Before I call the local vendors, I'm looking to see if this is an idea even worth chasing, or if I should just live with it until such time as I feel rich enough to replace this carpet and the adjacent kitchen and powder room vinyl, which is also rather tired. (Since it would be a lot easier to do it all at once.)
Anyway- 16x30 family room addition, with oatmeal color berber carpet. Previous owner had an oopsie by fireplace, and there is about a 2'x2' square with burn and melt marks (which they hid under a hearth rug). In addition, furnace company made an oopsie putting in the new HVAC, and put a register in front of the wrong panel of the slider. They moved it, but the carpet hole is still there. And the largest bad spot, about 2x6, is where the wall furnace used to be, with a visible notch there, and a large 'pulled' bare spot nearby. (That one was preexisting). Furnace company offered to pay for the repair of their mistake, and did send a carpet company out, but they never got back with an estimate, and the estimator seemed flakey enough that I'm not that anxious to have them do the work anyway. And since their tiny oopsie would only be a fraction of the bill, I never pursued it.
Yeah, I know wall-to-wall replacement is the proper cure (since there is no hardwood underneath like in the original part of the house). But after laying out around 15 large on this house already this year, I'm feeling cheap. And I do have enough matching remnant carpet from the original install to make grain-matched patches. (Of course, the whole carpet would need to be cleaned, since the remnants are visibly cleaner.)
Being a guy living alone, I'm not too worried about the patches matching exactly- I just want the room to be presentable. And when I sell in a few years, I'd just as soon give a carpet allowance, so buyer can pick their own colors. But I also don't wanna spend a sigificant fraction of replacement cost on a 'temporary' repair. I estimate 16-20 feet of seaming. I assume some sewing would be involved, not just carpet tape? What kind of money would I be looking at? And (mismatched dirt levels and crushed pile aside), just how hideous would it look? Is this a fifty-buck job, or a 300 dollar job? If the latter, I'd be more inclined to put it toward new carpet. And how much does 20? yards of cheap-but-durable carpet go for these days, installed? In the Sunday ads I see anywhere from 20 bucks a yard to OhMyGawd.
(and before anybody suggests it, Pergo is out of the question. I detest fake wood.)
aem sends...