Carpet Material - polyprop vs solution dyed nylon

Hi all,

Just wondering what the case was for loop pile style carpet in bedrooms etc. being polyprop based (cheaper/included in builder package) vs the SDN (solution dyed nylon) which is costing me a good $2,200 to upgrade to.

I initially went the loop pile (harder wearing supposedly than plush pile) and the polyprop as my advice instore was that if I ever rent it out the carpet would get worn or underlay dirty and ripped out every few years that you were better off going cheaper polyprop and the basic foam underlay (don't upgrade to the thicker choices).

However, on returning to the store another salesmen insisted the opposite - that the polyprop would flatten and wear very fast vs the solution dyed nylon. And that value for money i was better off getting the good stuff which would last and loop piles would stay perky for much longer in terms of tenants.

Just wondering for those who stuck with loop pile carpets for their rentals, did you ever wish you went polyprop or SDN, and for what reasons? Just need to make a decision.

Not sure how much it is to carpet out 4 or 5 bedrooms normally so working out replacement value every couple of years in a rental is another question on my mind. Anone with some figures?

THanks,

 

A case can be made for both and over the years I have heard differing opinions from salesmen. I tend to opt for the SDN. It definitely wears better, it feels a million times better and it is easier to clean and vacuum. It is a fair bit more expensive though. I suppose it depends what type of tenant you are expecting, although if its the polypropelene type then perhaps you are better off with floor boards...

 

Do you think tenants care for/define a yes/no for renting a place by how 'high' the loop pile carpet still is or how smooth it is?? Or more a pricing point? I would think the tenant would rather take a $400 a week property because comparatively it is cheaper than others of the same size/comparable location? And that softer, more newer looking carpet would be a secondary plus or option?

Didn't think about the vinyl planks in the bedrooms though... not sure how acoustics wise it will work in the theatres, but good point. I thought carpet in bedrooms was a more standard/personalised thing? I've always only had carpet in my bedrooms, but then again it obviously was being looked after and not rented....

Such a hard decision as you hear a million conflicting opinons from both spectrums when it comes to cheap and simple (polyprop) vs going more durable, nicer and harder wearing like SDN.

 

Tbh I think that most tenants wouldn't know the difference and rarely would it be a deal breaker. It's more about the life span and how easy it is to maintain to understand cheapest vs best value. My experience with PP is that it wears badly. After vacuuming a few times it becomes a bit ragged and getting any spill out is in impossible as it soaks right in. It may seem cheaper at first but imo it is a bit of s false economy.

 

Most modern carpets are fairly good stain wise.
The last we purchased was a corn starch or some such.
As hard wearing as Solution Dyed Nylon, but slightly softer.
Went middle of the road to cheaper, as these days we expect to repaint and change carpet every 4-8 years.
A lot cheaper than replacing hardwood flooring ......

 

Polypropylene is fine in high wear areas eg. on stairs but looks cheap & nasty compared with SDN which looks much better.

Twist or cut and loop have a longer pile but will tend to flatten with wear.

 

Yeap, I went with loop because that's the standard entry I guess. I'm assuming twist or plush pile are miles above in price wise. As for polyprop looking cheap and nasty - for living there I agree, so you would say resale value and personal value would be diminished vs paying the extra $2k for SDN?

But for a rental do the numbers stack up paying an extra $2,000 to have an upgrade house wide to SDN? How much does laying SDN normally cost anyway for a rough whole house? I know they quote $159 a lineal metre (the whole 3.7m x something long roll thing as they work in lineal metres) but a rough guide of how much others have paid for carpeting? For example if SDN costs $20,000 to carpet a whole 4 x 2 house normally then I'dr ather pay $2,000 more now to get it in.

 

Thanks for both your responses. So on the balance of weighing up value for money, propensity of tenants to damage or drop/stain carpets and how often you need to rip one up vs the other, would you both recommend paying the extra $2,000 to have carpeted SDN as opposed to polyprop?

Would one get much longer wear life and avoid the need to replace stained or damaged polyprop by paying extra to go SDN? Or does the cheaper costing polyprop make up for in price for what it lacks in terms of higher wear/flattening of loop pile, looks uglier, not as stain resistant/easy to get out etc. as compared to the solution dyed nylon?

You and others probably have the experience to weigh up price vs wear and resistance for which one is the better choice. The SDN did feel abit more softer/nicer in the hands from memory than the polyprop.

 

I would definitely be aiming for the SDN but I must say 2k extra sounds like a lot. How many square metres of carpet are you laying? SDN is around 20-50% more per m2 than your basic PP. I just had 3 bedrooms done in SDN for $1200 supplied and installed, mid range quality.

