^OPM^

In the next month I'm after buying a new hall,stairs and landing carpet. Now I want a nice shortish pile carpet around a mid grey colour but whilst i want a good quality one and I'm willing to pay for a good one i don't want to just buy an expensive one that is over priced and not worth the money.
So first things first is it even worth looking at allied carpets style places or a small local independent shop for one.
I know some will say allied carpets style places will rip you off but surely they can afford to undercut small local shops as they buy in bulk and would be cheaper for a like for like carpet?
There is only me and girlf in house so it will be getting less wear and tear on it then a house full of kids so without going ridicolous prices what do you reckon plus approx price of decent underlay as well?

Any help?

Thank you.

davegtt

I bought my underlay off ebay last month, half the price and better quality than what you would get from the chains. I also bought all my grippers etc off ebay, again - a LOT cheaper.

I believe carpet wise, rule of thumb is dont go for a felt backed carpet if its going to be in a heavy use area - such as hallways etc.

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

Why wouldn`t you use hesian backed?

davegtt

Im not entirely sure tbh, I did for my stairs and landing because it looks exactly what I wanted and if it only lasts 2/3 years then I'll replace it, simples. But I was told not to go for it in the shop. I'm by no means an expert on carpet so don't take my word for it.

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

I had my hall, stairs and landing replaced (hesian backed, short pile) after a flood about 7 or 8 years ago and it`s still going strong Just getting bored with it now

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Good idea to get underlay and gripper of Internet that's where the shops make their profit
Get good quality hessian backed
Look around and choose the carpet and then get the name of it and code and shop around for it then
You often find smaller independant shops are cheaper when it comes to a fitted price
Allied and the big boys tend to use freelancer fitters and make a substantial markup n fitting lots of smaller shops pay their own fitter a weekly salary so for example pay £350-£400 and then can fit 2-3 jobs per day which they build into their fitted price hall stairs and landing can take 3-6 hours depending on size savings could be made by fitting the quality underlay and gripper yourself
I sorted a quality carpet out my parents and quotes varied between £1200 -£1800 on exactly the same carpet in for different retailers

I paid £1200 for hall stairs landing 15 years ago and it's as good as the day we got it ,but generally trend for the market nowadays is cheap rubber backed carpet for £300-£400 which people replace after 4-5 years when people get sick off the colour

^OPM^

Tbh i was reckoning on it costing around the £1000 upwards mark, I don't want a cheap £300-£400 that looks naff in a few years time, I want it to last a good 10 years as you say and still look good.

scunnered

iTrader: (1)

Usually the cheaper carpets will have a fairly loose pile. If you can easily seperate the pile and poke your finger through to the base, avoid it regardless of the price.
Just imagine it like the DPI in a good printer, imagine it as tufts per square inch or something.

Coffin Dodger

Also a high wool content is good in a carpet in a high traffic area, much more hard wearing. We'ver always used a little independent place local, mention that you've used them a few time before and there's always a good discount offered

tony de wonderful

Make sure the rug matches the curtains.

Coffin Dodger

^OPM^

Just did a quick/rough measure and i would need about 18 sq metres or 22 sqyds.
After looking at ebay it seems the thickest underlay you can get is 12mm and would come in at around the £55 to £60 mark with delivery.
What sort of price do carpet shops charge for 12mm underlay from memory? and surely i dont need any new grippers etc as the old ones be ok to use again so it just be a case of cutting the underlay to required size with a stanley knife and laying it down ready for the carpet to be fitted?

Can you remember what thickness underlay you had Dave?

^OPM^

As another quick note-just looked at a quick DIY guide to putting down underlay and it says over the joints use carpet underlay tape to prevent it moving-did you use this? as someone else said they just used normal masking tape and it worked just as well.

Chip

Do you not already have gripper in place? If so then it'll be fine. I would spend about £25-£30m on a hessian backed 80/20 mix berber if its in a high wear area.

