7mm thick carpet underlay

jockster211

Hiya Jetcat

It does make sense to put down the best underlay you can afford. It will protect the carpet & prolong its life. Something like Cloud 9 will set you back around £3/m, and its worth every penny. It gives better sound-proofing than traditional tredaire type underlays, is thicker & gives better insulation as well as it has a much higher Tog rating. An inexpensive foam backed carpet will feel great underfoot.

I bought an inexpensive 80/20 wool mix (I think around £10/m) and the underlay for my parents. My dad thought the underlay was a waste of money (he had green tredaire about 25 years old), he didn't half have a change of heart with the Cloud9 down, couldn't beleive the difference.

Me personally I'd put down a cheaper carpet but better underlay.

Jockster

jetcat

thanks guys - i really do appreciate all your help!

i was only thinking of foam backed to save on gripper rods (i must sound like a real cheapskate!) and the cheapest nice one i have found is £4.99 per metre.

dont get me wrong, i do want it to look nice, and if it means that i can only manage one or two rooms at a time, i would rather do that and do it properly! Everything is so up in the air still, cant get back in to have a proper look, but from what i remember, floorbaords were a little uneven - a few loose ones here and there. Cant say i looked for any gaps - oops!!

carpet needed for the bedrooms is 52 m, and lounge is another 28m, but am trying to save for laminate for downstairs, so i may just either get a cord carpet £1.99p/m or roll end and lay it down for little one to walk on - or use a couple of rugs.

i guess i will keep looking - i may be back with more questions lol!!

brownbake

jetcat wrote: »

thanks guys - i really do appreciate all your help!

i was only thinking of foam backed to save on gripper rods (i must sound like a real cheapskate!) and the cheapest nice one i have found is £4.99 per metre.

dont get me wrong, i do want it to look nice, and if it means that i can only manage one or two rooms at a time, i would rather do that and do it properly! Everything is so up in the air still, cant get back in to have a proper look, but from what i remember, floorbaords were a little uneven - a few loose ones here and there. Cant say i looked for any gaps - oops!!

carpet needed for the bedrooms is 52 m, and lounge is another 28m, but am trying to save for laminate for downstairs, so i may just either get a cord carpet £1.99p/m or roll end and lay it down for little one to walk on - or use a couple of rugs.

i guess i will keep looking - i may be back with more questions lol!!

Are you sure you have done the measurements right? Just thinking 52m2 for bedrooms and 28m2 for lounge - means you have a weird layout lol.

Even if ou are not planning on staying there that long I still wouldn't get cord at all. I guess it all depends how much house is worth. IMHO - had cord and looked even cheaper than it was.

What part of country are u in? I would advise levelling / covering floor with hardboard - getting decent underlay and gripper and fitting a cheaper carpet over but preserving it by not wearing shoes.

Realistically you could do it all in for £12 - 15 m2. Please listen cheap cord with no underlay at £2m2 will annoy buyers cos they have to start again and remove the mess.

How about getting the ground floor boards sanded and sealed - from £10m2?

jetcat

brownbake wrote: »

Are you sure you have done the measurements right? Just thinking 52m2 for bedrooms and 28m2 for lounge - means you have a weird layout lol.

it is a bit of a weird shape - the carpet man arrived at the figure of 52m, saying that as the rolls were cut, this is how much it would work out at - the rooms on their own were 8m, 15 and 13 (wow, i just realised that only makes 36m, guess there must be a lot of wastage!!)

Even if ou are not planning on staying there that long I still wouldn't get cord at all. I guess it all depends how much house is worth. IMHO - had cord and looked even cheaper than it was.

The cord is/was going to be a safety measure due to little one - cant afford to get laminate till end of Jan, so it only needs to be there 4 weeks max. I know it seems daft even putting something down, but i feel that i need to, to keep little one safe (she is still at the stage where most things end up in her mouth - on the floor- then back in her mouth!!)

What part of country are u in? I would advise levelling / covering floor with hardboard - getting decent underlay and gripper and fitting a cheaper carpet over but preserving it by not wearing shoes.

Realistically you could do it all in for £12 - 15 m2. Please listen cheap cord with no underlay at £2m2 will annoy buyers cos they have to start again and remove the mess.

It is a council house in north east england- so no buyers to worry about!

How about getting the ground floor boards sanded and sealed - from £10m2?

would that include getting someone to do it, or a diy job?

I am actually trying not to sound as confused (or thick, whichever way you want to look at it lol!) but it comes so easily........

jockster211

Hiya Jetcat

Are your bedrooms square/nearly square? I'm not a carpet guy, but do lots of work on rented properties with them, & do lots of measuring for them before they come to lay carpet as it saves them a trip.

I'll try & explain this carefully. Usually what they do is fit a carpet off the roll, which if memory serves is either 4 or 5m depending on manufacturer, along the wall nearest to this width. Some manufacturers even do the same carpet in both widths, although there may be slight shading differences. So if the longest wall were 4.8m, they would be using probably 5m wide roll & only lose 0.2m. e.g. a room 4.8m x 4.2m(at its widest) = 20.16m2, using a 5m roll you would need 21m2. On stairs there is usually a lot more waste but you say your doing a lounge & beds.

I don't think your carpet guy has got his wastage right. He isn't trying to overcharge is he? I'd be expecting no more than around 10% waste.

Jockster

WaveyDave_2

brownbake wrote: »

TBH that is just bs if you have decent gripper rods. There are lots of lazy conmen carpet fitters out there, trust me.

When you get it fitted - even with a decent fitter and if the room is square and clear you will be amazed at how quick they fit it.

As stated we got our bedroom done - all in for £240 - carpet, underlay, gripper, fitting. Clear square room - took the fitter less than 30 mins and we paid £36 just for that lol!!! Which works out a £1.20 a minute - expensive in anyones book!!!

Most carpet shops make a lot of money on gripper and underlay and fitting. Shop around - our fitter worked for a carpet shop but gave us his card and we would use him in the future - if we hadn't lost his card lol!!

I bought my grippers and underlay from trade priced, and paid someone to fit the carpet.. They were excellent, and very knowledgeable. I agree, when you see how quick they fit it, it does seem expensive. We had the whole house done in half a day!

brownbake

jetcat wrote: »

would that include getting someone to do it, or a diy job?

I am actually trying not to sound as confused (or thick, whichever way you want to look at it lol!) but it comes so easily........

Hi Jetcat,
bloody hell - I feel really bad stating the price we paid or cheapest price and then fining your situation.

From our POV - cheapest was definitely a false economy. spend a little more if you can - it will be worth it in the long run x