for the tile in front of the fireplace. It will be located on one end of a fairly large carpeted room (about 20′x15′). To be clear, I’ll be removing abour 6′ in the middle of a 15′ wall.

My question: Is it going to be a major task re-stretching the carpet for the whole room after I’m done with the tile, or will it mostly stay in place because it will still be attached at the wall on either side of the fireplace? Is there any risk of ripping or damaging the carpet by cutting inside corners while it’s in tension? I actually feel pretty confident about finishing the edge up to the tile, I’m just worried about causing problems to the carpet in the entire room.

If all it will require is a little knee-kicking, I fell OK doing it myself. Otherwise, I’ll probably have a professional installer do it. If this job will require the help of a professional, should I consult him before starting? Or can I just cut the carpet, leaving extra room, lay my tile, and then call him to have it re-stretched and finished?

Thanks for your help
Brian

Answer: Brian,

I understand that you want to remove your carpet away from one wall so that you can install some ceramic tile in front of your fireplace. If this is correct, then yes, I would recommend that you power stretch your carpet back into place. This will prevent bubbles in the future, especially around the new tile in front of the fireplace. You can rent a power stretcher (they’re not that hard to operate), or you can hire a professional installer. Also, you can look online at www.doityourself.com for more info.

-Mike Jones

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.