Carpet Advice please (1st house)

m1nt

Hi,

Just bought our first house and need to re-carpet 3 bedrooms and the stairs. (1 of the rooms has laminate but will be putting the carpet in there)

We need to do: 3 Bedrooms and stairs
3.4x2.67m Bedoom 1 (4.05 with wardrobe)
2.66x3.25m Spare bedroom
2.4x1.95m Computer room

12 straight steps (13flat To the actual very top landing)
3.13x1.9 Landing top of Stairs (Straight stairs then comes back on itself like n shape)

We want, carpet, underlay, grippers, metals (9), fitting at the most reasonable price.

We care about the quality of carpet so want the same style carpet throughout the house that is very comfortable that wont show much wear. Dont have pets but plan to get a small manageable dog at some stage in the future. (Shoes will be off upstairs and just the two of us)
The doors are a non-issue as they all need re-hung/adjusted as none of them fit/close anyway so ideally want the thickest/most comfortable thats clean looking.(not showing wear) Budget is flexible but we just want the most value for money

The best quote we got which seems most reasonable is £585 for everything, this is for apparently 40sqr metres:
£310 (£7.7sqr m- Carpet: New Izmir (Saxony style, Felt backed polyprolene hard wearing with small fleck design http://www.marketcarpets.co.uk/clearance/izmir-diy its a beige/light brown
£95 - fitting
£25 door bars
£25 grippers
£130 underlay (12mm PU Foam - unknown brand
-

The price seems reasonable to me but just a few questions please:
1. This carpet is felt backed, is there any pro/cons of this as it will be on stairs/bedrooms with 11/12 mm underlay.

2. Is it worth paying £30 more for cloud9 underlay at 11ml or go with the carpet shops own branded 12ml? (We were told the only difference is brand name)
3. We already have some Cloud 9 Contract 8mm from a friend, would putting this in 1 of the bedrooms make a noticeable difference?

4. We like the saxony thick comfortable carpets however the g/f doesnt want them on stairs because of how they will look once used (Brushed one way etc) and also that they will become impacted/worn (The 1 we have chosen seems like it would suffer less than the more comfortable ones) However because of this it seems a twist style carpet is more suitable but were worried about it not feeling as soft or luxurious (will this be improved by underlay?)

5. House is 25yrs old, some of the boards creek (they are hollow plastertype board/planks) Is are they expensive to replace/fix or will the new carpet/underlay stop creaking/expanding? (Its worse in some areas than others)

As always if you have any other advice to offer/something to consider then please do, thanks

Hoploz

If you're concerned with quality then get a wool mix carpet.

You've gone into this chapter and verse. Price seems super cheap to me, do it. Or up the carpet quality.

I've just ordered new carpet for 2 small double bedrooms. £450 for carpet underlay approx £60. That's with 40oz wool mix carpet approx £15 psm. Hall and lounge were done in harder wearing 50oz at £22 psm.

If that's any guide?

How long will you be there? If 2-5 years go cheap, if long term then buy better.

I_have_spoken

Berber loop polypropylene but get a decent underlay, that's the secret of making a carpet last and feel better underfoot.

Buy underlay online, this is where the 'sheds' make their money with a huge mark-up.

Also don't lay over laminate.

Put talcum between the floorboard to stop squeaks and screw, don't nail, down.

xyz123

Price is very cheap almost too cheap but depends in where you are and quality of carpet.
Re underlay, unless you have bought already get 9mm thick instead of 11/12. With 2mm less the carpet sits much better on gripper. Having done in exactly this in my house where I bought 11mm thick few years ago now when doing the living room I got 9mm one as 12mm is too thick.

phil24_7

Buy the Cloud9 11mm or Tredair Dreamwalk 11mm. They are better than the generic stuff and not a lot more. Then have a look at some carpet places. I have a discount store near me that sells carpet etc cheaper than most places and usually around the same prices as online. You can get a feel for the carpet then. They usually have on them what they are rated for.

I have Associated Weaver Temptation (rated for heavy domestic and stairs and was£12/m originally, though now it looks to be around £15/m) carpet in my bedrooms with Tredair Dreamwalk 11mm. It has been down for 4 years and still looks like new. It hasn't suffered from compression and even a bit that was under a nursing chair for most of that time has recovered after a month or two.

cattie

Felt backed carpet always seems the cheap & nasty option to me. The owners of my previous home had had redecoration & new felt backed carpets done about 6 months prior to selling. When I moved in the carpets already looked pretty shabby & I didn't even consider offering them on freecycle, I paid the council waste services to come & take them away.

