Hi Everyone,
Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with carpet beetles? Our IP in Mackay (the lemon) has reported patches of carpet that have eroded away. We previously had it looked by a number of professionals and the consensus was that it was liquid damage caused by the tenants who had a play mat sitting over this area.
As a result we now need to replace all of the carpet in the lounge area $1400 and neither our insurance or the tenant was willing to cover the damage. As I had no choice I resigned to the fact that I would need to get more quotes as just replacing the lounge and not hallway and bedrooms would look funny. One of the new contractors that came out to quote has said they think it is carpet beetles, which he has only ever seen once before (seems to be the theme with this trouble making IP). I have been googling but am concerned if we replace all the carpet and have a pest control person in between ripping up and laying that they may come back and ruin brand new carpet.
Interested in any experiences or advice anyone has on this. Also haven't called the insurance back yet but should they cover at least the lounge replacement due to pest damage?
Thanks,
Peachy
That is extremely expensive for a lounge room…we had our upstairs stairs/3 bedrooms and a entertainment room done for $1540(the carpet is good quality too). $780 off that was just the stairs have you looked at putting floating floorboards in? Im by no means a handyman but it is super easy to install yourself, looks good, very cheap and easy to clean compared to carpet. Hope this helps.
Tony Fleming | Triumphant Property Group
http://www.triumphantpropertygroup.com.au
Email MeNSW Buyer's Agent specialising in Western Sydney-Blue Mountains-Orange-Albury
Seeing that your property is in Mackay – Queensland …..
I remember hearing of one guy in Queensland that had a similar problem to yours regarding carpet beetles. Thinking outside of the box he caught about a dozen cane toads and placed them inside his home. After about 2 weeks most of the carpet beetles where gone and the well fed cane toads where then destroyed. (As they are considered a pest).
Note: Not sure if story is actually 100% true, legal or for that matter an effective solution.
But I agree with The Dark Knight that good quality carpet should cost a lot less, floating floor boards might be OK, but could easily be scratched by tennants.
I 'toad'ally like that idea…bazinga
Tony Fleming | Triumphant Property Group
http://www.triumphantpropertygroup.com.au
Email MeNSW Buyer's Agent specialising in Western Sydney-Blue Mountains-Orange-Albury
Indeed that is expensive for carpet for one room. Just get carpet suitable for a rental (ie polypropylene) and beef up the underlay. It gives the impression that the carpet is cushier than it actually is, and also provides more insulation under-foot in the winter.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
Carpet Beetles wont eat Solution Dyed Nylon.
With over 140 properties under our belts Dave & I have found through trial and error the best carpet is "Solution Dyed Nylon". It stays cleaner, It stands up straighter for years longer then Poly-prop and other fibers. Wool is the best for your own home, but only if you look after it, but Solution Dyed Nylon is the by far the best for rentals. Polypropylene is rubbish and looks terrible within two years or three months after it's first steam clean. Poly Prop is manufactured with an oil in the fiber that is removed when cleaned and from then on Poly Prop holds dirt, as well as crushes down quickly. Add to that Poly Prop always looks cheap.
A good foam underlay in important too. You wont need to change a foam underlay for 15 years and a Solution Dyed Nylon Twist Pile carpet will steam clean better then anything else and look like new every time. Rubber underlays flatten, fall apart and can cause your carpet to age much quicker.
Most, if not all stains will come out of Solution Dyed Nylon Twist pile with a steam clean. I have carefully trimmed burn marks out of Solution Dyed Nylon Twist Pile carpet with a pair of scissors and left the carpet in for another 5 years.
Don't install Loop Piles, Pattens or light colours. I have found loop piles damage far more easily and it's hard repair pulled loops and runs, aim for a Twist Pile and darker then a coffee stain is a good idea too. I make the carpet the darkest colour in the room with the walls a colour lighter and the ceilings always white.
Tenants LOVE carpet in bedrooms and it makes the house feel more live-able for them. After all they are your customer when you are a property investor.
As a price guide: You need to be paying around $140-180 per broadloom meter (3600mm wide). At those prices the cost of Solution Dyed Nylon is working out to ONLY $39 -$50 per square meter, quality carpet is still your cheapest floor covering.
