When you select the floor finishes for your new house, you may decide to splurge on tile or hardwood for your kitchen and entry foyer.  But for most of your living space, you'll probably conclude that carpet is the most cost-effective choice.  That's the easy part. Then you have to pick one or two from a vast
number of carpet squares that line the walls of the builder's sample room.

As you begin to get oriented to this dizzying array, the first thing you'll notice is that the number of color choices increases with price.  Indeed, this is part of the builder's marketing strategy.  Only six to ten colors are usually offered in the lowest, base carpet grade that is included in the house's base price.  The carpet supplier typically sells the base grade to the builder at or below cost, and
invariably it is of minimal quality.  But as many as twenty-four colors may be offered in the highest upgrade category, where the builder's (and his supplier's) profit margins are greatest.  Beyond color and price, there are additional but more subtle differences between carpet grades that can make one choice
prudent and another extravagant.

The first thing to note on the carpet samples is the fiber type.  Your builder will most likely offer nylon, polyester, and/or olefin.  Of these, nylon is the most widely used and the strongest.  A nylon carpet never becomes threadbare, and in this conventional sense it never wears out.  But nylon will "ugly out" and look ratty if not properly maintained or if inferior padding has been installed.  Nylon will also stain if the fibers are not treated with a stain-resistant product such as Dupont Stainmaster.  Higher quality nylon fibers are "branded" and the carpet label will list the fibers as "100% nylon Monsanto" or "100% Dupont
Masterlife."  Lower quality, unbranded nylon fibers are listed simply as "100% nylon."

Polyester carpet fibers are less strong than nylon and tend to shed some, but they are more stain resistant and the colors are brighter.  Polyester is also cheaper than nylon and more environmentally benign.  Some or all of the
polyester fiber material, depending on the manufacturer, is made from recycled plastic bottles.  Image Polyester, a division of Mohawk Carpets, manufactures polyester carpet made of 100 percent recycled material. P hil Cavin, Image's
national procurement officer, estimates that the firms' manufacturing activities consume about 5.5 million bottles a day.  Before you buy a whole house full of polyester carpet, though, try to see a room with it.  Some people find the carpet sounds odd when they walk on it and it has a different sheen because it is plastic.
Polypropylene, commonly called olefin, is the weakest of the three synthetic
fibers, but this material works well when made into a looped berber-type carpet with a knobby weave.  Its knobby berber texture conceals dirt, even in light
colors.  For this reason, olefin berber carpeting is often selected for high-use
areas such as family rooms.

Next check the twist level of the individual carpet fibers.  All carpet yarns are twisted together to form lengths of yarn, but the degree of twisting varies.  The higher or tighter the twist, the better and generally more expensive the carpet.  A twist rating refers to the number of times the fiber is twisted together in a one-inch length.  With a loop-pile carpet such as a berber, the twist level is less critical because the fibers are looped in and can't unravel.

Now check the density, a measure of how tightly the fibers are attached to the carpet backing.  The closer together the fibers are attached, the less wear to each individual fiber, and the longer the carpet will last.  To test for density, see how easily you can move the carpet tufts to see the backing.  The harder it is to see, the higher the carpet's density.