Living room carpet -total cost

Lady_E

We are getting a quote from an independent carpet company and I need to prepare myself with questions and answers,so need advice. The room measures 20ft by 10ft 8inchs and gets heavy use. The current carpet has been down for the last 11 years and has served well but is now looking dirty/shabby/worn. We need something that is suitable for heavy use,not too expensive and looks good. I need to know recommendations on underlay and grippers etc. I saw another thread which seemed to suggest Cloud9 11mm as underlay but I was wondering if anyone else had suggestions. Any advice gratefully received ,many thanks.:)

latecomer

Probably best to buy your own underlay and gripper as these items tend to have a large mark up from carpet retailers. e.g gripper rod - we were quote £1 per length (1m) and both a full pack (150x1m IIRC) for about £25 which is about 20% of the cost. If nothing else do a little research and ask the retailer to price match for gripper and underlay after they've quoted for the carpet alone. Lots of people here recommend tradepriced.co.uk but we had to use someone else as they couldn't deliver quickly enough for our needs.

suisidevw

I recommend Cloud9 9mm underlay from experience. Agree with LC above on grippers/door bars etc

Lady_E

Many thanks for the above replies.

Any ideas on the type of carpet I should be looking at to cope with heavy use,and the dreaded "path" from front door to kitchen? My mum has suggested Berber, but Berber what ?

downshifted

We are having a Berber 80/20 wool mix - you have to look at the weight of the carpet though - the one we have chosen is 55oz per sq yard, but we were told that the cheaper one at 45 oz per sq yard would be fine for heavy wear - ours is made by Cormar Carpets but we chose it by chatting to local retailers

Good luck - I think it's hard spending a lot of money on something you need to last a long time but about which you have little knowledge! Carpets are as bad as beds for this in my opinion!

Barneysmom

I'm not sure how much you'll end up spending but if I can tell you what I do?
The carpet for living room stairs and hall cost us over a grand, which these days is a pretty average price.
So as soon as it was put down I started a 10 year savings plan of £15 a month. When it matures there should be enough for carpets again plus change for something else......
I don't really notice the £15 coming out of tha house account but would really struggle to find a grand now.

You might not need new grippers if the old ones are ok?