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My home needs new carpet. Anybody ever use carpet tiles?

slipper

slipper

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 19, 2003
1,563
44
My home carpet is old and in dire need of replacement. Professionally installed wall to wall carpet is wayyyyy too expensive though. Anyone try carpet tiles for their own home? From what i have seen on the internet so far, carpet tiles seem like more of a commercial solution using cheap quality carpet. I assume there are plush varieties available though.
 
Some pros: easy to lay, replaceable in patches in case of damage or spills, cost.

Some cons: usually used commercially, far smaller range of fabrics and colours, not usually advisable to fit over an underlay, many contain nylon (static build-up).

Another thing to bear in mind is that batches can vary, so if you're after a solid colour, you may find it difficult. Always good to have extras left over, if you ever need to fix a patch.

Fitting wall to wall carpet with underlay, gripper rods, stretching and all that it entails, is best left to people who know what they're doing, but another possibility is to look at something economic like a cord (ribbed) carpet that's hessian-backed, doesn't need stretching and just can be glued down over a flat rubber underlay... like Tretford Cord, if you can get it in the US or something similar.
 
Carpet tiles are generally placed on hard floors with no pad underneath, i.e. commercial buildings and el cheap basement jobs.

Carpet is relatively cheap though--you don't need to spend $4/sq foot, you can get PLENTY decent carpet for $1.50 a square foot, including padding. You can even get some for like .79 a square foot.

Look into Berber carpet as well, it's generally cheaper quality for quality with pile carpet.
 
I would probably just bit the bullet and go with regular carpet. Carpet tiles will make your room look like a cheap commercial job. Theres honestly not to much of a price difference anymore between the two.
 
One of the facets that makes a great carpet is its pad. You'll be better served to buy an expensive pad and an inexpensive carpet. With carpet tiles, they go on a floor without a pad. I'm pretty sure that it will not have the look and feel of a good carpet.

Yeah, they're great in commercial applications, but for a home, you want something a little softer underfoot and a larger pile on the carpet to make it feel nice.

Unless you go with some quality carpet tiles, they start looking rather poorly in the course of time. Personally, I'd think biting the bullet and getting a good quality carpet (and great quality pad) is a better move.
 
We fitted them in a student house we rented, where the terracotta tiled kitchen floor was just too cold to live with. They worked well enough and did allow the kitchen to stay warmer, although you did have to put up with the occasional static shock :)
 
maflynn said:
One of the facets that makes a great carpet is its pad.
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"Pad" I would assume is the American for "underlay", in which case you are right. Go for a decent underlay and even "exhibition carpet" will be OK, but whatever it is, you should have it stretched with Gripperrod, or it'll look crap in no time.
 
You can do an underlay on carpet tiles it is not normal or conventional to but with the right materials it is doable you can use interlocking rubber floor tiles (such as the kind used in a garage but the patterned textured ones wouldn't be recommended) as an underlay and use carpet tiles over the top to give better cushioning, insulation, and it can prevent the tiles from slipping around and buckling since you would not be gluing to the floor using this method.

skunk said:
"Pad" I would assume is the American for "underlay", in which case you are right. Go for a decent underlay and even "exhibition carpet" will be OK, but whatever it is, you should have it stretched with Gripperrod, or it'll look crap in no time.
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The pro's and Hardware stores here still use the term underlay, but when dealing with the naive it's easier just to say pad.
 
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I beg of you. Do not use carpet tiles. They are horrible, especially in residential settings, this coming from someone who has worked on and off in home remodels while dealing with unemployment over the past year. Tacky, cheap, terrible quality. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra few dollars and go with real carpet.

Check out Home Depot, they are usually running a promotion for something like 99 dollars for whole house carpet installation.
 
If you want something that`s pretty cheap and effective I`d give Seagrass carpet a look.
Way cheaper than regular carpet (although still quite a bit more than tiles) pretty hardwearing and good looking, used it in my office and 3 years later it still looks good.
 
Carpet tiles are only best in a basement where you have a cement floor that has moisture and don't want or cant nail carpet strips.
 
MacNut said:
Carpet tiles are only best in a basement where you have a cement floor that has moisture and don't want or cant nail carpet strips.
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But you can seal a concrete floor with Wellbond (mixed 3 to 1 with water), except for a 1' perimeter, to allow the floor to "breath".

Then a cheap carpet, with foam attached, will perform well.

Good for a rec room. ;)
 
iJohnHenry said:
But you can seal a concrete floor with Wellbond (mixed 3 to 1 with water), except for a 1' perimeter, to allow the floor to "breath".

Then a cheap carpet, with foam attached, will perform well.

Good for a rec room. ;)
Click to expand...
If you are doing it on the cheap you are not going to take the time to seal the floor.
 
MacNut said:
If you are doing it on the cheap you are not going to take the time to seal the floor.
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That would depend if you own, or rent.

I did 600 sq ft in a rec room. If I had to do it over again, I would go for a Berber and no under-pad.

The vacuum had a tendency to suck-up strands of the el-cheapo carpet. :eek:
 
Necro thread alert. I bet the newb comes back later to add his spam links.
 
wvuwhat said:
Check out Home Depot, they are usually running a promotion for something like 99 dollars for whole house carpet installation.
Click to expand...

This is what I did when I had to replace the carpet in my whole house. Carpet was pretty cheap and the installation was $99 as they say - even for a full house.

I was quite surprised as the cost from Home Depot...
 
Buy the underlay and carpet off eBay - This will save you a fortune. Fitting yourself is more than do able. I have done 2 laminate floors and 2 carpets with my wife. Granted it took us around 5 hours per room! But we got there in the end - with a great sense of achievement in the process. YouTube has the answers to how to cut and lay the floors! Good Luck :)
 
dav146 said:
Buy the underlay and carpet off eBay - This will save you a fortune. Fitting yourself is more than do able. I have done 2 laminate floors and 2 carpets with my wife. Granted it took us around 5 hours per room! But we got there in the end - with a great sense of achievement in the process. YouTube has the answers to how to cut and lay the floors! Good Luck :)
Click to expand...

I'm quoting this post as it is still relevant although I'm assuming this time the resurrection was caused by the similar threads at the bottom of a current thread rather than a spammer like the last time it came back to life.

rdowns said:
Necro thread alert. I bet the newb comes back later to add his spam links.
Click to expand...
 
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