Carpet Confusion!

lisal0u

Hi Everyone,

I wonder if you can help. We need new carpet all upstairs and have done some research into carpet but it seems to be a bit of a minefield! I want to get this right as we have been renovating for a year and rubbish carpet could spoil it all!

We popped in to Allied carpets and was quoted £1600. This was for a box room (4.09m2) back bedroom (10.82m2) and front bedroom (14.66m2) in this: http://www.alliedcarpets.com/flooring/carpets/caress-linen/ at £24.99/m2

Landing (5.09m2) in this http://www.alliedcarpets.com/flooring/carpets/wool-touch- sandlewood/ at £9.99/m2

And a stair runner at £38.99/m2 (13 steps 65x22x21 3.7m2 carpet roughly).

Fitting but no underlay. There underlay was £7.99m2 which is a total rip off as I can get Cloud 9 blue heaven 9mm for £3/m2 from Ebay!

Now I work that out to be £937 worth of carpet so I'd love to know what the extra £663 comes from! I would have asked for a break down but had already been in there ages and had had enough!

What advice could people give me so that I don't get ripped off! And also on the type of carpet I've chosen (pro's and con's?) I'm going to look round the smaller carpet companies and also look into the cost of a local fitter because I suspect this is where the big carpet companies make their money!

I would appreciate any advice because my head is spinning!

Thanks
Lisa

Biggles

Headline prices per sq m never look too bad but fitting and underlay is where it all adds up.

We went to a small local shop and got inclusive prices (so you knew where you stood) a visit for a quote (so you knew it was based on their own measurements, not just on your 'guesstimate') and cheaper prices for a better carpet.

Rosebery_2

"Now I work that out to be £937 worth of carpet so I'd love to know what the extra £663 comes from! I would have asked for a break down but had already been in there ages and had had enough!" That'll be because you worked it out as being "x" sqm x £ "y" per sqm = £ "z".

They don't work that way. A standard roll of carpet is 4m wide. So if you need 9sqm for a 3m x 3m space they will supply you with a 12sqm piece and you'll pay for 12 not 9.

They'll also not be trusting your measurements and adding a %age so that when it goes wrong their fitter is covered. Stairs also take a lot more carpet than you imagine they would.

Cheers

lisal0u

Thanks for the replies,

Maybe that is not as bad as I thought then! I was just quite shocked as we have fitted oak engineered flooring downstairs for just over £900 (36m2). I didn't expect carpet to be sooo much more! I'm possibly a bit naive!

I'm still definitely going to shop around, that was my first attempt at carpet finding! Its a bit like food shopping, not fun at all!

Thanks again
Lisa

TomsMom

Lisa - we've done 2 double size bedrooms, good size lounge, small dining area and hall/stairs/landing (including the stairs/landing up to the loft) for approx £1800 for the carpet. 50oz for the bedrooms, 60oz for the lounge, dining area and h/s/l, both 80 wool/20 man made. This is the carpet we had . One local shop wanted approx £26 & £28 per sq.m. We went to another local shop and got it for £16 and £18 per sq.m.

Got enough underlay (genuine Cloud 9 Cirrus) from this internet shop for £236.50 delivered.

Gripper and door strips are coming from our own fitter for a fraction of the price you'll pay Allied or anywhere like that.

I'd forget the big name shops if I were you, try and find a local independent retailer with a good range and you should get a better price and service. Or find a carpet you like and check out internet prices.

CandleFan

I had a terrible experience with them & horrendous manager, also know people via local bulletin board who had similar bad experiences in 2 different areas. Most people recommended I go to local private carpet places for a much better service. However, to be fair, don't know if this does apply to Allied's across the board. Perhaps would be an idea to google your local one's first and/or ask around for recommendations before comitting. Sorry if this is overkill, but would like to save you the stress I had!

cattie

If you are looking for long term good looks from a carpet, then avoid synthetic fibres. They begin to look shabby & loose their good looks after a few years.

Choose an 80/20 wool mix twist pile for a good looking, hard wearing carpet that will keep it's looks for years & years. A 50 or 60oz is very hardwearing for stairs & living rooms, but for bedrooms a 40oz would be sufficient. Try to choose British wool as there are a lot of carpets on the market that come from Europe.

When I bought the carpets for my house earlier this year the fitting was free, so definitely worth finding a retailer that offers competitive prices & free fitting.

For

underlay_guru

cattie wrote: »

If you are looking for long term good looks from a carpet, then avoid synthetic fibres. They begin to look shabby & loose their good looks after a few years.

