Hi all, Just found this forum during a Google search and wanted to query a quote I had today to fit and supply a stair carpet and landing. The carpet was a poly twist I think costing 22.71 per sq metre. Underlay is about £7.00 - "free" fitting. I might have grippers already but they are 30 years old so guess would need new? Anyway, I'll try to describe the measurements:- Landing area: 3.44m x 1.10m (first rectangle) ------ total carpet required 3mtres (of the 4 m width carpet) Landing area 1.10 x 1.02m ( second rectangle) These form an L shape with the bottom of the L measuring 2.12 across (1.02m + 1.10m) and the long side of the L measuring 3.44m. The small side of the L is 1.10m taking into account the top riser. Sorry this sounds really complicated! Straight stairs x 12. 0.83 wide and 0.38 per complete step. -------- 2m of the 4m width carpet - cut into 87cm strips The carpet comes in a 4m width. Am I right in that I should only need 5metres to do a cap and band? They've quoted a massive 14metres however they didn't ask me what method of fitting! How much do fitters charge to do this sort of fitting and do they all do it? Help much appreciated!! I'm in the York area if that makes a difference?
14 linear or 14 square metres? id assume its the latter, as 14m2 would kick out a 3.5x4, you can only by carpet by the 4/5m width and so you get charged like that for the supply and the fit i.e.: if you need a 3.5x4 to get the landing in one bit and the stairs but end up not using part of it (waste) you still pay for that carpet and the fitting on it.
who has mentioned 'cap and band'? If its a normal domestic house & a domestic carpet, then a 'waterfall' install is the norm As mentioned above, the carpets come set widths, nothing to be done about that, its the way they are made. each fitter charges whatever they feel is required to do the job properly, you dont have a set rate for everyone etc.. if your dubious about the sizes, then you should query them with the fitter/estimator 99% of us are more than happy with customers that take a genuine inerest in what were doing and how we do it, so dont worry if you think you'll offend them by asking.. If you have any more questions, feel free to fire away, we are all here to help In fact, there may be a fitter on here that is near you that can help you out?
I'm assuming your quotation was approx £415? Opinions will always vary on flooring but my tuppence worth is that as standard I like to replace gripper when fitting stairs. I find the nails can get slightly bent when fitting a stair carpet and therefore I like refresh with new. Also, I tend to believe there is no such thing as free and if your buying a polyprop carpet at £22.71 I'm struggling to get point in fitting a £7 underlay? Hmm perhaps a £3-4 underlay and the fitting is another £3-4? I remember my very first boss used to offer free fitting but then I realised he included a few pounds extra in the product price.
a plain carpet 3.5 x 4mtr should cover it, always replace gripper and underlay. What type of underlay is it rubber/pu foam? What carpet? If you can stretch slightly more on your budget you could get a much better carpet for little extra.
The amount of people who say to me "oh but so-snd-so is offering free fitting" Do they honestly think that there are people sitting about waiting on the phone to ring to then offer their services for nothing? Not having a dig, but the overall price will take into effect the price of the fitting as well
Yup, as Tarkett says there are some really good carpets available to you if you stretch to the mid to high £20s. Are you looking at patterned or plain carpet?
its so funny that people still fall for that rubbish.i see vans saying free fitting, free underlay, free door bars, free gripper, so you just pay the normal price for the carpet, yes sure you do! The shops dont want to make any money, everything is free.
id like to know what the polyprop is for nearly 23 quid. id be selling you a 50oz berwick for that money.
I sold a 50oz 80/20 carpet today @ £25.99 + Underlay @ £4.50 and fitting @ £3.50. I gave the customer the choice of roughly 6 different underlays ranging from £3.25 up to £5.25 and they opted for one in the middle. Customers should appreciate that professional fitters are worth paying properly. You wouldn't expect a builder to supply the bricks for your new house and build it free ;-)
Thanks for replies all. I came across cap and band method when I Googled most economical way of laying carpet, I have no idea about carpet fitting at all but like to do a bit of research first (I work hard for my money and like to know where it's going!). I realise of course that nothing is "free" (hence the inverted commas in my post!) and to be honest I would rather get a fitter of my own to provide all the underlay, grippers etc and pay them direct (avoiding extra profits to carpet sellers). I've seen rolls of Cloud 9 for about £3 a metre online so I know the underlay is overpriced to account for the free fitting! I chose the carpet seller as it was a local business ( I'm hesitant to go with Carpetright or any of the other big names). I'm pretty sure it was polyprop and 14 linear metres...quote was £450 to include underlay and "free" fitting. I might have to have a rethink - 42oz wool mix for that price? Any good websites you can recommend for supply? Cheers all, much appreciated
i take the cap and band they refer to is a bull nose, even so 3.5 mts x 4 mts = 14 sq mts will do (if its a plain carpet). Most professional fitters prefer to do the bull nose in one piece rather than cap and band of if you would like a sown bull nose (not often done nowadays) this would normally cost extra. as coolevilangle say most stairs in domestic setting are waterfall rather than capped (we call it french capped over here) sometimes called hollywood/ americian stairs. Free fitting is a fallicy, at the end of the day a someone has to be paid for the work he/she is either employed by the shop or is on a fixed price for the job either way they normally provide the minium service required. one thing to check for is that full stair is covered in underlay ie riser and tread, not just 2 inches over the nose of the stair they could save nearly 2 mts of underlay (£14) doing this and it also shows as to the standard of the fitter
on stairs use a good quality rubber like colours red or treadmore, and 42 0z is quite lightweight for stairs go 50 0z plus. The PU foam underlays such as cloud 9 are better suited for comfort than wear i.e. lounges and bedrooms plus MOST online suppliers are either B Grade/ chinese inferior copies or damaged etc... stick with a reputable local retailer.
I've just ordered samples of Cormar, Home Counties Wool twist Fossil £17.99 (80%wool 10 % poly 10%nylon), made in uk I think (I hope). It's only 42oz though... I think there was a 50% option. A link (please no links or names for online shops unless permission from admin ) put me to the Cormar site, should I be wary that I won't get that carpet and it might be a copy? Going into town tomorrow too to visit another local supplier... I bought my oak engineered flooring online from name removed and it's absolutely lovely.Gosh this is harder than I thought!
always check they have a retail premises if they're selling online, also for what Cormar is costing you for a little more you could buy a proper carpet from Westex or similar manufacturer (Much Much better carpets for what you pay)
