Oh boy… I second Autumn on the sore part. We painted this weekend. Master bed, bath & closets. ½ bath, laundry room, 2 Up beds, closets & full bath. Started spraying trim & doors. Got some lights going, more electric finish today. There are 100 plugs. Lol Idk how many switches, a bazillion. 40 some cans, and 40 lights. I swept and as soon as I was done, I’d have to sweep again. Cutting out all the drywall goop left in the boxes pain in the butt… I can’t wait to hear my electrician (who’s a friend of ours) complain about my main light fixtures. Oh boy… lol Hoosier ~ so glad they’re finally out of there! Whoop whoop!  Good deal on the columns! Saftgeek ~ I’m the same way about knowing what we’re using. I know most of it, b/c I’ve picked it out, but I knew it when I picked it out, and now that info is out of my brain… lol I’ve been trying to write things down, but I can’t remember to do that either!! RB ~ so glad you are loving your new home! I can’t wait to be posting that also! Bummer on the propane/weather ;( it stinks here too! Hilltop ~ I’m an internet shopper for sure too!! I bought tons of stuff off build.com. Loved it.  Maggie ~ sorry about the crazy glossy paint. I can’t stand anything glossy. Went flat with everything. I’ve got tons of people telling me I should have went semi gloss, but I just can’t stand shine…. Good luck :/ the hinges being painted seems crazy. I would definitely make them put new ones on!! I am with y’all on the anxiety thing. I just ate a whole roll of Thin Mints and yesterday just started crying for no reason. I am NOT a crier….Luckily I was already outside, so I just jumped in my truck and left for a bit. Just said I had to go get something. I just don’t usually lose it like that! Thank goodness we have each other to keep it together!! 

Check the weights/density of the carpets as well as the fiber length to determine if there is a difference. Mohawk sells Smartstrand under the Karastan name as well and it is all the same carpet from that aspect. You could very well be correct in that the store clerk may have some incentive to sell one vs. the other, but I can't say for sure. Another thing to check is whether one is the new Smartstrand Ultra or Smartstrand Silk and the other the "older" Smartstrand. There's a thread on GW Flooring forum about the new Smartstrand that will give you all the details--link below. Apart from that, I would price out the one that matches up with HD's names at HD and see if there is any difference with your local guy. If there is a significant difference (lower price @ HD), I would see if the local guy is willing to come down on his price to get the business for the exact same carpet. The local guy will typically have a better install record (you get the luck of the draw with HD & Lowe's), so if he can come down within what you think is a reasonable price, I would go with him. Make sure the padding & install specs all match up so you're comparing apples to apples vs. apples to oranges. A little extra $ is worth the peace of mind IMO. As for vacuums, we have the Dyson Ball and love it. When we first moved in to the house, our Dyson was still at the apartment an hour away that we were in temporarily (we were in the clean up phase before final checkout inspection). We borrowed Mom's new Electrolux. It did a great job, but it was hard to push & pull across the carpet because it was so plush. I couldn't find any way to adjust the height, so I just strong-armed it for the little while I had it and made a mental note not to buy Electrolux in the future. I worried about how the Dyson would do, but those worries turned out to be unfounded. My Dyson was pricey (even on sale the price of 2-3 regular vacs), but it has outlasted all the other vacs I have bought in the past so IMO it was worth it! Hope this helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Smartstrand Changes

Finding carpet is a pretty horrible and confusing process. Here is what I've learned about the two: What carpet you get should depend on what type of wear and staining you typically experience in your house. For instance, Triexta (the stuff SmartStrand is made of) will stand up to water-based stains and bleach better than nylon, but is more susceptible to oil and grease stains. This has to do with the chemical nature of the fibers. So, if food stains are an issue for you, Triexta might not be a good choice, but if your teenager is clumsy with his acne cream you might not want nylon. Carpets usually get some kind of stain resistant coating that helps them in this area but since moat carpets get this, I think it's a moot point. As far as wear, crush and abrasive wear resistance is what you need to consider, especially in high traffic areas. Often people say carpet doesn't 'wear out' it 'uglies out' which means it gets matted and scratched up by dirt being ground into it making it looking like wet dog fur. Nylon is generally considered the hardiest of fibers with the best crush resistance and is tried and true because it has been around for so long. Triexta is a relatively new fiber that gets a lot of flack because it is chemically similar to a very crappy fiber: polyester, which had terrible crush resistance and is largely no longer used. The thing is, Triexta is supposed to be new and improved with better durability because of its structure (something to do with kinked strands or whatever which help keep its shape.) Still, there is a lot of trepidation about Triexta because it hasn't been time tested like nylon. Of course, wear is also down to how the carpet is designed: how densely the fibers are packed together; how twisted the fibers are; how short the pile is, and whether you're buying bulked continuous fiber (longer strands for less shedding.) More dense, more twist, shorter pile, BCF = better wear. Getting the appropriate carpet padding in the right thickness will also mean less wear. The saying generally goes: If you're trying to save money, skimp on the carpet but get good pad. And, vacuum the hell out of it at least weekly or that dirt will act like sandpaper on your carpet every time you walk on it. As far as professional carpet cleaning goes (which you need to do it every 12 or 18 months to maintain your warranty) more people know how to clean nylon than they do Triexta. I've read that there is some debate over whether we should clean Triexta like polyester or something altogether different. Some cleaners do not know what they're doing and clean it like nylon, which is bad because Triexta requires different detergents. Using the wrong one means residue and makes the carpet feel nasty. As an aside, you may have heard you can clean Triexta using only hot water extraction, but that is not true of oily stains since they bond to the fiber. Oh and speaking of warranties, they're all ridiculous. I invite you to read all the terms and exclusions listed in them and tell me whether you think carpet sales people aren't con artists. Don't buy a carpet based on warranty, because it's likely only applicable during a blue moon when a virgin's tear makes a rare Norwegian truffle bloom. There's also some impractical, luxury points to consider, like hand-feel. In my opinion, Triexta feels nicer to touch. I have touched a lot of different nylons and I think it's softer and less abrasive. Of course, I've read some reviewers who say you shouldn't touch it or walk on it barefoot because the oils in your skin stick to it and attract dirt. Make of that what you will, it sounds like an exaggeration to me. Style and color is also important to some. Nylon wins there because it's been produced longer and has more variety. That doesn't mean to say that your perfect Triexta carpet isn't out there, but if you want an unusual color or pattern they might not make it yet. Disclaimer: I picked carpet months ago so small details may be incorrect but the general gist of things should be true. We ended up with nylon because we needed our carpet to last. The current carpet we have has been here since the 80s and looks like roadkill -- that's how cheap we are! But we believe in quality so we picked carpet that was $5~6 per square foot so hopefully it'll hold up until we're dead.

I'm sorry if anyone thought my link was biased. I found that it gave a very upfront comparison of the 2 carpets' performance under various circumstances that may occur in any household. Additionally, Floortech gave multiple pros and cons for BOTH carpets--not just positives for 1 of them--and included warranty info. Bichonlover is correct in his statement on why Floortech had "changed his mind" on the Smartstrand based on postings here on GW. While I do not have both carpets in my home--just the Smartstrand--that's all I can comment on firsthand. Our carpet dealer did show us Shaw's competitive carpet to the Smartstrand and my preference was still for Smartstrand based on the softness factor as well as the stain properties being in the fiber vs. being applied like Shaw's. In the interest of fairness, I have linked a search of GW using key words 'Floortech Smartstrand Shaw' for anyone who is interested. Here is a link that might be useful: GW Search Results 'Floortech Smartstrand Shaw'