Modernity Investing
Email MeLook have to disagree.
Jacqui (JacM) and I have bought and sold over 260 properties between us for our personal portfolio over the last 17 years and carried out a fairly thorough study with our carpet installers on the last big development we did.
Below is a bit of summary
Wool
Wool carpets remain a favourite for their warmth, luxurious feel and durability. Generally, wool is more expensive than other fibres, but price depends on the quality and construction of the carpet. Wool is often blended with other fibres, such as nylon (see Blends).
Good points
Wool has excellent resilience, so it recovers well from crushing and retains it appearance.
It resists liquid-based spillages and releases dirt easily due to the unique structure of wool fibre.
A good-quality wool carpet should outlast any other type.
Bad points
Unlike nylon, wool can’t be treated for stain resistance, therefore spillages need to be attended to immediately.
It’s generally worth spending a little more on wool — the experts we spoke to agreed that cheap wool carpets should be avoided as the poorer-quality wool yarns are likely to pill.
Where to use
Living areas where appearance is important.
Polypropylene
Polypropylene is a synthetic fibre, popular for its low price and durability.
Good points
It’s a lot less expensive than wool or nylon.
It’s colourfast and durable and resists water-based stains and mild.
Bad points
It’s more likely to show up soil marks than some other fibres, especially grease.
It has a rougher feel and cheaper look than other fibres.
It will wear out a lot sooner than other fibres.
When choosing polypropylene, make sure you buy loop pile, as the pile flattens easily (see Cut or loop?).
Where to use
Rental properties, playrooms and garages — or for those who are on a budget.
Nylon
You might remember the cheap and shiny nylon carpets of old, but improvements over the past decade have made nylon the market dominator. The biggest advance in nylon in recent years is the expansion of solution-dyed nylon in the residential market. In solution-dyed carpets, colour is added to the fibre during production, rather than applied to the surface afterwards, meaning it’s more colourfast against cleaning and sunlight. It’s very stain-resistant and stubborn spots can be removed with bleach-based solutions without damaging the carpet’s colour.
Good points
Nylon is a tough and durable man-made fibre.
It resists mildew and insect damage.
Many of the better-quality nylons mimic the luxurious look of wool with added stain resistance.
Bad points
Make sure you avoid cheap brands of nylon, as they can flatten and matt rapidly and may also have problems with static electricity.
The range of solution-dyed nylon is still fairly limited but increasing all the time.
Where to use
High-traffic areas for families with children and/or pets as you can get stains out of it easily.
Blends
The luxurious Axminster and Wilton carpets use an 80/20 wool/nylon blend.
Good points
This blend has the same quality and durability as pure wool.
These carpets are known as woven because the individual threads are woven into the backing, rather than stitched as with the regular tufted carpets, which makes them extremely durable.
Bad points
50/50 wool/nylon blends as they can be difficult to clean, as stain-resistance can’t be added to the nylon when it’s blended. These blends also tend to use poorer-quality wool yarn that will pill.
There are many ways to treat Carpet Beetle so just a matter of getting to the route of the cause before it gets too bad.
On a separate note i am surprised your Insurance didn't cover it.
We have similar claims covered thru our Insurance Broker on a couple occasions for our BA clients.
Cheers
Yours in Finance
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
Thank you everyone. For some reason I didn't see these responses until just now. It's all a bit small on the iPhone
Carpet is replaced. We bit the bullet and did the whole house as all the bedrooms were old and daggy and mismatched so we didn't want to make this worse. We paid a little over $2000 and it sounds like that is on the high side reading the above however we upgraded a little so it wasn't the lowest grade that reminds me if office carpet seeing as we wee spending the money anyway and the property is hard to rent. I called all the carpet places in the area and this was by far the cheapest. The downside of being so far away meant I couldn't get more involved
Richard our insurance (suncirp) was very adament that they wouldn't cover this. Curious who you are using?
Hi
I just got 4 rooms carpet 4m x 4m each for $2300 from the carpet house in Mackay hope that gives you some idea
Thanks Rob
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