Lowes or Home Depot for carpet?

[RNMOM]

I remember reading posts here on the DIS about problems others have had with both or one of these. Could I get some input about the service you received? We really need new carpet and know which we want. Thanks in advance.

 

[Minnie's Pal]

We went through Lowe's for carpet. We got the $99 installation. It turned out great.

They use private contractors to install the carpet, so you just need to ask Lowe's who they use then ask around and get some referrals. Luckily, one of our renters works at Lowe's and actually does the installation scheduling. She told us she had never had any problems or complaints with the installer they used, so we went that route.

 

[dpratt68]

My friend had a horrible experience with carpet and Home Depot. May have just been that installer but HD didn't hanle situation very well.

 

[MissyDVC]

A few years ago, we used Home Depot to carpet our entire upstairs and the stairs as well. We had no problems whatsoever and the installers were very good and we love the carpets

 

[NMW]

With either place, they are only as good as the installers they contract. I know people that have used both with out any problems. I personally used Lowes for my daughters carpet. The carpet came, and it was damaged. Unfortunately, the installers had already cut and removed the exsisting carpet, so it couldn't be put back in. We had to wait about 3 weeks with just padding. Then, the new carpet comes in. This time the installers unroll it on the driveway to check it and can you believe that this one was damaged too! This was pretty pricey carpet too. I wanted to get really good carpet for her room, so it would last and continue to look nice.

I was really upset. I called Lowes and demanded to talk to a manager. He apologized and called the place himself to pull the carpet and had them check it before shipping it to the store. Also, this only took 1 week instead of the 3 it had the previous 2 times. He gave us the carpet for free-cash refund. The store handled the situation very well once a manager was involved. However, dealing with the guy that worked in the carpet dept was like banging your head against the wall. He did NOT know what he was doing. Maybe he was new, I don't know. The installers were fine except for not checking the carpet the first time before cutting her old carpet into little pieces and removing it.

 

[Disney Ella]

However, dealing with the guy that worked in the carpet dept was like banging your head against the wall. He did NOT know what he was doing. Maybe he was new, I don't know. The installers were fine except for not checking the carpet the first time before cutting her old carpet into little pieces and removing it.

This comment made me laugh! We ordered a piece of carpeting from Lowe's that was to be cut and bound. Lowe's told me that the carpet would come in to them and then they would send it to the installer to be cut and bound to the specified size. Of course, when they called us to pick up the carpet, it hadn't been cut at all, just bound as it was.

I had such trouble getting through to the woman who worked in the carpet department how the carpet was to be cut. I kept telling her, "We need the carpet to be 11 feet, six inches by 13 feet" and she kept saying, "So you need it to be 11 feet by 6 feet by 13 feet." (The would be one odd looking carpet!)

Finally after about ten minutes of this, I said to her, "The carpet came in a 12foot by 13 foot piece. All we needed the installer to do was cut 6 inches off the 12 foot side so that it would be 11 1/2 feet." She said, "Oh, you want it to be 11 1/2 feet!" I said, "Yes, 11 1/2 feet and 11 feet six inches are the same thing!" She really did not seem to know that and she was in her forties!

The installers that Lowe's contracts with might be perfectly fine, but I was not impressed with the intelligence of their employee.

 

[sherreis]

Just to toss in another idea...

We got a better deal using our locally owned carpet store. They were a pleasure to deal with and really knew their products and they use their own installers. It's always worth a try.

Have fun shopping. Nothing like new carpet or new paint on the walls to really change the look of your room.

 

[clh2]

Just to toss in another idea...

We got a better deal using our locally owned carpet store. They were a pleasure to deal with and really knew their products and they use their own installers. It's always worth a try.

Have fun shopping. Nothing like new carpet or new paint on the walls to really change the look of your room.

I agree. We love the locally owned businesses that we use! The carpet store is great. We had a burning ember put a hole in 3-week old carpeting, and we called the carpet store back. Mind you - I am devestated about this. THey came out and fixed the hole...I can't even tell where the problem was. Granted they charged us a whopping $50 to cover the transportation, which I thought was very reasonalbe to fix a porblem we created.

 

[mskayjay]

It isn't about Lowe's or HD. It is the installer. I have Lowe's coming to do my vinyl or rather, one of their installers. They had a GREAT guy through one of their contracted installers do my bedroom. I loved him! He had a motorcycle accident a few weeks ago and won't be working for a while. When his boss came to get measurements, he was such a jerk that I went back to Lowe's and asked them to have someone else come so we will be having a new installer.

HD.....I have my living room, stairs, upstairs hallway all done by them in one installation project 9 years ago. They have come back so many times trying to fix the mess the original installer made! Two visits ago, they restretched the carpet again and pulled it so hard that the backing underneath ripped and I now have a softball size area right as you come in my front door where you see the subfloor! The carpet fibers have completely come out! They sent someone to look at it and guess what? Since I had guaranteed installation and they have records of all the trouble we've had, know the installer was fired because of so many complaints, and there is no way to fix the damage, they are coming to replace ALL of the carpeting! Great outcome but it has been a pain in the butt!

Talk to the sales rep and get a good feel for who they would recommend and yes, talk to a local carpeting store too. They often will match pricing and because they are local often do much better work.

