This is the carpet.

our long term rentals had mid range Berber carpets with dark flecks on mid tone lighter carpet and were very serviceable, cheaper than vinyl or timber and happily survived regular shampooing (at tenants' expense) for many years

I think it would look like part of the house has had carpet replaced, rather than fresh throughout if it is butting up another colour. The lighter choice has good variation so it would probably mask a lot anyway. If some of the area to be carpeted is in an entry or hall way you could get an off-cut piece edged and use it as a floor rug to help reduce wear in those main walkways.

Thank you for your advice, Linda, oklouise and scottevie. That's really helpful. Oklouise, you don't happen to recall which Berber?

have to admit that we chose the one that looked the same as the original that had been on the floor since the 80's and still looked great in most places but had to be replaced due to water damage from a leaking roof ...i remember the carpet supplier saying the Berber was used regularly in rentals and they had options for similar looking carpets that had heavy wear for living and hallways and lighter wear for bedrooms which could be a cost saving while retaining the uniform look throughout the house...

That's interesting, I didn't know that was possible. Thanks again for your sage advice, oklouise.

Always go with the same carpet colour, it makes the spaces flow into each other. If any of the rooms get a lot of sun I would check for fading even with lighter colours cheers. PS: I love having wealthy friends ha ha

Dark all through IMO

Thank you siriuskey, Paul and Sarah. I appreciate your advice. We will be going with the darker carpet!

Sarah Sarah, I'm so sorry you had awful renters. Had some bad experience way back when, so know how demoralising that feels. I hope we aren't making a big mistake entering the market now, but we really bought the property for its enormous dam - we need the water!

Thanks Zaffa!

Thank you, Natalie!

Another vote for dark all the way through

Thanks, how2girl!

I had two different colours of the same carpet in my old house but they were in two separate wings and did not adjoin each other. If they adjoin then it is a whole different thing. I used a dark colour in the living area thinking that would be sensible and light in the bedrooms and regretted chosing the dark colour, it showed more marks than the light one did.

I've just been a short term renter myself, and had a plain dark carpet and it was absolutely filthy - the colour hides nothing, especially pink and green textas/paint. There obviously had been damage over the years too and parts of the carpet had been replaced obviously for economic reasons, but the colours did not match making the whole carpet area worse.

Now I've bought my new house which was rented for 16 years, it has what is probably best described as a berber finish in mid brown to cream shades giving it an attractive mottled finish quite similar to the lighter sample you have posted and while there are stains, they do not show anywhere near as obviously as the darker plain carpet did. I like the look of it laid too as it is not heavy and gives the rooms a cleaner look. I know the previous tenant shampooed it a lot and it has stood up well to that too.

When it comes to dirt and stains though, a lot depends on the carpet fibre, the lanolin in wool repels stains more than synthetics - many of which create a static electricity that attracts and holds dirt. Many synthetic carpets also dull with time, giving them a dirty look too.

Just don't allow pets in your lease!!! Good luck, I hope you have great tenants.

Sorry, tried to post a photo of my carpet for you but it won't allow me but it is very similar to the light one you have posted.

Thank you olldroo! So kind of you to describe your experiences, which certainly are helpful. About not allowing pets, Victoria is about to pass law which allows renters to have pets, so no joy there. We are still mulling over the flooring situation. Spoke to the owner of a local flooring supplier whom also had rental property in the past. He advocated vinyl flooring throughout. Told us he had a tenant who took apart a motor in a carpeted room...and that was enough to convert him! Thanks again to everyone. I appreciate your advice. Cheers!

a landlord friend of ours had one of their tenants keep his precious motor bike parked in the carpeted lounge but, despite very few hassles, we had numerous excellent tenants in four different properties over 25 years and the hassles were usually only caused by normal wear and tear... we found that it was more cost effective to look after the tenants to minimise changes, lost rent and lots of damage accidentally caused by constant carpet shampooing and dragging furniture in and out for new tenants

Hi Ann

As you're still mulling it over I thought I'd add a couple of points...

