My shipment from Americolor Dyes arrived on Thursday and I attempted my first carpet dyeing yesterday. I'll be looking at it tomorrow or Monday to see how it looks after it dries. However, my initial impression is that it will meet my goal, which is to extend the life of carpet in my rentals after they have been uglied out by the tenants. As any landlord knows, tenents are VERY HARD on carpet. Carpet often lasts only a couple of years and normally it "uglies" out before it actually wears out.
The carpet I attempted to dye was just such a case. The carpet was generally in good condition but it was badly stained even after being steamed cleaned. Therefore, the choices were either to replace it or to try dyeing it. I decided to give the dye a try.
After talking to the folks at Americolor, I found out that carpet dye is normally applied with a $1,500 machine. However, as I understand it, the machine heats the dye and them pumps it. The same basic task can be accomplished by using hot water to mix the dye and then using a pump sprayer to apply the dye. While I'm sure this isn't as good as doing it with the correct machine, I wanted to give dyeing a try before spending a bunch of money on a machine.
Americolor has two dyes designed specifically for rentals. One is called "Apartment Dark Brown" and the other is a gray. I chose the apartment dark brown and ordered the appropriate dye and chemicals. The cost was about $44 for enough dye and chemicals to do the entire 2 bedroom house.
I'll report back after I see how the carpet looks once it has dried. I'm really anxious to see the result, so I may go look at it tomorrow after church.
In another little bit of good news, I did receive the rent from the tenant who was injured while on the job. As I previously posted, due to the circumstances, I gave him a few extra days to pay the rent, which is something I almost NEVER do. His worker's comp check did arrive and the rent is paid. I didn't even charge him the late fee because I am convinced that he was late due to the incompetence of others. Anyway, this situation ended well for everyone.
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2 comments:
Great blog! Keep it up!
About flooring, have you tried laminate flooring for rentals?
Typically, I tile everything except for the bedrooms w/ carpet. Lately, I have replaced it w/ laminate flooring. I got a good price at Costco. The overall price is the same to install carpet (minus the installation time which I do my self).
So far, so good. Tenants are hard on floors and I expect twice to three times the life as carpet.
Good investing,
Bginvestor
mind2money.com
Brian,
Yes, I've tried laminate and just about everything else. I haven't had good luck with anything except paint! I really like painting the floors because it's very easy and fast to fix. The problem I've had with laminate is all the water (and other fluids) tenants get on and under the floors as well as all the scratches and gouges they manage to put in the floor.
Having said that, I don't think there is a good solution. Let's face it, tenants can rapidly destroy anything we as landlords put in our rentals! You gotta love tenants!
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