Author Topic: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?  (Read 8927 times)

Guizmo

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tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« on: January 06, 2014, 10:26:55 PM »
Hi folks,

Tenant left the studio apartment. I fixed most things that needed fixing over the weekend and just have two more things to do. Clean and replace the carpet.

The carpet covers around 2/3 of the square footage. What do folks recommend? Should I replace the carpet and then do the deep clean or the other way around. I usually would change the carpet and then clean, but sometimes when the carpet guy changes the carpet, the dirt from it would spread throughout the room and make another cleaning necessary. What's y'alls experience?

OregonGal

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2014, 07:21:34 PM »
You might want to consider replacing the carpet with hard-surface flooring like Pergo laminate or something similar.   I do this in my rentals and it's easier to clean, lasts longer and tenants seem to like it.  They can use their own area rugs on it or whatever.   Something to think about, anyway.

anotherAlias

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2014, 07:26:06 PM »
I'd replace the carpet first.  When I ripped up the old carpet in my old duplex, the decades of dirt trapped under the carpet flew everywhere.  If the padding underneath has started to disintegrate, then it's even worse.

Longwaytogo

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2014, 08:57:39 PM »
I agree with previous poster, carpet then clean. I have torn out tons of carpet and 9/10 times its pretty disgusting (why I actually have zero carpet in my own home)

YK-Phil

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2014, 10:49:59 AM »
If you haven't done so yet, I'd get a quote for hard floors as well. I wanted to replace carpets in a rental condo and out of curiosity asked for a quote to do hard wood as well, and the price difference was a couple of hundred bucks including install. For rentals, I prefer anything over carpets, and tenants do as well. Less maintenance, better appearance, easy to clean, no carpet bugs, etc.

ScienceSexSavings

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2014, 02:29:55 PM »
As a former professional cleaner, do the carpet first!!! Any kind of work to the home kicks up all kinds of dust and dirst and undoes a bunch of your cleaning.

Blindsquirrel

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2014, 02:26:13 PM »
   This is another vote for laminate flooring. Lowes/Home Depot/ Lumber Liquidators normally have something at a pretty good price and it is not a difficult DIY at all. We have not put one square inch of carpet in a rental house ( 13 SFRs) in the the last 5 years except one room where the tenant wanted it and he paid for half of the total cost. We spent way too much on carpet over the years and the laminate is so much tougher and tenants love it. Live and learn but my vote is laminate.

Nords

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2014, 07:42:16 PM »
The carpet covers around 2/3 of the square footage. What do folks recommend? Should I replace the carpet and then do the deep clean or the other way around. I usually would change the carpet and then clean, but sometimes when the carpet guy changes the carpet, the dirt from it would spread throughout the room and make another cleaning necessary. What's y'alls experience?
Paint first where needed, then carpet, then clean.

I'll put in another vote for flooring.  We covered a livingroom floor in "Konecto" adhesive vinyl flooring (http://www.konectousa.com/) and it's totally unmarked after five years of tenants.

You're the judge of your carpet, but here's another thought:  we've rented out two places now as "pet friendly".  You get hordes of eager, grateful tenants who are willing to pay top dollar for their pets.  Better yet you can show the place with its older carpet still on the floor, which makes the tenants even happier that they don't have to worry about losing all of their pet deposit when Fido loses bladder control.  Both times the tenants said "Nah, don't replace the carpet, it's good enough and we don't want to worry about it." 

CaptainCalf

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2014, 08:05:56 AM »
Paint first where needed, then carpet, then clean.

+1, always paint 1st and use old carpet as drop cloth then replace the carpet after painting is done.  Cleaning should follow the new carpet cuz the process of replacing it will make a mess & good luck with your rental unit!

ritchie70

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2014, 09:19:14 AM »
Assuming no "valuable" floor like hardwood hiding under the carpet, my vote is:

1. Clean anything really gross
2. Remove old carpet
3. Paint
4. Install new carpet
5. Final move-in-ready cleaning

The reason I'm taking up the carpet before painting is it's hard to paint baseboards if the carpet is down.

MissStache

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2014, 09:27:48 AM »
As a renter, I'd vote for hard flooring, too!  If I was looking at two places that were otherwise similar, I'd absolutely pick the carpet-less place!

Guizmo

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2014, 09:42:03 AM »
Hi all,

Just an update. I paid $270 for good quality carpet and install. It was an area around 10x14. Next time around I might go for hardwood floors or even tile.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: tenant out! Should I clean first or replace carpet?
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2014, 07:04:39 AM »
I wouldn't even bother with carpet. Can't wait until I can rip out the last bits of carpet in my house. Allergies and kids make carpet a major PITA.

Hardwood, as long as it's responsibly sourced, is the most sustainable flooring outside of bamboo/cork, but those have lower durability, so it's probably a wash. The only downside to hardwood in rentals are in duplex/multi-families where you'll get more noise penetration from above/below.