What's your definition of 'cheap' carpet?

lfc321

IME reasonably decent quality carpet starts roughly in the £15-£20 m2 range. Anything below £10 m2 isn't likely to be much cop, unless you get a really good deal on an end of roll or something. I personally wouldn't want to pay above £30m2, but I'm sure you get what you pay for even at those price levels.

The carpet which is throughout out house i was approx £19 m2 (+ underlay + fitting). We're very happy with it.

laurel7172

I bought carpet at about £5/sq m for my DS's room about five years ago. It wasn't even really done with moneysaving in mind-he just liked the colour.

I've recently been doing a LOT of grouchy muttering about cheap being too expensive, because it's tired, thin, scruffy and the amount of work needed to empty his room for refitting...well...I can't see it happening. It isn't just money-it's a huge upheaval to replace carpets.

edgex

I wouldnt have the same carpet everywhere:

you need hard wearing carpet for hall/stairs/landing, & same for living room
but that standard of carpet tends to be overkill for bedrooms, where you may want something 'softer'
if you need to, or want to, change the carpet in one room, it could look quite out of place
it makes houses look like showhomes or rental properties


our hall carpet ended up needing replacing, stairs & landing was different carpet & still fine, so we had floor tiles laid
its the heaviest use area of the house, tiles are hard wearing & look good
also, once laid, its pretty much done forever

chivers1977

I have read on here that you should go by the density of the tufts. I want a 100% polypropelene carpet for stairs and landing and bedroom. What would be a good/ high density to be looking for? thanks

daveyjp

For high traffic areas go for 80:20 carpet - 80% wool, 20% nylon - hard wearing, but easy to clean.

Our carpet was £17 per sq m (end of line with 50% off) about 15 years ago. We have cleaned it a few times and it comes up like new. I'd expect to spend over £50 a sq m for similar quality now.

rhubarbcottage

Hi,

I've always followed my dads advice and bought the best I could afford.

Now, sometimes that has been just about the cheapest thing in the shop (when I'd just left home), now it's something decent from John Lewis (you can't beat their aftercare service if something goes wrong - so my parents promise me).

Chat to some of the carpet staff and get as much advice as you can. Tell them if it's just the two of you, or half a dozen kids and as many pets! Believe me...that makes a huge difference on the carpet you'll need.

But remember, if you find a fabulous carpet dirt cheap (and please let us know if you do) that you can't get away with cheap underlay under expensive carpet. You may find 40% of your budget will never be seen but will quietly earn its keep underneath your gorgeous carpet (I remember this advice from one of my dads pals who was a carpet fitter for 30 years plus )

Advice costs nothing....

Hth.

boombap

Cheers again all.

We're going to 'risk' it with a cheapy one I think as there's many other things in the house which require spending on and then five years down the line we'll hopefully be able to recarpet with a higher quality one. The carpet we're going for claims to have a guarantee of five/six years too if that counts? We'll be going for a high-ish quality rubber underlay.

The fitters are coming on Monday and I'll report back then. I know it's a bit of a daft concern but I'm slightly anxious that as it's a large house and I'm young and naive in the world of carpet fitting they'll try and overcharge on things like grippers and other 'hidden' extras. Will just have to wait and see I guess!

Huge thanks once again,

S.

rhubarbcottage

Don't worry, squee.

Whatever you've gone for....there's something really fab about a houseful of absolutely brand new fitted carpet.

You won't want to put the furniture back!

(and it makes rolling on the floor laughing so much more enjoyable)

Enjoy :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

PasturesNew

I'm afraid I'm anti carpet....

Hard floors then chuck rugs down is better imho. Rugs you can change, move about, swap around, just where you need them.

Hard floors are a breeze to keep clean too.

A friend of mine bought a brand new carpet, the same short pile carpet throughout an entire brand new house (4 beds, detached, but tiny) nearly 10 years ago and it cost her £3,000.

She lived alone and was very very careful. She was out all day at work 12 hours, would come in and that was it. No kids, no pets. Cleanest, most careful person in the world. After about 4-5 years she decided there was a slightly trampled area along the entrance hallway, so she had professional carpet cleaners in ... and some of the colour came out of it.

If she'd had hard flooring from the start there'd have been no obvious trampling.

One carpet throughout would be a nightmare to keep looking the same, everywhere. One idiot through that door and the whole lot is toast.

Prudent

Jue_xx wrote: »

Very good point. We put down a creamy-beige carpet in the lounge five years ago, and despite my strict shoes ban, it's still looking grubby and worn now. It's still like brand new under the sofas, and feels lovely and squidgy when I move the sofas to hoover, but the "heavy traffic areas" look very tired now. Unfortunately there is only one possibility for furniture arrangment in my lounge, so I can't move the sofas around to expose the nice carpet that's hidden beneath! :rolleyes:

I have exactly the same problem Jue despite washing it about once a month with a Vax.