Carpets and fitting quote

Beckymarshall07

I'd be grateful if someone could put my mind at rest on carpet quote which includes fitting. I will be brief!

Carpet and fitting from Astra carpets. The carpet is 80% wool and 20% something else and retails at £15.99 sq m. Link below. Our house is a largish 3 bed semi. Price quoted was £1500 for carpets, fitting and good quality underlay ( not the cheaperst one) and really good underlay for stairs and landing. This includes:

- Carpets for living room with bay window (no underlay as reusing existing one) 4.83m x 3.61 m
-stairs and landing - with underlay
- two large double bedrooms with underlay (one with bay window) 4.75m x 2.97m and 3.48 x 3.43m
- one small bedroom (study) with underlay. 2.26 x 1.93m

Is this a reasonable quote? They've knocked 10% off as there is a 10% voucher online that we plan to use.

http://www.astracarpets.co.uk/carpets.asp

Thanks!

Canucklehead

Hi, Becky: We used a local independent flooring shop but supplied and fit the underlay ourselves (bought it online from here).
The shop broke the cost down into carpet, sundries and fitting for us. I've noticed you haven't given the total area to be done so it is difficult to say if you are getting good value.

HTH

Canucklehead

Beckymarshall07

ahh - my beloved canucklehead -how are things with you? Good point re: putting room dimensions in - I'll add them to the original posting. Thanks!

Canucklehead

Beckymarshall07 wrote: »

ahh - my beloved canucklehead -how are things with you? Good point re: putting room dimensions in - I'll add them to the original posting. Thanks!

:rotfl:There is an MSEr called underlay_guru who posts on here...hopefully he/she will be able to give you a push in the right direction. (We are both well as I hope are you and yours.).

Canucklehead

underlay_guru

Hi,

Ask for a breakdown of your quote. I would never trust a quote which is of a nice rounded figure. I would be interested to know what brand of underlay they are supplying to you, although you should expect to pay £5 per m2 for a good 9mm underlay, and £6 per m2 for a good 11mm underlay (In my opinion, the 'Cloud9', and 'Softwalk/dreamwalk' ranges are a cut above the rest). Let me know what they are supplying to you, and I will give you an honest opinion of the product!

Unless you are fitting a heavy saxony onto a 12mm+ underlay, grippers unfitted should cost you no more than 25p per linear metre...

I cant really comment on fitting charges, only that you get what you pay for: 'If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys'. Around £4 per m2 is about the norm for a decent job.

So...£5 per m2 for underlay, around 25p for gripper and £4 per m2 for fitting....that's £9.25, isn't it? And your quote for this is £13.20 per m2 (excluding the carpet).

...I would shop around, or better still, visit an online carpet-underlay-shop for all of your accessories and underlay, where you will save £££'s.

Ivrytwr3

i went to www.carpet.it

I THINK i got a good price!! We had carpets and their best underlay fitted in a 3 bed semi throughout for approx £1500.

I dealt with a guy called Nathan from the offset and it was all done on-line ie they sent me samples, quotes, arranged a fitter, disposal of old carpets etc.

Lips

Hey BM07,

I bought a carpet recently - just a cheap one for a spare room - and I was completely thrown by the cost of the 'extras'. My mental arithmetic hadn't prepared me for the fact that my price would end up more than doubling once underlay, gripper-rod, delivery and fitting were factored in.

Also, sometimes the way carpet shops calculate square meterage can seem a bit of a swizz - for example, my room measures 4.5 x 3.4 metres, but the square meterage ended up being 18.4, because the carpet comes in 4 metre lengths and also they add on a tad for fitting (10cms either end, I think).

In any case, with a 'bank holiday special offer' voucher, my carpet ended up costing just £132 - pretty much what I had in mind. However, 15sqm of underlay cost me £120, Gripper-rod cost me £32.85, delivery is £35 and fitting is £46. Thus, the total is around £360!!!

