Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 4, 2006 With carpet, going fairly basic may be best plan You may want to change it down the road In any new endeavor, there's a measure of satisfaction in falling back on what's familiar. Amid the shiny new products and upgraded amenities in my custom home, the carpeting is about as basic as it comes. In fact, my husband Will remarked, it's almost the twin of the carpeting in our rental home. Bland beige with muted multi-color flecks, the carpet nevertheless works. Flecked nylon is the most popular type of carpeting at the moment because it disguises traffic patterns and doesn't easily show wear or stains, said Dick Kyker, manager of No Frills Flooring Brokers in Medford. A carpet's texture, sheen and pattern also can cover tracks. Price varies depending on the type of fiber, ounces of yarn per yard also known as face weight and whether the carpet carries a brand name, Kyker said. Before flecked carpeting, every speck of debris drew my attention. Vacuuming was a must a least three times per week. Now vacuuming only seems necessary perhaps three times each month or whenever the cat hair builds up into visible clumps. Confident that I didn't need to reinvent this wheel, it took me about 15 minutes to choose carpeting compared with hours spent mulling over other types of flooring, paint, appliances and fixtures. Advertisement But I wasn't always of this mind-set. My mom, after completing her own home two years ago, said she highly recommended setting aside a bit more money for "nicer" carpeting that would last longer. So at my request, our builder reluctantly budgeted $5 a yard over the original $15-per-yard allowance. Only I found that — confronted with the vast array of carpeting choices — I simply didn't have the energy to compare them all to ensure I was getting my money's worth. The parade of nylon, polyester and Olefin blended into one big blur. Wool was the only impossible choice, as it costs about five times more than synthetic fibers and typically has no performance warranty. Hoping to save some money to offset overruns on other areas of the house, I settled on a flecked nylon priced at $13 per square yard. By that time, anyway, my mom had changed her tune. Looking back, she said she wished she hadn't spent so much money on carpeting in case she got tired of it in a few years. That's probably the most practical outlook considering what most carpets endure. "If you have seven children and three inside dogs, you're probably not going to have that carpet for 30 years," Kyker said. Although many carpets come with 10-year performance warranties, all are void for carpeting installed on stairs, Kyker said. And most warrantied carpeting requires professional steam-cleaning once a year. A homeowner cleaning job with a rental machine does more harm than good, Kyker said. The fact remains that a middle-of-the-road carpet can perform like a high-end carpet if people simply don't wear shoes indoors, Kyker said. As Will and I have never wanted to insist visitors go stocking-footed inside our home, a little more vacuuming may be in order. Make that once a week. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s Advertisement