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.

From October 7th to October 21st, Mohawk is again putting their Smartstand carpet fiber to the test. They are putting the carpet against African Elephants! With a collective weight of over 50,000 pounds, Mohawk is claiming it is the equivalent of 650 10-year-old children!

Posted By: Jim Young Jr.

Mohawk has really hit a home run with Smartstrand. We are very excited about these products. Smartstrand carpet with DuPont Sorona leads innovation in sustainable flooring with its “renewably sourced polymer.” Just in case “renewable sourced polymer” sounds too technical to you (as it did to me), all it means is that the carpet fiber is largely made of corn sugar. For me and the rest of us at Carpet Express, this is very exciting. This corn sugar sourced ingredient, “Bio-PDO,” is not just great because it comes from a renewable source, but it also directly reduces the need of petroleum in polymer production. Say that three times fast!

By using the natural sugar found in corn, 37% of Sorona is being made from renewable resources. Smartstrand is a one of a kind soft soft soft carpet fiber, it offers durability and stain protection, and it is making less of an environmental impact. Talking about having your cake and eating it to!

Smartstrand carpet fiber requires 30% less energy than the production of an equal amount of nylon. Greenhouse gas emissions from the production of Sorona® are 63% lower than nylon manufacturing. This energy reduction results in approximately one gallon of gasoline saved per every seven square yards of carpet.

Fact: Every seven yards of SmartStrand saves enough energy and resources to equal the equivalent of one gallon of gasoline!

View the product line and colors here.

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.

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.

Sighting petrochemical cost increases they could not overcome, Shaw plans to raise prices on residential and commercial carpet, including area rugs, between six and eight percent. Shaw stated: “Over the past four months, all energy related products and services have experienced significant cost increases. Carpet industry raw material prices have risen substantially affecting backing, fiber, latex and distribution. Historically, in these business conditions we have seen relief in raw material costs; that is not the case now, nor are we projected to see softening any time soon.

“We are aware of the business climate all are confronted with today. As a company we have worked to reduce all costs that would not impact our ability to maintain the standards that you have come to expect in our product, quality, and service.”

Mohawk Industries, which includes Horizon, Aladdin, CustomWeave, WundaWeave, Karastan, and others have also announced price increases effective February 1, 2008. In a similar story to Shaw, Mohawk has trimmed as much as possible, but can not off set the raw material price increases.

This price increase is an unfortunate situation occuring during a weak economic climate.

Consumers purchasing carpet should place their orders no later than Friday, February 1, 2008 to beat this increase.

As a major player in the retail/wholesale floor covering business, Carpet Express will use our buying power and industry connections to bring our customers the very best floor covering products at the lowest possible price.

**UPDATE**

In another letter, dated January 23, 2008, Randy Merritt stated:

“Since posting these amounts, raw materials have continued to surge upward and make it necessary that we amend the announced increase amounts… Even with these additional amounts, these increases generally fall within the 6% – 8% range announced initially.

“The initial increase was to be effective with orders February 2, 2008 and shipments February 18, 2008. In light of these additional changes, we will delay implementation of the increase on orders until February 18th. Thus all orders and shipments will increase as of February 18, 2008.”

While this does provide somewhat of a break for those wishing to purchase carpet soon, this price increase delay is effective for Shaw Industries products only. Carpet price increases from other mills will continue as planned.