Carpet shopping. Anyone recommendations?

[RaRa]

I'm open to regular or berber. It's for a kids bedroom. Is berber harder to clean? Does anyone know what a reasonable per square foot price is? I looked at Costco, but I don't know if their brands are higher end or what. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[NMDemDist2]

1. berber is very good and easy to clean IMO. if you get good quality

to begin with in a fairly light color, you can dye it darker to hide stains (in a kids room, stains are a given)

here's a good "how to" on choosing carpet.

http://doityourself.com/carpet/buyingcarpet.htm

the main thing that wears out carpet is the grit of dust and dirt, so the more you can vacuum it the better with a GOOD vacuum cleaner. while I swear by my Rainbow, or did when I had carpet anyway, most folks choke at the price even for a used one. but i'll guarantee it will be the last vacuum cleaner you ever buy!

anyhoooooo so with a less than excellent vacuum, you'll want a fairly low pile (Berber is one such) and never ever skimp on the pad.

good luck, the choices and price ranges are mind boggling.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

2. I actually researched buying carpet last year and I can only

give tidbits from memory. I bought (I think it is recycled (plastic?) because it is very stain resistant. It was the Home Depot stock (I searched everywhere for) carpet.

I live in a one floor condo, so the carpet pretty much has to be all replaced at the same time (every room runs into the next).

This carpet, turned out to be a really good deal and is stain resistant and wear resistant so far. I am planning on selling the place very soon so I didn't want to upgrade to the max.

If you bought Lowes or Home Depot stock carpet you paid about $9.99per/sq (ft or yd). It can be installed within 3 days and (HD) constantly runs a 10% (material and installation) deal. No one could even come close to the deal I got.

As for the installers, they all (local businesses and big retail stores contract the same contractors).

Just upgrade the padding which will also add to the wear and tear (for a nominal pittance) and let the kids run free.

I am not a Berber person (it was slightly, and I mean slightly cheaper), just my 2 cents.

[AlCzervik]

3. A berber made from Olefin is a good choice, the fiber is sealed

and is very stain resistant and easy to clean, Nylon feels nice but the fiber is open and once a stain in there it's hard to remove all the way, many times you'll have to stain comeback as a shadow. The one drawback to berbers, especially if they have a large loop is that if you have cats or dogs forget about it, they pull a loop with one of there claws and the carpet will run.

Olefin is basically pvc.

[I_Make_Mistakes]

4. Chimp- That was what I was looking for PVC, extremely stain

resistant.

[Debbi801]

5. One thing to keep in mind with berber...

It is not recommended with pets, especially large dogs. Each row of carpet is one strand and if a dog's nail gets caught in a loop, it is possible for the pet to pull out the whole row.

That said, we have it in our small den (8X10) and have a lab. We haven't had a problem with it unravelling, but the carpet place tried to steer us away from it.

[SW FL Dem]

6. Very true

Another thing with Berber is that some vacuums and home steam cleaners can't get the dirt out of the deep crevices. We bought a home with a very expensive sculptured off-white Berber. It is totally impossible to keep the indented parts clean. Hopefully, the Berber will be gone soon. I have had the best luck with frieze carpets, the fibers are bulky and well twisted. They don't show traffic and stand up well for years.