Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - install price

I got a quote from Lowe's to install some carpet,

two rooms 12 x 10 and 13 x 10'3, and a stairs with return, and about 6 foot of hallway at the bottom of the stairs. (hall and stairs are 3' wide )
The stairs have wood on both sides so carpet is not exposed .

they figure 46 square yards of carpet and underlay and are asking
$796.00 just for install.

the site is 99.99% ready to go.

No waste to haul.

empty rooms with sub floor cleaned and ready for underlay.

$800 just for labor seems more than a little high too me.

That is over $17.00 a square yard.??
any ideas why so high or does that sound normal to anyone?

btw i am in WA

Costs of carpet installation tend to vary from area to area and can be considerably higher in major metro markets. Patterned and berber weave carpet tend to cost more for installation. Installers typically have a minimum fee if job is too small. There are extra charges for any irregularities, steps, or protrusions in the room. They charge extra for moving furniture, removing and disposing of old carpet. Companies who have installers on staff and pay workers compensation and liability insurance will charge more for installation.

No pattern of any kind , single color
No carpet to be removed
No waste to be removed
No furniture to be moved
No site prep
in the greater Seattle area.
job is

two rooms
1 stairway with a short hall. There is no area with exposed edge at all. everything runs up to 5/8" hardwood.


It is just a plain solid color "textured" carpet going in to rooms that I got ready and the guy who measured up said it was ready to go and they wouldn't need to do any prep.


Does $17.40 per square yard for labor seem high?

Does $17.40 per square yard for labor seem high?


imo, yes! :o we had berber installed, and i think it was only $3.50 or $4.50 sy. but we had 3 bedrooms, a hallway, stairs & a great room done. maybe because your area is so small, they're making it worth their while. but i would think just doubling that to maybe $9.00 sy would suffice. $17.40 seems insane to me.

call some independent guys & get a few more bids.

Well since the money for the installation, goes through so many hands before the actual installer touches the carpet, each taking a piece of the pie, the installer see's very little of what you pay, and you don't know who they are going to send to your home, to install your investment.

Go to www.CFIinstallers.com, and in the find an installer pane, type in your zipcode. Contact a couple of installers that have an R-II or Master certification. R-1 are appentice levels. R, stands for residential. C, is for commercial.


$17, I wish I could charge $17 a yard for tufted carpet!! It's like pulling teeth to get what I charge. Retail stores pay there installers only enough to live week to week. I refuse to slave for a retailer as a subcontractor!

Thanks that helps a lot. I was not sure just how crazy it was, it seemed very high to me, but I have never dealt with carpets before.

I have already contacted a CFI member and will see where that leads us.

It is the last time a bother with lowes or homedepot for services, each time I tried them as one of my "3" quotes, they have given me silly prices or simply such poor service that I walked.

thanks
ec

I would try home depot. I think its about $1.00 a sqare foot when they do it and i think that includes the pad. I think stairs are like and extra $8.00 each. If it is new construction they may charge more for tack strips but I am not sure. Home depot also seemed to have a better price on carpet and alot of times they have good discounts going.

Doityourself is wonderful.

I normally go to Lowe's and pay the price. Now I am contacting a CFI installer for my next project (carpet).

My last job (9 windows) took 11 months to complete
the job right because of wrong installation dates,
1 broken window and 1 warped window. In the end
it was a great job. :rolleyes:

Thanks for suggesting going with a CFI member.

The price came in MUCH lower about $9 a yard to install and that included high quality padding and doing a fancier stairway. Also he sent me to a wholesale place to get better carpet for my money.

On the downside, he did not show to install and instead sent out a crew who are not certified, but did a very nice job all the same.

So i got better carpet.
Upholstered stairs instead of waterfall.
Very dense thick padding instead of cheap stuff
And came in for a total of 30% less.
I will be calling him again when I do my "big" carpet job.

Thanks for the replies, and thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I called a CFI installer and was amazed at the price he
quoted and more amazed when he showed up on the
day he said he would & even more amazed when he
did an excellent job. :thinker:


Thank you so much for telling me about CFI.

Sherrie

I'm so glad we could help.

If a CFI guy bids your job, he is suppose to be there when the job is done. At least that is what I was told my rules were. I'm glad it was installed to perfection though. He has probably trained them to CFI standards.