Re-carpeting the apartment

[7smurfs]

The apartment I purchased has had its carpet previously flooded by a faulty laundry machine so I am looking at replacing the carpet all together.

There is about 18.9 L/M required and have received quotes of approximately $2000 for removal of current carpet/take up/underlay/installation for a cheap poly type of carpet. In light of this, I may look at simply DIY'ing

Questions:
- Recommended to replace underlay? i.e normal, premium, 'super' premium quality
- Recommended to purchase expensive carpet or the cheapest I can get? i.e poly, nylon etc
- Big companies vs small? I've so far had a look at HN, Masters, Bunnings, Carpet Court, Carpet Call etc

Any other opinions are valued
Floorboards are out of the question due to noise and body corporate troubles

 

[tobe]

If it were me? I would get another couple of quotes, and then pay someone to do it.
a) Im not great with my hands
b) my time is better spent working at my job, or investigating other investments
c) the $2000 is tax deductable, whereas if I did it myself only the materials would be
d) its tax deductable, so thats about $1,300 after tax this year, (or 'free' if I borrowed the $2,000) and then at 20% depreciation over the next five years, its just not worth 8 hours of my time on my hands and knees.

 

[jim1964]

The apartment I purchased has had its carpet previously flooded by a faulty laundry machine so I am looking at replacing the carpet all together.

There is about 18.9 L/M required and have received quotes of approximately $2000 for removal of current carpet/take up/underlay/installation for a cheap poly type of carpet. In light of this, I may look at simply DIY'ing

Questions:
- Recommended to replace underlay? i.e normal, premium, 'super' premium quality
- Recommended to purchase expensive carpet or the cheapest I can get? i.e poly, nylon etc
- Big companies vs small? I've so far had a look at HN, Masters, Bunnings, Carpet Court, Carpet Call etc

Any other opinions are valued
Floorboards are out of the question due to noise and body corporate troubles

Whatever you do,dont go "cheap" on the carpet.Stains will never come out,it will wear twice as quick,been there before,and go poly.

 

[DaveM]

What is the apartment like quality wise? Cheap carpet in an expensive apartment may be not good enough, but conversely you typically wont put premium carpet in a small low socio rental.

For rental, you are either at a twist/loop polyprop which is about $100-120 linear metre installed on foam underlay into your solution died nylons which are $180-220.

There are other options like commercial carpet which can work but is typically designed to be glued to a slab and not underlay, as well as really cheap nasty polyprop which is akin to sitting on sandpaper.

Personally I would go for a decent (not basic) twist & loop pile polyprop in a darker coffee/mocha colour. Hard wearing, the mix of twist and loop means you dont get tracking issues, and its fairly stain hiding. You are also generally better off rather than spend more money on the carpet, spending money upgrading underlay from foam to gold or red rubber as its a firmer underlay with less movement so less carpet wear/bunching.

 

[The Y-man]

Have never attempted DIY'ing.

FYI, Bunnings looks like they have jumped into the market with what lloks like very competitive pricing for install. Have never used them though, so would be interested in hearing anyone's experience.

The Y-man

 

[The Y-man]

Questions:
- Recommended to replace underlay? i.e normal, premium, 'super' premium quality
- Recommended to purchase expensive carpet or the cheapest I can get? i.e poly, nylon etc
- Big companies vs small? I've so far had a look at HN, Masters, Bunnings, Carpet Court, Carpet Call etc

Any other opinions are valued
Floorboards are out of the question due to noise and body corporate troubles

We've used
http://completecarpetco.com.au/contact-us/
to do about 6 recarpeting jobs. Quite happy.

We chose the el-cheapo nylon option with the view to regular replacement, figuring this could be an added attractant for potential tenants when re-leasing.

Underlay - I think we went for a thicker one to compensate for the thin carpet. Good underlay doesn't need to be replaced each time if you do the cheap carpet option.

The Y-man

 

[lizzie]

I get my carpet from Independent Carpets - heaps cheaper than the other companies - and I get the carpet layer to order it from Independent and he installs (I pay him directly).

Because I've done A LOT of carpets over the years, Independent are more than happy for me to do this.

This way I'm paying the same price for the carpet, but not the carpet companies markup on the installer. He also takes away for free.

 

[7smurfs]

Thanks for the suggestions and clarifications guys.

I've basically gone onto the route of either polyprop loop vs. solution dyed nylon loop

approx cost $2000 vs. $2400

 

[channon]

give bunnings a call they have this $139 installation special.....only thing is u have to buy the underlay as well

http://www.bunnings.com.au/products_tag_Carpets_890.aspx

 

[missgreeneyes]

Even Bunnings told me they wouldn't recommend DIY-installing carpet as you need a good strong knee and you have to stretch it and if you don't do it properly your carpet will wrinkle soon.
The same Bunnings man told me I'd be able to install a floating floor myself easy, if that gives you an indication about how easy/difficult it is to install carpet yourself.