How To Choose New Flooring Like A Pro!
Carpet | Pad | Installation | LVP | Forms | Best Dealers
Alan Fletcher aka The Carpet Professor
If you
read everything I have posted on my
website. Then you will know more about carpet than most carpet salespeople.
You will realize this when you visit a carpet retailer and ask a few questions
that you already know the answers to.
I can help you most by explaining the carpet buying journey so you know what to expect and you know what to out for. Your carpet choices are vast and you need to be able to narrow down your choices using a simple process of elimination.
Why waste your time looking at carpets that are incapable of meeting your needs and goals. The first thing you need to do is figure out exactly what your needs and goals are and then only look at carpets that can accomplish your mission.
I don't need to tell you what brand, style or color of carpet to buy, my free Carpet Foot Traffic Test will help you get started by determining the Level of Foot-Traffic you have in your home. Then you can use that information to begin narrowing down your carpet choices.
First, let me tell you a little bit about myself so you can understand why I am here to help you make wise and informed carpet buying choices and why you can trust me to provide you with free and unbiased carpet buying information
I am a third generation Carpet expert and trusted consumer advocate since 1998.
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I retired in 2006 after 30 years in the Carpet business and I no longer sell or install Carpet.
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My father was a WW2 Army veteran and after the war, he got a job as a carpet salesperson at a local carpet / flooring company in Portland Oregon, (also where he met my mother). Later my father landed a job as a carpet mill rep with Berven Carpets of California and kept that job for over 35 years.
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My grandfather also sold carpet, but mainly area rugs and high-end furniture.
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My uncle George operated a local carpet store in Eugene, Oregon for over 40 years.
From the age of 18 in 1977, I was fortunate enough to be apprenticed and trained by several industry experts and master flooring mechanics in all aspects of the carpet and flooring industry.
I learned all about installing carpet and flooring products and how they perform over time. This is the key to my information and advice I provide to my readers! I now enjoy educating homeowners about how to choose new Carpet wisely by offering my free Carpet buying information & advice.
My Driving Force...
During my 30+ years in the Carpet and Flooring business, I became very alarmed at the large number of dishonest Carpet and Flooring dealers I encountered. So many carpet store owners and their hired salespeople were prone to lie, cheat and deceive homeowners just to "close" the sale. They did not seem to care if the homeowner selected to right grade of carpet.
In 1998 finally decided that I wanted to do something to make a difference and began educating homeowners about how to choose new carpet wisely, how to save the most money and how to avoid getting ripped off.
My first book - "Carpet Buying Secrets Revealed" was published in 1998 and was very well received. That's when I knew that homeowners were hungry for honest Carpet buying information and advice. Now my Carpet Buying Guide has grown to 136 pages and is filled with the best and most up-to-date Carpet buying information that every homeowner needs to make wise and informed Carpet buying choices.
More about Alan's career in the Carpet business:
Alan Fletcher began his career as a flooring installation apprentice in 1977 at a local flooring shop in Milwaukie Oregon. After more than 5 years of learning the trade and working with three master craftsman, Alan formed his own flooring sales and installation company in 1982.
From 1982 to 2006, Alan owned and operated a Carpet & Floor Covering sales & contracting business serving both residential and commercial clients from Oregon, Washington, Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee.
With wisdom and experience handed down from his father, a carpet mill rep for over 35 years, Alan amassed extensive Carpet and Flooring product knowledge far beyond the typical flooring installer. Alan also had the unique benefit from learning the tricks of the trade from three master craftsman and then adding years of first-hand installation experience with practically every type of carpet and flooring product.
Alan has earned his extensive experience from selling and installing Carpet and Flooring in hundreds custom homes, commercial properties, hospitals, retirement homes, institutional facilities and thousands of apartment complexes for over three decades.
Alan Fletcher is also the author of The Complete Carpet Buying Guide, an ebook and is frequently called upon by industry professionals, trade publications and local and national media professionals to comment and respond to current carpet and floorcovering market trends.
Now retired from Carpet and Flooring sales and installations, Alan is the founder of the AbcCarpets.com Carpet Information Network and enjoys helping homeowners through his free Carpet Information Websites.
