We initially intended to just carpet our Master Bedroom, but I wanted to get quotes on the other two jobs to see if I could convince my husband to go ahead and do those as well. The quotes were reasonable, so after checking references, we went ahead with everything.
We have had Milliken patterned carpet in other parts of our house for 18 years and it has held up well. Unfortunately, the pattern that was my first choice had been discontinued. We took home samples of about seven patterns we liked. We chose a pattern called Khorassan, in the color Lapis for the Master Bedroom. Unfortunately, because the color doesn't appear on the sample board, there is a $400 upcharge for custom dyeing. They can not only change the background color of the carpet, but also the colors of the pattern. When you tell them what you want, first they send you a computer proof which supposedly has accurate color representation. Unfortunately, the colors on the computer sample were nothing like the colors they supposedly represented, even allowing for computer color differences. Milliken will only send out one large sample for a custom dye order, and they are supposed to wait for authorization from Laura to do so. Because they sent the sample without prior authorization, Laura was able to get them to agree not to charge us for sending that sample. On this first sample, the background color was lovely, but the flowers in the pattern were coral rather than the pink I wanted, so I had the colors in the pattern changed. I was pleased Milliken agreed to do this at no additional charge. When I saw the second sample, I approved it. When it was installed, however, the flowers still looked coral to me, so I wasn't as pleased as I thought I would be. But none of this is Carpet Time's fault, as I had approved the sample.
For the Guest Bedroom, we wanted to spend very little money and assumed we would just buy a remnant of something George had in stock in the warehouse. There was one that was ok, but nothing special. George surprised me when he said he would be happy to order anything we wanted, and seemed to think he could find something for close to the original quote of $480. I also thought that it would be more money to install, and just intended to put a pad in and lay the carpet like an area rug. George told me there was no additional installation charge, so I decided to have the carpet installed. Both George and Laura were very helpful in pointing out possible inexpensive options for us. I did a lot of searching on the internet and called Laura several times for quotes. She was very nice and checked prices on several options. On at least one occasion, when the quote of the one I found was too much, she suggested an option that was very similar in style, but a lot less expensive. In the end, we chose a carpet by Shaw called Pleasant Garden, which is a tone on tone high low sculpted scrolling leaf pattern. My husband wanted the bedroom redecorated, so I purchased new drapes and a bedspread. I really liked the carpet in a beautiful deep teal color called Stained Glass, but had difficulty finding a bedspread to match, and thought I was going to have to get beige carpet. Eventually, however, I was able to find a bedspread, and we purchased Shaw's Pleasant Garden in Stained Glass. Boy what a difference from the horrible carpet we had! It looks absolutely gorgeous! What is even more amazing is that it only cost $560! So I paid $80 extra to get something I really liked! Thanks, George! The day of the installation was rainy. Normally people have a large garage where the installers can cut the carpet to size, which is done on-site. We have a detached garage which doesn't have a nice clean floor so it was not a good place to do the cutting, and it couldn't be done outside because of the rain. Our living room is large, but still wasn't large enough to spread the carpet out for cutting. I don't know how they did it, but they managed beautifully. While the carpet in the Guest Bedroom is just a square, the Master Bedroom has a small dressing area and closet which was also being carpeted. So the measuring and cutting had to be exact. The installation was flawless. The guys did a good job of cleaning up after themselves. I pointed out one area where there was old pad residue on a wood floor which was near where the carpet was installed, and one of the guys was happy to vacuum it up for me.
We had more problems with the carpet for our stairs and landing, but that was Milliken's fault, not Carpet Time's. In fact, Carpet Time thoroughly solved the problem. We have Milliken's pattern Richmond Rose in our downstairs hallway, and wanted to get the same pattern for our stairs, but the pattern had been discontinued, so we had to choose something else. We settled on Rosalie, which looks like a smaller scale version of our old carpet. We ordered the same background color of Sapphire, which was displayed on the sample board, so there was no custom dye charge. Because there was no custom work needed, Milliken didn't prepare a large sample, so I hadn't seen the carpet before installation day. When I looked at it on installation day, I didn't like it. The main flowers in the pattern were coral again. Since it was totally wrong for our color scheme, I refused the carpet and it wasn't installed. George brought the sample board over to see what the problem was. We compared the sample on the board to the carpet that was to be installed, and discovered that the Sapphire sample represented on the board didn't show the main flower of the pattern, only one of the smaller flowers. The Sample Board was therefore not an accurate representation of the finished carpet. The flowers in our old carpet are pink and burgundy with green leaves and smaller yellow flowers. Because the Rosalie pattern is similar to Richmond Rose, I erroneously assumed that those were the colors I would get in the finished carpet. However, the colors of the flowers in the Sapphire version of Rosalie are the same as those in their Lapis colorway, namely coral, burgundy, yellow and green. George was totally supportive and agreed to negotiate with Milliken to get them to redo the carpet in the colors we wanted. It took awhile, but George and Laura really went to bat for us! They were able to get Milliken to concede that their sample board was in error so we had no way of knowing what the finished carpet would look like. George and Laura persuaded Milliken to do a custom dye job on the carpet in the exact colors we wanted -- and without the custom dye charge! So George and Laura saved us $400, and there was also no charge for the carpet we refused to have installed. Milliken again prepared a computer proof, and then a large sample for us to approve before the carpet was made. This time it came out beautifully. Although not an exact match for our old carpet, and the old one has faded somewhat over the years, the new carpet coordinates very well. It looks just beautiful! I am very happy I decided to carpet the stairs and landing at this time, as Laura told me that Milliken is phasing out of their traditional floral patterns. It sounds like I might not have been able to get a pattern that coordinated with my old carpet if I had waited.
I couldn't be more pleased with the quality of the work Carpet Time did. The selection in the store was very good. George and Laura were very easy to work with. The installers showed up on time on both days. When we told them that we have cats who don't go outside, the installers were sensitive about keeping the front door closed when they weren't coming in or going out. Both George and Laura were prompt in returning phone calls and happily answered any questions i had. George told me that the company had been in business 29 years. I would have no hesitation recommending George and Laura McNulty and Carpet Time, Inc. I will certainly patronize them again when I have additional flooring needs. If Angie's List allowed an A plus, that