A common purchase most homeowners make at some point in their lives is carpet.
Carpet is great for living rooms and bedrooms.
Besides offering some cushion, it can also help keep a room warm and express some personality.
However, you’ll also find that buying carpet isn’t always cheap.
You may wonder what it is about carpet that makes it so expensive.
Why Is Carpet So Expensive? (10 Reasons)
The average price of carpet is $2.50 per square foot.
However, you can also find certain brands and styles of carpet that cost as much as $10 or $12 a square foot.
Certain factors like the size of the room, the type of pile you have, and the type of carpet you’re buying can all impact the price.
Let’s look at these factors in more detail.
1.Room Size
One of the biggest factors that will influence the price of your carpet is the size of your room.
Carpet is typically priced by the square foot or square yard.
The larger your room is, the more square footage it has.
As such,’ you will need to buy more carpet to cover it all.
As an example, if your room is 500 square feet large, and you have a carpet that costs $10 per square foot, you’re going to pay $5,000 for the carpet alone.
That doesn’t include other costs associated with the carpet.
Room size, alone, can make carpet quite expensive.
2.Brand Name
Another major factor that influences the price of carpet is its brand name.
There are several brand names that come with expensive prices.
One of those brands is Karastan.
The company has been selling carpets since 1923 and made a reputation for itself in selling wool carpets.
Wool is one of the most expensive materials used to make carpet.
In Karastan’s case, they made it even more expensive by handcrafting each piece.
Buying carpet from Karastan means’ you will be buying an expensive selection of carpet.
The brand name, alone, adds to the price tag because the brand has a reputation for producing high-quality carpets.
Well-known brand names always tend to charge a bit more than generic brands.
Other expensive brands include:
- couristan premier
- J Mish Mills
- Factory
- Stanton Carpet Corporation
- Anderson Tuftex
There are brands out there that sell cheaper carpets, too, but you can expect them to still be more expensive than generic brands.
That’s because their name carries weight.
Carpets are expensive if they come from a reputable brand known for selling high-quality carpets.
3.wool
As mentioned earlier, wool is one of the most expensive materials to use in carpeting.
There are a few reasons why it’s so expensive.
For one, some parts of the production of a wool carpet are done by hand.
Whether it’s shaving the sheep, cleaning the wool, or preparing it for processing, there are some parts that brands do completely by hand.
That makes the product more expensive because the labor costs are higher.
It takes more time to make a handcrafted product.
Wool is also expensive on its own because it takes a while to accumulate.
Sheep have to grow their hair to the correct length before farmers can remove it.
That takes time.
While farmers likely stagger their sheep to ensure they can provide as consistent of a supply as possible, it still takes time.
They also have a limited number of sheep to produce that wool.
Since supply isn’t always in abundance, it means wool ends up becoming more expensive.
A cheaper fabric for carpets is nylon.
It’s synthetic, so companies can make it themselves in abundance.
If you’re buying an expensive type of carpet, there’s a chance that it uses wool.
4.Various Colors Or Patterns
There’s no shortage of different colors and patterns that you can find in carpets.
Some might be a single color or use a single pattern.
Others have a myriad of different colors or different patterns stitched within them.
The more complex the carpet appears, the more expensive it’s going to be.
That’s because a carpet that has a lot of different colors takes more time to make.
The manufacturer needs to use different colored threads to weave the carpet together.
The more colors, the more time it takes to change out threads, use the new color, and then change it out again.
It’s also more expensive to make.
As such, the price is higher.
The same goes for patterns.
Whether it’s made by hand or put through a machine, a carpet that has patterns on it is going to be more expensive to make.
Since it costs more to make, the manufacturer is going to charge a higher price for it.
Carpets are expensive when they use a lot of different colors or patterns.
5.Durability
Another major factor that influences the price of carpet is its durability.
Since carpet is a type of flooring, you can be sure that it’s going to see a lot of abuse.
From children spilling paint on it to shoes tearing the fibers apart, carpets see a lot.
Part of the reason they tend to deteriorate quickly is their structure.
Carpets are usually made with looped threads although they can use a different style, too.
The problem with the loops is that, as they degrade, they can start to catch on to things.
That might make them rip from the carpet even further.
You might find yourself with a few bald spots on your carpet.
To avoid that, some manufacturers use certain materials or methods to make durable carpets.
These types of carpets tend to be very expensive for a few reasons.
The first is that it’s more expensive to make.
To make the carpet durable, the manufacturer has to put more cost into making them.
‘They will either use high-quality materials or use more expensive processes to make the carpet tougher.