Alan firmly believes that every homeowner deserves free and complete access to accurate and honest Carpet buying information. For this reason Alan has devoted over 23 years as a consumer advocate and continues to provide free unbiased Carpet buying advice to homeowners nationwide.
Do You Trust Online "Homeowner Reviews" for Carpet Retailers, Carpet Installers or Flooring Contractors?
You, your friends, your relatives or your neighbors might be tempted to recommend a Carpet retailer they purchased from previously... but the truth is, most homeowners don't have enough experience to know the difference between a good carpet and a great carpet. It's also not easy to recognize a mediocre installation job from a magnificent installation job. Other than price, what is the main difference between carpet that is designed to last 5 years and carpet that is designed to last more than 15 years?
It usually takes a year or two for most homeowners to realize they have made a costly mistake. When will it become painfully obvious? When the carpet becomes matted down along main walkways, hallway and stairs? When you are tripping over carpet buckles and wrinkles? When you are unable to remove simple spots and stains? Most homeowners don't know they have been scammed or ripped off until it's too late. Most homeowners won't know they were overcharged or that their carpet was installed improperly, until it's too late.
Questions to Consider:
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Did you get a fair price on a good quality Carpet?
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Was your home properly measured to limit the amount of waste?
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Did you select a grade of carpet capable of withstanding your level of foot traffic for the length of time you anticipate?
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Did you select the correct grade and quality of padding?
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Was the carpet installed properly according to the carpet manufacturers guidelines?
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Do you know what is required to keep your carpet warranty in force?
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Do you know how to properly maintain your new carpet?
I think it usually takes a couple of years for most homeowners to discover they have made a poor carpet choice or received a poor quality installation. Good quality carpet that is poorly installed can easily lose half of its intended lifespan. Select the wrong grade of carpet and it will surely wear out long before you expect. Poor installation will also severely reduce the lifespan of any carpet.
Most folks want at least 10 years of use from their new carpet. However, the three year mark is when most homeowners typically realize that something is wrong and begin to wonder why their new Carpet is not living up to the promises made by the Salesperson or the manufacture's 15-year wear warranty. It doesn't take long to realize your carpet is wearing out twice as fast as you anticipated, it's matting down in the traffic lanes and on the stairs, it's looking dingy in the main living areas, even after a professional steam cleaning.
This is when most homeowners realize that they have been duped into buying a low-quality carpet that was incapable of meeting their long-term needs and goals. Perhaps they installed the wrong grade of padding or maybe the carpet installers did a lousy job. Maybe, but It's really difficult to know for sure what the problem is, who's at fault and how to proceed.
After several years, the manufacturer's new carpet warranty will have run out. The Carpet installation warranty expired too, and now there is zero recourse for the homeowner. Quite a bit of money was invested hoping for at least 12 to 15 years of beautiful carpet in the home and now after a couple of short years it's looking bad and needs to be replaced again.
The sad part is, before realizing the truth, the homeowner had already recommended the Carpet Retailer and Installer to everyone. They recommended the Carpet Dealer to their friends, relatives and co-workers and likely posted several positive business reviews on social media that has been viewed by thousands of homeowners who read and trusted the reviews. How many people might have followed these positive reviews and purchased carpet from the same dealer or hired the same carpet installers? How many people will end up with same "bad" outcome?
For these reasons and many more is why I say:
Carpet is a major expense that must be taken very seriously. Homeowners need expert advice from a trusted source. My hand-picked list of Preferred Carpet Dealers must pass my own personal set of requirements before I recommend them to my readers. They must also be locally owned, provide first-class customer service, offer reasonable prices and use qualified installers. Don't take chances, See which Carpet Retailers I recommend near you!
Alan Fletcher's articles, interviews and advice have been published worldwide and featured in these great publications:
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HGTV.com
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The National Association of Residential Property Managers
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The Boston Globe
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Residential Resource Magazine. (NARPM)
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The Rental Property Reporter
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The Chicago Tribune
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The Professional Property Managers Association (PPMA)
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The Apartment manager
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IREM.org The Institute of Real Estate Management
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HGTV Magazine
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Inspired House Magazine
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The Palm Springs Sun Times
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The ISSA Today
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Apartment Owner Magazine
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Wikipedia.com
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and many more...
