Carpet Opinions?

[steelhorse]

I am in the market for carpet which will be installed in a family room with pool table and will be a high traffic area. My wife and I have narrowed it down to frieze style carpet in a dark brown color(moccasin/chocolate chip). The room will be 20'x24' so there will be a seam. Any opinions on brand, where to purchase, things to look for, price of installation etc. We are currently considering Shaw or Karastan which we have seen at Mill Creek but are open to other options as well.

I will also be looking for an Olhausen pool table in the near future(preferably in a dark color and 4'x8')

 

[dlbleak]

when we bought carpet we had a neighbor that was a sales rep for a carpet manufacture. he told us to reaseach weight,twist,density and material. there are some minimum numbers that he told us to stay above. it was 8 years ago so i don't remember what the numbers were. our carpet has held up exceptionally well with two young kids and a dog. we ended up going with boullieu?(sp) brand.came from lowes.

 

[twoguns?]

Opinion.....put down tile....easier to clean...lasts longer.....put down throw rugs to accent the area if you want.

 

[1shott]

Laminate flooring, when I can I am pulling up all the carpet if I stay in this house much longer.

 

[Sanjuro82]

Opinion.....put down tile....easier to clean...lasts longer.....put down throw rugs to accent the area if you want.

Agreed! I hate the carpet in my current house. My last house was nothing but 3/4" oak floors and then tile in the bathrooms and Kitchen. Loved that!

 

[fedexguy82]

you can use a cheaper carpet, even apartment grade carpet as long as you use a good pad underneath it. dont use the "free stuff" they give you with the carpet. make sure it is at least 3/8s or 7/16s 6lb. and frize is the worst when it comes to traffic areas. get a good berber or plush carpet. i did cleaning and restoration for about 5 years and frize is the toughest to clean and restore worn down areas. a good berber was the easiest to maintain.

 

[steelhorse]

Good opinions so-far!! I like the idea of the wood flooring but unsure of cost comparison vs. carpet?

 

[soonerwings]

Good opinions so-far!! I like the idea of the wood flooring but unsure of cost comparison vs. carpet?

Depends on what you go with. Laminate flooring is inexpensive and easy to lay down, but doesn't have the look or feel of real wood. You can get some fairly inexpensive ($3-$4/sq ft) engineered wood that snaps together and goes down easy. That's the route I took with this house...I just floated it on top of the pad. The last house I used expensive wood that glued down on top of a moisture barrier that was troweled down on the slab (think rubber cement). That floor was expensive and a pain in the butt to install but it was gorgeous and it was QUIET.

If you want to do tile you can get the stuff from $1-4/sq foot. When I remodeled the house that I'm in now I got some pretty nice porcelain 12" tile for about 1.50/sq ft

 

[tntrex]

'm in the anything but carpet crowd also.

 

[peanut]

If your gonna do wood floor, do real wood, not laminates. If you do buy laminate, Don't buy from lumber liquidators. I did a 24X22 room in the 6" laminate and wouldn't waste that $$ again.
That said, is there anyway you can do stained concrete? Then just use some throw rugs?