Please please help me with choosing carpets!

Plumstead

Hi,

I'm really bewildered by the choice out there.
I need carpets for upstairs bedrooms, one of which is a toddlers bedroom/playroom. This won't be our forever and ever home, planning to move out in give or take 3 years.
The rooms aren't that big so I'm planning on having a light coloured one (am I too mad?)..maybe sand/stone/biege kind of colour tones. which will also be good when selling as most folks like plain/neutral decor.

I like berber weave but we *might* have a cat later on.

Wool is too expensive for my budget but I like that it's flame resistant.

Polyproplene (spelling?) good that its stain resistant but worry about inflammability. Also heard that it goes flat quickly.. how quick, I don't know. As I said I want something that will still look good when we come to sell it in 3 years time.

What should I choose?

jimbo_the_jetset

We have a stone/beige berber carpet bought from carpetright about 6 months ago. Happy with it so far. Might be starting to flatten slightly on the stairs but maybe that's just my keen eye, I'm sure others wouldn't spot it (OH). Ours has darker coloured flecks in it so any stain wouldn't stand out too much. Plus i believe you can use quite harsh chemicals on them too because they are polypropylene.

Forget what we paid for it now, maybe £7-8 per m2 but with 20% off the total. Cheap as chips. We put new underlay down ourselves as it is cheaper that way.

Think of it this way. Get a cheap carpet, if it looks ok in 3 years then ok to sell. If it doesn't cheap replacement at the time. Versus more expensive now that may last???

Hello123_2

Don't have cream/beige with kids & pets...biggest mistake we ever made!

Go for brown or dark biscuit. Still looks neutral/easy to match decor/ideal when selling.

We had a barber weave on our stairs and it looked new for about 12 months. After that it went a bit 'flat' but I imagine all carpets go flat eventually and it was a high traffic area. I would have barber weave again and it made no difference with our dog. Don't chose a carpet incase you have a cat - cross that bridge when you come to it :-)

We moved house about 2 years after having it fitted - we had it cleaned for £30 before putting it on the market and it looked good as new. Was about £100 including fitting for stairs & landing.

Plumstead

Thank you for your replies, they are very very helpful.
May I ask you both what underlay you chose (if you remember).. any details about thickness or brand will be greatly appreciated. I read that it helps plump up cheaper carpets and might invest as underlay isn't too expensive anyway.
Cheers

bec54

Hello

Not sure if this is of any help - we have a toddler & 2 cats & are currently replacing our upstairs carpets.

You can get a fantastic carpet brand called "stainfree by Abingdon" - it's not too expensive £15-16 per sq. metre but it's so tough you can even use neat bleach on it to clear up any marks. You also get a 10 year guarantee on it for any food or drink stains that you can't remove yourself.

No, I don't work for them, but have found them fantastic!

We've got a couple of small independent carpet shops near us that both supply this brand & here's the link to their website - http://www.abingdonflooring.co.uk/product_range.php?ID=50

My advice for the underlay is to buy the best (thickest) you can afford. It'll be more comfortable & make the carpet last longer but also won't have so many indents if you decide to move any furniture around.

Hope that helps!

jimbo_the_jetset

We got Tredaire Dreamwalk? I think. There are better and more expensive ones out there but we are looking at moving now anyway so didn't want to spend loads

oldskoo1

We've had a berber weave carpet for about 5 years now, stairs, landing and 4 bedrooms.

It still looks new. It is a very hard wearing carpet and is a lot better at dealing with spills from a 3 year old than many carpets I've had before. I remember the sales person telling us that because it's a blend and 70% odd nylon type, it doesn't absorb any colourings/very little from spills and therefore doesn't stain as easily. I can certainly vouch for some truths in that.

My wife didn't clean up a few spots of orange juice our littlest one dropped, weeks later i noticed it and it came out no problem.

I did hear that thick underlay isn't ideal for berber loops, i also think they are a waste. A standard medium grade underlay should be fine.

Very happy with ours and looking to put it in again in a new house.