We bought Shaw Carpeting from LA Carpet. We were told by the salesman the carpet was made of nylon fibers. Only later did we find it is constructed from polyester fibers.
The carpet started showing horrible wear within six months. We vacuum the carpet about once a week. There are only two senior citizens living here—no children. Weather was too cold for carpet steam cleaning. We thought cleaning it would solve any problems. At 11 months the weather was finally warm enough to have a professional steam cleaning done. This did not fix the problem.
We contacted LA Carpet who sold us the carpeting. They contacted Shaw Industries who sent out some "carpeting expert". He wrote some BS report stating our carpet was soiled and that was why the fibers were damaged and the carpet looked horrible.
We received a letter from Shaw Industries telling us to go pound sand. The letter stated we should have our carpet steam cleaned every 12—18 months. The carpet is only 11 months old at that point and we showed the receipt from the carpet cleaners to prove we had just had the carpet professionally steam cleaned. This didn't matter to Shaw Industries.
Apparently, the "expert" failed to mention that we had just had the carpet professionally steam cleaned about a week before he came over. He took a picture of the steam cleaning receipt but did not include this fact in his report. He also did not measure the fibers in any way. Even after we sent in the carpet cleaning receipt, we were told Shaw Industries would not honor any warranty even though their carpeting was about 50% worn visually.
Being an engineer, I took a digital depth gauge and measured a new piece of leftover carpeting that had not been used. The fibers measured 43/64" in height. To make test fair, I vacuumed the new unused carpet. This will stand the fibers up as tall as possible. I then vacuumed the various areas around the house and measured them using the same depth gauge without stepping on areas to be tested after I vacuumed. The height of the fibers was measured to be 13/64" at the hallway entrance, 11/64" in front of the living room sofa, and 11/64" in entrance way of both bedrooms we use. The other two rooms are not used much. These were the kid's rooms before they moved out on their own.
Clearly, my measurements indicate that abrasion has worn down the carpet fibers approximatly 50%. Shaw Industries continues to tell us to go pound sand even though we have forwarded the proof and have filed a Small Claims action.
We are finding fibers and whole double pieces of the fibers that have come loose from the backing with chunks of the backing still sticking to the fibers.
The carpet is literally falling apart. When you look at the ends of the fibers that have come loose from the backing, the ends are untwisted. The fiber will no longer hold its shape. So many fibers have fallen out of the backing that it looks like an old fashioned washboard. The carpet just lays in rows like a tilled farm field.
The carpet is barely 1-year old into a 15-year warranty. Shaw states their warranty will apply if wear is greater than 10%. We have proved the wear is far greater than 10% but they still refuse to honor their warranty.
Don't buy Shaw Carpet. You'll be sorry.
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