Carpet underlay? which type?

papermoney

I'm in the process of putting all new carpets down in my property (when it has been painted etc). I have just normal hessian backed carpet going down so will need so underlay. The carpet shop agreed that it would be cheaper to buy online and not through them.

Ive seen some foam, wool and rubber backed ones and am really confused as to which is best. I need around 90sq.m then need to work out how to do the stairs and landing and add to this figure.

Wool and foam seem to be cheaper and thicker than rubber backed ones but from what I have read carpet fitter prefer rubber back as it is easier to work with.

Any experiences you can share?

ukmaggie45

I am absolutely no expert, but I have heard on these forums that Cloud 9 underlay (9mm) is good. We've just ordered carpets and vinyl for the whole house, and the firm we are using doesn't do it, but something similar. Which I need to check out! (going off to try look it up)

Good luck with getting it sorted out to your satisfaction. I'm sure you'll get more helpful input from others later.

nickj_2

if you want your carpet to last , esp if you've spent a lot on it then you will want a decent underlay , i would go for rubber backed stuff over foam

ukmaggie45

nickj wrote: »

if you want your carpet to last , esp if you've spent a lot on it then you will want a decent underlay , i would go for rubber backed stuff over foam

I really don't want to use rubber backed myself (which it looks as if the supreme underlay we've been quoted for may be) as it's possible I may have a latex allergy. While I may or may not have a latex allergy it's not a thing I want to play with. Just goes to show that there's more to choosing underlay than may initially be apparent!

papermoney

I've discounted the foam due to the thickness. I can find 10mm in wool and rubber backed, the rubber back is more expensive but I assume that is because you do not need anything to fix it to the floor first.

From doing a bit of googling it seems wool may be better because it doesn't flatten constantly like the rubber. But I have no first hand experience of this.

lagi

You need to say what carpet your going for. Too long a pile and you wouldn't want a deep underlay, will feel like a trampoline and could be unsafe on the stairs for little ones.

Foam comes in loads of thicknesses as do all of them so you can get whatever you want to match.

What underlay did carpet shop recommend???

papermoney

The foam i've seen only comes in 6/7 and 8mm and ideally i want 10mm so been looking at the wool and rubber back.

None of the carpets are long pile. All are short (twists). I didn't ask the carpet shop which they recommend, they only sell the rubber backed ones though. I know the same fitters moaned that my parents had bought foam underlay when they got a carpet from there though (because it was more work to keep cutting it up apparently).

skaps

I am looking at carpets atm too and the guy at the shop recommended foam as he said it lasts longer

lagi

i just typed 10mm foam underlay into ebay and theres loads out there, so you can have whatever you want.

papermoney

lagi wrote: »

i just typed 10mm foam underlay into ebay and theres loads out there, so you can have whatever you want.

There are indeed. There is a graphite grey foam (the cheapest and thinnest) and then there is mixed foam which does come in 10mm (found since my last post here) but i'm still not convinced on foam to be honest.

I really want to know which is the better one (I will be asking the carpet company Monday to see what they suggest).

lagi

I think a lot of people rate the cloud 9 and tredaire foam underlays.