Many years ago I was renting out properties in inner city Melbourne. At the time, comparable rents were around $300-$320 per week. We were able to achieve between $550 - $650 dollars per week by taking a slightly different approach.

Instead of using flat commercial grade carpet (polypropelene / Olefin) that is still on the market today, we installed high grade Cavalier Bremworth pure wool carpet in a TIGHT one colour loop style called sisal. It was quite a dark colour.

As an aside, we chose the dark colour as the human eye is easily tricked when looking at flooring up close. If you want to see the true colour, put it on the floor and stand back at least 6 feet. You will see it look lighter ( this applies to carpet, timber, vinyl flooring etc) and so by the time it was laid it had a classy look and nowhere near too dark.

The reasoning behind this type was that a) pure wool will not flatten as quickly as the cheap commercial carpet, b) it has a natural resistance to dirt whereas the poly's tend to get grubby quickly and c) it looked a heck of a lot more upmarket.

We took the approach to set the home up as a high quality rental, with a few incentives to the tenants to look after the place. Obvioulsy the carpet was just one part of it. By doing so we got higher dollars per week and signed leases with tenants on average of 2 years and in one case a 5 year lease.

Most people look for the cheapest solution when fitting out, but we found that a better environment meant the tenants were both house proud and stayed longer.

When we did the sums, the higher quality fit out was cheaper over the long term and didn't need replacing.

Cheers

Oh what a pain annb - I can understand tenants needing their lives, I love animals myself, and these days companion pets are recognised for their value to a person's health and well being but sadly it is the owners who should know better who are the irresponsible ones. When I first inspected this house tenanted by heavy smokers with 1 cat, 2 dogs, 2 aquariums of fish, white mice and a wild bird that should not have been in a cage, my nose was in overdrive, but there was not a suggestion of a smell of anything. Even the agent was surprised and the tenant had a carpet shampooer she used regularly. Two further inspections and no smells and when they vacated, the house was fumigated as required under the lease. Came moving day one week later and the stench sent the removalists and myself reeling. I've used every product there is but a change of weather still brings out little unpleasant whiffs. Going to have to totally replace the carpet which I planned to do anyway, but until other renovations are done it has to stay and I'm on slab so have no options.

There are great tenants out there, I would like to think I was one, I did so much cleaning for the owner that I should not have had to do, I even washed all the walls down to try to give them a lift as they had not been painted for 15 years, but like oklouise says you look after a tenant and they will look after your home ............. well it used to be but people just have no idea these days. Without meaning to sound like a snob I do think areas matter, sadly there seem to be different classes of people from area to area with totally different attitudes and values.

My landlord expected me to maintain the garden - the yard was a weed patch, no landscaping had ever been done, I was always frightened of twisting my ankle and falling the ground was so rough and uneven and it was impossible to mow it. What did the landlord expect?? I'm no better off here, although I love the fact I basically have a blank canvas to make the house "mine" and why I bought it, but one of the dogs was a digger and my back garden looks like the moon - it is all craters. It is all very well to give people rights, but they have to take responsibility for these rights and of course there are definitely landlords that need to get their act together too. I don't think agents do enough monitoring either and that does not help.

I'm presently looking into vinyl planking for my living area floors and I think it is a great option. It seems to really take wear and tear, yet it is quiet and warm. When so many people seem to have allergies and issues that affect their tolerance to carpet, maybe this would be a more versatile flooring for a rental. My kitchen/living area here has vinyl sheet covering and although it is now lifting from the slab, I am very impressed with the condition of it. There are a few coloured paint like stains that won't come off but absolutely no wear and tear after 16 years. It is so easy and hygienic to clean too, initially I scrubbed it with disinfectant hoping to kill off any nasties, but now I just go over it with a steam mop and it looks great. It is not cheap but for value long term it could be a far better option.

