Tips on buying new carpet

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

I have never bought carpet in all my years of owning homes but ours needs replacing on the stairs, landing & 2 bedrooms.

There are a few carpet shops near us, bigger chains and independents but I have no idea what I am asking for, looking at, expecting it to cost etc. Just clueless.

Any billy basic tips would be much appreciated!

When you find one you really like roll some of the carpet out, kick the shoes off and walk on for a minute or so! If it's comfortable you're onto a winner.

They'll know. Go in saying "Hello! I need some stairs and landing carpet, and a couple of bedrooms". If they're good, they'll point you at higher-strength stuff for the stairs and landing, check on ages for the occupants of the bedrooms to decide on how tough and stain-resistant that needs to be, ask about pets and the like.

I'd go with a smaller shop to start with. They'll all have access to the same carpet suppliers, big warehouse places will have some in stock but the ranges are so vast that they likely won't have what you want and will have to order it in, same as a small shop. You'll get more personal service.

Talk to them, borrow lots of sample books, and as JoJoe says walk on the samples barefoot.

And then when you know what sort of thing you want so it'll be a relatively quick process, get quotes from a couple of other shops too.

I would go with a smaller and independent shop or local chain. You will usually get a more responsive service. I did hall and stairs with some pretty decent heavy duty stuff last year. I'll check what it cost. That was a local shop. We paid the fitter separately as they subcontract. Bedrooms are quick and easy, stairs can take longer to do as more angles etc.

It was 504 for stairs - several wide and angled steps as part of the flight - and a landing that's about 10 feet I think

And expect to need to get a few doors planed, new carpet is plumfy and may make the door too tight.

Buy the best underlay you can afford then you don't need to spend as much on the carpet

Can I hijack? I've been looking at thick, long pile carpet. Basic price ie Carpet Right (about £700 a room fitted). How long should it last? I'm worried it will flatten and look shit after a year.

I've had Brintons Axminster carpet on my stairs for 10years plus and it's still great but it's 1. Way too expensive for the bedroom and 2. Flat, not poofy.

I wouldn’t recommend carpetright for stair carpet. We got ours from there and had it fitted by them with nice thick underlay and within a week it had popped off. We got them back to refit it and they said they wouldn’t come back again, the underlay was too thick. It then subsequently popped off again. It was all split where they had tried to fit it and you would take your life into your hands coming down the stairs.
So, no to carpet right!

Cheap long pile will look shit within a year, don't do it @Sausageis

Thanks all. So if I budget something like £1k for stairs and landing and £1k per bedroom that's a good middle price carpet/underlay and fitting?

Dumb question but do we have to empty the bedrooms so they can fit the carpet?

We did a bedroom for a lot less than that but yes I think that's a decent budget for the stairs etc. You want something really good. Ours has been down nine months and is holding up really well.

I would suggest asking for polypropylene. I know it isn't very green, but it lasts longer and stays cleaner than will which absorbs dirty rain etc off shoes. I recently changed from wool hall to pop hall and it's much easier to remove stains. The shop should tell you what yarn density too.

Do you have any industrial estates near you? If so, the independent carpet places there are often cheaper than the chain type carpet shops on high streets / shopping centres.

We have a huge landing and stairs and got a good quality wool mix carpet with super heavy duty felt underlay (they told us what- this is the stuff the use in the pubs) we also got a bedroom carpet for a medium sized bedroom and felt underlay total £1000 including fitting and removal. Furniture lifting is an extra service. Get someone to come and measure for you and they will advise. Some offer a 'complete service' so will remove furniture and replace. You have to ask. A more established place will do this but a single fitter can't do it - I would have thought. They can work around bed and wardrobe. But do ask!

I would budget 750 -1000 for the hall and 300 for each bedroom. We got a roll end in the bedroom and it feel so lovely and it's a longish pile.

@Gibble1

I wouldn’t recommend carpetright for stair carpet. We got ours from there and had it fitted by them with nice thick underlay and within a week it had popped off. We got them back to refit it and they said they wouldn’t come back again, the underlay was too thick. It then subsequently popped off again. It was all split where they had tried to fit it and you would take your life into your hands coming down the stairs. So, no to carpet right!

We had the same but had used a long standing respected local independent firm. Trouble is most use sub contract fitters, even the small independents, so the fitter could well be the same as used by Carpetright.

We've just had stairs, landing, master bedroom and box bedroom carpeted by a local firm We paid £1100 in total including good quality underlay We went for a Cormar carpet, think it's polypropylene, and I was a bit worried it wouldn't be very thick and soft but I'm so pleased with it. We ordered some samples directly from Cormar to help choose the colour, and with a good underlay it feels luxurious and expensive. Very pleased

Don't get long pile. Flattens so badly. You want short, tight pile for stairs.

We got a new carpet recently for our lounge it's quite a thick fluffy one it looks lovely but is horrible to hover as in very hard to push the hover over it i dont know how you would tell this before you buy it though.

I would never buy polypropylene carpet. We bought it for our first house because we were skint. Within a couple of years it looked flat and horrible. We saved up for new carpets with the intention of getting something a bit better quality that would last longer.
Trotted off to a well known national chain, where the salesman convinced us we should buy polypropylene "because you can clean it with bleach".
Bought polypropylene carpets. Basically within a couple more years it all looked shit.

Saved up again, back to carpet shop, asked to look at wool-mix. The salesman told us no one buys wool carpet now, everyone wants to change their decor every few years so what's the point? Oh and you can clean polypropylene with bleach
He really, really didn't want us to buy wool-mix.

We went somewhere else, bought wool-mix. It's been down well over a decade and still looks good.

I suspect that the business model for certain places relies on people buying polyprop and replacing it more frequently.

Do not under any circumstances shop in Carpet right. Did it once. Never again. Local independent definitely.

Just warning you OP, polypropylene carpets give me sweaty feet! Others may be the same. Natural fabrics are nicer and insulate well. Wool is better for fire protection, for sustainability, and for looks imo.

Thanks all, really appreciate the advice. Will start looking!

Our small independent carpet shop was much cheaper the big chains.

You will also need carpet door strips, which usually come in gold or silver, so think about the colour.

Ensure you budget for new underlay. I'm sure they shop will tell you this anyway, bit don't forget to include this in your coatings.

My Mum once had a carpet that was deep red, but showed up literally every bit of fluff, so she was constantly vacuuming. I buy carpets with a slight depth to the colour, so it's not so noticible.

Where are you OP. I could recommend a great independent place if you happened to be near me and I’m sure others could too for other areas.

I agree with most posters...you specifically need 80% wool twist and decent underlay. Also think about avoiding something that’ll show up bits and constantly need hoovering e.g. avoid very dark single colour.