Carpet from big box store?
 

Now that we are pet-free (sniff) it's time to replace the master bedroom carpeting. Rest of the house is hardwood and tile, but DH likes carpeting in the bedroom. We are 30+ miles from a flooring store, but looked at carpeting at HD and Lowes yesterday. Their nicer carpeting looks fine for what we need-it's a low traffic area and no pets. Does anyone have experience with carpeting from a big box store? Thanks!

I don't know about big box stores but I did want to mention padding. Years ago we put carpeting in our bedroom and in an effort to be economical picked a thin pad. I've regretted it ever since. I have another room with a thicker pad and it feels so nice and cushy where our bedroom is rather flat. I think part of it is the pile of the rug too as that rug does have a lower pile.
Something else to consider, if the room is not too big, is remnants. Flooring stores have "remnants" that are big enough to be wall-to-wall in some rooms (or maybe need one seam in an out of the way place). The color choices may be limited but worth a look. I think one room we did that way is about 12 x 14.

Talking with my brother, he has put HD carpet tiles in his master. Since we both have pets, this is perfect for vomit and accidents. Once a tile gets too soiled to clean, just remove and replace. My house is ceramic tile thru-out so just putting some under and around the bed and enough around the living room furniture. Will get an extra case for replacements.

A year and a half ago we put new carpet in our master bedroom. Lowes higher end carpet and higher end padding. Two weeks after we got it my little dog got sick on it from her south end and left a big mess with dribbles coming away from it. After the major clean-up I used a pet stain remover on the remaining residue on this medium green carpet. The carpet handled all of this very well and you can't even tell where it happened. So without the pets, I would think it should do very well in a low traffic area

Out front bedroom has hardwood floors, it needs carpet because the cold air comes up and that is the coldest room in the house. I used to handle homeowners claims and knew a great carpet installer/repairman etc. I called him because I wanted to protect the hard wood and there is a protective padding to put underneath and he also made a carpet to fit the room. (He finished the edges so it looks great.)

Carpet in master bedroom, sewing room and the bathroom all have carpet from a big box store (Menards or Lowes). They've all been in there 10 years now and only the bathroom has started looking shabby recently.

As the others have said ... get the BEST padding you can buy. If you have a budget to stick to, spend on the padding and save on the carpet.

Seems like I remember that you may be able to get away with a less expensive carpet if you get a good pad. Might look into this...

Lowe's usually has a sale come November where the pad is free with purchase of carpet. Talk to the sales person and ask when their sale will be. Their carpets are very nice quality. But as with every thing you get what you pay for. My BIL use to work for them -he's a carpet installer-and he put their carpet in my old house. Seeing as how you are in Ohio I know you see the commercials for Empire Carpet. DO NOT use this outfit -their carpeting and padding is the worst right along with their workmanship.

Happily, I'm carpet free these days, but years ago I was given that advice. I bought the best padding available and that carpet stood up forever.

Yes, the secret is good underlay and a good installer/layer.

My cousin used to lay/install carpet. He always said get the best padding you can afford. It's the friction between the layers that seem to wear out the carpet when it's a combination. I have pets and will not have carpet. I have seen results of carpet replaced after 5 years being well cared for and it's still gross when removed. I have too many allergens for carpet. I can do throw rugs but only have 3 of those. One in the bathroom and 2 in our bedroom.

We bought carpet from Lowes 9 months ago. The padding is the highest grade that Lowes carries. The carpet is very stain resistant but the pile is now completely flat. I vacuum slowly to pull the pile back up, but one walk on it and it's completely flat again. This is not a high pile or "nap". The problem is called "matting". Really bad and I'm disappointed. When I complained at the store they told me that the warranty is against wear and stains. NOT MATTING. So beware.

I agree with those that said to get a good pad. We had two rooms in the basement that needed carpeting. The carpet is the same but the padding is not. The room with the cheaper thinner padding is definitely less comfortable to walk on. Never let the salesman talk you into a cheaper pad. Big mistake.

Thank you for the responses. We will make the trek to a few flooring stores other than big box stores...it just gets so confusing! I am ready to get this going so its installed beford thanksgiving...

