Wool, polypropylene, crumb rubber, felt, moths, bleach...

[SJRSJR]

Never thought carpet buying could be so confusing.
In spite of the horror stories of moths and cleaning problems associated with wool carpets, I've caved in and we've pretty much decided on an Axminster Jacobs Tweed 80/20 for the stairs and landing. I believe Jacobs Twist would have been better for stairs but the carpet is a second, and I'm assured there difference won't be noticeable. Do you agree?

Now to the underlay. AxFelt is too expensive and I've read that Duralay Treadmore is the best for stairs. I've also read that it's quite hard underfoot with no springiness. I'd quite like some bounce so is it worth getting a different type of underlay for the landing but not the stairs? Or is there a less expensive felt underlay that works as well as AxFelt? Thanks.

 

[crazydaze]

You pay for what you get, the price difference between Treadmore and Axfelt should only be the matter of a £1m2 or so, there should be very little price difference to affect your choice.

There's nothing wrong with the tweed for your stairs landing, it's chunkier than the twist and won't look the same but will wear as well. The Jacob range is renowned for fading etc so I don't normally recommend it for areas with a lot of natural light falling on it for much of the day.

 

[SJRSJR]

Right then, thanks for that, I'm off wool again and back to polypropylene. There's a big window over part of the staircase and landing and the propspect of spending that much on a carpet (40 sq m) only to see it fade, attract moths and hold stains just eats me up. I also just had a carpet fitter warn me off crumb rubber, he said when it dries out it crumbles so I'm pretty much back to square one. I just want a decent stair carpet that will hold its own against 5 people. We aren't a shoes off household and judging by the amount of coffee stains the bare stairs have taken since we removed the staircarpet, I'm thinking polypropylene is the best bet after all. Does price alone determine the quality of polypropylene? How much should I look to pay for a decent one / which are the best brands? Thanks

 

[crazydaze]

Don't get me wrong, as a material Jacob Twist is vastly superior to polypropylene, but it is 100% wool and is a natural dyed range so can suffer as a consequence. Crumb Rubber is incredibly stable once fitted, it won't turn to dust, it is firm and does show imperfections in the subfloor more than Axfelt though. A good alternative to the Jacob would be Ulster York or Grange Wilton, Brintons Bell Twist Wilton, or Axminster Devonia Heathers. If you really must have the stain protection of man made, there's no way you'll find anything with the subtlety or blend of colour or long term appearance retention but look at Mohawk Freedom or Super Freedom, stunning stuff.

 

[SJRSJR]

Thanks very much for those alternatives, I'll check them out. The landing is floorboarded and although level there are a few gaps between them so it sounds like Axfelt would be better. I've also come across Wilson Multirich 56oz and Super Velvet Deluxe but they're 11mm/15mm. How do they compare? Won't thick underlay make the carpet dip down on to the rods?

 

[crazydaze]

I would'nt go thicker than 11mm, Ithink Axfelt is 9mm, as you say, the thicker stuff dips into door bars although raised edge door bars do compensate for this a bit (but not many fitters/shops etc spec them)