Measuring for carpet underlay

TomsMom

We're carpetting a whole house, have a good fitter on standby and have just had a good price from the local carpet retailer for some nice quality carpet.

We're going to buy the underlay and grippers on the 'net and wonder if you have to measure any differently, i.e. I know the carpet we're buying comes in 4m width, what width does the underlay come in? We're thinking of Cloud 9 Cirrus, 9mm.

27col

The Cirrus underlay comes in a width of 1.37m according to the web site. The width of the underlay bears no relationship to the width of the carpet and does not need to. It is butted together and covered over by the carpet.You just need to order by the area of the room in square metres.

TomsMom

Thank you 27col, I thought that would be the answer but wanted to make sure and not make any costly mistakes.

Is there a special tape to hold the widths of underlay together?

27col

In my house they have been stapled to the floor. I have always assumed that this was what was normally done. No doubt a carpet layer will be along soon to inform us if this is so.

underlay_guru

Hi...I have the answers you need! I work for a big UK based internet underlay supplier, but am not here to simply cheaply promote our company!!!

You are correct: the majority of carpets come 4 or 5 metres wide nowadays, so it is normal that you will have to pay for more carpet that is necessary. The fitters will leave the waste for you (after all, you have paid for it), or, if the waste pieces are large enough, they may also take it away to resell in store...this is where most of these 'remnants' come from!

Because the underlay is underneath your carpet and you cannot see it, it does not matter if it is in pieces (jigsawing a piece around a fire hearth, for example), but you should ensure all the pieces are taped together with a STRONG CLOTH TAPE. Using a brown parcel-type tape will cause a 'crisp packet' type sound underneath your carpet! Also make sure that the underlay is laid STITCHED PAPER-SIDE UP, and you tape it over this (I get so many confused clients who lay the underlay upside down!)


To measure for your underlay, simply take the actual square metrage of the rooms (NOT the square metrage of carpet supplied), and divide it by the square metrage of the underlay roll....in the case of Cloud 9 Cirrus (and most other domestic underlays), divide you room square metrage by 15.07. This should give you a figure with a decimal point. Round this up to the nearest whole number, which is the amount of rolls you require! The width of the rolls ARE 1.37m, but this is pretty irrelevant....

...not sure how to work out your room size in square metres? Simple: Length x width.......if you have alcoves in the room, simply treat these alcoves as seperate areas, work out their individual sq/m-age and add them all together...

To fix the underlay to the floor, you can put a FEW carpet staples around the edges, or use a few squirts of aerosol spray adhesive (just around the edges though!). There are 2 reasons to do this: 1 - The underlay will not flap and fold around when the fitter drags the carpet over the top of it, and 2 - the underlay will not shuffle around when you walk over it. Don't just bang the staples all over....this will make the final appearance of the carpet slightly bumpy over time....I would not advise using staples if your sub-floor is concrete, rather than floorboards.

Any more help, let me know!

underlay_guru

Hi,

Also just noticed you questioned the grippers: Measure the PERIMETERS of the rooms in metres. On stairs, allocate around 2m for each stair. the final figure roughly the correct amount of gripper you require.

In the trade, and on websites, gripper is usually sold in full boxes of 152 linear metres, and in smaller packs too, if required. You will require a different gripper if your sub-floor is concrete (Concrete gripper has stronger nails than wood gripper, allowing you to bang them into the concrete floor with ease)....a lot fitters, however, pull the nails out and use a fast setting gripper adhesive, known in the trade as BLUE GLUE.


Hope this helps!

TomsMom

Thanks very much UG. Sorry for the delay in replying, I've been without my computer for a few days.

The local shop has been and measured for the carpet and we've now ordered it. The fitter is coming this weekend to have a look and discuss underlay and gripper etc., hopefully he'll come back to fit the carpet soon. He's a very good fitter - made a wonderful job of the vinyl in the bathroom so we're confident he'll do likewise with the carpet.