When finding the perfect flooring for your home, we often overlook carpets as most people would think that it is difficult to install, expensive, and difficult to maintain. Today we are here to explore carpets and also find out some of the advantages it can actually provide.
Carpets comes in various types and forms, some of the more popular ones are
1) carpet roll,
2) carpet tile and
3) rugs
Carpeting and rugs come in a wide range of prices all depending on their quality and design. The quality of carpets or rugs is mainly linked to its material, its fabric thickness and how its woven. The design is often influenced by its overall colour, patterns, feel and style.
Carpet Advantages
1) If chosen well, carpets can often be a good bargain as compared to expensive natural stone flooring or high-grade hardwood floors. They can actually help save up thousands of dollars. However, high end stylish designer carpets can also cost a fortune.
2) Whether its marble flooring or carpets, it all boils down to the feel you want for your home. Carpets can give a sense of warmth and adds texture to your house. The comfort felt from stepping on soft carpet is sometimes a plus for many homeowners.
3) Carpets also add another dimension of design to your home. It increases the level of sophistication and brings about a sense of completeness in your home design just like living in a hotel.
Average Carpet Price.
Carpets prices range from as low as S$1.50/sqft to as high as S$25+/sqft. The average price is around S$3-S$7/sqft . A fairly reasonable priced carpet is around S$4-S$6/sqft.
Rugs can costs as little as S$1/sqft but do not expect much. These low priced carpets often shed fibres very quickly. A good quality rug will cost S$5 or more per square foot, with the best rug using materials such as wools costing more than $8 per square foot. For that famous middle eastern rug, do check the fabric used, its design and its age. These factors often affect the price significantly.
Carpets prices are affected by:
1) brand - the more popular the more expensive. Low cost carpets start from $1.50/sqft onwards. High quality brands like Fabrica and Masland can costs as much as S$8/sqft to more than $20/sqft.
2) Fibres and materials - Cheapest carpet fibre commonly used is olefin. Most carpets are nylon made while the most expensive carpets are made from wools, most cost more than $8/sqft.
3) Carpet style and weave pattern - Some weave techniques include loop, textured, frieze, and patterned. The lower the face weight and thread density, the lower the carpet price and vice versa.
Determining How Much You Need (SqFt/ m2)
This is an important step as you do not want any extra money spent on carpet wastage. You will also like to prevent contractors from overpricing you by over-quoting you on material prices.
1) Measure the room you would like carpet to be installed. You can use your house plan/blueprint for measurement. For greater accuracy, use a maesuring tape and measure directly off your room. Find the area by multiplying length and breath of the room. If your measurements are in meters square, you can convert to square feet by multiplying by 10.7 (this a a rough approximation).
2) We would recommend that you add a 5% to the total area you have calculated from (1) for some extra carpet. The last thing you want is when you do not have enough to cover the entire room.
Installation Pricing and Cost Factors
The costs of installation ranges from S$0.50/sqft to S$2/sqft. Installation of pad may be extra. Do check with your installer first. Some carpets are thick enough and already have cushions to act as pads so do take note.
Costs factor such as floor consistency (a flat surface is easier for installation), obstructions during installations, moving of furniture and so on. Do make sure to check with you carpet installer and clarify all costs factors before starting work.
Can we bring down our installation cost and carpet price?
There are a few tips of the trade we can share here.
1) Always check the thickness, weave pattern and weave density of your carpet selection. Don't get conned to pay higher prices for a poor quality carpet whose design looks exactly like a high quality one but only thinner and poorly woven with less weave density.
2) Chose the time for installing your carpet wisely. Do not install during year end season when everyone is rushing to install for the festive holidays like Christmas and Chinese new year. The sheer demand pushes the price of both carpet and labour costs up.
3) Always buy online or direct from wholesalers as bulk purchases from them can often score discounts of as much as 30% to 40%.
Common Carpet FAQ.
1) Will carpets shed?
Unfortunately, new or old carpets will shed. However, the amount of shedding all depends on the quality of the fabric/fibre and how its woven. New carpets often have loose fibres especially along cuts, these will come loose. Just vacuum them away and you're good. Poor quality carpets will continue to shed as their fibres are poorly woven. They turn loose quickly leaving bare patches or gaps. Hence, it is very important that you chose a fairly thick carpet with higher weave density (>23) to make sure this does not happen.
2) Does carpet contain formaldehyde?
No. Formaldehyde is no longer used to make them.
3) Do you need padding for all carpets ?
No. Some carpets are thicker with a layer of cushion, hence padding is not necessary, However, thicker carpets come at a higher price.
4) How do we remove coffee stains or other fluid spills?
1) Dry the spot by dabbling with a dry towel. If there is a substantial amount of spillage, make sure you do not spread the stain even more by changing towels as they become saturated with the beverage.
2) Try the mixture of , water, vinegar and a gentle, non-bleach detergent. Dabble, rinse, and repeat.
3) There are certain types of carpets such as Polypropylene that will respond safely to a carpet stain treatment of water and bleach. You can prepare a mixture of 1/4 cup of bleach to 1 cup and a 1/4 of water in a spray bottle. Soak with the mixture, Dabble, rinse with warm water, and repeat until the carpet stain disappears.
4) For blood stains do use cold water instead as blood will coagulate with warm water, cold water prevents the blood stain from permeating into the carpet fibers.
Hope the information on carpets help. Do share to your friends who want to install a new carpet in their home.