I shopped around in three large carpet retailers and the 'add-ons' (ie everything but the actual carpet) all seem on a par with the above, so I'm guessing I didn't get my leg lifted too much on this deal. I hope that this gives you an indication if the deal you've been offered is fair.

Cheers,
Lips

Beckymarshall07

hello again - thanks for all your responses. Underlay-guru the carpet is coming from the saxony and wool collection. The guy rang me up last night to confirm the quote and he said that it came in at £1350 and not £1500 as the guy who came out to the house had quoted us ( he'd failed to knock 10% off from the online voucher). The underlay is a 9mm underlay too. I take your point tho about nice rounded figures - I'm going into the shop tomorrow to get a breakdown of cost and double check the underlay they have said they are using. I will try and hammer him down to £1300! Lips - your response has reassured me somewhat! Canucklehead - we are really well thanks - about to move in in 3 weeks time!

underlay_guru

Lips wrote: »

for example, my room measures 4.5 x 3.4 metres, but the square meterage ended up being 18.4, because the carpet comes in 4 metre lengths and also they add on a tad for fitting (10cms either end, I think).

This is unavoidable. Most carpets come in standard widths of 4m wide (and a small selection in 5m wide). They add around 10cms to the end for safety, just in case your walls are a bit skew-wiff! They were right to supply you with 4.6x4m.

Lips wrote: »

However, 15sqm of underlay cost me £120, Gripper-rod cost me £32.85, delivery is £35 and fitting is £46. Thus, the total is around £360!!!

:eek:15M2 OF UNDERLAY FOR £120??!?!?! Even the bestest-bestest domestic Cloud 9 underlay (Cumulus 11mm) should cost more than £75 at retail, and even cheaper from an internet shop!

:eek:£32.85 FOR GRIPPER.?!?!?!? TRADE SECRET: the trade price on a 152 metre box of standard wood gripper is between £14 & £20+vat......I say no more...

:eek:£35 TO DELIVER?!??!?!! If the fitters are coming to fit the carpet, surely they would have brought it with them anyway?!?!? My word, that is ripping-off at its worst, sorry.

Next time, AVOID that particular carpet shop at all costs as they have most definitely pulled your pants down!

underlay_guru

Beckymarshall07 wrote: »

The guy rang me up last night to confirm the quote and he said that it came in at £1350 and not £1500 as the guy who came out to the house had quoted us . I will try and hammer him down to £1300!

I am not trying to deny a retailer from making a profit, but I assure you, at £1300 they are still making a killing.....

A decent Cloud 9 Cirrus, HyperActive, Softwalk or Richstep underlay should be costing no more than £5 a m2. If your underlay is not one of these brands, you should realistically aim to pay around 20% less.

...I would aim for somewhere nearer £1000. If they won't do this, simply take your business elsewhere (if you've been to the Kirkby store, I know of other carpet shops in the area) and get your accessories and underlay from an online carpet-underlay store, where they will be around 40% cheaper!

Lips

underlay_guru wrote: »

Next time, AVOID that particular carpet shop at all costs as they have most definitely pulled your pants down!

I wondered why it felt a bit drafty...:D

Thanks for the good advice, UG.
Ok, so it seems that the local large retailers (I bought from Carpetright, but got almost identical quotes at General George and Behar) make quite a killing on the underlay and gripper (and, indeed, delivery - although when I queried this I was told that it relates to delivery from factory to store, not from store to house...)

Anyhoo, I'm now seriously thinking of cancelling the underlay and gripper element of my order and getting replacements online. I've seen an online store called Simply Underlay, where I can get a 15sqm roll of Cloud 9 Cumulus underlay for £43 and a box of gripper for £29 - all at a landed cost to me of £81.

This seems like a no-brainer to me, but can anyone think of any reason why I shouldn't do this? The fitters are independent guys that Carpetright sub out to, so I don't think they'll care about where the underlay/gripper comes from.

Any thoughts....?

Lips