When Is It Time to Update Your Flooring?
Tim Morrison has been a Harrisons Carpet business owner for 14 years in and around South Auckland and Counties Manukau, and he’s seen every reason under the sun as to why customers make that call to change their flooring at home.
“It doesn’t matter where you are in the country – it’s not about the location, it’s about a set number of reasons,” he says. “Those reasons range from the age that manufacturers say their products will last all the way through to people wanting to quickly give their homes a facelift before putting them on the market.”
Tim says most of his customers tend to choose a whole-home project over single rooms as the work has more impact. But even those on a limited budget can give their home a new look by replacing their floor covering – whether carpet, laminate or vinyl – in some well-chosen places.
Here are Tim’s top-10 reasons why people call Harrisons Carpet:
1. Brand new home
There’s certainly a lot of new homes going up around New Zealand at the moment as the country experiences something of a population and property boom. In the year to April 2018, Statistics NZ said 32,015 new homes were consented nationwide – levels not seen since 2004 – and more than half of those were new apartments, townhouses, flats and units. As part of that building process, Harrisons Carpet can work with individuals, private builders, project managers and developers to ensure the finished project is as refined on the inside as it should be on the outside to help maximise the project’s return on investment.
2. Your new home
Even though the total number of house sales fell in 2017 – a trend which has continued into the first months of 2018 according to QV – plenty of Kiwis and new arrivals are stepping through the front door of their first or latest new home every week. Nothing puts your own stamp on a new property quite like new flooring. It’s a simple and cost-effective way to stake your claim on every room.
3. Renovation
Whether by doing up a single room or a whole home, many Kiwis are looking to make the most of what they have with home renovations. Tim says he’s dealt with people wanting anything from converting a back room into a bedroom or sprucing up a kitchen with new laminate or vinyl, to households looking to run new carpet through the whole house.
4. Facelift for sale
One specific cause for a renovation can be to get a home ready to sell. From making an impact on open homes to maximising that all-important sale price, new flooring throughout a home or apartment creates a “great sense of uniformity”.
5. Wear and tear
Tim says the main reason he finds Kiwis change their flooring is simply that their old ones have “reached their use-by date”. “Almost every manufacturer now reckons the average time for replacement of their carpets in New Zealand is between 8 to 10-years. And that’s about the same for most things about the home – in the old days it might have been 30 years before you had to change anything, whereas now your kitchen, window treatments, decoration and flooring all last about 8 to 10 years.”
6. Fashion
Tim has seen a real sea-change in the choices his customers make when it comes to style, “At the moment it doesn’t matter so much about the brand or retailer, there’s just a huge interest in solution-dyed nylon. There’s been a shift in the past 10 years away from wool and generally to the darker charcoal-grey colours. The people’s choice also seems to have moved right away from textures or patterns and back to cut pile.”
7. Insulation and warmth
Although this might well come under the banner of renovation, Kiwis are coming to realise the important role that carpets can play in creating a warm, healthy home. Good quality carpets can help keep the warmth from escaping and create a cosy atmosphere in your living areas.
8. Rental properties
Tim knows all too well that landlords often have to replace flooring well before the end of its supposed lifespan – he’s just had to re-carpet one rental property twice in 18 months. “We do a heap of jobs in rental properties. Unfortunately, some tenants will wreck a house rather than wear it out and so they need new flooring before the next tenants move in. I’ve had this business 14 years now and all manufacturers have consistently made alternative, cheaper, entry-level products designed more for the rental market.”
9. Insurance
It seems as if weather-related damage to homes is never far from the news in New Zealand but even seemingly slight mishaps – such as spills, singes or damage – can lead to an insurance claim and a brand new flooring. Harrisons Carpet has a long history of working alongside insurance companies to ensure homeowners have a quick and seamless process, get the right match for their old flooring, or choose something that will complement their home’s décor.
10. Treat yourselves
As Tim says, a small part of the market – but there are certainly Kiwis who like to splash out on their homes occasionally as a bit of a celebration. Events such as the kids moving out, or a 10-year anniversary of moving into your home, or making the most of an unexpected windfall can all lead to a home makeover. New flooring is a great way to make a real difference to your home – a difference you can literally feel beneath your feet every step you take.
Whatever your reason for needing new flooring, one of our nearly 50 locally owned mobile carpet retailers will be able to show you a range of options to suit your requirements. Contact us on 0800 421001 or via the website to book a consultation at a time that suits you.
