#1
Locally-Owned "Family Run" Carpet
Dealers
5
stars - My Favorite!
With a few
remnants stood up along the back wall, some in-stock rolls of carpet on
display, a
neat and tidy showroom and a good selection of brand name carpet samples to
choose from. These long-standing neighborhood carpet and flooring retailers buy first-quality
goods directly
from the carpet manufacturer, provide excellent customer
service, have fair & square pricing, have knowledgeable and helpful staff and
provide qualified installers. Should you ever have a problem or complaint they will do whatever it takes to
ensure
you are completely satisfied with your purchase.
Not
all locally owned flooring dealers are honest and reputable. Over the past few years I have compiled my own "hand-picked"
list of reputable locally-owned Carpet Dealers that I am proud to recommend
to my readers. The dealers I recommend have passed my own set of strict
rules and requirements before I list them in my directory. Where to buy new
carpet and flooring? See
who I recommend near you
#2
Shop-at-Home Carpet Retailers
3.5 stars
Many
people love the convenience of not having to travel from store to store in
search of the perfect type, color and style of carpet or flooring and
prefer having samples brought to their home. It makes matching colors easier
in your own home under the optimum lighting scenario. Many locally-owned
carpet dealers are now offering shop-at-home services and this can a smart way to
go for those who don't want to drive all around town and deal with
conflicting and confusing salespeople.
There are a few nationally advertised
shop-at-home flooring dealers that I do not recommend because they
tend to sell inferior products, have unreasonably high prices and hire high-pressure salespeople. However,
I believe
that "in-home
carpet shopping" is a wonderful service for folks who have a hard time
getting around and don't mind paying a little bit extra for the convenience.
There are
many reputable
carpet dealers that offer quality
products, knowledgeable salespeople and reasonable prices but they are harder to find today because the shop-at-home
concept is just getting started. Currently, I have several reputable shop-at-home
dealers listed in my Preferred Carpet Dealer Directory that I am happy to recommend, including
The Carpet Guys who serve
the metro Detroit Michigan area.
Best
places to buy new carpet and flooring? See
who I recommend near you
#3
Online
Flooring Retailers
3 stars
Need
Hardwoods, Ceramic Tile, Luxury Tile or Laminate Flooring? These online companies move a lot of product and can be a
smart way to go if you are careful and do your homework. The biggest problem I
hear about is the poor quality of the materials they offer. For example: If you buy
hardwood flooring that is considered "Seconds" (cabin-grade?) it can be very difficult to install
and the amount of warped, unusable or damaged product you receive can be
significant and have as much as 25% waste or more.
Buying
first-quality hardwoods is much more costly but the outcome is much better
than if you buy a "cabin grade" product. It's hard to know how much material to order when you have no Idea
about the amount of unusable product they will be sending you. It can be a
real nightmare when you have to re-order more materials because you did not
have enough to finish the job due to the amount of unforeseen waste.
You can save money buying from an
online flooring
wholesaler as long as you know exactly what quality or grade of carpet you are buying and know
in advance exactly how the entire
buying process works from start to finish. Even so, you are taking your
chances because you must trust what the salesperson tell you, of fails to
tell you. Shipping costs can be high
too and if
you are not happy with the product you order you may have to pay dearly to ship it back and
also pay
a hefty re-stocking fee.
Some online flooring retailers are reputable and some are
not, and knowing who to trust is the hard part. Even if you succeed in
buying a good quality flooring at a discount, you still have to arrange for your own
installation or install it yourself if you are so inclined. I suggest you
read all the fine print and ask to see their return and restocking fees, and
the return shipping costs before you agree to buy.
#4
800-Carpet
Wholesalers
2.5 stars
These are carpet
and flooring peddlers who
will send you small carpet samples through the mail. They want you to
buy their carpet virtually "sight unseen" (other than a small swatch) There are no
refunds on discounted carpets so you really have to be fully aware of all the
fine print. You can save money if you buy from a reputable carpet wholesaler as long as you know exactly what you are buying and
fully understand how the entire
carpet buying process works and what is expected of you, especially regarding the
delivery of the carpet and what you are required to do if you need to return a roll of carpet.
Some
1-800 carpet outlets stores are reputable and some are not. The burden of being
knowledgeable about your purchase falls solely upon you.
