So, it's sheep-colored, right?

Is it a brand you trust? What about stain resistance?

One word of warning: That kind of carpet--especially along the seams--can get runs. It's sickening to see it zip across the floor as you vacuum.

Do your homework, make sure you can vacuum it normally without causing major fuzzies. We once purchased a house with expensive all wool carpet, it looked like fat loops, had to remove it immediately, it was one giant fuzz ball because it had been vacuumed with a vacuum cleaner using a brush roll.

Earthweave manufactures carpets made from undyed British wool.

DMI makes beautiful carpet of undyed New Zealand wool.

Ah, the products from Earthweave and DMI are positively dreamy! I will definitely keep them in mind should I need WTW in the future. They are way beyond the budget for our current project, which is a basement rec room in a house we are likely to sell in the next couple of years.

The "bargain" carpet at my local store is from Masland, and since my original post, I learned more about it. I'm told the reason for the bargain price is that the store ordered it for a customer about three years ago, and when the installers arrived, she didn't like the color so she rejected it. The vendor would not take it back, so it's been in the warehouse ever since. After the Tuscan palette fell out of favor, gold colors are not so popular, so it's little surprise that it hasn't sold. Masland's warranty only applies for two years following delivery to the vendor, so there is some risk here. I'm a little concerned that three years in a warehouse that isn't air conditioned in the hot summers may have been hard on the synthetic carpet backing and caused it to become brittle or degrade, so I asked to go out to the warehouse to check it out. It sounds like they can unroll it partially but not completely. But that's better than just blindly taking my chances. They did tell me if the installers come to deliver it and I find problems with it that I can reject it with no obligation to pay. Just need to know what to be on the look-out for!!

This product seems to coordinate well with my old oak paneling, when it hasn't been easy to find another compatible product. And because our rec room is so large, it will cost almost $1000 less than a nice looking nylon product and still significantly less than the cheapest builder grade thing. But I hate to have my head turned by the gorgeous bargain if there are "hidden issues."

Ah. Now I see the dilemma. The “gorgeous bargain“ is indeed a tough one! That sample looks a lot like the DMI poetic that i use a lot. I have the edges done like that and it’s the perfect neutral backdrop. Anyway, I think I’d pass this one up. You’re absolutely right about the potential for mold. Then again, the idea of WTW in a basement worries me too. OTOH, I like that the carpet place is showing you what happened and offering to take it back. Do you happen to know a local decorator who would look at it with you? It’d be worth you paying for her time, IMO. Full disclosure: I only know (and own) my DMI carpets because my dear friend is a designer and ordered them for me. And even for clients, I have a decorator handle it (I’m an architect. Good at all the hard stuff, not so much with the soft!) I’m not saying “get a pro” for your carpet, but for this case, I’d ask friends (not the Internet,) for advice about a local pro.

It is funny you bring up the seams ptreckel because I was just talking about this with the guy at the store yesterday!

He showed me the plan that was prepared after the estimator came to measure. Our rec room is sorta rectangular, 24 feet wide by roughly 40 feet at the longest. The original plan showed the seams (and the line of the carpet weave) going crosswise, evidently created by some software that generates the most efficient layout in terms of material needed. I thought it would look better if the carpet line went the long way of the room, so we talked about that and if it would require more material. This carpet is Masland's Woven Road, a very low & smallish loop, and to my eye there is a line to it, tho more subtle than many.

But now that you say the seams will show and maybe fray, I am wondering if there is anything we can do about this, and if the lengthwise/crosswise layout has any bearing on the seam thing.....

And yes, I have now learned that NO wool carpets should be vacuumed with the rotary power brush!!! Somehow we went from the manual carpet sweepers back in the day when before synthetics dominated to the Hoovers to today's vacuums that are super powered. I realize now the damage probably done to some of our oriental carpets with overenthusiastic vacuuming. No more!

And then about the dog....we have a 22 pound guy who still has the zoomies at age 8. He has to deal with lots of sliding indoors since our house has mostly hardwoods, although I have strategically located a few throw rugs at his turn around spots. With new carpet in the rec room, I was looking forward to letting him race around inside without any slipping. Do I need to worry that his claws will tear up this kind of carpet as he's flying around?

Sadly, scottie mom, I have no friends who are interior decorators or who have even used a decorator, so I am not sure who I would engage to inspect the carpet with me. While the sample has the overcast edges, our proposal is for WTW installation, which is what people typically expect here. For my own use, I might go with the bound or overcast edges with a custom fit, if the store could even do that, but we are going with carpet largely for resale since we need to "encapsulate" the old vinyl tile.

I did chat about this bargain carpet option with a guy at a competing carpet store, the one with the most outstanding reputation in the area, that I probably would have used OTBE. He was pretty candid with me -- when he heard the price for this Masland Woven Road, he was amazed an commented it's below cost. He said at that price he would do it in his own basement, and he has a sump pump with all the attendant issues. But after years of selling carpet, he has special appreciation for the wool products.

Our basement doesn't have a sump pump; it's walk out with good site drainage, no moldy smells, etc., but we have always kept a dehumidifier going down there anyway. He told me that because we already have a vapor barrier with the original tough vinyl tiles which are in perfect condition, there is little risk of moisture coming through to create mold, as long as the space has good air movement. Our HVAC system has two outlets there.

The main thing is that we have to cover the old tile to sell the house. Reputable dealers here will not use an adhered product on the kind of floor we have, so our options are WTW carpet or LVT, which is way too much investment just for resale. The typical realtor thing in our area is to use a cheap cream pile carpet in the basement rec room to brighten it for resale, make it seem cosy, and encapsulate that old vinyl asbestos tile that Dad installed back in the day.

So now, I have before me a lovely product that due to this weird fluke will get us where we need to be for the resale market, complement the existing paneling, and would cost us about the same as the junky thing I hate!

UPDATE from the OP on the lovely bargain WOOL carpet saga --

I was able to go out to the warehouse on Thursday afternoon and look at the actual carpet roll. The guys there were very helpful & understanding, cheerfully unrolling the beginning of a 100 foot roll across the width of their warehouse so we could all inspect it. To our dismay, there were compression marks across the carpet at regular intervals. It had been sitting in a roll on the shelf for a couple of years, and with such a huge roll of low pile, pretty dense wool carpet, that's alot of weight in one spot!

One guy muttered something to the effect 'this is damaged' and cut off about 25 feet, which he rolled and set aside. Then he unrolled another 30 feet -- and the same compression marks appeared there as well. He tried to brush them up with his hand, but they were too impressed. In my online research, I could only find advice for addressing small compression marks on carpet, such as from furniture feet. I called the manufacturer for guidance but the technical person I needed to speak with was already gone for the holiday; hopefully I can connect with her on Monday.

Just wanted to see if anyone has any experience with this kind of thing..... most people use synthetic carpet these days, but the behavior of wool carpet is different in some critical ways, and that may make a big difference in "compression recovery."

(Note: Please, no advice to go find another carpet. I am prepared to do that if I must give up on this one, but that may not be necessary. Thank you!)

@Karenmo

Did you buy this Masland undyed wool carpet? If so, what's the verdict on this type of material? I just saw some Masland today (different pattern but same undyed wool) and was astounded at the low price.