Carpet... Please educate a novice!

[Bellyrub1980]

I never needed to buy carpet before so I'm a bit confused by the options.

Here's the deal, in the summer we moved into 50 year old house. It needs a lot of work. The living room will need lots of fireplace and brickwork along the room knocking out and replacing. We currently don't have the funds or time to do this, so it's on the back burner till summer 2017.

In the mean time the carpet is absolutely minging. We had it cleaned when we moved in but it just smells like a wet dog. I've tried everything but nothing really tackles the smell. It's just a very old well used carpet and it's had its day.

So basically we're thinking about buying a very cheap carpet to tide us over for a year. It just needs to be functional and look neutral. When we rip the fireplace and brickwork out we will need another new carpet as the floor will be about 2ft wider.

I see the cheapest of the cheap at carpet right is £2.99 m2.

www.carpetright.co.uk/carpets/champion-loop-pile-plain-carpet

We could afford this now. My only concern is, is this such terrible quality that it isn't even worth it for a year? We have a 1 yr old, she falls over a lot. Will a carpet this cheap scratch and give her carpet burns?

What about static?

Like I say, it's only temporary but how cheap should we realistically go before the carpet is so cheap it's nasty???

[Bellyrub1980]

I'm pretty certain it's concrete rather than floor boards. Is that possible? Upstairs they are all plywood floor boards.

[Bellyrub1980]

I will investigate and report back! But I like this idea.

[Bellyrub1980]

Ok it's definitely concrete. Just pulled a bit back. Cold, grey concrete :(

[specialsubject]

the child will not suffer, the cheap stuff does not have added barbed wire. But carpet needs underlay and fitting.

[YouMakeMyDreams]

The carpet will be fine for the year. Not the softest but honestly be fine. I was going to disagree with special and say don't worry about underlay but concrete floors I probably would. Or if you can stretch a bit further a carpet with underlay attached. They don't have to be expensive thing the one in the dc room was £5.99 Sqm. Was still cheaper than separate underlay and cheap enough dd can throw make up on it

[Bellyrub1980]

Thank you for the reasurrance. Will compare prices of separate/combined underlay and just get the cheapest one going.

Might consider off cut too, although it's quite a big room... Not sure how big they get?

[MissBattleaxe]

Remnants can be massive. We just got one for a 15ft by 14ft room. 189 quid.

[poppet131]

We bought our carpet from flooring megastore. The service is pretty good and we opted for the cormar primo plus range which is lovely (about £10psm) but lots of cheaper options available. Grippers and underlay is from Screwfix - about £2 psm. We opted for a local fitter to measure up, we ordered online then he came back to fit it. Don't go for carpet right. Awful quality and the charge a fortune for undelay, grippers and fitting!

[poppet131]

flooringmegastore.co.uk/catalog/cormarcarpets

[MissBattleaxe]

Try a local outfit. They are usually competing with bigger companies. We use a local one and we were very pleased with the price. Fitting was a small surcharge per sqm.

[whattodoforthebest2]

Burts.co.uk are very good, next day delivery and remnants for large rooms - I've used them several times. Ebay is good for underlay and gripper etc.

[Qwebec]

Instead of investing on a cheap carpet would it be possible to invest in a quality underlay that you could use as flooring for a year, or a carpet that can be used as underlay later?

An other option would be to get a carpet that could be used in a different room later.

It just seems a shame to buy a new carpet for only 1 year.

[Bellyrub1980]

Thank you for more replies!

I shall check out local suppliers.

qwebec yes this is a great idea since will will need to carpet everywhere. It's what funds will allow at the moment. But maybe a low mid range carpet would do the living room and then the nursery/spare room after. Great idea infact!

I shall put it to the DP!

[cupcakelovinggirl]

whattodo would you/did you use Burts for a forever home?? Is the quality that good or just enough to get by for a few years?

Have you tried your local carpet shop for remnants? Might be surprised at a deal you can cut.

[wowfudge]

Years ago my parents had work done on their house and the good living room carpet was taken up, rolled and stored while this was going on. They bought a cheap piece of crappy stuff from the market or a local carpet place which was basically like a large rug for the centre of the room. It didn't cost much at all, but made the hard floor more bearable while all the work was going on.

