Carpet fitting labour charges

Markbon · 12 May 2013

Hello. I had about 70 square mertres of carpet layed recently. Underlay was already there. I was told labour was £2.50 a metre. Which comes to £175
The labour actually came to £330.
I had about 10 threshold strips put in so am wondering how much they would have charged for that? They also nailed the grippers. Can anyone suggest how the bill is so high before I ring them up. I probably bought about 90 m2 of carpet including waste. so wonder if they times that by £2.50 instead, not that that would make up the difference. There was no vat on the labour.

crazydaze · 12 May 2013

The amount of carpet handled will always be charge for by the m2, not the amount of floor area that it is fitted too so it should be 90m2 x £2.50 (based on your understanding of how the job was to be quoted)

If stairs are involved, you will be likely charged an additional stair charge for the extra time, planning and cutting required £20 - £40 per flight.

The door threshold strips, if they are the standard metal strips, normally retail between £4 and £5 each.

Gripper would likely be charged at £1 to £2 per length (5ft) however if the fitters have needed to stick or stick and pin them to a concrete floor, there will be a charge for the adhesive, probably £2 - £3 per piece of gripper.

Why was there no VAT on the labour? was it a cash in hand job with the fitter paying the VAT through his accounts?

The amount you have paid sounds about right if one of my fitting teams were doing a private job 'out of hours' seperate from our normal business works.

lymmranger · 13 May 2013

+ 1 to the above advice!

(Oh, just one thing.......

crazydaze said:
Why was there no VAT on the labour? was it a cash in hand job with the fitter paying the VAT through his accounts?

crazydaze · 13 May 2013

lymmranger said:
+ 1 to the above advice!

(Oh, just one thing.......

crazydaze said:

Why was there no VAT on the labour? was it a cash in hand job with the fitter paying the VAT through his accounts?

Click to expand...

Exactly

Markbon · 13 May 2013

I dont know why there was no vat. The shop dont use their own fitters so maybe the fella is under the treshold.

Thanks for the answers I suspect the bill was a bit too high but close enough to leave things be.

I will have to ring em up about something else though. There are a few places that have worn. After only 10 days. I was advised to have a polyprop carpet because its meant to be tough!!

crazydaze · 13 May 2013

hoq said:
I dont know why there was no vat. The shop dont use their own fitters so maybe the fella is under the treshold.

Thanks for the answers I suspect the bill was a bit too high but close enough to leave things be.

I will have to ring em up about something else though. There are a few places that have worn. After only 10 days. I was advised to have a polyprop carpet because its meant to be tough!!

It's highly unlikely that the carpet is wearing out, what you are almost certainly experiencing is some pile pressure. All carpets will show this but polypropylene is especially susceptible as the yarn is quite shiney so when light reflects off the pile at different angles, it looks a different shade etc. the carpet is wearing out if the pile is lifting out or you can start to see the backing etc.

It's possible that its pile reversal, if it looks like someone has thrown a bucket of water across the carpet randomly, then this is what you are experiencing and you might get a replacement.

Is the pile short and dense or deeper and softer? If its the latter, it's far more susceptible to pressure shading, but it's certainly not a fault.

Polypropylene is tough as old boots, but it won't keep it's appearance as well as a wool mix, it will be naturally stain resistant. On the other hand it will be a lot cheaper than an equivalent quality wool rich carpet, you pays your money and takes your choice.

Best to take some pictures and pop into wherever you bought the carpet, ask for them to inspect it if necessary.

Do you use a cylinder or upright vacuum cleaner? This will be the first question they will probably ask you. If you use a cylinder cleaner, it won't brush the pile correctly, you should really be using an upright with beater bar although this wont stop pile pressure in a polypropylene carpet, it will recover the pile better.

Markbon · 14 May 2013

Yeah I wouldn't say its a wear as such but there are patches that are now flattened and somewhat faded. And that was with no hoovering at all. Basically though the carpet in those areas looks knackered and it was noticable after a week-10 days. Ive noticed a few other areas since, to be honest a fussy person who saw it would say we need a new carpet already.

crazydaze · 14 May 2013

hoq said:
Yeah I wouldn't say its a wear as such but there are patches that are now flattened and somewhat faded. And that was with no hoovering at all. Basically though the carpet in those areas looks knackered and it was noticable after a week-10 days. Ive noticed a few other areas since, to be honest a fussy person who saw it would say we need a new carpet already.