The rule of thumb with carpets is it's better to have a really good underlay fitted under a cheap carpet rather than the other way around.

I agree with Hoploz, go for a decent wool mix, 80/20% if possible & a good quality underlay.

Magnolia

cattie wrote: »

I agree with Hoploz, go for a decent wool mix, 80/20% if possible & a good quality underlay.

But make sure you like it!! Ours has been down now for 20 years with no sign of wearing out!

Doozergirl

With a dog, I would choose without wool as you'll be able to clean accidents without worrying about stains. My friend was able to bleach hers!

phil24_7

What doozergirl says. Mine came with a 20 year stain guarantee and is bleach cleanable.

marc81

Seems very cheap, like someone else said maybe too cheap highlighting a poor carpet. We're currently looking for similar, 3 beds and stairs/landing.. a couple of our beds maybe slightly bigger than yours but at local independents we were getting quotes of £1300-1500 for a nice deep pile saxony like the Associated Weavers Invictus Orion or Condor's Intenza Excellence Deluxe. Carpetright wanted £1700 for a lower quality carpet. We've now found someone that works for themselves with no shop so less overheads, he orders the carpets/underlay etc you want and just charges for the fitting.. he's getting us the Excellence for £14/mt and all in its just over £1000 whcih we consider a great price.

I suppose if you're happy with the carpet and underlay then go for it but maybe check the likes of stain guarantees etc.

Marc

m1nt

Thanks for all the input everyone I have booked a free measure with carpetright.

To answer some of my own questions and taking on your feedback.

I am going to up the budget and get https://www.carpetright.co.uk/offers/emperor-twist-plain-carpet £15 sqm

It has good reviews and seems to fit our purposes, compact/hard wearing/ comfortable with good underlay and lasting/ easy to clean/reasonable price - we plan to have a dog & baby in a few years.

Carpet from carpetright
Underlay, grippers,metals from tradepriced
Pay a local independent fitter as it was £140 from carpetright.

Every door I have needs re-hung/painted anyway as none of them close/hang correctly.

Anything I have overlooked?




The price seems reasonable to me but just a few questions please:
1. This carpet is felt backed, is there any pro/cons of this as it will be on stairs/bedrooms with 11/12 mm underlay. - I'm going to avoid using a felt carpet after advice.

2. Is it worth paying £30 more for cloud9 underlay at 11ml or go with the carpet shops own branded 12ml? (We were told the only difference is brand name)
I'm going to go for branded underlay, cant decide between:
Cloud9 Cumulus 11mm £36 15sqm
Tredaire Dreamwalk 11mm £35 15sqm
Tredaire Jazz 12mm £36 15sqm


3. We already have some Cloud 9 Contract 8mm from a friend, would putting this in 1 of the bedrooms make a noticeable difference?
I'm going to use this underlay in computer room and 11/12mm on joining hallway

4. We like the saxony thick comfortable carpets however the g/f doesnt want them on stairs because of how they will look once used (Brushed one way etc) and also that they will become impacted/worn (The 1 we have chosen seems like it would suffer less than the more comfortable ones) However because of this it seems a twist style carpet is more suitable but were worried about it not feeling as soft or luxurious (will this be improved by underlay?)
Going to avoid saxony carpets and revisit twist ones

5. House is 25yrs old, some of the boards creek (they are hollow plastertype board/planks) are they expensive to replace/fix or will the new carpet/underlay stop creaking/expanding? (Its worse in some areas than others)
Still havent got an answer on this, I have lifted the carpet up and its almost like a hollow wood/plank, I'm hoping to ask carpetright about this and how it impacts anything. I would rather fix everything now than put the carpet down and realise I could have easily fixed something.

6. What gripper style will I need from https://www.tradepriced.co.uk/carpet_gripper.html
I need to cover my stairs/landing/3 bedrooms. 8/11mm underlay with the emperor twist carpet.

Medium Pin for wooden & Concrete
Professional super premium carpet gripper for wooden subfloors
Gripperrods long pin wood carpet gripper?