BiggerPockets

and pad? Where do you buy it?

It depends on what you are using it for.

Are you buying carpet for your home??

Carpet for a flip?? If so what price range??

Carpet for a new rental building?? OR and Older one??

Does the tenant expect crown molding and plush carpet for a high rent rate area or do you need to put in carpet that stands up to use and abuse??

What you pay with labor will depend on if for instance one of my units still has a good pad and tack and strip then I just pay for carpet and installation cost.

What you will pay will also depend on how much you are installing at one time.

I don't like Berber for rentals.The design of the loop once it starts unraveling it can unwind pretty good an dis harder to get certain stains and pet stuff out of it.

With carpet you want a Nylon carpet even if the cheaper version.Some carpet guys will try to sell you the rubber composite carpet stuff which is the really cheap stuff so it will stand up to tenant abuse.

The problem is it can only be cleaned usually up to one time and then you need to replace it again.

So I would rather get a cheaper nylon that can be re-cleaned many times over after installation for an additional .10 to .15 a sq ft extra than the super cheap stuff I will have to replace again.

If you get 1 sq ft for carpet,pad,tack and strip,and labor install and it is Nylon you are getting one heck of a deal.

Even at a carpet place usually you are at .40 to .50 for the pad and .50 to .60 for a cheap carpet.Then you have to do material to install and labor.

I have seen sometimes if you have to do a small area you can pick up quality remnant pieces for real cheap and hit that type of number or buy in bulk.

Thanks Joel, I need to buy Carpet on Friday and found that educational. Wonder where I can find some Black Friday deals on that :)

Also, any recommendation on 6 lb vs 8 lb pads?

Dick! Where do you get the pad so cheap?
Carpet? The worst thing to put in a rental if you can avoid it. I have tried allure, it's a big hit with landlords that I know.. I was disappointed with it. Have recently installed the .68/ft laminate at home depot on 2 jobs. Goes in fairly easily and is cheaper than carpet by far. Also, there's a better chance it will survive the first tenant. Carpet has never, with one exception, been able to last longer than one tenant for me. I avoid it wherever possible.

Also, any recommendation on 6 lb vs 8 lb pads?

Some will go with a nicer pad and a cheaper carpet.The nicer pad makes the carpet FEEL more expensive to the tenant when they walk on it.A great pad also resists wear and tear and if you need to replace the carpet the pad usually can be used again.

Used to you would put a plastic membrane in between the carpet and pad to protect the pad but the plastic would slide and make noise sometimes.

Now they have pads with built in protection.You are not looking for the cheapest product but the best VALUE for what you pay.It depends on the area and what kind of tenants and rent base you are working with.

Sounds like 25 cents a foot to me, but they told me there wouldn't be any math.

I pay $12 for a yard installed for carpet and pad. This includes tack strip, if necessary. And that's for six lb pad. $3 per yard of that is for installation.

I always go with the same California Berber for each one of my flips. I would never put this carpet in a rental. Rentals get laminate flooring throughout the house.

I had no idea they do carpet. Do they sell other flooring?

Great info Rob. I'll stop by one of the SW stores here in Dallas.

Yeah, laminate is still a great bang for the buck. I look for the kind with the pad already attached on clearance. It costs more, but installs fast and is typically better quality.