Extortianate fitting costs for new carpet?

Maccy99

Hi everyone,

I have just been quoted £4,800 to have new carpets fitting in a 2 bedroom, 2nd & 3rd floor flat. The breakdown is as follows:

2 X BEDROOMS, LOUNGE, LANDINGS & STAIRS

Take up and dispose of existing carpet

Supply and Fit Carpet PRICED @ £29.95m2

Fitted to existing underlay

Fit carpet onto existing gripper fixings

Fit carpet into existing door bars

Fully Fit carpet

Areas to be as clear as possible prior to fitters arrival

Total Cost for All Materials and Labour =

TOP FRONT BEDROOM Total Cost : £1,180.00

TOP BACK BEDROOM Total Cost : £790.00

LOUNGE Total Cost : £1,148.00

LANDINGS & STAIRS Total Cost : £1,682.00

As we have a floor plan, I have determined that the 1/3 of this is for the labour, so we'd essentially be paying around £1500 to have the old carpets removed & new carpets fitted, which I expect might take 2 days? Am I delusional for thinking this is extortionate? 

I have looked online and this seems to be very very pricey? 
Not to mention we can find the same carpet online at £20 per square metre. 

I am thinking of ordering the carpets myself and then hiring a fitted. Has anyone done it this way - cutting out the retailer? My only concern if getting the carpets into our flat, as it's up 2 flights of stairs and some will be 5m x 6m. 

kazwookie

I would get a couple of other quotes  and compare.

I have in the distant past bought the carpet and got a fitter to lay it, but as it was years ago, I have no idea how mnuch any of it was.

Anthony147

Yes it’s expensive BUT a quote is just that a quote.
get others to quote and decide if you see it as value and worth paying or not.
btw - you’ll probably find the team would do it in a day, and don’t compare your online price as on a supply and fit - some margin is needed for problems, issues or return visits needed which might happen - only you can determine if the extra charged is reasonable though.

Maccy99

Thank you both. 
I am currently awaiting a quote from another local company, as well as a fit-only from a local tradesman. 

FreeBear

Can't say if the quote is reasonable or not without knowing the maximum size of each room.

One thing I would say it it isn't normally recommended to put a new carpet down on old underlay In addition, the quality & thickness of the underlay makes a huge difference to the feel of the carpet underfoot.

greyteam1959

Sounds very very expensive to me.
Should take 2 fitters no more than half a day if the rooms are clear.
For that price a good independent fitter would probably supply underlay new grippers & door plates.
Get some more quotes.

jonnydeppiwish!

I’ve just bought 60m2 Westex Major Twist with 60m2 cloud 9 underlay. Cost £1,800. Fitting £500.

ciderboy2009

OP - when you are working out the cost of the carpet then are you allowing for offcuts?

ie: If a room is 4 meters x 2 meters you would expect it to be 8 square meters.  However, if the carpet comes on 3 meter wide rolls only then you will have to either have a join in the carpet or pay for 12 square meters (3x4) with 1m x 4m becoming an offcut.

JGB1955

The cost of commercial disposal will for a fair amount of that quote.  We always cut old carpets up and dispose of them ourselves.

Maccy99

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was not accounting for off-cuts. 

After being given an even higher quote for just the fitting from an independant labourer, we got a third quote from another local independant retailer. They initially came in around £4300, but we managed to bring them down to £3950. It's around 110 square metres to be fitted, with removal, and it's a 2nd floor flat over two floors (so four lots of stairs), so overall this seems to be a fair price for London. 

ytfcmad

Never fit new carpet over old underlay or use old gripper and door bars, doing so will allow the carpet to move and reduce its lifespan and it will look bad after a short time.