Buying carpet: online vs. in store

ljt504

I used carpet-superstore.com when buying mine and arranged a fitter through the NICF.

You can also get cheap underlay on eBay.

grizzly1911

We have a good local independent who is way cheaper than any of the big sheds.

Comes out to size up the job and there is no pressure. Has known fitters who we have seen on repeat business too.

Knowing my look I would buy just not enough or over compensate and pay for too much.

flooringman

alhermette wrote: »

When I bought carpet recently I found a decent online price and took it to a local independant shop. Whilst they couldn't quite match the price they took it seriously and immediately gave me their best price.

I ended up going with them because they then had full responsability for the job. If you buy online and get an independant fitter you can end up in a hole if there is anything wrong with the carpet, particularly if a fault only becomes apparent after it is down. In my case the width of carpet was critical and there is a natural tolerance in what the manufacturers supply. The shop spoke with the manufacturer to ensure that they didn't get a piece that was at the smaller end of the tolerance and they took the responsability for it fitting. as it was over £1000 worth of carpet that was important to me.

What I did do though was get the underlay online and fitted it myself. That can make huge savings as the shops charge through the nose for the stuff and it really isn't difficult to fit yourself. I saved myself around £400 by doing that.

although saving £400 is great (seems really excessive tho which shop did you price this at?) the basics of carpet fitting are if your prep work ie grippers and underlay are not perfect you go no chance of fitting the carpet perfect and in my opinion there are very few carpet fitters who can put underlay and gripper down properly never mind customers so think hard bout this if i walked in a job and customer had put these down incorrectly i would walk away and any fitter worth his salt would do the same the gap between gripper and wall varies with different carpets and also varies on the stairs it is not straightforward, door ways should be mitered, gripper meeting gripper in corners should be square underlay should be tight at joins and taped, door bars should be sat on plyboard depending on thickness of carpet and underlay - rooms over 5 m long should use architectural gripper or it should be doubled up in length

rustyboy21

I would be terrified of buying carpet online.

Imagine the aggro you would have if after getting it and paying for a fitter to come out to fit it , to find pulls/colour mismatch/misthreads etc. You have paid for someone to come out and fit it, have a fault, have to wait in for collection and redelivery and then pay out again for reinstallation.

I agree with Leif. A lot of people forget about the smaller independant retailers out there, who work to better margins, have good reputations and have their own fitters. Keep a very wide berth of the big names out there. They are a rip off.

I have dealt with the same retailer for years, for my home and for my shop. 1/2 the price of carpetright/bensons etc , good quality carpet, you see before you buy and good aftersales. Most towns will have 4/5 independant shops, who will give you a good deal and you can see before you buy and only pay on satisfaction, not up front.

shegirl

Can I ask why architectural gripper should be used in rooms over 5ms long?I normally fit the carpets myself and am intending on doing so when I make over my sons room in our new house.It's over 20 foot so interested in your response

flooringman wrote: »

although saving £400 is great (seems really excessive tho which shop did you price this at?) the basics of carpet fitting are if your prep work ie grippers and underlay are not perfect you go no chance of fitting the carpet perfect and in my opinion there are very few carpet fitters who can put underlay and gripper down properly never mind customers so think hard bout this if i walked in a job and customer had put these down incorrectly i would walk away and any fitter worth his salt would do the same the gap between gripper and wall varies with different carpets and also varies on the stairs it is not straightforward, door ways should be mitered, gripper meeting gripper in corners should be square underlay should be tight at joins and taped, door bars should be sat on plyboard depending on thickness of carpet and underlay - rooms over 5 m long should use architectural gripper or it should be doubled up in length

transient

CheekyMrChips wrote: »

Try going to designercarpetremnants.co.uk or spectrumcarpetremnants.co.uk

They sell Top Quality Carpets at huge discount prices.

Thank you Robert for the advice to use both of your online stores

tired_dad

been looking at 50-60oz carpets.

Can get online at about £20 per m2.

Online underlay about £3-4 per m2.

Add VAT, then cost of NCIF fitter. Got a couple of quotes from fitters and worked out their fees to average out at about £10 per m2.

Looking therefore at an installed price of £35-40 per m2.

Local small independent shops are getting the all in price at the same or even slightly cheaper.

Therefore not seeing the advantage of going on line.

meercatsunited

people who have used our local store have found lots of problems with their carpets, water stains, uneven tread because the carpet has been lay flat, spots of fibres black tar like spots where the wool has melted.
people are now saying their stuff is seconds being sold as perfect.

iandv

Hi

What we did was look at the prices online for the same carpet that local independents stocked, and the same for good quality underlay and then asked the local carpet shops to match/beat the price, many of them will to get the business