I need a new carpet, how do I know what's good quality?

[VivaLeBeaver]

Sorry I know this is boring.

I want a brown carpet for the sitting room. I'm guessing I need underlay as well. Current carpet was ancient when we moved in 10 years ago and you can now see the white square backing as its so thin. I can't imagine any underlay is good enough to be reused.

Only got a budget of about £500 inc fitting. Room is 4.6mx3.8m

So I've found a few I like on Carpetright website. Is it just a case of the most expensive will be the best? How do I know if their sale prices are true prices? Will the carpet that is £13 a sq mtr (reduced from £30 a sq mtr) be better than the £16 a sq mtr carpet? Is it a case of the softer, flufflier the better it is? Or are soft carpets just more likely to wear down quicker?

I like;

www.carpetright.co.uk/super-top-twist-mocha-heather-5.html

www.carpetright.co.uk/ashbourne-rich-velvet-2.html

www.carpetright.co.uk/kosset-heathers-coffee-2.html

This one is 1/2 price?

www.carpetright.co.uk/lyndhurst-heathers-truffle-3.html

we've got the super-top-twist in almond I think. had it about a year. was recommended by the independent carpet surveyor who did our insurance claim as a good/hardwearing/cheap/easy to clean carpet especially when you have kids. havent had any major spills yet.

overall happy with general appearance a year on apart from:

• some bluetak got stuck in it and I cant get out without pulling more fibres out, so have left, luckly its in quite a inconspicous area.

• our room has a bit over 5 metres wide so we have a join which is very visible (the fitters came back and redid 3 times and its better than first attempts, but still very noticable - not sure if its because its a plain carpet)

-we also have this on stairs as they are in our living room. it gets quite flat on the stairs, but I blame dh's size 11 flat feet/trainers for this. I give it a brush to lift the pile, but it gets flat again quite quick.

Get the best/thickest underlay you can afford, this always makes a huge difference.

Do you have a local independent carpet shop? We got quotes from the chains and from our local shop and the independent place was cheaper for better quality, and the fitting was cheaper. I think carpet right are actually a bit of a con

Thanks lindax, good to know the super top twist quality is ok.

I assumed an independent shop would be more expensive. I'll have a look through the yellow pages tomorrow and find one and go have a look. Thanks for that.