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Flooring Update - Carpets
In part 1 we looked at floating timber and luxury vinyl flooring. Today we look at sensible carpet choices when updating your property.
Different carpet fibres offer very different levels of performance. What you choose will vary with your budget and whether you are preparing your property for sale or rent.
Preparing for sale.
Carpet covers a large area in most of our homes and its appearance will make a huge difference in the overall presentation of a property for sale. Worn, stained or smelly carpet will not create positive engagement with prospective buyers. Whilst every sale is different, we would almost always recommend replacing carpet that is passed its use-by-date to help get the best result from your sale.
The luxurious look and feel of a soft long pile carpet in modern neutral or even contrasting bold colours gets us great feedback from buyers. Fortunately, there are some very affordable choices that tick all the look and feel boxes.
Durability is not an issue and we have seen the occasional buyer pull up brand new carpet to change the colour or to lay their choice of the latest non-carpet flooring, so you really want the cheapest product that looks the part. We are not saying don’t leave the new owner a great carpet if you want to but it is probably not the best use of your money.
Preparing for rent.
Again, look and feel are still somewhat important especially as you may be competing for good tenants or higher rents but durability now also becomes a real consideration. You do not want to be reinvesting in new carpet for your rental property too often. The most durable carpets that also look and feel great cost more, so we are often looking for the right price/performance balance for a particular property.
A single bedroom unit with one tenant can get away with a cheaper less durable carpet whilst a 3- or 4-bedroom home in a suburb that is popular with young families probably needs a bigger investment.
However, spending big to buy the most durable and longest-life carpet for a rental property may also be the wrong decision. Even the most expensive carpet can be accidently damaged and wind up having to be repaired or replaced.
Occasionally damaged carpet issues wind up at the tribunal and whilst every case is no doubt considered on its merits NCAT generally appears to align itself with the ATO’s depreciation guidelines and carpets have a 10-year life irrespective of their actual expected life. After 10 years they effectively have no value and before the 10 year limit their value is calculated on a pro-rata basis in line with the depreciation.
Comparing different carpet materials.
Whilst the choice of fibre is very significant it is only one factor that will determine the ultimate performance of a carpet.
Other factors include density, fibre twist and face weight. The style of the pile; loop pile, cut pile or a combination of the two and the length of the pile are also factors. Even the same type of fibre itself can vary in quality between different carpets.
You often hear about “landlord carpet” which has usually been a tight and short loop pile made from a harder cheaper fibre. It wears better than a cheaper cut pile but given the choice most people including tenants do seem to favour a plusher cut pile to actually live on. Loop pile can trap dirt and be harder to clean.
Most common carpet fibre characteristics from the cheapest up to the most expensive.
Polypropylene
- Highly stain and fade resistant but lower resistance to soiling
- Least porous fibres, so will not absorb liquids or hold allergens as much
- Lowest cost
- Will wear quickly in high traffic areas
- Not the softest fibre nor the most luxurious look
- Looks and performs best as a tighter and shorter loop pile
A lower quality residential carpet but it can be a good choice for any areas were spillages or damp is a problem such as children’s play areas or rumpus rooms without through traffic. It is often used for outdoor and marine applications.
Polyester
- High stain resistance but may not perform quite as well with oil-based stains
- Soft luxurious feel and look
- Not porous so good with water-based spills and allergens
- Generally, your second cheapest choice
- Susceptible to matting especially with a plush long pile so needs regular brushing and vacuuming
- Once crushed by foot traffic or furniture the fibres will not spring back.
- Not long lived in high traffic areas but higher density versions can last more than 10 years with care but mostly they can start to look very ordinary after 5 years or so.
A great choice when preparing a property for sale as it will give you a great look and feel especially with a longer cut pile version. We have used it in some smaller rental properties, it is cheap but with medium to high traffic it will not give you a long life.
Triexta
- Newest mainstream carpet material introduced in 2009
- Softer underfoot than nylon or polyester
- High stain and soil resistance, fibres tend not to absorb water-based spills
- May or may not be ultimately as hardy as nylon, time will tell
- Generally priced between polyester and nylon
- Usually made with some, up to 37% we believe, rapidly renewable corn sugar unlike the other artificial fibres which are 100% petrochemically based
A great and affordable choice for rental properties and worth considering for sales if you really need to re-carpet but may still plan to live there for a while before you sell. It will still look very presentable for quite some time. After 12 years on the market its durability is looking pretty good. Its look, feel and price are very popular with both our landlords and our tenants.
Nylon
- Not naturally stain resistant. Stain protection is factory applied
- The most expensive of the artificial fibres
- The most resilient of carpet fibres with the best recovery from being compacted
- The most durable and hardy carpet material proven since the 1950s
- Can be prone to fading in strong sunlit rooms, solution dyed nylons should fade less
Overkill for a sale in our opinion but if the price is right, it will obviously be a very long-life rental choice. However, we have seen some nylons stain and also fade badly. Not all carpets and fibres are created equally. If you are looking at spending more for a higher quality carpet read the fine print and make sure that the manufacturer is prepared to back it up with an equally luxurious and useful warranty.
Wool
- Natural resistance to soiling
- Not quite as stain resistant, cleaning spills up quickly is important especially if they are highly coloured and water based such as wine or coffee
- Soft luxurious feel and look
- Very resilient with strong recovery from compaction
- Will absorb moisture so mould and mildew can be problem in damp areas
- Different types of wools have different qualities and ultimate performance
- The most expensive fibre and of course the only natural one
- Fading can be an issue
The highest quality choice in most people’s books and we have seen the better examples last decades. But accidents happen and happen easily to carpets. They can stain badly and sometimes no amount of high-tech cleaning science can fix that. Overkill as a real estate solution unless that real estate is your loved family home and you plan to live there for some time.
Blends
The world-renowned Axminster carpets have been an 80/20 blend of wool/nylon since the 1950s. They are high quality because of their woven construction but they clearly combine the softness of wool and the strength of nylon to very good effect.
Generally, however blends exist to lower the cost of a carpet by adding a cheaper fibre into the mix. With the possible exception of the highest quality wool blends they will not perform as well as 100% of the better fibre. This is especially the case if they are adding polyester or polypropylene to a better fibre. Only consider a blend if the cheaper fibre is 20% or less and if the density, fibre twists and other quality factors are high.
In summary
There are significant differences in the performance and price of different carpets and also between the warranties of different carpets and different fibres. Your choice will be affected by whether you are preparing a property for a quick sale, long term rental or to be your own home.
We are happy to put you touch with the experienced carpet retailers and layers that we use for our clients as well as share our experiences and thoughts on specific brands.
Please do not hesitate to contact us on (02) 9871 3888 or at ask.us@northwood.com.au if you need more information on flooring or renovation advice generally especially if you are planning to update your property for sale or lease.
