how old is your carpet?

[momz]

I'm thinking of just scrapping ours and replacing it. It is 10 years old, has been through 2 pets and 2 kids. we have a contract with a local steamer company to clean it 2 more times before November. I'm thinking of setting $$ asside to replace it in about a year.

What is the normal life span of carpet?

 

[DrCavin]

Lots of variables effect carpet life, ie padding, quality of the carpet, traffic

I have seen carpet after a year look really bad, it was "builder grade" and had to be replaced.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have 3yo builder grade and it is ruined.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Ours is just two years old. We have a carpet shampooer and have been cleaning it ourselves, but after two dogs (one who is less than two years old and has had accidents on the carpet) and a muddy back yard, I'm thinking of hiring the pros to clean it.

I wish we could replace it with hardwood, but it's just not in the budget. We replaced the carpeting when we bought the house.

 

[marcyinPA]

Ours is 11 years old. We bought 10 year carpet, thinking we'd be out of this house by then. Hahaha It appears now that we are never leaving....

At some point, we'll need to replace the carpet, but right now it's not a priority. I will probably get it cleaned professionally this summer/early fall.

 

[MomofKatie]

Ours is 11 year old builder grade crap carpeting. It is completely trashed- been through DD from 1 year old to now, and 4 cats who like to spit up hairballs- yuck!

We are ripping up the whole ground floor this summer (both carpet and the really thin, beat up vinyl floor in the kitchen) and putting in laminate. A few years later, we will re-do the upstairs- probably put in new carpeting in the bedrooms and laminate on the stairs.

 

[Kat77]

10-15 years is a good lifespan for carpeting (like wallpaper).
Our downstairs is all hardwood but we originally had carpet and it needed replaced about 6-7 years in. Even with being sticklers over no food outside the kitchen, four toddlers/preschoolers did it in.
Our upstairs carpet is the original 11 year old builder grade carpet with upgraded padding. It still looks great except for where the new kitten has scratched an increasingly large hole near the door in my oldest sons room and on the stairs. We could patch the hole with spare carpeting (a section was stored in the attic by the builder) but those dirty stairs are driving me nuts now! We'll need to replace it within the next year or two.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Our carpet is 23 years old. The downstairs is better grade than the bedrooms and you can really tell the difference. The downstairs looks pretty good except wear the puppy chewed it.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

The living room carpet is about 5 years old builders grade and already needs to be replaced.

The bedroom carpets get this (according to the previous owner) were installed in 1962 (there are still new looking remnants of this in the basement and I could use them to patch without any color varient) and it is in better shape than the living room and it is nearly 50 years old. the colors are ugly really but can't see going to the expense of replacing it just to get a better color.

We are replacing both the kitchen and living room with wood floors this summer and I got a beautiful remnant of a high grade carpet that my carpet store bound for me that will go down in the living room as well then every spring (or whenever it needs it) I will be able to take it out to clean it after a winter of muddy snowy boots. Eventually the whole house will get this treatment but the bedrooms will likely be last because it kind of hurts a bit to remove something with such longevity that has stood the test of time and still looks good with something that may or may not wear as well.

 

[mrodgers]

Beautiful red oak hardwood under the carpet when we moved in. We immediately ripped out the smoke stink carpet and have none.

 

[monkeyboy]

does it match the drapes?

 

[minkydog]

We replaced our 32 year old carpet last year. It was that rusty-colored sculptured carpet from the 1970s. It looked awful, but we probably would still have it if not for my dog, Minky. He got locked in DDs bedroom one day and apparently had a panic attack in there. When we got him out he had vomited and had diarrhea on just about every available surface! The carpet was a total loss. She couldn't even inhabit the room for about 2 weeks while we got all that cleaned up and sanitized. So, thanks to the dog we have new carpets upstairs(downstairs is hardwoods--yay~)

 

[Zandy595]

Ours is 9 years old builder grade almost white (DH's idea). The bedrooms are fine, but the family room and den have a few stains and are noticeably worn. If we had the extra money I would replace it with wood. If I had had my carpet cleaner from the begininning I don't think I would need to replace any of it.

 

[beaucoup]

Its 14 yrs old & people still think its new.

We made sure to buy something that had a 20 yr warranty & a really good pad. We also told them what was wrong with the terrible builders grade carpet so the same problems wouldn't happen again.

Honestly, I'm probably going to grow tired of the color long before the carpet ever wears out. Luckily, its a color I've always decorated with, no matter what other colors I pick.

One reason I think it still looks so good, is our small portable Bissell carpet cleaner. Despite having pets, we have no pet stains on the carpet. I clean them up & no stains. Even is they happened while we were away & its days later.

 

[tvguy]

We have el cheapo builders grade carpet, it's 32 years old, and has needed replacing for a couple of years. With 2 kids in college, and parent loans, it will be 8 years before we can even think about replacing it. A few throw rugs cover the bad spots and that will have to do.

Of course, my mom thinks we have done something to kill it because her carpet is el cheapo builders grade carpet and it's 50 years old. The color and pattern are out of style, but the carpet is in perfect condition, and I played on it and spilled on it from the time I was 3 to age 24.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

Ours is old, it was in here when we bought the house. It desperately needs a good cleaning. As far as durability, it seems to be in good shape though.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Almost 7 year old builders grade crap. It is a light Berber... Rough, impossible to clean and shows every seam. I live near a carpet outlet that gets in stainmaster remnants. We replaced the dd's room and the office and the difference in quality is amazing. When they pulled up the old carpet the padding was basically thin felt. Ended up paying about $400-500 a room installed and removal, but the carpet we got normally sells for over $4.50 a sq ft so i am expecting this to last longer! Next is the master bedroom but that is going to be harder to find a remnant that fits b/c of the walk-in closet.

Our family room is over a double-car garage so it is 24x24 (with a big freakin' carpet seam up the middle of the room.) That will get replaced when I win powerball....

 

[MELSMICE]

We just ordered new carpet today. Ours is builder grade & 13 years old. We've been wanting to replace for a few years now but it was never the right time. We finally bit the bullet.

I love the guy we purchased it from. Talk about a stand up, honest and up front guy with no bull in trying to upsell us something.

We won't have it installed until mid June though when I'm done with this year's dance season. Too much going on right now to deal with getting new carpet installed.

 

[LaurenLC]

14 months... When we moved here I INSISTED that we change the carpet in all the bedrooms. We have hardwood everywhere else.

 

[IDoDis]

Our carpet is over 12 years old and NOT builder's grade. It is pretty light in color and is a short weave (not Berber). Aside from a couple of spots where the dogs chewed it (on the side of a step and in a spot where the carpet meets the tile), it's still in very good condition. There are no permanent stains or bad wear. It's been through two kids (one newborn who is now 12) and three dogs (who have barfed and soiled the carpet with bodily fluids more times that I can count).

When we built the house, we got to pick out the carpeting from the carpet company the builder contracted with. I remember when we went to the warehouse, we told them we didn't want builder's grade. They showed us something a step up. I took the square and bent in a U and could see through it, so I gave it back and said, "Nope." Show us the next step up.

The guy brought us another square and I bent it again and could still see through it. I said, "Nope. I want something good. Keep going up."

It took about 5 rounds of this before we finally got something that was of a decent quality. Then we upgraded to the best pad they had and we paid them out-of-pocket for the difference between the contract price and our upgrade. Overall we paid about $1500 more, but it was well worth it. We have the carpet professionally cleaned 3 times a year and the carpet cleaner does NOT use soap which is bad for the carpet and only makes the stains come faster because the dirt attracts to it.