Carpet Installation Cost | Free Carpet Installation?
© 2011 Alan
Fletcher - Carpet Expert and Consumer Advocate
Beware of Carpet
Installation Specials!
Looking to have new carpet installed? Everyone wants to know how much it costs to have carpet
installed, probably because Home Depot and Lowe's are offering $37
carpet installation specials. The latest TV ad I saw now offers FREE
carpet installation if you buy a special brand of carpet AND padding.
Guess how much they are charging for the carpet and pad, a lot more than
you ought to be paying! Learn more about buying
carpet from home improvement stores.
In my professional opinion, you can't afford to go with a special
cut-rate on your carpet installation. Done improperly, you could lose
half of your new carpet life span! If you are looking to
find out how much it REALLY costs to install new carpet I have all the answers
you need.
In different parts of the country, (The USA) the price of carpet
installation may be higher or lower depending on the supply and demand.
In our current down economy, there are a lot more hungry carpet
installers out there looking for work. This is good news for those
consumers who have money to spend on home renovations and are willing to
do a little legwork to find a qualified carpet installer and negotiate a
good deal. I bet you can negotiate as much as 30% off their normal
carpet installation charge, especially if you are willing to pay them in
cash at the end of the day.
Buyer beware: print out my free
carpet installation checklist. You want to be sure your carpet is
installed right the first time!
Qualified Installation
The main thing you want to be sure of, is that the carpet installers
use a power-stretcher to install your carpet. Gone are the days where a
simple knee-kicker will do the trick unless you’re installing cheap
carpet in a very small room on a very hot day. Carpet needs to be
stretched in tight, and the only way to insure this is to use a
power-stretcher. If they don’t use a powerstretcher, then find an
installer that does! Otherwise you
might void your warranty!
Important Note:
Is your Carpet
Installer Licensed, Bonded & Insured? Check
Now to see if you carpet or flooring installer is subject to your
State Licensing Regulations. You should
always call to make sure who you hire is properly licensed, bonded and
insured according to the State and Local Laws where you live. You
can also check to see if there have been any prior complaints filed
against the contractor in question. http://www.howtobuycarpet.com/contractor_state_license_requirements.htm
Cheapest Carpet Installation Costs!
In the southern states, there is much more competition and carpet
installation prices are much lower. For example, in Miami, Florida you
can get carpet installed for less than $2.00 per yard. I’m not saying
it would be a qualified install, but there are plenty of hungry people
in the area willing to work very hard for little money. Making sure your
carpet installer is qualified is up to you. Don’t assume that every
carpet installer is qualified to install your carpet. In fact, I believe
that less than 35% of all carpet installers are properly trained.
The States with the lowest carpet installation costs have typically
been Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and southern California. Other southern
states like Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas and Southern
Arizona have fairly inexpensive carpet labor and installation costs.
I am not suggesting you go for the lowest
installation price, in fact, getting your carpet installed properly is
extremely important if you want your carpet to last as long as it was
intended. I go into great detail in my ebook, The
Complete Carpet Buying Guide. It’s only $14.95 and will save you
ten times that or your money back!
The northern states are the highest priced which includes Northern
California, Oregon, Washington State and the Northeastern States
including New York, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, and Connecticut. I
find that Midwest States have their share of hungry installers too,
especially in Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, Kansas, Idaho, Utah and
Nebraska.
The Real Numbers:
You can expect to pay at least $2.50 per yard for installation in the
southern states and as much as $5.50 per yard in northern states.
Some Carpet Retailers Profit from Installation
Costs.
Some carpet retailers choose make additional profits by padding the
installation charges, often adding as much as 25% to the total
installation cost. I feel this is an unfair charge to the consumer.
Carpet retailers already make a fair and reasonable profit from the
carpet and pad. Charging more for installation costs is unwarranted and
unethical in my opinion. If you get a bid from a carpet retailer with usually
high carpet
installation fees and charges, you might want to shop around to see if other
locally owned
carpet stores have lower and more reasonable carpet installation prices.
