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Carpet underlay advice needed

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?
 
I used some underlay by Tredaire in the kids bedrooms (downstairs, suspended wooden floors) - it was about £5 per square metre and I don't have any complaints.
 
I would try a local independent carpet shop. You are likely to get better advice, and possibly price as well. In our last house, we got it all from John Lewis, but in our new one, we went local. They were very good, and ordered all the required carpet in one go, even though we wanted it fitting in several stages (as we needed to rub down and repaint all the skirting boards, which took several months). We only had to pay for the ones that were fitted as we went along, and the price per sq metre for carpet plus underlay was less than that for the John Lewis carpet without, for similar or better quality carpet.
 
I've no idea about wool felt underlay, but my advice would be to find an independent carpet fitter with access to their own wholesale supplies of carpet and underlay etc. I'm reliably informed by a carpet fitter mate of mine who does jobs for Carpetright that they sell carpet cheap and then make their money by charging through the nose for underlay, gripper and fitting etc. I saved 50% on the Carpetright quote: same carpet, same grippers etc, and better quality underlay.
 
Cloud 9, (i think its called) is what you are on about. Like the rubber ribbed stuff there are various grades, and you can get really amazing stuff made from rubber tires right through to very light weight stuff. It tends to be very good though, I don't think you would have an issue.

I wouldn't touch carpet right with yours though, particularly with todays news.
 
My parents still have the wool felt underlay that was put into the house when they finished building it in 1992. In almost all respects I'd say it is better than the synthetic stuff, the one respect I'd say it lacks in is how soft/yielding if feels under foot...but it soulds like that may be an advantage to you!
 
I was once told that the quality of the underlay is more important that that of the carpet. I've had the ribbed stuff (good and bad) over the years, but have found that the solid stuff (ours is Tredaire, I think) is not only more durable under a woollen carpet but grooves can be cut in it for speaker cables and the like, without affecting support (providing it's not too wide !).
 
Yup - buy good underlay. Ask your friends and neighbours - they will point you to a local independent carpet fitter. Better everything.
 
having had rather a lot of carpets fitted in recent months i recently bought some duralay rubber underlay from screwfix . i didn`t quite buy enough so asked my brilliant store if they could make up the rest and they said they couldn`t as no longer use . its good stuff though . actually i use built in underlay whenever i can and recently had a similar unevan floor and thick carpet with built in underlay did the trick

i was in united carpets again yesterday as thy are brilliant in our area in the midlands
https://www.screwfix.com/p/duralay-medium-carpet-underlay-80lb-waffle-7-8mm-10m/64634
 
Thanks for the tip on going directly to a local carpet fitter, I shall give the likes of CarpetRight a wide berth from now on!
 
We used Carpetright for the carpet and bought our own gripper and underlay - it was a huge saving. The fitter from Carpetright was a local contractor anyway and ours was excellent.

I did call a local company but they couldn’t get anywhere near Carpetrights price. 9mm Cloud 9 in most rooms, 11mm on stairs and landing.
 
We used the cheap black Carpetright underlay (the same as you ?) and have had no problem with it at all.
It's major advantage to us was that it sticks very well with carpet tape so you don't need those horrible grippers.
It was laid onto a concrete floor though.
I'd always want to put down some boards for an old wooden floor.
 
problem with putting boards down is it is expensive and makes access difficult in future . i perposely put down thick carpet with built in underlay over a wretched floor that was 16mm plywood in a barrett home aboout 26 years old . what a pain that stuff was . i had to spend ages reinforcing it as it bounced where it had been cut for pipes etc

in a couple of weeks will be doing a bathroom with thick vinyl as need access to the underneath of bathroom as we have had 2 or 3 leaks in past 5 years . so really it should be boarded but by planing floorboards and a bit of work they are level enough for vinyl
 
Once you've lifted a board or two (there are normally a couple of shaky ones due to, erm, people putting in pipes) you can see the routing of the pipes. Mark on the boards avec a sharpie or similar and screw happily around them, as they say.
 


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