Carpets, underlay & carpetright

[Mr. Clueless]

There's only 2 carpet shops in this area & the warehouse one we wasn't keen on what was there. We've also previously bought from carpetright. I know that'll make some of you start swearing!

We're looking at carpeting the:

1) living room
2) Hall, stairs & landing

First off i'm wondering what sort of underlay should be used here.

Having a look at what they have in CR, their 'top' stuff is some £12.99 11mm "Red Carpet Underlay". It's pretty spongey stuff & feels real nice.

A bit of a google though throws up the exact same thing at almost half price from underlay4u.

They also priced up for the stairs the "Comfort Master 2015 Carpet Underlay 9.5mm" @ £9.99 (obviously m2). I haven't yet searched this but 1) i'm sure it'll be cheaper online and 2) i'm not sure if this is good stuff or what.

There was spongey underlay, rubbery underlay, but we've no idea which material is best for which room.


For the living room we'd want that nice 'walking on air' feeling but hopefully not to leave a load of marks on the carpet.

So basically just looking to see what underlay is ideal for each of these.




Also the carpet itself. I'm actually happy with the price of the carpet from there, but there was some at the exact same price which felt a tad thicker. If it feels like a thin carpet, what sort of lifespan would you be expecting? I was thinking against a really deep pile carpet as i would've thought through high traffic areas it'd 'mush down' over some years use. Also we don't really want to have to plane the doors down.


Advice very welcome.

 

[crazydaze]

Soft underlays will result in heavier denting compared to firmer, more supportive underlays.

Something like Tredaire Dreamwalk 11mm puFoam underlay is about as deep and soft as you will get that will still allow the carpet to hold on medium pin gripper, we sell it retail at £6m2

I would, in every situation, fit carpet on natural felt where ever possible, or a real premium combo felt like Axminster Axfelt65, you wont get a really soft feel, but you will get superior wear, appearance retention and both heat and sound insulation.

To be truthful, all the questions you are asking would be answered genuinely by a decent carpet shop, and with samples in hand, the advantages/disadvantages can be explained more easily.

It's well known that Carpet Right is an expensive place to buy a fitted 'package' from.

It's also a little unfair if you are buying retail to compare the price of internet supplied accessories to those quoted by a retailer, retailers are entitiled to make a profit, especially if they are dealing with the installation etc, it's easy to skim a small profit off accessories like underlay when supplying them and taking no responsibilty to the intricacies of installation etc.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

I totally appreciate everyone has to make their money at the end of the day, but at the same time I have to save some of mine too. If that means getting a piece of underlay from CR at £10 for example & i can get that exact same piece elsewhere for £5 then i will go elsewhere. If we were talking £9 elsewhere then i would've just said forget it & gone with the all-in-one, but when we're looking at damn near half price, you can't knock it.

I know i could also save on the carpet too if i was willing to travel to a smaller company out of town but at this moment in time i'm not going to do that. I should've given myself more breathing space as far as time went but that's my fault.



To be honest, having the whole thing last a long time is higher up the priority list for us than it is the carpet feeling squishy for a few months & then flat as a pancake thereafter. So if that helps with the underlay name then that's what we'd be looking for. Obviously it'd be nice to have some sort of balance.




For your professional personal opinion, which underlay would you advise for the stairs/landing/hall & which for the living room?

Would you say go for:

Hall/landing/stairs ... Axminster Axfelt65
Living Room ... Tredaire Dreamwalk 11mm pUFoam

?

And what of this "Cloud 9" stuff? I read it's supposed to be the bees knees but that wasn't from someone within the business.



Oh and they came for a measure up today. Apparently we need 14m2 for the hall/stairs/landing and 23m2 for the living room.

Although i worked out the living room & i got to 23.something m2 so i would've thought you'd round it upwards to 24m2 not downwards.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

Well i sent out a contact to an online underlay seller last night. Asked a few questions & for general advice. They're sending out some samples.

They seemed to recommend the Cloud 9 Cumulus & Tredaire Dreamwalk.

They also mentioned the Tredaire Colours Green & Colours Red as something to look at also. I felt the colours red in CR & it felt very spongey. Nice. Not convinced on how long it'd last though or whether it's the most suitable.

I did some googling on that Axfelt65 you mentioned & it seems not so easy to get hold of unlike the others mentioned.


This is a funny thing. You start to google & (for example) you get one forum where they discuss the Cloud 9 & Tredaire (the 2 that constantly seem to come up) & people rave over them. Generally more the Cloud 9 than the Tredaire.
Then you continue the reading, hop on to another site & they get slated really as overhyped rubbish that are fantastic to begin with but will go flat within 12 months.
Then you continue the search to find people say they've had theirs in for 5 years & it's still real nice.

Doesn't help my selecting of course lol




EDIT: That was one point i did read - one website had someone mentioning if you use thick underlay (11mm) then there was issue with the grippers & you can see the ridges. Obviously i don't know if they had a bad fitter or if that can be the case.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

Well the samples from tradepriced came today.

I instantly ruled out about 4 of them & whittled it down to...

Tredaire Dreamwalk
Cloud 9 Cumulus
Tredaire Colours Red
Tredaire Colours Green

The red & green are rubbery & most of the underlay i look at & the feedback suggests that people have is foam & i think so many people surely can't be wrong.


There's not a huge difference in it. The only real difference i noticed was that the dreamwalk feels more 'squishy' than the Cloud 9. The Cloud 9 is just as thick but feels a tad firmer, which i think could possibly work out better.

 

[crazydaze]

I've sent a pm.

 

[overstressed]

what did you end up deciding in the end?