#5
Franchised Carpet Resellers
2.5 stars
These carpet
dealers are often locally-owned but are hooked
up with a national carpet distributor or co-op to increase their buying power
and decrease their shipping costs.
They usually use private labels to prevent you from comparison shopping
at other carpet local stores. It is often much more difficult to get carpet
specifications from these resellers, and it makes it much more difficult to comparison
shop their products.
Even so, you can still negotiate a fair deal if you know what you are doing
and don't rely on their salespeople to make choices for you.
Most co-ops do
not provide installation so you will have to locate a good installation crew
and pay them separately. You will have to work a bit harder to schedule and
orchestrate everything, and may end up paying a
little more buying from a franchised flooring dealer. but they usually have a
list of local installers for you to call and they do offer a wide range of quality flooring products.
See
who I recommend near you
#6
Buying
Carpet from a Carpet Layer
2.5 stars
Some
carpet layers have longstanding relationships with local carpet dealers, or
may have a way to
order new carpet and padding at near wholesale prices from local suppliers. Carpet layers often end up with sizable
leftovers from bigger carpet jobs because carpet so many salespeople over-measure
their jobs.
When there is a lot of carpet leftover the installer
may take it home and try to sell
it on Craigslist or in your local newspaper. If
you find an installer who has some leftover carpet or other flooring
materials available
at a very low price, you need to understand that they have a limited supply of
those materials and have no way of getting any more of the exact same color or
style. There is no manufacturer's warranty on these materials whatsoever and no recourse
if you end up unhappy with the performance.
Still, you can find some real bargains this way.
As with any contractor you hire to do work on your property, I suggest you check references, verify their contractors license and business liability insurance to
make sure they are all current and up-to-date. This might be an inexpensive way to go if you
are just doing one or two rooms or if you need to replace carpet or flooring
for a rental property.
#7
Local Carpet Warehouse or Carpet Outlet Store
2.5 stars
If you want to
do-it-all-yourself and save a lot of money... create a detailed
diagram of your home with all the room measurements and bring your truck,
some rope and maybe a tarp if it is raining!
These local dealers offer low prices and have dozens of rolls of carpet
"in-stock". They
cater mostly to homeowners on a tight
budget, landlords and property managers and DIY
homeowners. They have plenty of inexpensive, lower-quality, defective or second-grade
materials. Have them roll out the carpet before you agree to buy it
to make sure there are no obvious defects. Check their guarantee
carefully and get everything in writing before you sign on the dotted line.
Once you buy it, you own it. no refunds.
The
main problem when buying carpet from this type of retailer, is that they
rarely have the same type, style or color of carpet available. That means if
you need to buy more of the exact same carpet you bought today, it may not
be available for you to buy tomorrow. Once a roll of carpet is sold, the
same type, style and dye lot (color) may be gone forever. No two rolls of
carpet are exactly the same. There will be differences in color or style
that may be quite obvious once it is installed.
These
-dealers may offer in-house installation or they
might just hand you a list of local installers for you to call and hire on
your own. If you have to arrange for
your own installation you must negotiate with the installer and pay them
directly. In the end, if you pay just $8.99 per yard for the carpet,
don't expect it to last for 10 years. Even though you may get a great deal
on discounted carpets, always remember that there was some reason why it was
not able to be sold as first-quality goods. See
who I recommend near you
#8
Nationally Advertised
or BIG-BOX Carpet Retailers
1.5 stars
These
corporately-owned conglomerates blanket the airwaves with constant and repetitive TV commercials, radio ads,
billboards and bus stops! They have thousands of locations located all over the country.
I think home improvement warehouses like Lowe's and Home Depot should be
avoided because they
use private labels, they farm out their installations to other companies, they
require payment upfront at the time of purchase, and they may even charge
you a fee to come out and measure your home. Should you have a carpet problem, they may
just tell you to contact the
installation company or contact the carpet manufacturer directly.
In many cases,
it is quite possible that if you have a problem or complaint, no one (from
the place where you bought it) is willing to step up to help you or accept responsibility for your problem or complaint.
You
could easily end up stuck with a carpet that you are unhappy with. Do a
Google search for "home depot carpet installation complaints" to
see for yourself.
Learn
more:
Should I Buy Carpet
from Lowe's, Home Depot, Empire Today or Costco?
Free list of locally-owned & Recommended
Carpet Stores Near You
