Carpet Lets at least try to know what your buying.

Fibers are king Tensile strength Stain Resistance 1. Wool 1. Polyester 2. Nylon 2. Polypropylene 3. Polyester 3. Wool 4. Polypropylene 4. Nylon Carpet definitions: Wear is fiber loss Texture retention is loss of twist Most carpet is replaced because it is ugly and not because it is worn out. Carpet becomes ugly because it has lost twist, is soiled or has been abraded and appears gray. Soil can usually be removed. There is no cure for loss of twist or abraded fibers. The higher the tensile strength of the fibers in the carpet the less abrasion and loss of twist there will be for the same amount of traffic.

Carpet Warranties Read them carefully; You may think your carpet is covered by wonderful warranties but read them. A) The manufacturing defect warranty is meaningful. B) The wear warranty covers fiber loss which never occurs unless there is a manufacturing related issue that is covered under item A. C) Stain warranty – Nearly every item that will stain carpet is excluded from the stain warranty unless the fiber is polyester or polypropylene. These two fibers are very stain resistant. D) Texture Retention Warranty – These warranties require that the tufts untwist by 30% or that the carpet be near the original carpet height AFTER GROOMING. Loss of texture and abrasion are the two dominant reasons that carpet becomes ugly. The lower the tensile strength a fiber has the softer it is. The fiber will then abrade and loose luster or look soiled when it is clean. Softer fibers also more readily loose twist and entangle or matt. Tufts made of these softer fibers will readily groom to their original height pile height and pass a texture retention warranty.

Deep pile is often cheap Fiber price Abrasion Resistance 1) Wool 2) Branded Nylon 3) Nylon 4) Polypropylene 4) Polyester 5) Polyester 5) Polypropylene Given that carpet life is determined by a fibers tensile strength and resultant abrasion resistance it is then easy to see why an 80 oz. polyester carpet is easy to sell and soon disappoints the buyer.

Carpet installation Carpet replacement has these costs; The carpet The pad Freight Removal of the old carpet. Contents manipulation Installation It is totally illogical to risk the all the other costs of a carpet replacement to an installer that has not been properly trained. Most installers dont stretch properly and some still dont seam seal at all and often not properly. Make your decisions intelligently and not on a price driven basis. After a year or two you will be happy you did.