Clark's Big Book of Bargains (27 page)

Kenady prefers oil-based paints for trim work and in areas like the kitchen, where cleanup is important. But most do-it-yourselfers prefer water-based latex paints, because mistakes and drips are easily cleaned with soap and water. Oil paints give off fumes, and you need mineral spirits to clean yourself and your brushes. Be careful if you’re not sure what kind of paint you’re painting over. You can’t put latex over oil without using a primer first. If you’re not sure, Kenady says you should apply a little denatured alcohol to the paint. If it becomes gummy, it’s oil-based paint.

As far as tools go, Kenady suggests using a paintbrush with nylon bristles for latex paint, and a roller with a ⅜-inch or ½-inch nap. A thicker nap, say ¾-inch, holds more paint, but is more likely to leave lines.

Doing the painting yourself will cost about a third the cost of using a professional, but you can’t beat the convenience of bringing in a pro, who very likely will have the job finished in two or three days. You can look for a professional painter by asking neighbors or checking at the local paint store. Sometimes local homeowners associations print booklets of contractors that have been recommended by one or more of their members. When you find one who is reliable, shows up on time, and is conscientious about their work, send him or her a card at Christmas and on their birthday. Finding a good painter is almost impossible, so you want yours to really like you. When you want them to come back, they’ll come back.

Many house painters do this work as a transition from one job to another, and aren’t in it as a career. So you might find somebody whose work you’re thrilled with, but the next time you call, they’re not in the painting business anymore.

Few people paint the exterior of their home themselves anymore. That’s a good time to turn to a professional. It’s also a good time to consider alternatives to paint, such as vinyl or aluminum siding, which are much more long-lasting than paint.

I have a few rules to consider if you think you might like vinyl, aluminum, or some other alternative substance. First, if every house in your neighborhood has wood siding, and no one uses vinyl or aluminum, paint the house. When it’s time to resell your house, buyers will see your house as inferior if all the other houses have a real wood exterior and your house has aluminum or vinyl or something else. But that won’t happen if vinyl or aluminum are common in your neighborhood.

Second, if you don’t plan to be in the house long enough to paint the outside three times, you’re better off painting than using a “maintenance-free surface.” Permanent siding costs at least double what it would cost to have a house painted, so you want to make sure you’re going to be in the house a while before you spend the extra money. With the average family owning a house for five to seven years, the expense of permanent siding isn’t a good choice for most people. The durability of paint varies depending on weather. You might have to repaint in as little as three years, or a paint job might last as long as seven or eight years. Three to five years is a good bet. (Make sure the painter pressure-washes the house first and have him apply two top coats of paint.)

My third rule is, use a neutral color if you choose siding, because at some point you’ll want to sell your home, and you don’t want a “permanent” color that some buyers might not like. I bought a house at an estate sale that hadn’t sold for a long time, and one of the reasons it didn’t sell was that the back of the house had vinyl siding, and the vinyl was an unattractive, pale, pasty green. The late homeowner had loved the color, but potential buyers didn’t. It didn’t bother me at all, but when I sold it, the buyers went so far as to replace all the siding with a new color, and paint the front of the house. That was a lot of work and expense, to replace something that was supposed to be near-permanent. If you put up siding, pick a color that’s typical for the neighborhood.

• Tips on Painting •

• Whether you hire a pro or do the paint job yourself, start by buying one gallon and paint a large section of your wall with it, to make sure you like the color. If you don’t, all you’re out is $10 or $20.
  

• If you’re painting the exterior, have the painter pressure-wash the house and apply two topcoats of paint.
  

• Consider vinyl or aluminum siding if you plan to own the house for long enough that you would need to have the house painted three times.
  

• If you get vinyl or aluminum siding, choose a neutral color that is common in your neighborhood.
  

* CARPET AND FLOORING *

When I tell people what I pay for carpet, they do a double-take, because no one ever has heard of paying as little for carpet as I do.

Getting these great deals has been especially easy for me because I live within driving distance of the “carpet capital of the world,” Dalton, Georgia, which is about 90 minutes northwest of Atlanta. But people in Dalton tell me that I’m far from alone. Most of their business now comes from people who order carpet from a store in Dalton and have it shipped to them. Usually, these long-distance customers will order a specific brand and style of carpet, trying to get it at a lower price than they would pay at home.

But that’s not my game. I drive to Dalton and go to any of the many carpet showrooms in the area. Then I look for carpet that nobody wants to talk about: the carpet that’s in the unmarked back rooms of the big carpet sellers. In many cases, these carpets are from the beginning or end of the manufacturing run, and the color does not match the sample that’s handed out to stores around the country. There’s nothing wrong with the color. It just doesn’t match the sample.

