Apartment question
 

Is it common practice for apartments to replace carpet in units each time new residents move in?

In my experience, they've only replaced the carpet if it's filthy. For the most part, though, cleaning will suffice.

Filthy and worn out.

I'll be moving in to a unit on the 1st and the landlord mentioned that the carpet was new because the previous tenants didn't really take care of the place.

I'm glad it's new carpet, but it'll be a while before I get used to the smell.

5-8 years is a good general guideline assuming no permanent stains/damage, less in college settings where carpet is lucky to last 2 years.

A lot will depend on whether the carpet can be steam cleaned. If a steam cleaning gets rid of the stains and gets the pile back looking new- then that is what happens.

The downside is that once you walk on an old carpet that has been steam cleaned, the pile settles again pretty fast. So it is not uncommon to move in to a place with great looking carpet only to see it bunch and clump within a matter of days.

But as long as it is still clean, good luck getting it replaced...

The apartment that I live in now has new carpet in the living room and dining room area, but not my bedroom or my office. I can totally tell the difference and I think it looks a bit silly to have carpet that worn in the bedroom and newer carpet in the common area. The complex managers said they had to replace it because of stains and burns and things of that nature. It's the first apartment I've ever had brand, new carpet.