Carpeting

[Josh L.]

I know many landlords have gotten rid of most of their carpeting, but I'm still keeping it for the upstairs bedrooms, stairs, and for a living room downstairs. I've got tile in the rest of the house and hopefully the carpets won't get as much wear and tear because they're in less trafficed areas.

So, I've got a couple of questions for those who still use carpeting:

1) Where do you buy your carpeting? Home Depot and Lowes? Local flooring specialist store? Anywhere else to buy it?

2) What type of carpeting do you buy?

There's so many different types of styles and materials. For styles, there's cut, loop, cut-loop pile. For materials, there's wool, nylon, olefin, polyster, etc...

Is one style and material better than another for a rental?

3) Do you ever buy better carpeting because it should be more durable than cheaper carpeting? Or, do you buy the cheapest carpeting you can because the tenant will end up destroying it anyways, regardless of how durable the carpeting its?

If its the latter, do I still get the cheapest carpet even though my rental is in good location and can get high rents?

4) I've just learned that carpets are rated differently for durability and that your carpeting should depend on the expected traffic in that room. I hadn't really considered that before and that explains why there's a few areas of carpeting that need to be replaced while the carpet everywhere else is fine.

But, if you get the most durable carpet that will meet the demands of the most trafficked areas and use that same carpet throughout the whole house, then it seems you're overpaying for carpet for most of the house- you're getting carpet more durable than needed for the rest of the house

5 )What else do I need to know or to look for when buying carpeting?

[Eric Y.]

@Josh L.

I still use carpeting in parts of my rentals. Mainly in the bedrooms (we still get cold weather here, nice to step on warm carpeting barefoot).

1) Where do I buy my carpeting?

Craigslist/HD/Lowes. I'm not picky. Just shop them all around. I've been using the same carpet guy for awhile now and most of the time he will tell me what he has in excess (and thus sells it dirt cheap) or what he knows a few shops are trying to move. If theres no deals, then just getting the stuff from HD usually works well. You can get a decent carpet & pad for ~$1/sqft as a good rule of thumb.

2) What types?

No real preference here. I pay more attention to the pad (spend the $ to upgrade to an 8lb pad with some stain/odor fighting abilities). You're definitely going to replace the carpet at some point, but you might be able to salvage the pad. So far, by doing little extra upgrades I've managed to routinely attract quality tenants and haven't had to replace carpet anywhere. My only "bad" tenant has been very long-term and luckily lives in the only rental I have with 0 carpeting. Anyways, keep the colors to a neutral/earthy look. Possibly some multi-colored strands and this will help you save the carpet a little longer by being able to blend stains/etc. Your worst enemies are going to be 1) cats (well, lazy cat owners), 2) puppies, 3) people eating/drinking in the bedrooms.

3) Nope. So long as the color works, I assume it will have to be changed sooner than even the crappiest carpet would normally wear out (though I have been wrong so far--I wouldn't count on it).

4) Your most wear prone areas are going to be entry ways and hallways. I'd never have carpet in those areas (even in my own home, generally speaking). Tile around entry-ways (give people a chance to take off their muddy shoes on a crummy day without destroying hardwoods or carpet) and going hardwood/tile in the hallways will just last you much longer and can be refreshed without redoing the entire thing.

5) Good luck and don't overthink it. Using the thicker pad will make even cheap carpets "feel" muuuch nicer to feet and feel. Keep the colors nice and warm and you'll rent faster and for more money.