Because it costs them more, they charge higher prices on their carpets.
Another reason is that durable carpets last longer.
People have to replace them less often.
Since they’re not replacing their carpet as often, it means the manufacturer is at risk of losing money.
Instead of relying on repeat buyers, they need to make as much money as they can on the initial sale instead.
Carpet is expensive when it’s durable and long-lasting.
6.Pile Type
The type of pile used to make the carpet can also determine its price.
There are a few different types of pile, but you can generally distinguish between them as being low, medium, or high pile.
Low pile tends to sit close to the ground.
Medium is a happy mix.
High pile tends to be quite tall and soft.
As such, high pile tends to be the more luxury-focused type of carpet.
To make high pile carpets, manufacturers use long fabric threads.
They also spread them out a bit more, so it isn’t as dense.
This allows your feet to enjoy some cushion as you walk on the floor.
The carpet sinks below your weight.
A high-pile carpet is more expensive since it uses longer strands of fabric, which means it’s using more material.
There’s also the luxury element to consider.
Since high-pile carpet feels more luxurious, it comes at a luxury price.
Carpet is expensive when you’re buying a high-pile carpet.
7.Stain Resistance
A problem homeowners sometimes have with carpet is that it stains.
Pet owners constantly fear the day their pets use the bathroom on the carpet.
Homeowners with children face daily potential stains with food, vomit, and paint.
Even singles can track in dirt or spill wine on the carpet.
Because carpet uses fibers, it tends to soak in certain liquids.
Some types of carpets come with stain-resistant fibers.
They don’t absorb the liquid as much.
This allows you to quickly clean the carpet without the risk of leaving a stain behind.
As a result, your carpets look as new as when you have them installed.
The problem with a stain-resistant carpet is that it’s very expensive.
To make the fibers stain-resistant, manufacturers have to use either a certain type of fabric or add some sort of coating to the carpet.
Since it costs them more to make, they charge more for it.
Carpets are expensive when they come with a stain-resistant feature.
8. Carpet Installation Costs
It isn’t only the cost of the carpet that you have to worry about when buying it either.
Unless you have experience installing carpets, there’s a good chance that you will have someone install it for you.
Carpet installation can be quite expensive.
Besides paying for the carpet,’ you will face labor charges at some places.
Labor tends to cost 0.50 cents per $1 square foot of carpet.
If you have a 200-square-foot room and you manage to buy a cheap $1 per square foot carpet, labor costs will be around $100 to install the carpet.
Your carpet ends up costing $300 in total.
The good news is that some carpet places will install your carpet for free.
If budget is a problem, you should consider buying your carpet at one of those places.
Otherwise, you’ll find that buying carpet is expensive due to carpet installation prices.
9.Limited Patterns Or Colors
One of the ways that carpet companies compete with one another is by offering limited patterns or colors.
They might have a limited edition pattern, for example, that they’re only selling for a limited time.
This type of carpet is expensive because it’s rare.
The supply of carpet is purposefully kept small to make it special.
However, that also makes it more expensive.
Whenever there’s high demand for something and a low supply, the price for the item increases.
Some carpet companies might also come out with a carpet that uses rare colors.
Because it’s rare, it’s also more expensive.
Carpet becomes expensive whenever you venture into the limited edition or rare section of a carpet store.
10. Wall-To-Wall Carpet Or Carpet Tiles
A final reason carpet is expensive comes down to the type of carpet that you’re buying.
There are two main options.
The most common is wall-to-wall carpet.
This is a type of installation and carpet in which the installers will bring a large section of carpet to your home.
They’ll lay it down from one side of the room and roll it to the other.
Then they’ll trim where they need to and make the carpet fit the room.
There’s a lot of waste involved with this type of carpet and installation, so it tends to be quite expensive.
The benefit, however, is that your carpet looks completely seamless.
Carpet tile, on the other hand, involves installing each square of the carpet by hand.
The carpet comes in unassembled squares that the installers then put down one section at a time.
It tends to take a bit longer, so it might cost a bit more if you have to pay for labor by the hour.
However, in most cases, this type of carpet tends to be a bit cheaper because it doesn’t look quite as good.
There are usually seam marks left behind since it’s a bunch of different tiles put together to form a carpet.
Carpet is expensive depending on the type you buy.
Conclusion
Carpet can be quite expensive to buy since the materials and labor can be quite expensive.
Buying rare colors or patterns can also increase the price.
By keeping to the basics and looking for free installation services, you can make carpet a bit cheaper.