Thanks oklouise and Two's Company Renovations. Hubby and I were discussing just that point last night. A difference is that this property is in a rural setting on the fringe of a regional city, and our rental return will be considerably lower than an inner-city. However, I do understand the point you make. We are risk adverse and so are excruciatingly careful to consider as many flooring options as we can. One potentially problemsome consideration is that three of the bedrooms have old wallpaper in poor repair, and we don't yet know what is behind it. Could be asbestos. I've already booked to have whole interior repainted, and the bedroom wallpaper issue is yet to be determined. Hence, our wariness to overspend the budget, which can blow out if bedrooms prove to be a lot more trouble.

Hi olldroo. Yes, we too like the look, feel and idea of vinyl planks, or the large tiles. Actually, they would be my preference for entry hallway and wet areas. While they are costlier than the roll flooring, a plank/tile can easily be more replaced if damaged. Thanks for all your input. It's good to hear about the experiences of others. I hope you have a lot of fun putting the plans for your new abode in place. Best wishes with the garden too. Slow and sure. :)

A hard wearing, inexpensive carpet, in a dark colour is preferable for a rental property. Try not to bring your personal preference into the mix. This advice comes from someone who has owned rental properties for over 20 years.

Thankyou, pascoeyvonne. I appreciate your experience.

Thank you so much, Jodie! Your advice is very helpful.

I chose a Berber look carpet for a rental. The speckles hide more spots/spills than a plain solid colour. Maybe better to go back to the vinyl/polished boards/hard surface flooring so then no need for steam cleaning whole house when tenants leave. I would go with the dark carpet otherwise.

Thanks for your advice, pamackenziequilts!

Hi there annb, I have just realised that you mentioned buying the house to get your hands on the dam, so this is a country house and would be better to use something more lasting and cleanable, my sister inlaw is for ever having to hire a carpet cleaner to clean any remaining carpet which she is hoping to replace soon. cheers

Sorry, debanger3, I'm u sure what DB means...dark brown?

Unsure is what I mean.

Hi siriuskey. You are correct, it's rural. Thank you for that info.

Carpeting installed. We went with a nylon cut pile in charcoal.

Thank you Julie. Lots of work to do in garden!

Thanks, me me!

Oooh la la annb! Looks so sophisticated and swish love! Really looks fabulous :)

Thanks Jodie and Nik! Can't wait to get drapes hung; we are waiting for rods arrive.

Id like some advice. ive just purchased a hoise that has an off white carpet and need to change the upstairs warn out green carpet they had. problem is the off white caroet has been used on the stairs and will join the new carpet. what colur shoukd i place to go upstairs that wont look bad against the off white where it will meet ?

HU - I really think you should start a new thread on this issue as, many people may not see this when it is an old thread.

I've had different colours of the exact same carpet in a house, but there were rooms in between so it was never obvious, but two different carpets together is another thing again. How did you feel the green looked with the off white?? If you were happy with the two colours together, then you could put any colour you liked with it, otherwise maybe remove the carpet from the stairs, although that can then make the stairs very noisy. What is the condition of the off white carpet - do you feel it may need replacing soon so you could match whatever you do now, if it is a carpet that does not look like being discontinued in the near future. You may even be able to match the off white that is there. Another hassle with using two different carpets is the weave and texture can make them look more odd together than different colours.

It is really hard to advise you on this, you really need to see the two carpets together, at least it is easy to bring home carpet samples to see just what you can live with. Good luck.

thanks for your response. problemis i i dont have possession of the house yet to try samples. the green carpet looks fine against it. its just old and really worn. and the underlay is shot. its a period home. the off white carpet is stunning so i dont want to change it. maybe i can make the stairs and upoer house the same colour. i was thinking a grey. the iff white is plush

OLD THREAD

Hullo HU-657723285

I read about half the thread before noticing the date. Definitely a good idea to start a new thread.