The Dogmother Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 As you may know, I'm not a fan of carpets, and in most of my house I have stripped the original Victorian floorboards. I am currently working on the attic room, which will be a bedroom; the floorboards up there are in poor condition and with gaps which i have had to patch with chipboard. Clearly, I am going to have to carpet it with something but the wool carpet which I like will cost over £1k for that room (incl. underlay and fitting), I have looked at cheaper, polypropylene carpets (which I hate the idea of) and they come in at half that price, but look and feel poor in comparison. I'd prefer as natural a flooring as possible and wouldn't consider laminates as they are out of keeping with the period of the house. Any ideas? The area includes some steep and narrow stairs, and I eventually intend to use the same floor covering on the first floor landing and the stairs down to the ground floor. I'd be interested to hear your advice and experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 How about the sisal type of carpet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 As someone who compromised and went for a cheaper carpet (still 90 per cent wool, mind), I'd say I regret it almost every day in life - partly, I'm sure, because a pale-ish green stair carpet was a completely stupid idea with two greyhounds, a hill-running husband and a chicken-keeping me; my excuse is it looked darker in the shop. If I were doing it again, I'd spend as much as I could reasonably afford. Could you get rugs or kelim to cover the bits where there's chipboard and wax or varnish the rest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 How about the sisal type of carpet? That was one of my first ideas, but the cheapest is the same price as the wool carpet .... Could you get rugs or kelim to cover the bits where there's chipboard and wax or varnish the rest? Unfortunately the patched bits of floor are in random and very awkward places, so would look odd with rugs on them - thanks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Yes,Sisal is expensive Some laminates can look really good,or you could get a real wooden floor either solid or a thin layer over chipbaord. A friend has a Bamboo floor which is beautiful & is apparently very hard wearing - Hubby fitted it & said it was a joy to work with. I don't think she got hers from Wickes,but this looks nice: CLICK And a lovely big rug,for cosyness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 (edited) I had to go for solid (oak) wood flooring in the bathroom as the original floor in there was in a bad way. It is double the price of the wool carpet at £40/square metre. Thankfully the bathroom is only small it looks lovely but not like the original floorboards - it's almost too perfect FYI, the wool carpet is £22/Msq whereas the cheap carpet is £11.90/Msq Edited March 29, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickric Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We've recently got rid of the last of our carpet and now have beautiful bamboo flooring in the living room and up the stairs and landing. It isn't laminate but real wood, proper tongue and grove and is very hard wearing, relativly easy to lay (I managed, even up the stairs ), isn't at all cold and is apparently very environmentally friendly. The range we looked at went from about £15 to £25 per square meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Which range was that chickric? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickric Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We got ours from here. Highly recommend the company, very good service. We were ordering samples from everywhere we could find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Thanks Ric, they look lovely, but perhaps more suited for a modern house. The picture below gives an idea of what the floorboards in the rest of the house look like.... ... to give you an idea. Something similar would be great I have looked at using reclaimed floorboards, which would be ideal but they are about £40-50/Msq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 We got ours from here.Highly recommend the company, very good service. We were ordering samples from everywhere we could find Ah ha! That is where my friend got hers from, & as I said,its gorgeous Clare,I am sure I saw some sort of fake wooden floorboards in B&Q or somewhere - they looked very convincing. We gout our solid oak floor from a reclaim company,but I can't remember where. A pal got hers from an old dance hall which was being refurbished....keep an eye out,you might just get lucky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 I'm looking, believe me, I just don't have enough time to trawl around all the reclamation sites. I'm hoping to get out to one in Croughton this weekend if I get a spare half an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Even new pine floor boards, with the right stain would look good. Maybe shift the old ones around where they will be seen, replace the dodgy ones and fill the gaps with new boards where they won't be so obvious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 If you fancy a trip to Yorkshire, there is a mill near here (in Holmfirth, near Huddersfield) who make carpets for various carpet places, they are 80% wool 20% polypropylene and are end of rolls (but still huge quantities) - they cost about £30 a sqm if you buy from Allied or wherever, or if you buy at the mill they are around £5 sqm (or were a few years ago). I got the carpet for my lounge in my old house, in a fabulous victorian red and was really pleased with it. They do most colours, you can ring them for samples. You would need to collect it though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Did you arrange your doggies like that or did they just flop down? OH was shocked when he saw the pic - he said "whats up with them?" Carpets are a nightmare - cat magnet - end up being clawed to death - even floor boards which are a bit past their best in MHO are better. And yes I do have carpet in spare room and stairs - usually stained cos someones walked in summat. Pardon my OH's ignorance shouldn;t read over my shoulder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Ooo, that sounds good Omletina, would you mind letting me have the details of that place and I'll have a look. A jaunt up there isn't out of the question for the right carpet. Alis Girls, they just flopped down like that after a good run - it was the evening after I'd adopted Cyrus so he was still very new. Lurchers do a lot of lounging around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 It's Westwood yarns and their telephone number is 01484 685215. If you ring them up you could ask them to send you a price list and some colour samples. I'm assuming they still do their carpets direct from the mill!! I'm only about 5 miles away from here so we could either meet up for a coffee, or you would be most welcome to come up and stay overnight to make more of a trip of it! x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Glad to hear they are ok - fine looking canines and lovely picture. Serves my OH right for being nosey - he thought someone had posted a piccie of expired dogs - I mean as if it would be allowed. Men Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 You may remember I posted a thread recently about carpeting. The gist of it was that many carpet retailers use the carpet itself as the headline price to attract customers, then stiff them on the cost of underlay and other accessories. By getting the carpet, underlay, gripper rods and so on separately (online for all but the carpet, for instance), and paying a fitter specifically just for the job of fitting it (or doing it yourself if you feel comfortable with it), you can save a huge amount. For instance, instead of gripper rods at £1.50 per metre from a retailer, I got a box of 100 1.5m lengths for £23. I got my underlay and other stuff from http://www.tradepriced.co.uk/index.html. In all, for 2 bedrooms and some stairs, I reckon I got significantly better quality and saved about £400-500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Is there no carpet suitable on preloved? Sometimes someone moves house & hates the carpet, sometimes shops sell off their excess on preloved. Worth a try? Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Thanks for that Omletina, I will give them a ring today and see what they have to offer. Great advice Major, we have a small local carpet firm who do fitting - they can't offer me any good deals on the goods but I'll ask if they just do fitting and could get the gubbins separately. Great advice folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I rather like John Lewis's cheapest carpet - when I was looking a couple of years ago it was £7 a metre with free underlay and it was really nice. It came in biscuity sorts of colours, oatmeal, ginger etc We're currently living with the world's most repulsive and filthy carpet as I just can't afford to replace it yet. We're hoping to extend at the back of the house and then put a wooden floor down with underfloor heating. I've just painted the floorboards upstairs and put down rugs as flooring is just so expensive. Even cheap laminate would have been hundreds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I rather like John Lewis's cheapest carpet - when I was looking a couple of years ago it was £7 a metre with free underlay and it was really nice. It came in biscuity sorts of colours, oatmeal, ginger etc do you have a link for this? There doesn't seem to be any carpet on their website, which is odd as my friends bought their carpet from there at the end of last year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaJC Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Have you thought about painting the floor? We've painted our staircase (treads and risers) red and it looks fantastic. Farrow and Ball do a floor paint version of all of their colours and it's really hard wearing. It took us 4 coats to get the colour right but it cost us £40 in total to do the lot. I know it seems like a crime with such lovely boards, but if they're past it anyway you're not missing out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 I would but they are patched in paces with chipboard as there proved to be some boards missing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
