What is your feeling or the ‘standard’ life expectancy of carpet in a rental unit. I have a friend who has lived in a residence for three years now, moved in with white carpet and now has a few stains that probably will not be removable. Not only that, but there is normal wear in high traffic areas. Is three years enough for a carpet life expectancy; especially white carpet? How would you observe a situation like this? Would you expect that you would need to replace white carpet after three years of use or would you hold the tenant liable for replacement?
A white carpet doesn’t sound to practical to me. I would think the rental agreement would dictate who is resonsible. I’s replace it with a carpet that subtle different colors in it. I have a carpet with a some green, white and other colors I can’t recognize. But overall it looks green & white. Stains are hard to find.
From my (bad) experiences with light colored carpet, I can only imagine that white is a mess waiting to happen. Dark beige carpet seems to hide stains better and that’s why I think apartments and the like use it so much.
I also went bottom-of-the-line when recarpeting recently, and wish I had taken a step up. Lower end carpet and flooring damages so easily, that I imagine a step or two higher is worth it as the carpet will last longer. Maybe I’m wrong about that, especially for a rental if you need it recarpeted more often.
I have a company that dyes my carpet different color. They clean it, then change its color to darker color and you no longer see the stains. If you need to replace something, replace the areas damaged not the entire house.
Sorry for reviving this old topic. Would you mind sharing the name of the Company that you use? I am considering dying the carpet on a property I just acquired. It has carpets in part of the living room, and 3 bedrooms. The carpet has a lot of stains but other than that looks good. Instead of replacing I am considering dying it. Does it look good for a medium class property?
Thank you.
I dyed two and was happy with the results, sold both on owner financing. Although, I am foreclosing on both and getting them back so I might end up having to change them anyway 
If the carpet is in bad shape, dying won’t help much.
The company I use is local to san antonio I believe, but you can check… they are called Dye Masters… google them and see if there is one in your city…
fadi - I checked them out. They don’t seem to have a website. When I searched for Dye Masters San Antonio I found the company but could not find a website. They seem to be a local company (as you mentioned).
I was able to find www.dyemasters.com, which is a company in Missouri. I sent them an email to see if they know of a company here in Arizona.
Thank you.
What is your feeling or the 'standard' life expectancy of carpet in a rental unit.
Start counting: 1…2…3…4…5 That’s it! 5 seconds, which is also ironically the attention span of the average tenant! Seriously, carpet can easily be destroyed by one tenant in a low income rental. Obviously, it can last a lot longer if the tenant has any personal responsibility. In low income rentals, I always prefer to pour my carpet out of a can!
Mike
I have really gone the laminate route…it is so easy to install and is about 70 cents a square foot…it looks great and lasts a lot longer than cheap carpet…thoughts/
Has anyone else tried that new stuff Home Depot is selling? Can’t remember the name, but it is like peel and stick tile but only the edges stick together, so it “floats” on the floor like laminate, it seems VERY strong. You have to score it and break it like VCT, but it’s not that, it’s Vinyl. So it flexes just a bit. Its expensive at 1.80 a SF but with a 25 year warranty as long as you use quarter round on the edges according to the manufacture, I laid it in a kitchen of one of the roughest houses I own, and am eager to see how it holds up with the scumbags living there. In addition to the quarter round, I used roofing nails to hold down the edges about every 2 feet. Then put the quarter round over that to hide it. This stuff is so strong that I had a harder time getting the nails through it then the subfloor.
I decided against dying the carpets. They were really smelling bad and I was worried that it would be difficult to get away with the urine smell. We are going to put tiles in the bedrooms, great room, and kitchen. We got ceramic tiles at 77 cents/sqf at Home Depot yesterday. I figured that in the long run the tiles will last longer and it will be easier to clean/maintain.
In addition, I believe I will be able to rent it faster and for a better price with tiles. People in my area seems to like them a lot more than carpet, laminate or vinyl.
I will let you know how it goes. :O)
You have to score it and break it like VCT, but it’s not that, it’s Vinyl. So it flexes just a bit. Its expensive at 1.80 a SF but with a 25 year warranty as long as you use quarter round on the edges according to the manufacture, I laid it in a kitchen of one of the roughest houses I own, and am eager to see how it holds up with the scumbags living there. In addition to the quarter round, I used roofing nails to hold down the edges about every 2 feet. Then put the quarter round over that to hide it. This stuff is so strong that I had a harder time getting the nails through it then the subfloor.