If you've considered or are in the process of carpeting your home, surely you've considered what you'll be spending on carpet. There are a few things to keep in mind when shopping for carpeting and getting the best deals.
As with any home improvement project, the first thing you'll want to do is create a budget. Knowing what you can spend and setting expectations of your overall expenses is important to having a successful project free from as much stress as possible.One of the first things many people do when carpeting an area is go out shopping for carpet. This may not be the best approach as you're not even sure of how much carpet you need or what type would is best suited for your particular job. Carpet comes in all styles and types; each of which is made for different purposes.
If your main goal is getting your house ready to sell, then there's some specific things to keep in mind. Firstly, you definitely want to opt for a neutral colored carpet. Most people think that neutral colors are to cater to the lowest common denominator when it comes to possible buyers, to some extent this is true, but not the only reason. The main reason for neutral colored carpet when trying to sell is to keep the conversation off of the carpet. Think about it, when a potential buyer enters your home, the last thing you want to conversation to focus on is the carpeting; regardless of what color or how nice it is. Sure, when you use a unique colored carpet you risk it not being liked style wise for a potential buyer, but more simply you draw attention to it. When a potential buyer enters your home, you want the conversation to focus on the unique features your home has to offer, not the color of carpet. This is also the case for other areas of your home as well such as exterior and interior color. Believe it or not, a white exterior home is traditionally the color chosen most often by new home owners.
When thinking about types of carpet, many think about getting the cheapest, also known as "builder's grade" carpeting. Or some people even try (as a selling point) to include a carpet allowance in the sale price of the home. This is a discount on the sale price which allows for the buyer to purchase new carpet before moving in. This is a bad idea. It's hard for a potential buyer to get a feel for how a house will look when they have to imagine what new carpet will look like. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The optimal solution is choose a cheaper carpet but not the cheapest. Sure this is sort of vague, but use your best judgment. The goal is to not break your budget on carpet yet have something that's nice enough the buyer won't be thinking of replacing the carpet as soon as they move in. You want them to be thinking, "the carpet isn't the best, but we could certainly live with it until we can replace it some years later." Or better yet, they really don't notice it all as we mentioned earlier.
As carpet is sold by the square foot or yard, you're going to have to figure up how much square feet you need in order to shop on carpet prices per square foot. You can find many calculators for determining your square footage needs, but the the simple formula is to measure the width and length of the room. Generally you should round up to the next half foot to make sure you get a little too much than too little. Next, you simply multiply the two numbers together. You should also include the areas that will not be covered by carpet such as around closets and other spaces. Basically you want to get a large enough square piece of carpeting so you can cut away these spaces, leaving you with as little seams as possible.
Regardless of whether you're looking to sell your home or just give it a makeover, finding great carpet prices is about having the right expectations and shopping smart. Even though you may be able to find carpet deals online, always be aware of the shipping costs. Carpet is extremely heavy which makes shipping long distances not very economical.
