What Carpet should we choose?

braveheart · Feb 24, 2008 8:29 pm

Hi

We purchased Solution Dyed Nylon (SDN) carpet (paid deposit but not finalised payments) at CarpetCall Flooring after a lot of convincing by a salesperson but after reading postings/advice on this site about SDN vs wool we are having second thoughts about it?

What carpet should we choose (at CarpetCall) that is durable & of good quality for 3 bedrooms, lounge room and study? Is 100% wool better or is 80% wool & 20% nylon better? We are very confused at the moment - please help?

Thank you,

Braveheart

royalblue · Feb 24, 2008 8:59 pm

Different carpet yarns have different qualities and characteristics. Wool may be superior in certain ways, yet have other characteristics that are not so great. Each will have their good and bad points. So, there's no perfect or best carpet. But with attention to your requirements, and matching your carpets to them, you can make the decision that's best for you!

So, what sort of lifestyle is the carpet to be exposed to? Will you be diligent and care for it well, or are you going to (after a honeymoon period) neglect it like many do? Children, pets, parties etc.... all these may affect the conditions it will be exposed to. Do you have budget restraints, or are you prepared to pay extra for a better quality carpet? What colour/shade are you wanting? The more info you can give, the easier it may be to determine the better choices available to you.

Solution dyed nylons perform quite well under most family conditions, and are a reasonable choice. The main problems that arise with SDNs are due to neglect (because they have been fed a lot of marketing b/s that suggests the stuff is near bulletproof! :roll:

Some crushing in traffic ways and under heavy furniture must be expected with SDN.

Wool will cost more, and be more beautiful generally. It will ultimately thin out and wear in heavy traffic ways, but look and feel nicer. It has better resilience, flame resistance, and other qualities, but it is more prone to insect attack (unlike synthetics). Wool is a renewable resource, so is more environmentally friendly though. It is a normally a better quality carpet, but demands more respect and care.

What style SDN carpets have you been looking at?

Ash.

braveheart · Feb 25, 2008 1:33 pm

Thanks Ash,

We are looking for a good quality carpet that is not only resilient but one that looks and feels good. We are prepared to look after the carpet, we don,t have pets, children and we do not have frequent parties except occasional dinners for friends and family. The SDN that we had chosen at CarpetCall is one of their expensive ranges and we are prepared to pay extra for a good quality carpet .

Our plan for floor coverings are:

Ground floor: Carpet in 3 bedrooms and TV/entertaiment room, hardwood timber flooring for corridor and billiard/part entertaiment room (we are thinking of using Tasie oak or Tasie silk oak but undecided - need help in deciding). Tiles in bathrooms.

First floor: Carpet in lounge room, hardwood timber flooring in living and dinning room and Tiles in Kitchen and Powder room.

Our colour scheme is more of a neutral/earthy theme (browns, beige, chocolates, warm whites). Our internal wall colour is Dulux Antique White USA.

Thanks,

Braveheart

royalblue · Feb 25, 2008 8:30 pm

Gotta question if a timber floor is best in a billiard room? Noise factor, and possible dents to timber from flying billiard balls?

I think from what I'm hearing from you, a good quality SDN or a wool (or wool mix) will be OK. Its more a matter of preference than anything.

Wools of NZ do a good job of promoting the qualities of wool here http://www.fernmark.com/consumer_ausnz/index.asp

Main downsides of wool are you tend to get some shedding of surplus fibres especially when new, a bit higher cost, and it is prone to insect attack. Also, if spills & stains are not cleaned up promptly and thoroughly, it can stain due to its absorbency.

Carpet call have probably already promoted the SDN into the stratosphere. It is a hardy carpet with very good stain resistance, and fairly forgiving of accidents. But it IS synthetic, and lacks the beauty and soil hiding properties of wool.

Ash.