New carpets, dos and don'ts..

[lavenderhoney]

I need new carpets everywhere in the house except downstairs and the bathroom upstairs. It seems very expensive and one crowd who quoted don't take away the carpet!

I was going to have the same colour throughout and as am price sensitive go for the cheaper end of the spectrum, but the carpet seems a bit harsh, like a doormat really. Is it really uncomfortable? Its like a sea grass I think, that texture. What carpet have you got, and any tips and advice v welcome!

I don't know of any carpet shop who remove the old carpet, we have always either taken to the dump or paid for council to take it away.

As for price we paid around £400 per room for carpet and underlay.

The newer type of underlay that looks like this is way nicer than this type. We lifted our carpet while we were having building work done. We had it relaid afterwords. I regret not replacing all the underlay. There's a massive difference under foot in the one room with the new underlay. Its more luxurious and feels like a more expensive carpet.

The companies that I looked at either included old carpet removal in their quote or asked if I wanted it added. We got our 3 bedroom house done for just under £4000. We have the type of underlay burnished suggested. And I think the carpet was £20 per metre. Good luck OP.

How big are your rooms? You can usually get quite cheap remnants for smaller rooms.

It's going to be about £2k for 75sqm inc taking it all away, underlay etc. the carpet itself is £15 down from £20. I think this is quite good, plus they don't expect me to clear all the rooms, they do that.

I used to work for a carpet retailer. If they take away the old carpet they will charge you, as the fitters will have to pay to take it to the dump, whereas it's free for domestic dumpers! They also expect to have rooms empty so they come straight in and lay the carpet. Also, some houses aren't too clean/hygienic and the fitters don't really want/shouldn't have to to deal with nasties from furniture or carpets!

If you would like to let me know the make of carpet you have been quoted on I can advise, £15 down from £20 means nothing, there is no rrp on carpets, just what the seller wants to mark up, as long as its been advertised for 28 days at the previous price, they can offer it as a "sale" price. You will be paying for uplift/disposal and furniture moving, it will be factored in to the overall cost either directly or indirectly. £2000 for 75sq breaks down to around £26.7 per sq mtr all in, so £11.70 for u/lay/gripper/doorbars and fitting, far too much!!

We had a local carpet fitting company. They took everything away, moved furniture etc.

The cost is in the fitting, underlay (they only did one sort which is a very good one) so it wasn't worth saving money on the actual carpet, so paid another £300 for a denser, more hardwearing pile. It was £3500 for the whole house. The main rooms were wool and the children's bedrooms polypropylene.

Actually the cost isn't in the fitting and underlay, for a lot of shops the main PROFIT, is in the underlay and gripper, looking at the individual price of either the carpet,underlay or gripper is, or can be misleading, the total cost for all material supplied, work involved is the only true guideline. and as I said you will be paying for disposal (unless you use a company that fly tips) and the fitters will have to be paid more for uplifting and furniture moving, not always obvious where this cost will come from though. Disclaimer, I have been in the trade for 36years, and had my own carpet business for 31.

Well, it was a lot cheaper and better than carpetright, and they made a good job of it, so earned their profit.

I need to decide on carpet or wooden floor?
Any suggestions.

I bought a polypropylene carpet for my dd bedroom this year.
She has got stains on it from make up.
I cannot get them out.
I've tried carpet cleaner.
What should I be doing?

Your supposed to be able to use bleach on polypropylene carpet - not sure I would though. Try neat washing up liquid to dissolve the make up then rinse it out using a cold water spray and a towel to blot up the suds.

It is a white carpet. Maybe bleach would be ok.

White carpet in a child's bedroom!

We find vanish good

Yes. I know. It wasn't expensive and I really thought it would be stain proof because of being polypropylene.

Makeup remover is usually oil or alcohol or both (most makeup is soluble in one or the other). So you could try those options to dissolve the makeup and then carpet shampoo afterwards to get it off?

OP I can't help with your q but I'm watching with interest as we will soon have the same dilemma!