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At this time of year, with Winter around the corner lots of people around South Wales are thinking of buying new carpets- so here’s some helpful tips for saving money and making the right choice.
Shop around!
Often the same exact brand name carpets that you will find in the big national carpet chains can be bought much cheaper from out of town discount factory outlets- such as Carpet Castle in Caerphilly.
Durability
The tightness of the pile is more important than the overall weight or thickness of the carpet. Try pressing on the carpet with your hand and see how quickly the pile bounces back. Also, the type of yarn used to make the carpet is important. Most carpets these days are manufactured from polypropylene, but for an extra hard-wearing carpet look for one made out of nylon or polyester.
One of the hardest-wearing carpet types is called a “Twist” so if durability is what you need definitely ask the salesman to see the twist samples.
Think about which room you’re carpeting and how much footfall it will have to endure. Stairs and landings often require a much more durable carpet than a bedroom.
Stains!
One of the biggest trends in carpets at the moment is bleach-cleanable yarn. The carpet is made from yarn that is bleach-resistant, so you can literally use bleach to clean your carpet- eliminating most (but not all!) stains.
Shades of grey!
Grey is by far the most popular colour in carpets in the moment. But whatever colours you consider it really important to think about the sorts of colours that are trending because you’ll find that similar colour palettes are common across the home furnishing industry at the same time- so popular sofas, furniture, wallpapers etc will be easier to match with a carpet that is a fashionable colour. That said, of course you can never go wrong with a neutral colour- it goes with almost anything!
Width
Most carpets are four metres wide but it is possible to buy five metres wide carpets. If your room is more than four metres in width, then you could consider joining the carpet. This is very common and a good fitter should be able to ensure an almost invisible join. The quality of the join however will be greatly affected by the type of carpet- a longer pile will hide a join much more easily than a very short pile carpet.
Underlay
You may not need to replace your underlay if it hasn’t been down for long. It’s worth checking out whether the existing underlay is okay to be reused before you buy your carpet. Just lift up a section of the existing carpet and have a look. Grippers rarely need replacing, but just check to be sure.
Fitting
Your carpet shop should be able to supply you with names of reputable carpet fitters, who will usually collect your carpet from the shop for you as well. Fitting should cost between £2.50 and £3 per square metre. But it’s always best to get an exact quote from the fitter beforehand- since some jobs are more complicated than others. Also, most carpet fitters are self employed, so it’s worth asking the shop whether they regularly inspect the quality of the fitter’s work or maybe get a recommendation from a friend or online. That said, a good carpet shop will probably only give out phone numbers of fitters they trust.
Consider an off-cut!
Save yourself some money. Most carpets are cut to size from very large rolls but if your room is under five metres by four metres in size then it’s possible that you could buy a remnant or off-cut that would be cheaper. Ask your carpet shop if they have remnants in stock or visit one of the big discount warehouses such as Carpet Castle who stock literally hundreds of bargain remnants.
Backing
Most carpets are hessian or “Action” backed which is a solid backing which the yarn is tufted into, but these carpets always require underlay in addition to the carpet itself. However, there are many felt-backed carpets available which have a thin felt underlay already built into the backing- eliminating the need for you to buy underlay. Another great way for you to save money.