Carpet for a basement

Let me start by saying I've read a lot of what you all have said in the past re: carpet here, but you all seem to like Frieze carpet, and that may not be what we need here, so hence my post.

We are in the process of finishing our basment. Why? Because we have a 3 bedroom house. John and I have one room, Jake has another room, and the computer/scrapbooking/office stuff is in the 3rd bedroom. Obviously, we now need that room for a bedroom. So, the basement has been seeing some progress over the last months. We're not ready to carpet yet, but are trying to educate ourselves and know kind of what fiber to look for and did some research on styles, etc, but we don't feel like we have a clue what to look for when we go to start looking at actual carpet and buying something.

We do know we should probably go with carpet for cost.
We have read that nylon is the most durable and our best bet.
We have considered a berber, but don't know a thing, other than the little research we've done.
This area will see some action, due to computer/office and probably some toys, but it's not a great basement (one tiny window, no exits, no bathroom, etc), so it won't be a real heavily used family place.
Needs to be durable, but not superb carpet or even trendy carpet.
Needs to be affordable!
It is a basement, so while we've waterproofed the best we can, there is a change of dampness or worse.

What are some of our options for such an area.

Can I just say that I hate walking into the carpet store where everything is divided by brand, and with no prices, so you can't compare without a salesperson trying to "sell, sell, sell" you. I feel very pressured by that and can't make an informed decision.

Any suggestions or guidance?

[dowlinal]

We put berber in the basement of both our houses. I love the durabilty plus we picked one that is multicolors so it should hide any stains well.

I also hate carpet stores - fortunately DH asked around at work and found a great place that has tons of remnents and stock carpet. It is so much cheaper to go with remnents/stock carpet than it is to order anything.

Are you by any chance in NJ?
A

[aliceinwonderland]

We carpeted the stairs and the three bedrooms upstairs just earlier this year. I hate wall to wall carpet for too many reasons to list, but this was a compromise as we did hardwood floors downstairs, however the wood in the stairs and in the bedroom was pianted a very ugly old color, and sanding it would mean dust. No money for tile, so carpet.

Being very conscious of the the health hazards of carpet, we asked at Home Depot for either natural fibers or carpet that had not been treated with teflon (to make it stain resistant). Of course they looked at us like we were from a different planet. then we went to a small, mom and pop type place. We told them what we were looking for, and the guy immediately knew: there was this smaller brand that got GREAT ratings, etc. from the environment council that deal with this type of stuff, and the carpet is natuarrly stain resistant as it is made from recycled bottles, apparently!! And it was on sale (there are many sich brands, just this onewas on sale, and we wereon a very limited budget).

Having done all this, I can't imaine why we wasted time at Home Depot, as the little mom and pop sore was SUCH a great experience for us!!

e.

Nope, in the Midwest.

We are considering Berber, and we are certain we want something that has multicolors/flecking to it to hide stains. That's one mistake we made for the carpet we have now! And we are seriously considering biting the bullet and buying something for the main level of the house too, but it would be a different style and probably more fasionable than what we end up putting down there. I just don't know if we can afford it all!

[Momof3Labs]

If it is a small space, and subject to moisture, perhaps a large area rug would serve you best? Sam's Club has large berber-type area rugs (perhaps 8'x10' for under $50.

I've also heard that Home Depot and Lowes just contract out the installation, so you don't end up saving anyway. We'll just go to a local store, but want to be armed with having some clue as to what we are doing, looking for and not get snowed! But it is reassuring that you had a good experience at the smaller store! I sure wish we could afford hardwoods or tile, but alas, we can't.