Carpet and underlay thickness

[daved2424]

Hello

We are having bi-folds put in and need to work out where we want our threshold. We havent picked carpets yet, but it is for a living room. We want nice, but not luxurious carpets. The underlay will probably be 9mm at the most. What kind of thickness should we allow for carpets? I can't find much information on the web, but 20mm overall seems to be the only measurement I can find. Would people agree?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Doggit]

Sorry, but you're really talking to the wrong people; we do diy advice, not carpets. Time to go carpet shopping, but I will say that get the thickest underlay that you can afford, and it'll improve a cheap carpet tremendously.

 

[vinn]

OP,
You are talking to the right people.

Just let your Bi-fold frame & bottom rail be installed, and then come back here with a pic or go to the carpet supplier with a pic.
The frame installers should be more concerned with the external side (water tightness etc.) not the internal.

Your grippers, underlay & carpet will most probably simply butt up to the rail.

If you have a professional carpet fitter coming in then leave all the details up to them.

 

[daved2424]

OP,
You are talking to the right people.

Just let your Bi-fold frame & bottom rail be installed, and then come back here with a pic or go to the carpet supplier with a pic.
The frame installers should be more concerned with the external side (water tightness etc.) not the internal.

Thank you for your reply. I didn't make myself quite clear enough. We are having builders in to make the opening and we need to calculate how low down they need to go. The fitters say they need 85mm from the top of our floor coverings. So if I assume that most carpets and underlays are around 20mm then my builders need to make the opening 65mm below the floor level for the fitters. Does that sound about right?

 

[Doggit]

Yes, and no. You need to find the carpet and underlay that you want, and then give the dimension to the builders. 20mm would be low for a shag pile and underlay, and very likely too much for a cheap underlay and a loop pile.

But I think you've got your calculations (or description) the wrong way round. Is it 85mm from the top of the carpet to the opening, in whcih case with a 20mm carpet, you'd want a height of 105mm. Or is the opening going to be 85mm from the bare floor, so with a 20mm carpet, you'd be left with 65mm from the top of the carpet to the opening.

 

[vinn]

Professional installers dont need a householder to start sourcing basic fitting dimensions for them.
Let them do it, thats what you are paying them for.
Hopefully, they've fitted a Bi-fold before?

 

[daved2424]

Yes, and no. You need to find the carpet and underlay that you want, and then give the dimension to the builders. 20mm would be low for a shag pile and underlay, and very likely too much for a cheap underlay and a loop pile.

But I think you've got your calculations (or description) the wrong way round. Is it 85mm from the top of the carpet to the opening, in whcih case with a 20mm carpet, you'd want a height of 105mm. Or is the opening going to be 85mm from the bare floor, so with a 20mm carpet, you'd be left with 65mm from the top of the carpet to the opening.

Thank you. The bottom frame of the window is 85mm deep, but it can be fitted with a low threshold. Therefore the builders need to go below the floor level by 85mm minus whatever I plan as a floor covering. So if I have a 20mm floor covering the base of the frame will sit 65mm below floor level, but still above the damp course. As we have yet to make any decision on carpets, I am just trying to gauge what a good amount of leeway is.

 

[Doggit]

Thanks for the explantion Dave, now I understand. But I still suggest you go and look at some carpets.