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How long does carpet last? Our design consultants hear that question from customers on a daily basis. In a perfect world, we’d be able to provide a definitive answer to that question. Unfortunately, the world isn’t perfect, and there are many mitigating factors that come into play when determining a carpet’s life expectancy.
Keep Your Carpet Clean
How long your new carpet will last really depends on how well you take care of it. Maintaining a consistent cleaning and vacuuming schedule and having your carpet professionally cleaned once every twelve-to-eighteen months goes a long way toward keeping your carpet’s yarns in tip-top shape.
You shouldn’t ever use a carpet cleaning solution without first consulting the Carpet & Rug Institute’s website and the carpet manufacturer’s website; using the wrong cleaning product could cause permanent damage to your carpet’s delicate yarn.
You Get What You Pay for
Buying carpet is similar to buying a car; the good ones aren’t cheap, the cheap ones aren’t good, and you can’t buy a new Mercedes for the price of an ’88 Ford Escort. When you make any major purchase, try to keep in mind that basing your decision on buying something that saves you a little bit of money in the short-term will inevitably come back to bite you in the long run.
Not all carpets are equal. An entry-level, builder-grade product may have a ten-year warranty against manufacturer defects, but that doesn’t mean that product won’t ugly-out within the first couple of years. When you decide to purchase new carpeting, make a list of your expectations, figure out where you want to be with your budget, and then ask your flooring professional to point you in the direction of a product that meets all the necessary criteria. Oftentimes, homeowners have to make adjustments to their budget (or their expectations) after they see how far their carpet-buying dollars will stretch.
Most homeowners replace their carpet after they’ve had it in their home for seven-to-ten years. With that in mind, think about what the cost of diesel fuel was ten years ago, and think about what the cost of diesel fuel is today. Since 90% of the carpet in American homes originates in Dalton, Georgia, it has to be trucked everyplace it goes—the cost of diesel fuel is always a mitigating factor in the price of carpet.
Using the Wrong Pad Will Make Your Carpet Sad
Using the correct carpet cushion is a crucial component in extending your carpet’s life expectancy. If someone tells you that four-pound pad or six-pound pad is the way to go, you should probably run away as fast as you can, because that person does not have your carpet’s best interests at heart. Your carpet’s padding is there to make for a more comfortable step when your heel hits the floor, but it protects the carpet’s backing from abrasion against the substrate, too.
If you’d like more information about carpet, padding, and proper carpet-cleaning methods, visit www.carpet–rug.org, or you can contact The Carpet Guys at (248) 409-5359 to schedule a free in-home estimate from one of our knowledgeable design consultants. They’ll take all the necessary measurements and bring a great selection of samples from the nation’s leading carpet manufacturers for you to choose from.