Chip

The Pink Ninja

iTrader: (23)

Depends on the style that you want firstly, Berber or Twist, If you have pets a twist is better,

Secondly, Stain resistant or not, an 80/20 wool twist will wear better but is not stain resistant,It can be treated but this will wear off in time, A man made Polypropelyne twist is stain resistant as the colour is boiled in to the pile so they are also bleach resistant.

Most twist pile carpets are done in weights, 28oz, 32oz,40oz, etc... You want a decent 50oz pilw weight which is very heavy domestic.

Underlay from Allied, Carpet right etc, Is sold by the Sqm from £5 to £10 Sqm, You can get either Rubber(tredaire) or Foam(cloud 9) the rubber will give better sound insulation, Gripper is sold by the linear metre at £2(You can buy a box of 150LM for £20), Same with door plates at £10 each from the shop, Buy all of these seperately as Lordy said this is where the profit margain is made,

The mark up on most of the big boys carpets are advertised at roughly 300% of the cost price, So after the knock 50% and another 20% off they are still making on it, Also in sales this only adds up to 60% discount off the marked price.

Be aware that Carpet Right, Allied, Walter Wall Etc(which is owned by carpetright/Wise) also charge you a £30 delivery charge and a £30 Hall/Stairs/Landing Surcharge, Fitting is paid directly to the fitters for the work they do at roughly £2.50 to £3 Sqm.

Ps, I worked for Lord Harris for 10 years(Carpetright) and never even saw the guy once. Until i parted company with them due to their unreasonable demands not requests.

^OPM^

Ok - detailed replies there - there is already a carpet down at mo-so the old grippers and door plates are ok to reuse-so all i want is new underlay and new carpet.
I don't have any pets bar the girlf and she looses less hair then a dog would and doesn't crap on the carpet ( well not yet she hasn't, fingers crossed )
So with this in mind a berber style carpet will be ok ( will now go google berber see what it says).
Decided I will go and get prices off 2 local small independent shops by me that have both survived for years in a small town so they cant be doing too many bad things.
One or other will get my business not a big boy.

^OPM^

Just googled berber carpets and found this page

http://www.carpetdyeing.com/berber.html

says don't buy berber unless made of 100% wool or 100% cotton.

^OPM^

Just clicked as a look on carpetright website and picked a randomish carpet and when looked at detail spec it says 6508 Grammes per Linear Metre , how does that compare to 28oz,32oz etc weight -as a normal grammes to ounce conversion is useless?

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

Your link says wool or nylon, not cotton

hux309

Laying a carpet is.. very much like making love to a beautiful woman. You check the dimensions, lay her out on the floor, pin her down, nail her, then walk all over her. If you're adventurous - like ... Then, extend your rod to its full length, and check that there are no kinks or any wear. Particularly at the base

^OPM^

oops so it does

The Pink Ninja

iTrader: (23)

All carpets are made at 4m Wide(to reduce manufacturing costs) so 1 linear metre works out at 4sqm, Some are also in 5M widths too,

Depending on what width they work the 6508g out on it is somewhere between 46 to 58oz, Most berber`s will be lighter than this as they are a closed loop pile and as such are pretty flat(Good for wearing), The one that you have mentioned must be a saxony style carpet(Long pile) these feel very comfy but can lose their appearance on stairs reasonably quickly as they flatten on the edge of the steps and in the main traffic areas

davegtt

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISA...E:L:OU:GB:1123

Thats the underlay I used and it was about half the price than the shops IIRC.

I just put a couple of tacks to hold it in place whilst I laid the carpet over the top so there was no movement. Job done. Its not an easy job though - be warned.

^OPM^

Whats not an easy job -laying underlay or the carpet?if the latter i don't intend doing that part-all i will do is put the underlay down.

davegtt

If youre only putting the underlay down then that an easy job. Laying a carpet itself can be pretty tricky though but ok if you dedicate some time to it.

^OPM^

Just been reading about underlay and my initial thought was go best you can as they tell you to and to get 12mm thick underlay-but on one website it said to go slightly thinner underlay on stairs so its more flexible. Is this true?
Also says go with what the carpet recommends as different carpets require differing standards of underlay under them.
If so what is a good quality and what thickness underlay would be best for a hall,stairs and landing carpet? please