Protecting Carpets in Rental House

We are moving to a new rental house in the next couple of weeks. The whole house, except the kitchen and bathrooms, is covered with brand new carpet. We have had some bad experiences maintaining carpet previously because our daughter likes to drop several things like water, food, and colors on the floor.

This time, we want to be prepared to avoid discoloring or damaging the carpets. I want to cover the whole of two bedrooms and some parts of the living room, which will be frequently used. I had a look at rugs in IKEA, and they are expensive if I buy them to cover a couple of bedrooms and some parts of the living room. I am looking for ideas to protect the carpets in these areas.

Any help is appreciated.

Comments

  • +3

    Invest in stain removers and spot stain removers like bissell. Covering the existing with carpets is going to cost a fortune.

    I would say prevention is better than cure. At the end minimal wear and tear of carpet is expected. Do a steam clean at the end of rental and you should be fine

  • Don't put fridge on top of carpet like I did. I was lucky owner decided to change carpet at the end of my rental.

    • What happens?

      • +5

        the truth is out there

      • +1

        It was 12 years ago. The fridge we had didn't fit the fridge space in the kitchen, thus why we ended up putting fridge on top of carpet. The carpet was totally damaged underneath after 5 years, I was ready to pay for damages, but agent, not even inspect the property, told me that owner would do due renovation including the carpet at the end of our lease. Lucky.

  • +3

    Visit your local Op shop and see what they have available. Perhaps restrict food and play to a couple of rooms and get some of the play mats with characters on them, and where her toys are kept, so she wants to sit there whilst eating or drawing, As others have said get the carpet cleaner stuff and try to be vigilant with cleaning.

    It is hard with kids and animals with carpets. When we built our house we went hardwoods apart from the bedrooms and I’m thinking of replacing the carpet there with hardwoods and rugs. Best of luck.

  • +1

    Even if you are rented, try to do carpet cleaning every two years if possible. For living and high high-traffic area, use a rug. For a living area, you can get a huge rug for under $200 which lasts for years from Costco.

  • Go to a BIG carpet warehouse type business and buy some new offcuts. They may have good quality clean used commercial carpets as well.The latter probably free.

  • Plastic sheeting

    • +1

      it's a Tarp!

  • So something like this but for carpet?

    • Good idea, take it off the couch & use it to make a bubble boy room for the messy kid, to keep it isolated form the clean carpets.

  • eg> (look/search/google in your location)

    https://www.williamstowncarpets.com.au/reminants/

  • Google/eBay for very large short pile synthetic fibre carpet rugs; you should be able to get them cheap. Remember there are eBay discounts atm.
    We have some very large ones we've carried to every rental for many years. If you get carpet cuts they wont be stitched at the edges so it'll become a trip hazard and look ugly on your floor unless you go all the way to the wall.

    If the carpet is in the dining area that'll be your main issue. When our kids were young we put down plastic mats- the hard wearing ones used beneath office chairs.

  • +2

    Carpets these days are easily cleaned. You'd only be worried if they're wool blend which is unlikely in a rental. You may see this product in carpeted display homes: https://www.bunnings.com.au/ideal-dyi-67cm-herringbone-carpe…
    https://www.clarkrubber.com.au/products/19826p-carpet-protec…

  • -1

    Get rid of the daughter.

  • Pick one area for food and colour dropping and cover that with a rug.

    Train daughter that food and colours don’t belong anywhere else in the house.

  • +1

    In addition to the excellent suggestions here, I recommend putting anything that might stain in a cup with a lid. I also only ever fill small amounts of liquids that are a pain to clean (like milk) so spills are small when they happen. Get them instantly with a spot cleaner and we're doing well.

    This all depends on the age of your daughter and level of independence. If she's 25 you probably can't get her to use sippy cups.

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