Carpets!

[SittHakim]

How in the name of heaven do I choose new carpets for a whole floor of a house? We've had the builders in for months (I want to say years) and they have ripped everything out and we're starting with a clean slate which I now have to decorate from first principles. I have no idea how to choose carpets: I always seem to have inherited acceptable ones from the previous owner of the houses I've lived in. If I buy wool ones, will the moths eat them? If I buy polypropylene ones will I spend my whole life getting static shocks? And why are they all beige or covered in disgusting patterns?

All tips welcome for a clueless householder! If I had the cash I would pay an interior designer to sort this stuff, but I don't, so I can't.

www.kingsmeadcarpets.co.uk/

Start looking on here, OP. We're an independent shop and sell loads via this company. At home, we've got polyprop in our upstairs rooms (teenage DDs who tend to wreck carpet, so make up and drinks easily wipe off these and they are stain resistant). We've got a wool stripe through the hall landing and stairs that doesn't show dirt (we've got a duck egg, sage and brown stripe which is hugely forgiving) and then we've got 80/20 wool twist in the living room. We've never had carpet moths, and it cleans well but you mustn't get it too wet otherwise you do get an awful smell. Baby wipes are your friends on wool.

We use Powerstep 9mm underlay - it's like chip foam and incredibly hard wearing.

Hi OP. We had to carpet our whole house in Feb when we moved in. We got a bleachable grey carpet. It's beautiful and feels so luxurious, my heart sings every time I see it. We got it from an independent shop.

Also the underlay was 10mm

We got some brilliant carpet for one of our bedrooms that badly needed it from John Lewis on a special offer earlier this year. Their summer clearance starts on Thursday and we'll be straight in there to choose what we want for the rest of the bedrooms, really impressed with the price, quality, delivery, installation, everything. It was a bit whiffy for a few days while the slightly chemical-y new carpet smell dissipated, but other than that, so happy with my new bouncy carpets.

@SittHakim do you mind if I ask what you went for and whether it's proved a good choice?! Just debating wool vs manmade for our stairs and bedrooms.

80-20 carpet is best. If you can get to John Lewis you can see the difference in tuft density etc etc.

I would never get wool again. Moths destroyed my last carpet! Ate a massive hole under the bed and lots of little holes around the edges. I didn't really know much about carpet moths at the time, just kept seeing moths and googled it! They where a nightmare to get rid of.

I can't remember what my carpets are made of now, but they're Saxony and really soft with a good underlay!

I replaced all the carpets in the holiday cottage I own. As any owner will tell you the carpets take a real beating from guests and as we take children and pets they have a really hard life.

I went for one that is actually bleachable - it's amazing. There is a high synthetic content but I've never had a shock from it and it doesn't look or feel cheap. After 4 years of abuse it still looks like new. Most marks come off with dish washing detergent and it feels lovely underfoot.

Whatever you choose don't skimp on the underlay - buy the best you can. It will add to the overall cost but it will make a real difference to how your carpet looks and feels and how well it will last.

I am leaning towards wool or 80-20 at the moment.

@SittHakim

And if I do buy wool, how do I keep the moths out of them?

Try living in the 21st century?

This sounds like something my great-grandparents would have worried about, along with rationing and rickets.

prefer wood floors with rugs - but they aren't great for noise.
Easier to keep clean, and change rugs inexpensively.
Fortunately there's a large ceiling void between me and the flat above.

Our wool carpet got horribly infested with moths and was ruined within a few years of it being laid - a very expensive mistake. It also really showed dirt (It was beige) and generally looked terrible!

We now have sisal which I LOVE. It’s a fine weave sisal in a sort of dark beige and it looks so good - much more stylish than wool. It’s not too rough and hides the dirt brilliantly. And we got rid of the moth infestation within weeks of it being put down.

I haven't read all comments so apologies if this has already been said but make sure you get a good quality underlay. That's actually more important than the carpet! Thin carpet on thick underlay is better than thick carpet on thin underlay!