Ten Carpet Buying Tips

Buying a carpet is a big deal, and a big long term investment. With the amount of money involved, and the fact that once it's fitted, it's there for many years to come, it's vital that you get it right - and first time. It's not only the colour and design of the carpet you need to worry about; cost and especially quality play a part too. You can pay a huge amount for a carpet, especially if you buy carpet online - but if it only lasts a couple of years, it's a very poor investment. Therefore you need to strike a balance between the amount of money you pay in comparison to the quality of carpet. Keeping costs down while maintaining a decent quality of carpet is a difficult task.

Therefore here's a few tips to help you along the way; and make that task less difficult altogether.

Planning

1. Where is the carpet going? If the carpet is fitted in the hallway or the stairs for example, it will receive a lot more wear than if it's fitted in the bedroom or spare room.

2. What are the plans for the room? What are the future plans for decorating in the room? The last thing you want to do is have a carpet fitted, then decide to paint the walls and risk having paint over the floor - If redecorating, choose the carpet first and match the rest of the décor to the floor chosen - But, most importantly, make sure the carpet is the last thing to be installed to the room.

3. Plain, Patterned, Textured, Bordered? Decide between colour and design, you have a large range of choices to make here.

4. Long Term Purchase? How long do you want the carpet to last? If you don't plan on staying long, or intend on moving house, don't splash out on an expensive carpet; a cheap alternative will last you long enough. Alternatively, if you're intending to use the carpet day in day out for many years to come, invest in quality which will last.

5. What's the budget? Remember to include fitting and transport costs, along with underlay and gripper rod - sometimes these aren't included in the price mentioned.

Once you've decided on these first five issues, you're ready to have your carpet ordered, and move on with the process.

Buying

6. Have the room measured. Don't do this yourself. Have the room measured professionally instead. A carpet fitter will know how much space they can save by cutting off areas and ordering an optimal size of carpet. Not all rooms are square, but the roll of carpet has to be cut to fit.

7. Take a carpet sample. The vast majority of carpet retailers will let you take a carpet sample home, allowing you to test for yourself just what the carper might look like once it's on the floor. Don't just settle on the one colour or style either, try a few.

8. Buy New Underlay. The underside of the carpet is just as important as the top. Preserving the underneath of the carpet with brand new underlay will allow your carpet to survive longer. Sometimes a new underlay can provide an additional 40% life in a carpet, so don't ignore it.

9. Have a professional fit the carpet. Check their standards; most carpet retailers and carpet fitters have quality standards. Look for something like the Carpet Foundation logo, to ensure they are trusted, reputable and will do a good job. When the carpet is fitted, make sure to keep any cut off carpet from the job, as you never know when you might need it!

10. Buy the best you can afford. If you've got a budget of £5000, don't spend half of that - a more expensive carpet will have much more quality. With carpet you absolutely get what you pay for. Not only will it last you longer, saving you money in the long run, but you'll notice the difference under your foot too.