Carpet questions

[kodiakchicken]

Here's the deal:

We had our house built 5 years ago. It's a single story, 1800 square foot, 3 bedroom, open floor plan home. I had fallen in love with the newer, modern shag carpets in light colors. I was hesistant about picking a light color (cream) due to animals, kids, etc. The carpet dealer talked me into it getting it for the living room and hallway, guaranteeing me that these new stain treatments are fabulous and I'd have no problem keeping it clean. Yeah, right.

After 5 years my carpet is trashed. I've shampood it regularly, cleaned up spots, vaccumed, you name it and it just looks horrible. The new stain treatments were great, until there was an accident on the carpet and you used a cleaner to clean it up. From that point on that spot collected more dirt than others.

So now I have to look into new carpeting. Obviously I won't ever do a cream color again (I'm thinking a mottled dirt brown would be perfect!) but I just don't know what type of carpet to consider. I've never been a fan of Berber, but people seem to love it. Is that because it's so easy to take care of or what?

I have considered just pulling the carpets up and painting the subfloor for the time being, but I'm afraid it would be too cold (we have baseboard, not radient floor heat).

Please don't suggest hardwood. We've already got hardwood in the kitchen and dining, which are open to the living room, and the style we got was discontinued almost immediately after the house was done, and I don't want to have to replace that too, so hardwood is not an option.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[smileybritches]

we did the same thing, ours only lasted a year. we went with laminate(fake wood). my sister has berber and loves it. she says it is very easy to keep clean. her is very short napped, is all berber that way?oh, when you clean carpet use only hot water, if you must use a cleaner ALWAYS go back and clean it again with plain hot water. the cleaners attract attract attract dirt. your carpet will stay cleaner longer. that info is directly from the factory. good luck and enjoy the new carpet. 9 dogs convinced us we really don't need carpet in our lives--lol.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Thanks for the info. Everyone I talk to says go with all wood (or laminate, which is what our kitchen is) but I hate the though of replacing that too so it all matches.

Do you think the floor or house is colder with all laminate floor? We have 3 dogs and it would be nice just to sweep and not worry about vacumming.

 

[ChickenTender63]

I would not recommend a berber if you are in the country or have children that will be cause for vaccuming all the time.

With a berber carpet, you can not run the beater bar on your vaccuum cleaner, or it will snag the fibers and yank them causing a big tear in your carpet that looks like a giant run in your panty hose.

I would recommend a frize (sp) or a cut berber. This is going to look more like your shag, only nicer. You can get it in various colors and patterns that will help hide stains or spills should you have any, They hold up very well and look much nicer than a tight berber will, and also be much softer and comfortable.

I was a custom home builder and this is what most of my clients used and it was beautiful and has held up very well. Anytime a client put berber in, I have always had problems with them not being happy for various reasons.

Good luck to ya!

 

[ChickenTender63]

Quote:
Your house will be colder with a laminante floor than it will be with carpet for sure. The furnace will take care of the temp difference, but it will run slightly longer and your feet will never be as warm as if you had carpet. The same goes though if you have all hardwoods.

The concern I have with a laminate floor though is with resale. There are so many people out there that just don't like it and feel like it is a cheap second and may hinder your sale if you plan on reselling in the next 5-10 years.

Hardwoods will deffinately give you better resale and also has the ability to be refinished if there is wear. Laminate can only be changed out when it becomes damaged and most companies are not standing behind their warranties on it right now, so you will want to be careful.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Quote:
Good tip, thanks! I always wondered about those tight weave berbers. I've never found them comfortable to sit on, but thought maybe there was something I didn't know about them.

We have 1 kid, 2 sometimes, three dogs, 2 cats, a messy husband, etc, etc. Not to mention the fact that our lot is unlandscaped and Kodiak is known for it's coarse black sand that gets tracked in on everything. I wondered if it wouldn't be impossible to get all that sand out of a tight weave like a berber.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

We had berber and the dog's nails caught it and snagged. Once it snagged, they had a field day pulling the string until it was trashed...

I love California shag - I got it in colors of brown, green, and tan. It was a while ago so maybe it goes by a different name now, but NOTHING showed on that carpet and I loved it. Unfortunately I moved and had to leave it behind.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Quote:
I understand what you are saying, but hardwood would be a tough option for us. For one, the sand I mentioned in the previous post. I've had a few friends here that went with hardwood and that sand just eats the finish off floors in no time.

Secondly, it's not like we live in an older area where not having hardwood is considered a sin. People here are more concerned about functionality than fashion or tradition.

Third, we probably won't be selling anytime in the near future. We're here at least until I retire (20+ years) so I'm sure we'll go through another flooring change again before then.

Thanks again.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Quote:
I don't know exactly what California shag is, but I love the longer carpets. There's something luxurious about them.

You words about the dogs are enough to keep me away from berber. We have to boston terriers whose nails snag in everything. They would pull the snags until the whole thing was unravelled!

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

That's what happened to ours! I cried when I came home and saw it. But we had big dogs - lab and German Shephard. Berber might be hardy enough to stand up to little dog nails but I'm not sure. I did love my shag though - and it wasn't in the 70's!! Was only about 7 years ago. It made a come-back. I have a short plush now and I hate it. It's mint green and was here when I moved in. It shows EVERYTHING. My walls are still white because I have no idea what color to paint them to go with mint green.