Looking to Buy a Carpet - Confused as Hell

AmitSharma

Hi,
I am looking to buy a carpet and have been looking at both Allied Carpets and Carpetright. I had hoped to read the forums to get some better understanding of my potential choices but am now totally confused.

I have narrowed it down to the following two choices but am not sure if these are comparable or not. Terms like pile content, etc make no sense to me.

So appreciate all the advice I can get to find out which is a better carpet, what should I be looking for to compare the two and also, I know the one from allied is a Duet Carpet from Brintons, can anyone help with the Lulworth Twist from Carpetright and find out who the real manufacturer is -All advice appreciated.

• Allied Carpets - brintons.net/residential/uk/choosing-a-carpet/view/-/carpet/duet-almond#carpetDetails

• Carpet Right - carpetright.co.uk/carpets/lulworth-twist-gold-2.html

Kind regards

Amit

macman

Compare the wool content of each. More wool equals less synthetic fibre.

roddydogs

Trouble with Carpetright is theyve always got 50% off then they do 20% off that, then they do another 10%, etc, etc youve just got to get the Maximum off. Of course all their salesmen say "its genuine for 2 weeks only" etc, then they do more off after youve ordered, they also charge £35 for delivery.

macman

And of course rip you off for the underlay, threshold strips and grippers-that's where all the profit is.

roddydogs

Always say "Underlay and Grippers already fitted," then you can pay the fitter to do that- much cheaper. TBH ive always used the old underlay and grippers, its been fine.

1jim

do the fitters do that? do you agree that before they do the job...not had carpets fitted before but will be getting stairs carpet done soon and dont want to pay over the odds for the underlay etc

Tucker

I just wouldn't use either of those places.

Find a small independent place, get a quote then drive for a discount.

roddydogs

1jim wrote: »

do the fitters do that? do you agree that before they do the job...not had carpets fitted before but will be getting stairs carpet done soon and dont want to pay over the odds for the underlay etc

Well, i cant guarantee all do, but the ones ive had would. Ive just got a decent Berber from carpetright with discounts for just over £7 Pm.. they charge £2.50 Pm for fitting

1jim

thanks for that, will head down and start choosing carpet...any reccomendations on best type of underlay for landing and stairs? Ive looked at the different types but am really confused now

Broadsword

I bought my carpet from Carpetright and got them to store it for a while until I was ready to fit. I then bought my underlay direct from a trade source (enter "buy underlay" into google). Then enter the one you select into google and it will probably find consumer views. I chose a conventional ribbed waffle over foam or what appeared to be stuck together pieces and chose an expensive one for good insulation and soft underfoot feel.

It is so easy to fit underlay yourself if you already have gripper rod down. Even fitting gripper rod is easy on wooden floors and by doing it yourself you save a fortune. Whatever you do , do not buy underlay from carpet suppliers. It's a rip-off and basically easy money for them.

To fit underlay, it is as easy as sweeping the floor (no lumps bumps tacks etc) and cover the area within the gripper rod boundaries, using butt joints, never overlap it. The weight of a decent underlay keeps it in place (it cannot go anywhere with a carpet over it), but I added a few staples here and there from a staple gun, making sure they fired in deep, and did not protude above the underlay. If you are using staples avoid (hidden) phone cable etc. Don't worry if you cannot cut straight, you can overlap when in place and cut through both layers with a sharp stanley knife, thus achieving a perfect butt joint. If it takes more than an hour per room, I would be surprised. You can walk over the underlay until the fitters arrive to fit the carpet, just make sure you brush/hoover over it to ensure there is no grit, pieces etc before the carpet is fitted.