Buying carpet in this way gets you fantastic markdowns from the normal price of the carpet, sometimes as little as $3 to $6 a yard for carpet that normally sells for $18 to $20 a yard. But if you’re going to be shipping your carpet to Chicago, Pittsburgh, or Los Angeles, you have to buy enough carpet—and save enough money—to cover the freight costs. It’s really pretty easy to do, according to Jerry Hennon, general manager of one of Dalton’s largest carpet stores, Carpets of Dalton (www.carpetsofdalton.com). You can have the carpet shipped to your home, to a freight terminal, or to any business with a loading dock, Hennon said. Having it shipped to your home might not be the best idea, because the truck driver, usually a common carrier, may or may not be helpful. The cost is 35 to 45 cents a yard for shipments to destinations in the Southeast United States, and up to 85 or 95 cents a yard to California. Carpets of Dalton contacts the freight line for you and coordinates the delivery.

How do you know what to buy? The carpet store will ask you what you’re interested in, then send you samples to review, Hennon said. That way you’ll know whether you like the carpet.

The carpet in most Dalton stores is kept in vast warehouses that contain hundreds of rolls of carpet. The best deals often come from the beginning or the end of a manufacturing run, or the carpet might be irregular because of a defect in the weave. Before you buy, ask the store to unroll the carpet in a well-lit area, and get down on your hands and knees and examine it. A place that we bought from last time has a machine with big lights above it and they unroll the carpet as slow or as fast as you want. It’s not as easy as looking at little swatches of carpet, but you get a much better idea how the carpet will look in your home. Just as with paint, it’s easier to see if you like the color if you see a ten-foot section of it, rather than a one-inch-square sample. One time there was a carpet I thought I was going to buy, and when they unrolled it, there was a defect, so I didn’t buy it. If I hadn’t had it unrolled, I wouldn’t have known. If you go to a store that won’t unroll it, don’t buy it.

The salespeople won’t spend a lot of time with you if you buy in the back room because they live on commission, and there’s no money for them in the back room. That’s actually better, because you’re free to spend as much time as you want going from carpet to carpet. Make sure to bring a pen and a legal-size pad, so you can make a sketch of where you are in the warehouse and which rolls you like. Otherwise you’ll get confused and forget where the ones you like are located and what they cost.

Good-quality carpet depends on the type and quality of the carpet fiber, the weight of the fiber, and the way it is manufactured. Hennon recommends a name-brand nylon carpet, 35 to 40 ounces and up in weight, that has a good twist to it. If you look closely at the carpet fibers, the tips should have a sharp, pencil-point appearance. That means it’s been properly twisted. Poorly made carpet will have very little twist and the tips will have a frayed look. Quality carpet should look good for five to ten years, but cheap carpet can look ugly in as little as six months.

Good padding and proper installation are very important to the look and wear of the carpet. Hennon recommends 7⁄16-inch, eight-pound or better padding, especially for high-traffic areas. Installation will cost $4.50 to $5.50 a square yard, more for stairs or things like moving furniture or removing existing carpet. You can find an industry-certified installer at www.cfi-installers.org.

With some of the carpets I’ve bought, the installation has been more expensive than the carpet. I’m paying about $4 a yard for delivery and installation, and more for the padding.

It makes sense to carpet several rooms at a time, so you can spread out the delivery cost. But one mistake people make is that they buy a ton of the same carpet and put it throughout their house. That doesn’t look as good as using a different carpet, and creating an individual look, in each room. One of the advantages of buying in Dalton in these “remnant rooms” is there isn’t enough of any one kind to carpet an entire floor of the house.

If you choose to buy carpet from a store near your home, your best bet is to shop at Home Depot and Costco, who are challenging the carpet industry and putting enormous pricing pressure on it. As the No. 2 and No. 5 retailers in the country, they can live with much lower markups and they have decided to move into a business that has been dominated by independent retailers. It’s had an enormous effect.

The price of carpet can be confusing, because you’ll see it listed as the price per square yard or the price per square foot, depending on the store. Sometimes both prices will be listed. The carpet industry started switching to the per-square-foot prices because hardwood, stone, and tile all were being quoted by the square foot. To minimize confusion, the carpet industry started switching to square-foot pricing. Carpet prices of $15 to $20 a square yard were looking expensive, at a glance, compared to hardwood flooring, which might cost $5 a square foot. In reality, carpet at $18 a square yard actually is $2 a square foot (because there are nine square feet in a square yard), and hardwood that’s $5 a square foot really costs $45 a square yard. To make the conversion, multiply the square-foot price by nine, or divide the square-yard price by nine.