Kraus Carpet

What home renovation would be complete without new flooring put in at some point? As you know, we put in new laminate flooring in the kid’s bedroom a few weeks ago. We had other areas to tackle and were unsure which way to go, carpet, hardwood or laminate were our top choices. Each has definite benefits but I wanted to learn more about them before deciding on a huge area – our two stairways and rec room. When we moved in these areas had berber carpeting that was not in good shape due to a high traffic area and a dog previously living in the house.

When I started doing some research on carpet I learned there are actually some misconceptions out there about carpet. My son has asthma so I had read in parenting magazines that for children with asthma, laminate or hardwood flooring would be the better choice (presuming that the carpet would harbor all sorts of asthma triggers and the other flooring would not). I remember thinking that a hard flooring might not be so bad for some areas of the house, but could we really live without any carpet in our household based on that assumption?

The Carpet and Rug Institute is a great resource for information about those two products and this is where I learned that carpet is actually the lowest-emitting VOC floor covering product among all. If you recall, I learned about VOCs (volatile organic chemicals) when researching paint options for our household. I had to shake my head when I learned this – here I was all proud of myself for eliminating VOCs in our paint during renovations and then I could have loaded our household with them in our flooring without even realizing it. Isn’t that unsettling? We’re putting chemicals in our household all the time in items we don’t even realize carry them.

This lowest-emitting distinction came as a result of the 1992 launch of CRI’s Green Label program which sets limits on how much VOCs can be released from not only the carpets but also the adhesives and cushioning/padding used. Since 1992, the Green Label program has raised their standards four times requiring even lower emission levels each time.

So, not only is carpet with the Carpet and Rug Institutes’s Green Label the lowest VOC emitting flooring product on the market, but after 24 hours the emissions are even lower (quicker too with more ventilation after installation).

This was hugely important to me since we are living among our renovations. Our carpet was installed on Tuesday (today as I write this being Friday) and my kids are playing on the new carpet right this very moment. I feel good knowing they are not breathing in an assault of VOCs (but also feel completely paranoid wondering about flooring products we have used in the past!)

What about the asthma issue, I wondered? The Carpet and Rug Institute has some great information on this subject as well. They say that carpets play a role in air filtering – they trap dust, pollen and other particles which takes them out of the breathing zone (provided your toddler lay face down on your carpet all day!) until you vacuum. I gave this some thought. This household is the first in which I’ve had hardwood in my main living areas and I’m continually disgusted at the dust bunnies I find in the corners and under my couches. These, of course, are not trapped anywhere and fly around when I have the windows open or a fan on. This is when I notice them and begin the chase! So, yes, the same amount of dust and other allergens are in the carpet as well, except it’s trapped there until I vacuum – not blowing around. Interesting food for thought. Click here for a link on the Carpet and Rug Institute site which discusses allergens and carpet in detail and dispels more myths.

While researching carpet and of course wandering through stores and looking for products with the CRI Seal of Approval, I found Kraus Carpet for the home, and my perfect choice. Not only do Kraus Carpets hold the CRI Seal of Approval, the Magna Carta carpet I selected is made with Perpetual Fiber. Perpetual Fiber is quite amazing – every square yard of Perpetual Fiber uses approximately sixteen 500ml beverage bottles, saving them from the landfill!


The Magna Carta Carpet was the perfect choice for us; my husband didn’t want a berber because, as he put it, he wanted a carpet he could lay on and watch tv if he choose to. I didn’t want a plush carpet because it reminded me of my parent’s house. I wanted something cozy, but modern, and for us Magna Carta was the answer. The many features including a 10 Year Stain Proof No-Exceptions Warranty, and being inherently stain resistant to begin with because of the Perpetual Fiber had me convinced as well! The next step was to choose a color. We picked Sandy Valley.

Ready for the before and after photos? Here is the rec room as it appeared when we viewed the house before purchasing:
Here is the after! A friend came over and loved it, and also commented on the pattern in the carpet itself. It feels so plush, yet isn’t an ‘older’ house carpet which is perfect.
Of course it helps to add furniture to a room to get the full effect, so here is the final result (and likely the cleanest I will see it):We are really happy with the way the carpet looks on the stairs too, which of course are our high traffic areas (the Lifetime Wear Limited Warranty doesn’t cover carpet installed on stairways though, darn it!) The Lifetime Fuzz Free Limited Warranty does, however, apply to stairs.

Please ignore the wall color, just another reno project on the list! Both stairways look fabulous now and our rec room is now a very busy room in the house. It doesn’t have that cold-basement look or feel and I am confident in our choice to put in carpet after everything I’ve learned. Now the next time you are in your favorite home renovation store, or smaller carpet and flooring store, when you see a Kraus display you will have a little more knowledge than the average customer to surprise the sales person with!