I had no idea carpet was this expensive!!!!!

[mom of 3G's]

A few weeks ago I posted a question on vinyl planking for my entry. I have since decided to go with carpet in the entry with only the planking used by the door. In addition I need new carpet throughout the house (living room, hallway, 2 bedrooms). I got the estimate today for all this plus installation... are you all sitting down???.... $6700!!!!! Holy cow!!! I guess I have never replaced carpets so I was a little taken back. I'm about to post some body parts for sale. I know my DH is going to say "it's either carpets or Disney."

 

[ceecee]

Go somewhere else and get another estimate. We got three bedrooms, hallway, living room and dining room and the steps carpeted with a premium carpet and top of the line padding. We got vinyl in two baths and a better quality in the kitchen and a large entry downstairs. DuraCeramic tile in the entry way and the total for everything was $5000.00.

 

[Jenn4615]

ya good carpet can be ridiculous prices... we just had our carpet in our family room replaced... it was 2 grand... ICK... It better last longer than the "upgraded" builders carpet! which only lasted 3 years in that room...UGH

 

[WDWAurora]

Yikes...we just did hardwoods in our two big rooms downstairs (not the kitchen/eat-in/entry from garage/laundry/etc.) and carpet in our 4 (small) bedrooms, stairs, and small hall for less than that...We got very high quality carpet, too. Have you priced with Lowe's? If not, I would recommend them. I'm very happy with our quality, service, and the cost.

 

[mom of 3G's]

I should add that my only choices are mom-and-pop stores as I am in a rural area and the closest Lowe's is 2-1/2 hours away.

 

[mamaLori05]

It depends on the size of your house, but to me that sounds about right. We recently built, so just went through getting carpet. We have a 2600 sq foot house with most of the house being carpet (minus kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room.) We got the top memory foam pad on the stairs, and the rest of the house we did the second highest pad. We also bought a high grade freize carpet with more carpet fibers per square inch. Our total was about $6000.

 

[Jenn4615]

Will next day floors or empire or one of those come out to you?

 

[monorailsilver]

We went to a local mom & pop type of store for tile & it is going to cost us $4800, well minus $250 since we are going to pay cash. And it is only for about 800 sf give or take.

 

[phred52]

Yes, at mom n pop type stores we always dicker at bit to get the 'best' price, THEN ask "if I pay cash, what can you do for me?" From mattresses to granite counter tops, we've received better prices for cold hard cash.

 

[LuLuO]

We did a top of the line carpet in our bedrooms. With premium pad and installation it was about $11/sq ft. The carpet is so soft and plush though so totally worth it IMHO.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

The price of carpet is why I went with tile throughout my entire house. I have ceramic in the kitchen & porcelain tile everywhere else Easier to keep clean and will outlive any grade carpet.

 

[Planogirl]

How much would laminate or tile cost? I would never pay that for carpet personally.

 

[IDoDis]

What is your square footage of carpeting, OP? It's hard to judge on if you got a fair deal just based on number of rooms. Also, the more cuts that have to be made (around corners, etc..), the more you'll pay because the rest of the carpet that gets cut off ends up being scrap, but you still have to pay for it.

The price you got doesn't sound unreasonable for a really good grade of carpet. When we had our home built 11 years ago, we opted not to take the builder's carpet or the builder's upgrade (been there, done that in the past and even the upgrade was very poor quality). We went directly to the place that the builder contracted with, found out what they were paid by the builder for the carpeting, and made a deal with them to upgrade to one of their non-builder grade carpets where we paid the difference OOP. It's 11 years later and our carpets are still in really fabulous shape, minus a few places where our dogs tried to pull up the seams.

It really pays to have the best of the best carpet put in. My neighbor had the builder's carpet replaced 4 years after she had her house built (same time as us), but she got a cheap replacement and her now 7 year old carpeting is already in dire need of replacement again while our 11 year old carpet still looks great.

One last thing... To increase the life of your carpet, don't wear shoes in the house and NEVER EVER have your carpets cleaned with any carpet cleaning products that contain soap.

 

[mom of 3G's]

I don't know the square footage, but I have the estimate in front of me with the sq. yards needed. For the living room/hallway/bedrooms I am putting in Mohawk Triexta which is $28/sq. yd and I need a total of 101 sq. yds. ($2813) I think this is a pretty good grade of carpet. I believe it is made with recycled materials and doesn't contain petroleum. The entryway carpet is 32 sq. yd and the carpet is $15.19/sq. yd. ($486) The back entry done in Karndean plank flooring is 87.5 sq. ft and is $4.30/sq. ft. ($375)

The installation is $1500 plus $400 for taking out the carpets, which we could probably do ourselves (the removal...not the installing). Then there's tax and padding.

I just put in kitchen "tile" linoleum 5 years ago and that runs up against the entry -- so I don't want to put ceramic tile in the entry because it won't match up. We don't want laminate or tile in the living area (just a personal preference). I could put laminate in the entry, but there are 4 steps and an elevated platform that would need edging, and this really ups the price.

My "big picture plan" is when the linoleum in the kitchen needs to be replaced that I will then remodel my kitchen and put in ceramic tile throughout the kitchen/entry area. I suppose this will be 8 years????

I hate moving into a house that wasn't built to my specfications. And to top it all off, it was my in-laws house who tsk-tsk me every time I change something.

 

[tink_n_pooh]

When we recently (last summer) got new flooring for our house we found the local mom and pop store to be by far better priced than both Lowes and Home Depot, not to mention their installers and estimaters seemed a lot more professional. OP I would still recommend you get maybe a second quote just to see, does anyone else around do free quotes?

 

[vicki_c]

Getting a second estimate is a good idea, but I don't think that sounds out of line for durable carpet with a quality pad. We just paid $4500 to get new carpet in living room, dining room, hallway and stairs. We used Empire.

And we have also gone to a quality local carpet store -- only did 1 room at that time - but adjusted for the size difference, it was also about the same price range.

In the past, we have also purchased carpet from Home Depot and it was considerably less expensive, installed.

 

[mom of 3G's]

OP I would still recommend you get maybe a second quote just to see, does anyone else around do free quotes?

Yes, I am going to one other store to get their quote.

 

[neatokimmo]

I paid like $2 a SF installed for a Shaw carpet that was made from recycled 2 liter bottles. It was the super stain resistant kind. The loop was slightly longer than a traditional carpet but no where close to a shag. I got it from a mom and pop type place too. Do you have that brand there?

 

[ceecee]

Lowe's hire people to install that aren't always qualified. The guys that did our friend's was a mess even after they sent someone to "fix" it. The seams showed and it was not attached evenly on the steps. Also our local store was about half the price of Lowes (they sell by the foot and not the yard!). I have heard Empire is VERY expensive as well (same friends had an estimate from them before going to Lowes).

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Here's a tip, go for a remnant. If you're not concerned that the carpet is all the same in the house, you can go for a remnant. I went to our local carpet store and the sales person took me to the back because I didn't want to spend a ton of money and picked out a Karastan carpet that originally went for $7 a square foot. It was a 12 x 25' remnant for $400 plus the premium pad. Total for the lower level of the house to install was $900.

I then went back and purchased a berber carpet that was 12 x 38' and did 3 bedrooms for just under $1000. It was a premium berber too!!