what's the truth about flooring?

THIS PAGE CONTAINS THE OPINION OF OWNER/INSTALLER OF Q2 CPT./LAM. AND THE STATEMENTS MADE HERE WILL BE DEMONSTRATED TO BE TRUE WITH A FREE IN-HOME ESTIMATE UPON REQUEST.

CARPET SECRETS ...

Upside down on your house--- Put the CHEAP JUNK in your house, and you'll most likely double or triple the time it takes to sell. Add to that the LOW QUALITY INSTALLATION you get from the retail store sub-contractor, and ... GOOD LUCK !!!
Don't spend your money on carpet, upgrade the pad and it makes your carpet last longer --- When you stop to consider reality, carpet swallows up the dirt that lands on it, matts down in the traffic areas, and wears out from the top! The pad upgrade DOES NOT help. What it DOES do is two-fold... 1. it makes you FEEL better while your carpet goes down the tubes in 3-5 years and ... 2. it takes more money out of YOUR pocket and helps THEM build another store.
OOOO!!!- Isn't this carpet SOFT ?!!! --- When the salesman has you run your hand over the sample to feel how "soft" the carpet is, you are being misled. That is not the softness of the carpet. You walk on carpet, sit on carpet, sometimes even LAY on carpet ... THE SOFTNESS IS IN THE CUSH !!! Take that sample and squeeze it between your thumb and fore-finger. Does it flatten down to almost nothing? Are you going to HAVE TO buy an upgraded pad just to reach TOLERABLE COMFORT ??? Then you're looking at a cheap carpet designed to maximize store profits, and give you less of what you're paying for. Shag is probably the best example of where they use this gimmick. It may have a romantic, french name; but it's still shag!
You're safe when you buy carpet with a ten year warrantee----Ever READ that warrantee? 1. Ten year manufacturing defect? -if the installer doesn't work for the store, then he'll notice a defect in ten minutes, but he's not allowed to tell you if it will lose the store profits by re-ordering.This warrantee has absolutely nothing to do with "wear and tear", or APPEARANCE RETENTION. 2.Ten year wear warrantee?- 10% wear in ten years. When it wears out in four years, the mill representative (who is paid to keep your money, not give it back) says "this is 6% wear and it's only been four years, so here is a pro-rated check for $40.00"--- Who is the EXPERT after all? And the next sentence states "This warrantee applies to NORMAL residential usage." Excuse me, but do you have teenagers, pets, or toddlers ?---He'll take back the $40.00 check, and tell you you're wasting his time !!!
If 6lb. pad is good, then OBVIOUSLY 8lb. pad is better--- Most people have only been presented with the option of cheap, low quality carpets at a high mark-up designed to make a profit. They are surprised to discover that a high-quality carpet needs only the standard 6lb. pad to give them the most luxurious feel they can imagine! Two points: 1. Most carpet that is sold, is low quality at a high price, to make the store's overhead, and NEEDS better pad than the thin, anemic, bait-n-switch junk that they use to get you into the store. 2. Definition: 6lb pad weighs 6 pounds per cubic foot, while 8lb. pad weighs 8 pounds in the same cubic foot. 8lb. pad, by definition is heavier and therefore HARDER than 6lb. pad! The question becomes "Why would I pay more money to get harder pad, having LESS comfort, when comfort is the reason I'm buying carpet instead of hardwood in the first place?" The 8lb. pad upgrade is a marketing gimmick used to make the store a little more money.
The bigger the retail chain is, the "safer" my purchase, and more buying power I have.--- In reality when you buy retail from any size store, or chain, you are getting the priveledge of paying all their bills (mortgage, utilities, employee's salaries, benefits and commisions, tv and radio advertising, material samples and displays from mills and additional profits for the owners to build future stores). After that, they pay the smallest percentage to the guys who do all the work-the installer crew, and they know it! So they become experts on how to cut all the corners to get out of your house faster, and YOU pay the price for it! Finally with the left-overs, they give you the lowest quality material possible! --- GOOD LUCK!!
Density--- Remember the old "dig your fingers to the back" trick? That shows you two things: 1. The thickness of the carpet, which is almost immaterial, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, 2. The DENSITY, or tightness of the pile in a plush, and tightness of the beads in a berber. Density affects everything about carpet.--A. Cleanability: dirt stays on top longer making it easier for the vacuum cleaner to do its job. The dirt is taken off the top before it gets into the nap.--B. Stain resistance: without density, the carpet fills up with dirt and then stains set into the dirt! --C. Longevity: 10 year warrantee or not; when the carpet fills up with dirt, it WILL matt down in the high traffic areas. --D. Visibility: if the dirt stays out longer, the traffic patterns stay out longer! --E. Comfort: a cheaper, low-density carpet REQUIRES expensive pad upgrades just to FEEL like anything. High-Density carpet triples the comfort AND lasts longer!