 

[TxDsnyGrl74]

I purchased from a local carpet store (Bob's Carpet Mart in FL). I have been extremely impressed with their product knowledge and service. They also have a 2 year installation waranty once your carpet is installed. So if within two years you get any ripples or if the carpet seperates from the tacks they will come out and fix it for free.

If you know exactly what you want, it doesn't hurt to call around to some of the local carpet stores just to get quotes.

 

[Jakesmom504]

We got carpet from Home Depot installed in DS room 2 weeks before I had him. It is buckling very badly now. Granted we didn't have the money for nice carpet so we had to go with a cheaper one, (although I'm almost positive it was still a name brand), I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I know others that have used them and were fine. If you have floor outlets though, just make sure you take note of where they are. Right before the guys were about to leave, one said to me, "Isn't there an outlet here somewhere?" He almost left without cutting a hole over the outlet! DS bed is right over top of it! I know you can have problems anywhere but if I had it to do over I don't think I'd use them again. When we first moved in we used a local small business place to replace carpet in 3 rooms. We have never had a problem with it, other than stains from our dog and DS, it still looks great and that was 7 years ago. JMO!

 

[PrincessKitty1]

We had Lowe's install carpet on our spiral staircase, and their installer did an awesome job. He ended up having to bring the treads home to do it, but they looked great and the install was very inexpensive. He told us to take very good care of the carpet because, with what Lowe's paid him for what turned out to be a PITA job, he would never install carpet on our stairs again.

 

[lowie]

HD.....I have my living room, stairs, upstairs hallway all done by them in one installation project 9 years ago. They have come back so many times trying to fix the mess the original installer made!

9 years ago!!
wow, i'd think you would need new carpet by now anyway.

i've only used home depot for all of my floor installations, 3 homes, 4 projects. 3 out of the 4 were an absolute nightmare and HD was impossible to deal with.

you may ask why i keep going back... well, cause when they finally do fix their mess, i usually end up with free product and they fix it as well.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

We got carpet from Home Depot installed in DS room 2 weeks before I had him. It is buckling very badly now. Granted we didn't have the money for nice carpet so we had to go with a cheaper one, (although I'm almost positive it was still a name brand), I don't know if that makes a difference or not. JMO!

I don't think that should make a difference. Our carpeting is very cheap (we found out when we went to match it to re-carpet our spiral staircase) and was installed 15 years ago and still looks great.

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

I'm batteling Home Depot right now! It has been a month now and I'm getting very frustrated. The seems in some places are horrible and they are doing everything to get out of replacing it. Just wanting to trim it, redo, etc. When Lowe's did our carpet they were fantastic. There was a problem with our Installer(through Lowe's) and less than a week later they had refunded $200. Go with Lowe's.

 

[JOLAROCHE]

i WOULD NOT GO WITH EITHER WE WENT TO A CARPET PLACE AND GIT A MUCH CHEAPER PRICE. ALSO THEY DO NOT DO THE WORK THEY CONTRACT IT OUT AND SOMETIMES THE WORK IS GOOD AND SOMETIMES IT IS NOT. WE LEARNED THIS BY PUTTING IN TWO PATIO DOORS.

 

[mskayjay]

9 years ago!!
wow, i'd think you would need new carpet by now anyway.

i've only used home depot for all of my floor installations, 3 homes, 4 projects. 3 out of the 4 were an absolute nightmare and HD was impossible to deal with.

you may ask why i keep going back... well, cause when they finally do fix their mess, i usually end up with free product and they fix it as well.

Nope! It actually looks fantastic and it is in a very high trafficked part of our home. We went with a really good carpet, top line padding, and we clean them at a a minimum twice a year. They have lived through teenagers and their friends, assorted pets, and 9 (yes 9!!!!) Central NY winters and the quality of the carpet is showing. The installation however......thats the problem. I really would prefer to not have to replace it but hey, twist my pinkie! Seriously it is in such good shape other than where it ripped open that our friend is taking the carpeting and putting it in his home office.

 

[RNMOM]

Whew! Lots of stories just as I was afraid.

We did look at a couple local stores and the very same carpet was over $2.00 more per square foot. We're talking 1400 sq ft. here. Too much money to toss away.

The guy my DH spoke to is coming to measure himself. They had several people there today for some reason.

The carpet we are replacing was done by a smaller chain store and was done well. Anyone remember Buddy's Carpet? Annoying commercials but okay carpet.

 

[disynut]

Is there anyone in your area that has used either? I would think that it depends on the contractor, store manager, etc., which can vary from store to store.

Here's another idea....this is what we did for a room in our house not too long ago: we picked out the carpet we wanted, then I called Carpets of Dalton and they beat the price for our local carpet place by a lot. I did get the best pad they had(I've been told that a good pad makes a big difference, but I don't know if it's true or not....) and they shipped it to us for $60.00(it went to my husband's school on a truck). We hired a local guy here that lays carpet as a side job. It worked for us, but the trick would be finding someone that lays carpet independently.

On the other hand, there is the guarantee you get when you go with the big box stores, though it sounds like a big pain to prove your case.

Good luck! We need new carpeting upstairs, but I think I"m going to see what Stanley Steemer can do with it first!