Like I said, it's highly unlikely that the carpet is faulty, it's common for this appearance to occur especially in polypropylene and is completely normal.

lymmranger · 14 May 2013

Of course one very obvious question....

you DID have new underlay I hope......

....because if you didn`t then I am sorry but you can forget a complaint, any inspector will throw out such a claim

EDIT - oops I note from your post 1 that you didn`t

that could make things tricky

Markbon · 14 May 2013

If its normal then they shouldnt sell this stuff, cardboard would have lasted longer.
Yes new underlay. 9mm. As it happens the worn/dodgy bit has occured on the only part of the house where the fitter also layed the underlay. Its only a small area so I didnt mention it in the origional post. The rest went down a few weeks before the fitter came as I had estate agents in to give a value on the property.

crazydaze · 14 May 2013

hoq said:
If its normal then they shouldnt sell this stuff, cardboard would have lasted longer.
Yes new underlay. 9mm. As it happens the worn/dodgy bit has occured on the only part of the house where the fitter also layed the underlay. Its only a small area so I didnt mention it in the origional post. The rest went down a few weeks before the fitter came as I had estate agents in to give a value on the property.

I can almost guarantee that the carpet is not wearing out, what you are describing is almost certainly a pressure mark, NOT wear. The appearance has changed due to the way light is reflecting off the pile, it has nothing to do with wearing out.

If the carpet was wearing out, it would appear threadbare and tufts etc would have come out of the carpet and worn away, even the cheapest of the cheap carpet won't wear out in 10 days.

Assuming its pressure, this will have no effect on how hard wearing the carpet is, it's purely a visual phenomena, the carpet will wear just fine. All carpets will suffer from pressure, it just so happens that polypropylene is particular susceptible to showing pile pressure for a number of reasons however, it's highly unlikely that the carpet is faulty or wearing out.

It's well worth having a constructive chat with the retailer and discussing the issue, but be prepared for a similar answer to what I have put above.

Retailers will be well versed in inspecting pressure shading in carpet and will normally agree to inspect and if necessary ask a manufacturer to cast their eye over it too. Reputable retailers will happily discuss the issue further, for instance, under the above circumstances, if my customer felt they had made a mistake in choice of carpet, I'd offer an allowance towards re-selecting another type of carpet, but I'd be looking to cover the costs of the original carpet, I.e. I wouldn't replace it out of the goodness of my heart for free, but I would offer the customer the opportunity to limit their losses, your likely to need to cover the costs of fitting again though in full.

Petest67 · 14 May 2013

How often do you vacuum? You"re meant to do it regularly

If you haven"t been vacuuming then that will contribute to the flattening.

lymmranger · 15 May 2013

crazydaze said:
hoq said:

If its normal then they shouldnt sell this stuff, cardboard would have lasted longer.
Yes new underlay. 9mm. As it happens the worn/dodgy bit has occured on the only part of the house where the fitter also layed the underlay. Its only a small area so I didnt mention it in the origional post. The rest went down a few weeks before the fitter came as I had estate agents in to give a value on the property.

Click to expand...

I can almost guarantee that the carpet is not wearing out, what you are describing is almost certainly a pressure mark, NOT wear. The appearance has changed due to the way light is reflecting off the pile, it has nothing to do with wearing out.

If the carpet was wearing out, it would appear threadbare and tufts etc would have come out of the carpet and worn away, even the cheapest of the cheap carpet won't wear out in 10 days.

Assuming its pressure, this will have no effect on how hard wearing the carpet is, it's purely a visual phenomena, the carpet will wear just fine. All carpets will suffer from pressure, it just so happens that polypropylene is particular susceptible to showing pile pressure for a number of reasons however, it's highly unlikely that the carpet is faulty or wearing out.

It's well worth having a constructive chat with the retailer and discussing the issue, but be prepared for a similar answer to what I have put above.

Retailers will be well versed in inspecting pressure shading in carpet and will normally agree to inspect and if necessary ask a manufacturer to cast their eye over it too. Reputable retailers will happily discuss the issue further, for instance, under the above circumstances, if my customer felt they had made a mistake in choice of carpet, I'd offer an allowance towards re-selecting another type of carpet, but I'd be looking to cover the costs of the original carpet, I.e. I wouldn't replace it out of the goodness of my heart for free, but I would offer the customer the opportunity to limit their losses, your likely to need to cover the costs of fitting again though in full.

+ 1 to this advice

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Carpet fitting labour charges

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