 

Often it isn't the softness or feel under hand that you will notice.
It is more the feel under foot
The more expensive the carpet, the better underlay used (normally)
If it is a tenanted house i would likely go the cheaper option, particularly if it is a capital expense. (Unless you personally want one over the other).
We shopped around our last carpet change, even tried our carpet samples on various types of underlay, and bought a carpet slightly cheaper than SDN, I stripped it all out cleaned and ready to go, 4 bedrooms installed with 10mm underlay $2,400
Run out stock though....
SDN quotes from other stores were low $3,000

 

Should also add
It depends on the house and demographic also.
In one of Datto's houses out west it would be the cheaper carpet (no offence Datto )
In an inner circle home i would spend the money
Otherwise it would be like putting an Ikea kitchen in a harbour side mansion, it has the potential to devalue the whole place

 

Hi SabreX

We renovated 2 rental apartments 6 years ago

And we had the same issue trying to decide between Sdn or poly

After much research we decided to go with Sdn

After 6 years still looks good ( I've been in both apartments recently ) and hopefully should get many years yet of use

The carpet company I used were installing the same type of carpet in housing commission apartments - which they had a contract to do - the reason being they wanted it to last as long as possible with minimal problems - which sounded good to me

Hope this helps

 

I'll haveto check... but a lineal metre is 3.66 isn't it? ANd I saw the SDN carpet was going for circa $149-159 at Trevor's Carpet, which I assume is per their lineal metre? So does one just divide the price by 3.66 to get a m2 pricing? And I assume then I can just take my bedroom per the floor plan m2 and x the m2 pricing worked out to get an estimate?

True, the fact that 'upgrading' costs $2,000 more, this would include any credit that you would have gotten included in the building package in putting in polyprop. So the cost is north of $2000 easily (not sure what the polyprop would be worth, say it's worth $1,000-1500 at builders inflated prices, so still $3,000+ for the carpet).

It does sound like SDN is a better choice but it sounds like I'm getting ripped off based on what everyone else is posting above to fit out SDN at their houses?

I can't remember what mm my underlay is, I didn't upgrade from the basic underlay foam at Trevor's Carpets.. so I've got the red one. Might be 5mm? it's barebone. I thought if one was going to carpet something for feel besides underlay, if you were planning to move in or go for a luxury feel for inner-suburb properties that you would go plush cut pile etc and not the typical loop pile? Combined with a decent mm underlay?

Good point with the location. That's what confuses me. The build will be in Piara Waters (Perth). It's about circa 15-17 km from the CBD, to me i would rate it as middle band. Located to some inner ring/blue chip style suburbs. The problem is it's one of the fastest growing areas due to the urbanisation around the area. Capital growth has seen it listed in the recent 'top growers' lists of Perth suburbs, of course this would hav ehelped in getting land and building 2-5 years back. I still see it as a long term growth suburb due to its proximity to other blue chips i.e. canning vale, willetton, and cockburn central area, but the influx of properties obviously makes rental pressures lower. What once could be $500+ or around a week is now closer to $400. At the same time the house prices range generally near the median if not lower for the smaller lot houses i.e. $470k-580k from what I see. Many new families, first home buyers etc , but not low socio economic. So the issue is it isn't posh, but it's a middle ground solid sorta white collar working class area is what I'd think of it.

With that in mind if I ever move out to pursue work opportunities interstate or the like I'd like to not overspend now due to the rental aspect. Would one still recommend going polyprop carpets over the SDN?

Or if it doesn't cost much extra just boarding up all the carpets with say vinyl planks? I was considering switching my main floor tiling to vinyl planks , but yeah they do seem to cost more. So wondering if leaving (at no extra costs) The original main floor tiling, and polyprop carpet in the bedrooms was the best.

Hence my q's about SDN and whether the long term durability > the cost savings in staying polyprop and removing it more often. 2 out of 3 of the carpet salesman reckon you rip it up every 5 years or something anyway as tenants just trash your carpet anyhow, so to just go cheap.

Having never chipped tiles or thrashed my carpet at home, I just can't see how tenants could damage something so badly? Would they be dragging their feet and things all over the carpet purposely? I probably just take it for granted haha.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you remember how much you paid roughly per m2 for the SDN or if it was comparatively only marginally more expensive than the polyprop?

It might be a case where the $2,000 extra to pump up to SDN through the builder means sticking with polyprop now and paying $3000 later in 5 years time for SDN would be more cost effective for example.... as you wouldn't have the builders enormous margins.

Does the SDN clean stains easily and not flatten out as fast as the polyprop (if you've ever run with polyprop prior to these two apartments)?

 

SDN all day but 2.2K upgrade seems excessive