[DrivenAgain]

Im purchasing a fairly large townhome, about 2800sqft. Its a short sale and undervalued so no guarantees that I will get it. If I do it will need all of the carpeting replaced. Its a 3 level, the entire top floorand half of floor #2 need to be replaced, about 1000sqft. My mother in-law is an interior designer by trade (I do not trust her!!) and keeps telling me this is going to cost 7K minimum. I think I can do it for half that, but I must admit that all I have been doing is researching the internet for ballpark costs. I have this and about 3 other projects that need to be done to be move in ready. Is this something I can tackle my self as far as picking out materials and then hiring a 2nd party for the labor? Im willing to rip out the old material to lower costs? Thanks for your help guys!!!!

 

[MarcNV]

Can easily be done by you(removal atleast). You can rip the carpet , underlay and the tack strip out so it is clean for the installers to do new carpet.

Your best bet would be to have somebody measure out the areas you wanted carpeted. they will then measure and give you a bid on what the materials will cost. Then you can have the same person give you a bid for installation, or you can go with somebody else.

The person giving you a bid for materials should also give you a template of different carpets and its background(material, lifespan, etc).

Also, if you are in contract on a short-sale, don't hesitate to ask your Realtor to give you access to the home at a certain time so you can get bid's before hand.

Good luck!

On the run, can write a longer response soon

 

[ChumpChange]

Im purchasing a fairly large townhome, about 2800sqft. Its a short sale and undervalued so no guarantees that I will get it. If I do it will need all of the carpeting replaced. Its a 3 level, the entire top floorand half of floor #2 need to be replaced, about 1000sqft. My mother in-law is an interior designer by trade (I do not trust her!!) and keeps telling me this is going to cost 7K minimum. I think I can do it for half that, but I must all I have been doing is researching the internet for ballpark costs. I have this and about 3 other projects that need to be done to be move in ready. Is this something I can tackle my self as far as picking out materials and then hiring a 2nd party for the labor? Im willing to rip out the old material to lower costs? Thanks for your help guys!!!!

Is this something that you will be living in or is this for investment purposes and for renters? That is pretty much going to set your cost right there as different carpets and grades have different costs. Under pad thickness is also a differentiating cost. Go into a carpet shop, find out what you like and haggle from there. They'll also know all the installers in town.

Demo is very easy on carpet and you pretty much only need a cutter and some back muscles.

 

[jsiecrtr]

I think that it would be a good thing to contact someone professional in this field and ask them to draw and estimation for getting all the things done and ask them to make it to be as cost efficient as possible. This would help you have an idea about what you should be opting for and also make the necessary changes to make it fit your budget.

 

[dan94tt]

I figure I can help. Flooring is sort of in my blood so to speak and I spent more than my fair share of time carpet bagging.

You are looking at roughly 112 sq. yds. based on your estimate that said, your mother in law has you figured at just a tick about $60/sq.yd. That would get you some of the higher end carpets and upgraded pad for sure, some carpet that I wouldn't exactly call "living grade" more like that one room that no one goes in grade. One brand that comes to mind is Masland, but I think you should be just fine and more than happy with a nice Shaw or Mohawk carpet.

The real question is here what are you looking to get for the floor? If it is going to be a rental or a flip then you might want to go with a decent lower mid-range carpet. Seeing as it is a rather large townhouse and you probably want to get a good tenant who is going to respect the place (at least a little) and get you a fair dollar for rent, you will likely want to spring for a bit more than the cheap shit. For the same token you don't want to kill prospective buyers for the flip with a really low grade carpet.

Obviously some carpet is going to wear better than others, I'd suggest for longevity go with a nice cut pile or a berber. Don't forget don't go cheap on the pad - get yourself at least a nice 8-10lb pad. Figure that will run you about $5-6 sq.yd for a really decent pad.

You can probably save some money by rip up and removal of the old carpet. Do a good clean job here and you will have yourself some happy installers on the day of the new carpet install. Remove the old tackless strip (if it is old and needs replacing) and after you remove the pad, take the extra 20 mins or so and remove the old staples that were holding the pad down. An ice scraper/floor scraper could help you here or use a flat head screwdriver to slide under the staple and pull them out. Clean sweep up and a nice shop vac job and your good to go.

Remember if you have to deal with stairs things can get more expensive for the install as they are going to charge you for things such as capping the step if it is open on one side or both and any spindles for the banister if you have any of that. Can get to be like $8-9 per step. If you do the rip out on the steps do a real clean job - sometimes when they cap the steps they use a ton of small staples to finish under the "flapped" cap part.

With all that said, tackle the rip up and removal yourself. Grab a buddy and some beers and take to it - do a clean job and you will save yourself some money. I think you should be able to get it all done for about $5-6k for some really nice carpet - I am talking some carpet you'd be happy to live in a house with. If it is a rental or a flip then I think you could probably do some shopping around and get out the door for around $4500. Choose the store and installer wisely, be sure to get references or a possible look at a past job or two, it would be unfortunate to have a nice carpet ruined by a less than professional install - be picky!

 

[DrivenAgain]

Thanks for the in-depth feedback guys. This isnt a rental or a flip, Im going to live here for at least the next 7+ years. So far I have been leaning on my mother-in-laws connections as a designer. She has hooked me up with a local carpet place that is giving me some great prices on carpet and install.

 

[just-john]

My 2 cents When ripping up the old carpet try not to remove the tackless that he wooden strips with all the little nails facing the walls they hold the carpet in place and are used in installing the new carpet. This is important on concrete floors since the strips are pre nailed and if you just pull up or smash the old strip it leaves nail holes in the concrete so leave the strip. The installer can always just add a second row of strip where needed.Called double striping a room this method makes for better install makes the carpet tighter .Like the top of a drum .