Would you really want to be walking on something that you then put under carpet later? How would you keep it clean? Most underlay can't be vacuumed and you can't exactly mop foam if it's a foam underlay. And using carpet as underlay? I may have misunderstood, but that doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

[whattodoforthebest2]

Hi, Cupcake

Yes, I've spent £££ on carpet from Burts - 3 landings and stairs and hallway in wool mix, excellent quality and recently a Crucial Trading carpet which cost a fraction of the usual retail price for a large bedroom (6m x 4m). Their remnants are excellent and service is good, plus you can make them an offer on a remnant and do a deal with the manager (can't remember his name). Just look at the website.

Re underlay, don't forget you can put down top quality underlay (ie Cumulus) and add to it when you've done your building work and then put a good carpet over the top. Cumulus is cheaper on ebay than the bog standard plastic recycled stuff Carpetright will try and sell you.

[whattodoforthebest2]

Burts sell Westex, Cormar, Crucial Trading etc etc - all brands you could be buying from John Lewis.

(Where's my commission, Burt .)

[cupcakelovinggirl]

Thanks for letting me know whats I'm decorating a house I don't intend to stay in long term yet want to look good for selling purposes!

[namechangedtoday15]

What - that website looks great although it doesn't offer any particular advice about which carpets are better in which areas. We are looking at replacing the stairs and landing carpet - was a 100% polypropylene in a beige colour, pretty cheap - has been down for about 5 years and looks like it needs replacing.

We are a family of 5 with 3 primary aged children, and actually the cheap carpet was quite stain resistant and has only really deteriorated in the last year or so. Of those brands that you mentioned -Cormar, Crucial Trading etc - are they wool? Would you recommend a particular type for a really heavy traffic area like the stairs? I don't mind spending if its worth it - I just don't want to spend a fortune then end up replacing in 3 or 4 years.

If anyone else has any advice, would be gratefully received!

Sorry for hijacking the thread a little!

[BlackGirlAndRobin]

I second Burt's. I bought a clearance roll of Abingdon carpet, 15 meters for about £400, absolute bargain! Also keep an eye out on their room size remnants.

[BlackGirlAndRobin]

IMHO crucial trading is overpriced. You'd be forking out for the brand name. Although the colours are "on trend" I found them very thin. Which if you've got concrete floors will not feel great underfoot. if you go to an independent carpet place they should be able to show you alternatives sometimes from the same manufacturer just with a different brand name iykwim.

Cormar and Westex are both good but it depends on the range you're after. AFAIK they both do 100% wool carpet.

[namechangedtoday15]

Thanks Black, the remnants look amazing, but like the OP, I have no idea on carpet. Will keep watching though!

[whattodoforthebest2]

My crucial trading carpet worked out at £23/m - it's a lovely soft grey with a feint line in the weave. With 11mm underlay underneath, it's very soft and comfortable underfoot, although it is on floorboards.

I think that a wool/poly mix is probably better for a heavy traffic area. I'd look at sample books in the shops, borrow them and see what works best. The brands I mentioned above make carpets for Carpetright, look at the name of the range and colourways - you'll find the same names on online retailers' websites. Of course Carpetright sting you on price, fitting and underlay and their fitters can be variable as they're not employed by the company.

Rather than hunting down the right mix and colour, I'd work the other way, look at Burt's remnants that fit your room, in a shade you like and then find a local retailer who stocks it so you can have a look at it IRL.

Btw - interesting fact - white/ivory/cream polypropylene carpets can be cleaned with BLEACH!!!! So a number of salespeople have told me - worth noting if you like the luxury cream carpet look - I've yet to try it on my DD's bedroom carpet, but will have to soon, thanks to stray mascara etc.

[cupcakelovinggirl]

whats that sounds nice and I'm assuming you put that in your forever home which is why you invested in a fairly expensive one. I've also heard that about bleach - let us know if you try it and it works!

Has anyone ever had the really cheap stuff with good underlay and been reasonably happy with it? Sorry if I have missed anyone that has said they have... My house could be on the market for a year so the carpet would need to look good and hold out for a while so OP I'm kind of looking for the same thing as you.