Ten Ways to Save Money When Buying Carpet

Nick Saving Money sponsored post 2 Comments

Carpet isn’t something you buy every day, but when the time comes the cost can be substantial. Fortunately there are various ways you can save money on carpet without compromising on the things you want. Here are ten top tips to guide you.

1. Educate yourself on the different types of carpet available. There is lots of helpful information online. The more you know, the less likely you are to waste money on something that is unnecessarily expensive or just plain unsuitable.
2. In particular, get to know about carpet fibres, synthetic and natural. If you want a synthetic, nylon offers the greatest durability and resilience. However, it will also cost you the most per square metre. If you don’t need as much durability, alternatives such as polyester are cheaper and have other benefits, e.g. better stain resistance and eco-friendliness. Wool carpets are generally more expensive than synthetics but offer the greatest level of comfort and will retain their colour and elasticity for many years.
3. Shop around before you buy. This will give you a good idea of the options available and how much you can expect to end up paying. Don’t just go to the usual high-street and out-of-town stores, though. You may be able to save a lot of money by buying carpet online.
4. Think about how long you plan to go on living in your house. There is no point paying top whack if you expect to move on in a year or two. On the other hand, if you plan to put down roots, it clearly makes sense to buy good-quality carpets that will last a long time.
5. Although the obvious option would be to get the same carpet across the whole house, it may not be the most sensible. For rooms that get a lot of use, such as the lounge and master bedroom, clearly you will want carpet that is hard wearing as well as comfortable. On the other hand, with rooms that get less use, such as the spare bedroom, you can get away with something a bit cheaper and less durable.
6. If you are carpeting a small room or flat, you may be able to save money by purchasing offcuts or remnants. These are basically left-over sections of carpet at the end of rolls. They are usually discounted to clear, so can be great value if you can find something suitable for the room (or rooms) you have in mind.
7. Do as much of the preparatory work as possible yourself. In particular, move furniture out of the way before the fitter (or fitters) arrive. Most will move furniture for you, but they will charge you extra. If large pieces of furniture are too heavy for you to move, buy (or borrow) furniture sliders. You just slip these under your furniture and can then easily move large items around. Packs of reusable furniture sliders are available for a few pounds from Amazon.
8. You may also be able to save money by removing and disposing of the old carpet yourself. Take it up carefully, removing underlay and staples as well. Don’t remove the tack strips, though, as this could damage your floor (in most cases anyway the fitters will use the tack strips again). Taking the old carpet to the tip yourself can also save money, as commercial installers typically have to pay a fee for doing this.
9. Remember that as well as the carpet itself, you will need to pay for underlay, gripper rods, and so on. Be sure to get a fully itemized quote from your chosen supplier showing everything included as well as the total price you will have to pay. This should help to avoid any nasty (expensive) surprises later.
10. But finally, DON’T try to save money by fitting the carpet yourself, at least unless you have professional training and experience in this field. Carpet fitting is a skilled job, and if you make a hash of it you could end up wasting a lot of money as well as voiding any guarantees (which often stipulate that carpets must be professionally fitted).

Good luck, and I hope you save loads of money on your new carpet!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Flooring Superstore, the UK’s leading online flooring specialist.

As always, if you have any comments or questions on this post, please do leave them below.