In my opinion of fifteen years experience, density is 98% of quality in carpet. Here are some 2%'ers:

Stain-resistor is all you need- if the carpet is a dirt collector, the stain-resistor CANNOT do it's job.Once the carpet fills with dirt, spill red kool-aid on it, and it stains RED. "But I paid alot of money for stain-resistor !!!" You say? No-one ever stain-resisted the dirt that is now a very big part of your carpet.
California Berber & Frieze is so soft- take this re-marketed 60's SHAG, and squeeze it between your thumb and fore-finger. It's nothing but AIR !!! It's the CUSH from high-density that gives you SOFT, not the half-air "fluff" as you run your hand across the surface. They're misleading you as to what defines softness.
Face-weight indicates quality- a 70 ounce low-density carpet is not as durable as a 55 ounce HIGH-DENSITY carpet !!! Now THAT will blow a sales-pitch out of the water !!! Think of thin, close weave, high density commercial carpet. No comfort, but boy, does it wear! Now take the same high density, and multiply the thickness times 5. Now THAT"S what I'm talkin' about !!!
10 year warranty assures you of quality- read the warranty ; you'll see that it is SWISS CHEESE (full of holes). They print in black-and-white enough wiggle-room to dodge any situation likely to occur. They're in business to get your money, not give it back when the traffic pattern appears prematurely. When you KNOW what the definition of quality IS, you may never have to test that warrantee. Go online and read it for yourself!
Nylon is so much better than polyester- miss the density, and the material becomes secondary. The cheap, builder-grade carpet in new homes, that wears out in 3-4 years under a family ... most often nylon! The truth of the matter is NYLON is more inherantly CRUSH-resistant, while POLYESTER is more inherantly STAIN-resistant. Nylon is always more expensive than polyester, that's why they push it so hard.
Steam cleaning is good for your carpet- 1. carpet backing is held together with glue- pass that over a steaming tea kettle a few times and watch what happens ! Ever hear the steam-cleaner say "Want us to STAIN-RESIST that for you, ma'am?" That's because steam washes out the stain-resistor, and they know it. When there's no DENSITY, you'll be steam-cleaning SOONER, and HELPING to wear out your investment!
The thicker the better- thickness does not necessarily indicate density OR quality. Too thick is not good- when staples can't get through the carpet on your stairs, they come loose and cause a tripping hazard that is very dangerous to your family. This can happen due to over-kill on thickness, or poor quality installation in general.
BOTTOM LINE --- TURN $6.50 - $7.00 / sq. ft. RETAIL (the highest quality made) INTO $3.85 / sq. ft. INSTALLED, WITH PAD!!! MILL-DIRECT PRICING___ NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!!!

Thinking of hard surface instead of carpet? Here are some "Foods For Thought".

If the area is subject to constant food or water, great choice! Laminate may be half again to twice as expensive as top quality carpet (even at mill-direct prices), but it's four times as durable!

If the room you are considering for hard surface is a comfort area (like a family room, living room or bedroom) then consider this... in my 15 years experience with floors, I've noticed that

some people choose hard surface out of frustration with the way the cheap builder-grade, retail carpet fills with dirt and flattens out in living areas. Too often these people find out too late that the room is colder, the echo increases and they've traded away all of the comfort. So they go out and buy expensive area rugs after spending two times the amount on hard surface and end up spending three times as much trying to get back to what they could have had in the first place. MILL-DIRECT PRICING allows you to TRIPLE the quality of your carpet purchase, and high quality carpet just DOESN"T DO what the high-cost, low-quality profit-makers from the retail stores do !!!

Hard Surface Secrets

Do you really want hardwood floors? Ever live in an old country house with hardwood floors and a dog? Hardwood is not hard, just some of the hardest woods, that's why they use poly-urethane to protect it. I hear alot "but you can re-finish real hardwood". That's true; as a matter of fact, it may become a nagging necessity to spend 100's of dollars to re-finish your hardwood in the main traffic areas. Depending on your use and care, this could happen in as little as a few years time.
Do you really want a stone or ceramic tile floor? Ever have one? First, your grout turns black and ugly with mold and mildew in the damp areas. Then the grout cracks out and chips away because they cut corners and cheat on the sub-floor during installation. And don't you DARE drop a can of soup on grocery day! --OOPS!-- broken tiles here and there accumulating after just a few years.

A GOOD QUALITY laminate looks and feels like the real thing (stone, tile or wood) and is three times as durable while being as little as half the price! In many cases laminate is the better choice.But be very careful! There are a lot of low quality laminates on the market, and some of the most well-known name-brands make the worst JUNK around !!! These brands you couldn't PAY me to offer !!! Having top name-brand recognition should not give them license to manufacture low quality in order to increase profit margins !!! I call that CHEATING people !!! Problem is, a salesman HAS TO tell you that the brands his store sells are the best you can get. He has kids to feed too, you know. But unless he has actually installed these brands himself, he cannot advise you on the differences, from personal experience. Call for a free, no-obligation, in-home estimate and say "PROVE IT !!!

BOTTOM LINE --- TURN $8.00 - $8.50 / sq. ft. RETAIL (the low-quality profit-maker the stores sell) INTO $5.50 sq. ft. / INSTALLED!!! (double the quality material) MILL-DIRECT PRICING___NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT !!!