Carpet fitting cost and choices

Only time I’ve ever had a carpet fitted was when I turned a spare room into a nursery 2 years ago. Supply and fit carpet with 11mm Cloud 9 underlay in a 3×3 room was £480 which seemed about right to my head.

They didn’t make a particularly good job of it so now that we need the lounge doing, we’ve been looking around and have been quoted by a highly recommended fitter for a 5×4 room…

…£280…

Now,im a cynical person (or so I’m told) but that seems waaay cheap. I was imagining it being at least £800. I’ve asked for some details of the carpet and underlay. All I know so far is that it’s 11mm underlay. The carpet comes with a 7 year wear guarantee and a ‘lifetime’ stain guarantee.

£14sqm sounds too good to be true to this cynical brain.

So far, this is based purely on the meterage, he hasn’t been round to properly measure etc so I’m half guessing an up sell of some sort when he gets here. Either that, or it’ll end up looking and feeling like I’ve got some old sacks thrown on the floor.

I’m guessing that you get what you pay for and it’s dawned on me that I have no idea about carpet. There are different types of backing, pile heights, pile types and they’re made from different materials. All I know is the wool carpet that’s down is horrible so I’m ruling out wool. Any recommendations on what to go for? Is it sensible to just go by look and feel of samples? Any types to avoid? (other than wool)

There’s a huge variance online ranging from £6 to £60 or more per sqm. What’s the difference?

All I know is the wool carpet that’s down is horrible so I’m ruling out wool. 

That’s like never buying another wool jumper because the last one you owned is crap.

FWIW the inherited wool carpet in the dining room/stairs and upper landings is over 30 years old – quality underlay too.  Nothing wrong with it except the alterations we’ve made to the house means it’s a bit patchwork.

That sounds too cheap to me. I paid a lot more for relatively cheap carpet about 2 levels up from the basic.  Carpet was 11m2 plus vat, fitting was about £350 but did include a hallway so lots of doorways – fittting is priced per m2 plus extra for doorways

That’s like never buying another wool jumper because the last one you owned is crap.

Fair point… I guess what I meant was that I don’t want something that looks or feels anything like what’s already there.

fittting is priced per m2 plus extra for doorways

I did consider this. At first thought, it should be a fairly straight forward fit as it’s just a rectangle with a door at one end.

Although there are patio doors at the other end and 2 sections of boxing around central heating pipes so not quite as straight forward. I’m imagining the quote to come out more expensive once he’s been round to look at it. Otherwise, I agree. It’s too cheap.