The other day I wrote about having our wood floors refinished, the next item for our "winter home improvement" is to have our carpets replaced; the carpet we have was not very good stuff to begin with (its a el-cheapo-contractor-grade), plus it was not installed very well (seams were seperating from almost day one) and with the all the dogs it just became time to replace it.
For the last few weeks I have been getting quotes for taking care of this, we did not want to spend a huge amount since we have the dogs but we did want to get something decent.
If you look at Craigslist you will see there are folks who will sell carpet inclusive of install and removal for $12.99 per SQ YD, if you go to a carpet store you will get prices starting at about the same price but they don't include install and can go to over $50 a SQ YD; that's just crazy.
We looked at some of the carpet that sells installed for $12.99 and it just was not something we wanted, we found some nice stuff at the retail carpet stores but they were just more money than we were prepared to spend.
We ended up deciding on a carpet from Miracle Carpet here in Woodinville where we paid $19.13 a SQ YD plus $9 a SQ YD for install. The carpet is Hollytex Supreme Elegance, in 55 oz micro-fiber; the price on the carpet was pretty competitive, we got estimates from the other local retail stores for the same stuff for 40% or so more, I did however find cheaper prices on the Internet, but not by much (it was $18.36 a SQ YD).
I even called a local wholesaler called De/Mar under the pre-text of being a small local contractor to see what their low volume pricing would be for the same stuff and it was $20.90 a SQ YD.
One of the interesting things about Miracle Carpet is that they donate 50% of their gross profit to the charity of your choice, this makes me feel a little better about paying the small premium; we will be indicating that we would like to have the donation go to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMFDF) as this group focuses on research on issues related to our youngest sons passing.
I worry that I am paying too much for the install, but then again this guy has good references and you really want your carpet installed by a professional who will use all the right equipment (power stretcher, heat seamer, etc), plus using an installer with "skill" can make the the carpet last longer; this price includes rip, disposal, furniture moving, and of course installation of the new carpet.
One of the best resources I found on the web about carpet (boy is it a confusing topic) was the Carpet Guru, he also has a blog; there is just a ton of great information there; the carpet industry is shady at best and having a independent honest guy to rely on for information is invaluable.
The install happens on the 19th, I honestly can't wait...