Buying carpets

londonlydia

Hi,

went had a look round carpetright yesterday, and was amazed by the difference in store per square metre of carpet. I am looking for soft thick pale cream/ whitish carpet for my bedroom (the only place I would risk pale carpet). I saw a few I liked, a few within the 'books' at prices around £20-30 a m, but I also saw one on a big roll that was only £8 a metre, but looked good and felt lovely.

I am tempted by the cheaper one as it appears lovely, but I figure there must be a reason why it's comparitively cheap...my money is on quality.

So I just want some advice really, is there a big difference in carpet quality, and is it false economy to buy a cheaper one? I did think that if I do get it I could get a really good underlay to go with it....

Avoriaz

You are right, you generally get what you pay for and cheap carpet is usually a false economy in the long run. (no pun intended )

Personally I would avoid carpet as cheap as £8 per sq metre (I presume you meant sq metres). There are good reasons why it is cheap and high quality underlay won't improve a poor carpet.

Check out local independents. Places such as Carpetright are often more expensive and poorer value.

sunshinetours

Avoriaz wrote: »

You are right, you generally get what you pay for and cheap carpet is usually a false economy in the long run. (no pun intended )

Personally I would avoid carpet as cheap as £8 per sq metre (I presume you meant sq metres). There are good reasons why it is cheap and high quality underlay won't improve a poor carpet.

Check out local independents. Places such as Carpetright are often more expensive and poorer value.

In fairness a decent underlay will improve a poor or cheap end carpet , but only so much.

Check out the thickness, backing and composition of pile and compare the two. Contract type carpets are often on large rolls and sold in large cvolumes and often hard wearing, albeit not very plush and luxurious feeling, however stick some 11mm underlay underneath and use a decent fitter and the carpet will look and feel better than £8 a roll IMO

Leif

Avoriaz wrote: »

Check out local independents. Places such as Carpetright are often more expensive and poorer value.

I agree. I found much cheaper and better at a local independent shop which included free fitting i.e. included in the price of carpet. I'd avoid all of these big stores that advertise on TV.

A neighbour had a nice synthetic cream carpet with thick underlay in a room about 3m by 3m for about £400. I got a wool carpet and my costs per square meter were a bit more than £400/9.

Innys

If you really want to cut costs, choose the carpet brand and "model" you want from a local supplier and then see if you can find it cheaper online. Then give your local supplier the opportunity to match the quote.

I did this and saved over 30%.

oldskoo1

You do generally get what you pay for and the stuff on rolls can be good and bad. Sometimes it can be the last of the stock. So it could be identical to the samples you see out front.

I like a Berber twist and we've had wool and man made. You can pay a lot of money for a plain wool pile. Personally I find wool discolours very quickly if you don't take your shoes off. It also holds dirt around the edges of the room if you don't have a decent Hoover or Hoover properly. It will even discolour with just socks over time.

The synthetic Berber mixes in my case have been much better wearing. They don't discolour as easily, much easier to clean and tend to hold their shape a bit better. Plus they are cheaper. You can get different grades and the more expensive synthetic mixes do have a more wool like feel. Never going to be as soft as wool.

valk_scot

Also look out fore remnant pieces and end of rolls, you can get good discounts on these. You have to buy the whole piece of course so check measurements carefully and try to avoid paying for too much excess carpet. I got a wonderful carpet for my lounge, very high quality, for about two-thirds less than it would have cost off the roll because it was a big remnant piece which fitted the room with about six inches over in both dimensions. I got a local fitter to provide underlay and rods and saved on fitting too.

If you're going to get pale carpet btw make sure it will be able to withstand very regular cleanings.