I'd suggest looking at commercial grade level loop carpet without padding. Get it out of olefin or polypropylene. Almost indestructible. And if you get it in a light and dark tweed, it won't show the dirt.

Thanks Annie, but why do you suggest without padding? I know the carpet company will try and talk me into that.

The more flat the carpet, the less padding you need. So with a level loop, you can have it, but you don't need it. It costs less money. If they glue it down, it's less likely to shift and rumple and stretch. Additionally, if there is no padding underneath, then anything spilled or wet will have a better chance of drying up. Padding really holds onto any moisture and can lead to smells and damage to the floor underneath. If there is a need to roll on the rug (a concern of mine as I struggle to get around with my broken ankle) a firmer unpadded rug is much easier than a softer padded one.

My folks rented a lot of properties over the years, and I was always stunned to learn what and how people live. So any rental, IMHO, should be as close to armor plated as possible.

We had one tenant whose idea of cleaning up kitty poo was putting a paper towel over it and leaving it! After another tenant, we were scraping tomato seeds off the walls where they had dried on after they had a fight. Another tenant nearly burned the house down...she had no idea there was such a thing as a lint filter and was wondering why the dryer cycle was taking so long. Then there was the one who called Dad over because the light in the fridge stopped working...so he tightened the bulb! Sheesh!

Thanks Annie for the good information. We haven't been in the house for 4 years, but talked to the tenant occasionally and when we drove by the house always looked fine from the outside. There are restrictions in the neighborhood as to what you can and can't do, we never had any complaints Too bad he had a problem in paying the rent for 6 months!

Hi cran,

I don't know what area you are in, but have you considered tiling the home? I know in cooler areas you may want to carpet, but I have found that rentals always seem to need steam cleaning the carpets or replacing them. We made it a point to put down ceramic tile after the last tenant left.

I have no suggestions on carpeting....let us know what you decide.

Hi Dirtyshoes,
Thanks for the suggestion, kitchen and bathrooms have tile, but it really wouldn't work for us as we are in Massachusetts. Wish it had hard wood flooring but it is carpet over sub-flooring. To make matters worse or better, we have a tenant ready to move in! It's crazy as I haven't been in the house for 4 years and she has never been in it. She lost her husband, sold her big house and wants to rent sight unseen. She is under the gun as she needs to be out of her place by 1/16. Our tenant will be out Saturday (keeping our fingers crossed).