Basement: Carpet

There are limitless choices when it comes to carpet... there is weight, texture, color, twist... I could go on. And then there is the pad too... We started our carpet hunt in January, just in case... We grabbed a bunch of samples from the good old Home Depot one night and brought them home to look at them. We went in again a few days later to talk carpet with someone. This helped us really narrow down our decision to a specific carpet.

That was the first round we brought home.

We found out that Home Depot has a select few carpets that they push more than the others. They buy a lot more of these certain carpets, so they get better price breaks and pass them on to the consumer. While our favorite in this section wasn't our favorite overall, we decided it was worth it to make the compromise and save a fair amount of money that could be put towards other things.

That is the one we decided to go with. Not quite as shaggy as I originally wanted...

So, when there was enough framing done to have someone come out to measure the space, we set up to have that happen. I think that maybe took a half hour, if that. They got back to me the next day with all the info and put together a quote with the carpet and pad we had picked out. Easy.

Our contractor waited until we had a better idea of when carpet could be installed before it was actually ordered. I would say good for the project, not good for me. While I understand, Home Depot called constantly until we actually put in the order, even though I told them that our contractor would be coming in to pay and place the order. Not a huge deal, but a note to everyone out there, maybe wait until you're ready to place your order for the measuring phase.

Everything was all set to go and we even had an install date until we got the dreaded phone call. Our carpet choice was back ordered. But then not only was it back ordered until a certain date, that date got moved again. This put us at an install date of when we needed to have our final inspection done for our renovation loan. Too close for comfort. And the chances that the availability date got moved back again was really high.

The awesome woman who we were in contact with at our local Home Depot store made everything work out. We did have to go in and switch to a different carpet. It was really hard to find something similar and everything was more expensive.

On the left is what we originally picked out, the right is what we found that had the closest match in color and weight. The weight was higher and the twist was also higher. The carpet that we went with is Ryedale II in French Creek

I was really not happy at the time and this just added to the stress pile of everything going on. But, to be honest, I'm happier with the new carpet. It was the more expensive option that we wanted to go with originally. This one has a slightly higher weight and a higher twist. That higher twist is more of what I wanted. Because of the inconvenience, Home Depot was able to help us out on the price some.

Our install date is a week after our original one now, but we at least have a few days to work with between install and our deadline for that final inspection.

Now there is just a matter of finishing up all the other stuff... Trim, painting, clean up...