Beyond the basic carpet installation
Some carpet dealers offer specials on carpet installation. Some of
these specials are too good to be true. Free carpet installation sounds
good when you hear about it, but in the end, is it really as good as it
sounds? Not always. The basic carpet installation does not include any
extras. If your carpet installation job needs any extras, then you may
find that the final bill for your carpet install is much higher than you
expect. Don’t assume that their low price installation is valid n your
situation. When your carpet is installed, you may be faced with a
sizable final bill that you did not expect.
It’s the unexpected extra fees and charges that can add up in a
hurry if you’re not careful. Installing carpet on stairs will almost
always demand an additional charge. Depending on the type of stairs you
have it will be anywhere from $3 for a standard box step to as much as
$15 per step for a double-wrapped stair with a pattern match Berber. The
longer it takes to upholster a step the more it will cost. The standard
flight of stairs will usually cost about $75 in addition to the normal
cost of carpet installation.
Other unexpected carpet installation
costs.
Removing the old carpet and padding.
Tear out of the old carpet and padding can be anywhere from fifty
cents per yard to $3.00 per yard. They may also try to add on a dump fee
of $10 to $50 depending on how much old carpet and pad you have. A good
carpet team of three can remove 100 yards of carpet and pad in less than
an hour. I think $2.00 per yard is more than enough to remove the old
carpet and padding and haul it away. Most carpet retailers have a
dumpster available onsite for their installers to use. I don’t think a
dump fee of more than $10 is a fair charge unless they don’t have a
dumpster and they have to take the old carpet to the landfill or
recycling center.
Installing new tackless strips.
New construction will require that new tack strips must be installed.
It is easier to install on wood than on concrete. The fee for wood might
be an additional 25 or 50 cents per yard. The fee for installing tack
strips over concrete might be an additional $1 per yard. In existing
homes with damages tack strips that need to be replaced, it should be
about $2.00 per each four foot section.
Some installers charge by the hour to do any work that is preliminary
to the installation. In this case, It’s usually about $50 per hour
(per person). This includes moving furniture, sealing floors and doing
any floor repairs.
Transitions
The carpet will meet other flooring types and must have a transition
of some type. Examples are: Carpet to vinyl, carpet to hardwoods, carpet
to vinyl tiles, and carpet to ceramic tiles are some of the
possibilities.
Transitions can be made of wood, metal, rubber or plastic. Each
transition is available in different quality levels and depending on the
application, the correct transition must be used to ensure a long life
without failing. The cost of transitions vary widely and should be
discussed with your carpet estimator/retailer before the bid final is
drawn up. The cheapest gold or silver colored transitions are generally
priced at $1-$2 per foot. A rubber transition in a utilitarian
application should cost about $3-$5 per foot. A transition of
pre-finished hardwood can easily cost $5 to $20 per foot. Brass of other
specialized transitions can be quite costly.
Thresholds are another story. If your front of back door is in need
of a new threshold, plan on spending at least $50 for a new one. Usually
these are made of aluminum and have to be cut to fit. If you want a
snazzy threshold made of a pre-finished hardwood, expect to pay much
more. Installing a new threshold is not always a quick and easy job and
may require expert finish-contractor abilities.
Trimming doors
If your new carpet is thicker than the last carpet installed in your
home, your doors may need to be trimmed at the bottom. If your installer
is qualified and well equipped to do this, then the charge can be
anywhere from $10 per door to $50 per door depending on what your doors
are made of. Trimming the bottom of doors is not a job for the
inexperienced. It is not easy to do correctly and it is easy to ruin a
door if it is not done properly.
You can’t just run a skill saw or jigsaw along the bottom of a door
and expect it to look nice when you are done. Some woods like pine or
mahogany will easily splinter and fray on the backside and end up
looking horrible unless you take steps to keep this from happening.
Again, depending on what your doors are made of will determine how to
trim your doors without damaging them. If in doubt, call in a
professional carpenter.
If you want more information about carpet
installation costs or how to find a qualified carpet installer please
visit my free carpet information website at http://www.abccarpets.com/
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From A Reputable Carpet Dealer!
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