I'm sorry, this is a load of rubbish, and I should know: I was fully trained up in both intense product knowledge and persuasive sales technique methods with a well-known flooring retailer a few years ago, and have sold carpets, flooring and raw materials to consumers, distributors and manufacturers ever since... There is absolutely nothing wrong with a synthetic fibre product. Although there are differences in appearance, this is down to personal taste.

cattie wrote: »

Choose an 80/20 wool mix twist pile for a good looking, hard wearing carpet that will keep it's looks for years & years.

There is still this false assumption that a carpet with wool in it lasts longer than an equivalent man-made one. I can 100% guarantee you this is not the case.

Wool in a carpet is usually associated with prestige and high expense, but the LASTABILITY of any tufted carpet has got absolutely NOTHING to do with the material of manufacture: It is purely and simply...the DENSITY of the tufts in the carpet (How close the tufts are together in the pile) which determines how long it will last.....trust me, a synthetic pile carpet with more tufts per square inch than a wool one will last longer and retain its apprearance for longer.

If in doubt, ask the salesman in the carpet shop. If he/she can confidently advises you of tuft densities when requested, then great. If they simply tell you that "wool carpets are better", I assure you that they are spouting out the rubbish what you want to hear as they know it will gain a quick and easy sale. Also be aware that most carpets have 'oz weight' to them, which determines the amount of wool in the pile. Again, this will not determine the density of the tufts, as the pile height is also taken into consideration. A salesman should never tell you that a carpet is of better quality just because it has some wool in it.

The first rule that any salesman worth his salt will have learned is: "NEVER EVER mention a feature of a product without explaining its genuine benefit!"

cattie wrote: »

Try to choose British wool as there are a lot of carpets on the market that come from Europe.

Actually, the MAJORITY of wool carpets sold here in the UK are manufactured in Belgium and Holland from wool which is spun and processed in the UK. Just because a carpet is made of wool, do not assume that it has come straight from the sheep! Some "British Wool" carpets are manufactured from yarn made of 'reclaimed' wool from waste textiles, jumpers etc, re-spun and re-dyed. This is cheaper to manufacture than a synthetic yarn, and it is made right here in the UK!!!!!

Whats wrong with foreign wool products??! The main difference between new wool in the UK, Europe or New Zealand is the sharpness in the texture because of the varied climates they live in. British wool tends to be rougher due to the cold climates the sheep live in, whereas a European or Kiwi wool tends to have a higher element of softness. A foreign wool is certainly NOT substandard in comparison to a British product, and neither are their carpet products!

cattie wrote: »

When I bought the carpets for my house earlier this year the fitting was free, so definitely worth finding a retailer that offers competitive prices & free fitting.

Trust me, the fitting is certainly not free, but would have been built into your bill somewhere, usually by adding £3 per square metre onto the price of the carpet or underlay. I 100% assure you, there is absolutely, positively, definitely no such thing as free fitting in the flooring trade. I talk to and meet flooring retailers every day, and know of NOT ONE of them that genuinely give their underlay and fitting away free.


So next time you go shopping for carpets, NEVER assume or be told that all wool carpets are the best and all man-made carpets are rubbish, as it is absolutely NOT the case!

cattie

Well, that's me told in no uncertain terms! :lipsrseal I'm only speaking from my own experience with carpeting over the years & what I've been told by major department stores when buying carpets for the home.


I hope you're not going to give me lines or detention underlay_guru.
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

ginvzt

underlay_guru wrote: »

Trust me, the fitting is certainly not free, but would have been built into your bill somewhere, usually by adding £3 per square metre onto the price of the carpet or underlay. I 100% assure you, there is absolutely, positively, definitely no such thing as free fitting in the flooring trade. I talk to and meet flooring retailers every day, and know of NOT ONE of them that genuinely give their underlay and fitting away free.

My mum used to say that the only free thing is the cheese in the mousetrap, and I keep repeating it myself - there is nothing free, you always have to pay for it once way or the other!

underlay_guru

cattie wrote: »

Well, that's me told in no uncertain terms! :lipsrseal I'm only speaking from my own experience with carpeting over the years & what I've been told by major department stores when buying carpets for the home.


I hope you're not going to give me lines or detention underlay_guru.
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Apologies for the unnecessary abruptness, but i've seen so many people get ripped off from carpet retailers due to intentionally being given misguided information from untrained, inexperienced salespeople, it makes me a tad angry!

In the main, salesmen in the multiple-shopped flooring trade are simply trained up to tell you what you want to hear, therefore if you tell them you've heard wool carpets are the best, they will instantly agree with you, then recommend the products with the highest commision percentage, rather than what is required for your actual needs.