ToTo Man
the band not the dog
Last year we re-carpeted our seldom-used TV room on a tight budget, included new underlay too. Previously our approach to re-carpeting less than perfectly level suspended wooden floors was to sheet them in ply, put down rubber waffle underlay, then the carpet. However upon our visit to major carpet shops last year we discovered they were peddling two new types of underlay; squidgy polyurethane foam (www.carpetright.co.uk/underlay/enchant-1-37m) and firmer black styrofoam (www.carpetright.co.uk/underlay/charm). We chose the black stuff as it felt more stable underfoot (important as I have balance/mobility issues). The fact it was also considerably cheaper was an added bonus.
We had a pre-fitting visit to evaluate the condition of the floor and were advised that hardboarding over the floorboards wasn't necessary and that the underlay and carpet would be fine on their own. The underlay and carpet was subsequently fitted and the fitter did a very neat and tidy job. However it wasn't long before regret about our choice of underlay started to set in. I hadn't noticed during the testing of it in the store that it had a tendency to 'squeak' and 'fart' as you walked across it! Fortunately we don't use the room much so are willing to live with it as is.
However we are just about to re-carpet the guest bedroom and do not wish to make the same mistake again. I've just checked the Carpetright website and see that they do still stock the traditional rubber waffle underlay, but at £9.99 m2 it is significantly more than we'd want to spend. I'd therefore like to ask for advice on a significantly cheaper alternative that I've only just become aware of; wool felt underlay. According to my basic calculations I could underlay the room with wool felt for a fraction of the price of commercial synthetic underlays. Are there any reasons why I should not use wool felt as a carpet underlay on a suspended wooden floor?
We had a pre-fitting visit to evaluate the condition of the floor and were advised that hardboarding over the floorboards wasn't necessary and that the underlay and carpet would be fine on their own. The underlay and carpet was subsequently fitted and the fitter did a very neat and tidy job. However it wasn't long before regret about our choice of underlay started to set in. I hadn't noticed during the testing of it in the store that it had a tendency to 'squeak' and 'fart' as you walked across it! Fortunately we don't use the room much so are willing to live with it as is.
However we are just about to re-carpet the guest bedroom and do not wish to make the same mistake again. I've just checked the Carpetright website and see that they do still stock the traditional rubber waffle underlay, but at £9.99 m2 it is significantly more than we'd want to spend. I'd therefore like to ask for advice on a significantly cheaper alternative that I've only just become aware of; wool felt underlay. According to my basic calculations I could underlay the room with wool felt for a fraction of the price of commercial synthetic underlays. Are there any reasons why I should not use wool felt as a carpet underlay on a suspended wooden floor?