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I would avoid Empire, you can think of them as the carpet equivalent of Champion (for windows)...big marketing budgets, aggressive sales force and you are guaranteed a HUGE initial quote, which you will then easily whittle down (and still be higher than everyone else). I would second what others are saying the maybe look at Kudzu or Angie's List and try to find a local installer with a lot of good reviews, then pick 3 that give you a good feeling and get estimates.
Yes, I know the big ones sub-contract, however, I have a lot of trust in Costco and Lowes. If something goes wrong, they will stand up for me with the little guys...
I have to agree with you and have NEVER been disappointed in Costco. I did have a problem with Lowes with a laminate floor they installed but they did stand up for me with the sub.
One suggestion, buy a higher grade carpet versus cheaper as it is worth the extra $$ and will last longer. I had carpeting installed in a 2600 sq ft house and lived there for 11 years. When we sold it everyone thought the carpeting was brand new.
Do not buy carpet or anything else that needs to be installed from big orange, big blue, or any other big box store. They just want your little green. Hit the internet, do a search for carpet installers in your area, call them, and ask for references, both good and bad (get a reference number for a job they had to go back on, in other words). Then call those references and see what the people think.
Unless you have massive amounts of disposable income and don't care about the quality of the carpet, I don't really understand why you would be willing to use those big box stores over the local businesses just to save some time.
Listen to this man. He knows what he is talking about. May I say he has a good teacher too. And you have an awesome day my friend!!!!!!
DO NOT go to Home Depot for carpet. My mother had carpeting laid by them and there all bubbles all over. It looks terrible and she is having a battle with them.
I have to agree with you and have NEVER been disappointed in Costco. I did have a problem with Lowes with a laminate floor they installed but they did stand up for me with the sub.
One suggestion, buy a higher grade carpet versus cheaper as it is worth the extra $$ and will last longer. I had carpeting installed in a 2600 sq ft house and lived there for 11 years. When we sold it everyone thought the carpeting was brand new.
I am with you here. I do want the higher grade carpet, I want to do it right. Any pointers in this regard would be appreciated.
No offense to the other posts, but you can not imagine my life right now, hardly have time to sleep lately, I am so busy with work and family. So saving time is a priority for me right now, as well as coming home to a comfortable house to relax. If I take the time to make all the phone calls and the leg work, given the time I have available, it will take at least a few months to get the carpet in the house. If I call Costco say, they've done the leg work for me. They hire good subs that have proven themselves over and over again, or they are out. Costco also charges competitive prices, so the way this works is the subs get less, but they get more volume through Costco. I think I just convinced myself which way to go...
We are new to our area, and so just had a room done by Home Depot. Even though the installation was $97., the overall cost, I thought, was a bit high. It was fine, but I would always prefer to use a family owned local store which does it's own installation. In the past, this has always worked out great, plus you are supporting local business.
We will find a carpet place like this next time.
The best deal that you will find is to go to a place that sells the end runs, left overs and carpeting that has been used for trade shows and then taken down. The carpeting is almost free, they just want to get the installation job. They charge the standard installation rates but the carpeting is just a way to get work for the installers. You can buy really high quality carpeting that you woudl nto otherwise be able to afford and it will cost next to nothing.
... If I call Costco say, they've done the leg work for me. They hire good subs that have proven themselves over and over again, or they are out. Costco also charges competitive prices, so the way this works is the subs get less, but they get more volume through Costco. I think I just convinced myself which way to go...
Look, I am sure your life is hectic and I am glad you have good feelings about Costco. I do business with them and I think they have some decent business practices. They are NOT however some magical defender of consumers. They DO NOT have any "magical high volume discounts" on 99.9% of what they sell. They are able to sell some stuff a little cheaper than other stores becuase they have far lower overhead -- low levels of staffing, short hours, stores that ARE warehouses, no bagging, etc. When it comes to "leg work" you are flat out WRONG about them about vetting the quality of the subs -- the model they use if the EXACT SAME as the ones used by Sear home installation or the various big box hardware store -- it is a MARKETING CHANNEL and nothing more.
They get REVENUE from the MIDDLE MAN that they allow to print up flyers and have sales people in the stores to sign up Costco customers. Then Costco does a calculation AFTER THE FACT to assess whether the hassles AND COSTS of having a middle man and subcontractors who WILL screw-up a predictably percentage of jobs that need to have Costco hand out soe gift cards and have a Jr Vice President make some threatening calls really is worth the grief...
I suppose the folks that do not get recommendations from satisfied neighbors at least have the "backstop" of those gift cards and the angry JrVP to "protect them" but I prefer to cut out the unneeded layers and rely on a firm that really values doing good work...
Last edited by chet everett; 04-15-2011 at 03:22 PM..
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You're kidding yourself...