I used an independent de

In the very worst time of our past housing recession, I lost my husband and thought I would be relocating. The house didn't sell and I wanted carpet in three large (16 X 20) bedrooms...Instead of having them installed I bought carpet only for what I thought was very reasonable, $100 each. They are so nice and dense and cushy. Wish my living area rugs were that nice. When I do move, I can take carpet with me. They are still like new after all this time. He even delivered them. BUT, all business was very slow at the time. And, I still have the option to have them installed. The real quality issue may be the density like threads per inch .... comparison shopping is valuable here. DDIL thought she had to have some tough high twist carpet and she had it replaced with hardwood because she hated the carpet. I forget the name of it but it was tough as nails. It looked good and wore extremely well but not at all soft. It was the trend then... now I hear there is another carpeting my DDIL's and DGD want for bedrooms. I can't keep up with them as I am nearly 80 and my carpets are all okay for me. just shop around for whats available and it will be apparent if the box store quality is what you want.

All I have now is hardwood floors. Vinyl in kitchen and Bath. I use carpet rugs next to the bed and throw rugs in several other areas. I have three cats and two small dogs. I love the hardwood.

I had laminate flooring priced at Lowes and a local guy - Lowes was $2000 more for a $4000 job, so be sure to compare!

We have lived in our house about 29 years. When we first bought it, we put in new carpet from Home Depot. Then we replaced it about 11 years later. We had 2 cats indoor and accidents cleaned up great, but young grandchildren were a little harder and also we had carpet in the bathroom that stained with lipstick. We replaced the carpet as I say about 11 years later and we got it at Home Depot. It was great too, and cats were mostly outdoor. Finally, in 2013, we felt we needed new carpet again. Just before Christmas, we got it from Home Depot again. We wanted to upgrade and the personnel at our store were so helpful. We chose the best padding and a little better grade of carpeting. We are really pleased with what we got. We decided not to carpet the bathrooms. My husband put down vinyl and I like it and we use throw rugs. If makeup slips out of hands, the floor is much easier to clean up.
We priced Lowe's, but we wanted a green color and their selection was smaller than Home Depot and they had no green. HD did have a couple of greens. They did a great job.
It might depend on the store and the installers, but we have been pleased each time.

I like to support local merchants so have used the local independent flooring stores for tile, hardwood and carpeting. It's all they do and they know their stuff. To stay in business and be competitive they need to offer top notch service and stand behind it. I haven't found they were more expensive when comparing apples to apples. I have also used remnants for smaller rooms at a considerable cost savings. The big box stores are probably fine but my preference is local.

Buy the best underlay you can find.

We had a slab-leak a couple of years ago and after the plumbers left, we had to recarpet the whole house. We chose a thick pile from HD and the BEST padding we could get (it is a memory foam pad). All I can say is WOW. The padding has kept the carpeting feeling like new and we do have definate traffic patterns. I will probably get really sick of looking at it before it wears out. Also, with huge changes in weather and humidity, the foam keeps the carpet from wide changes in size (you know, that stretch when the humidity get real high or storms a lot, or the super dry air that tries to shrink it).

The carpeting that was replaced had also been from HD. The only reason it was replaced was because the water separated the carpet from its backing. (I was real glad to get rid of it - it was NEVER going to wear out: good padding and it was a Berber).

I have a large area rug from BJ's and I've had it for about 10yrs. Its stud up to dog and kids alike. I've cleaned it a few times but its still going strong. I would recommend putting padding under it, even if you do the area. It helps the nap on the carpet stand up more and allows you to get it cleaner. I'm now getting ready to buy a bigger one but this one will just be cleaned and moved to a different area.

Haven't read through all the replies.... just wanted to add my two cents.

About 7-8 years ago we had Home Depot replace the carpet in our family room. We bought a mid-grade carpet and mid-grade pad. The pad wasn't the best they offered, but it wasn't the worst, either. Well, when the installer arrived, he only had the highest grade pad on his truck, so he said he would install it at the mid-grade price. I was thrilled.

I have plantar fasciitis, and I can definitely tell that room has the best pad. I walk anywhere in the house barefoot, I have heel pain, but when I walk in that room, my pain goes away. It is such a relief.