Regular Carpet and Promotional Grade Carpet. What’s the Difference?
September 19, 2009
The other day, I was asked by a past client what type of carpeting she should have installed in her home…. as you can presume by this question we are pretty good friends even after she purchased her home over a year and a half ago.
She said she heard on the radio a great deal on Promotional Grade Carpet and wanted my opinion.
There are 3 grades of carpeting that I am aware of. Promotional Grade, Residential Grade and Commercial Grade. So here’s the skinny on promotional grade carpeting. No, it’s NOT some new product the company is testing and using it as a promotional piece before it goes into full production. it’s quite the opposite.
Promotional Grade carpeting is usually priced extremely low and for good reason. Let the buyer beware when purchasing this type of carpeting. If you’re going to put it in the basement, a childs room or any other area where you really don’t mind the overall look of the carpet, or if it’s temporary, this is a great choice. I have seen promotional grade carpeting installed in a garage with only the portion under the car having exposed concrete…. odd, but they liked it.
You can guess that this type of carpeting will have “issues”. Some may be:
- Side Match: This is when a swatch is cut from either side of the carpet after it’s dye’d to ensure perfect color all the way across. If it doesn’t match…. It’s called a Side Match. If you must have a seamless look, then this won’t do.
- Streaks: Oh my! you unroll your wonderful budget carpeting and there’s a large streak right in the middle where the threads were cut improperly creating a raised or embossed area or by one pesky strand of yarn wanting to not conform to the rest of the carpet.. It varies in severity and is usually called “Seconds”
- Dye Spots: This is the best if you plan to expect lots of minor stains because this carpet already has them. Usually they are pretty small by our standards, but Manufacturers are perfectionists and a spot in the dye simply won’t do.
- Off Shade: Like a Side Match, this is when the color of the carpet does not match the swatch. Ever have this happen to you? You pick up a paint chip, LOVE the color and when it’s on the wall and dry it really doesn’t quite look like the paint chip? These types of Promotional Grade carpet is the best deal to get because you and I don’t know what the original swatch looked like.
- Dropped Style: Oh my! You measured wrong and you need another 200 square feet…. nope! ‘Taint gonna’ happen. This means exactly what it is labeled…. They dropped the style and you got the last of it.
I’m not telling you NOT to look for this stuff, but they can be real deals if your on a budget and want something quick. My guess is that if your replacing your carpet, your old one looks pretty worn out by now and anything new will look better than what you now have.
So call the manufacturers and see what they have for Promotional grade carpeting and you may save hundreds on your new carpet if you can deal with the minor imperfections, oh and thanks to CarpetExpress.com for helping me ensure I had my terms correct.
Lori Cain, Realtor
Chinowth & Cohen Realtors
phone: 918.852.5036
web: www.LoriCain.com
