Carpet cutting efficiency

[0Floz0]

That is the net floor area, not the amount of materials you need to order.

As per my previous post, you have not taken into account the widths that carpeting is supplied in, the fact that differing widths will not colour match, pile direction, wastage allowance per cut and you probably have not measured the stairs and riser drops correctly or planned any of this out on plotting paper.

Ah apologies. Does there tend to be a lot of variation between a 4m and 5m width carpet? Are you saying you’d do them all in one length to ensure that doesn’t happen?

I added 10cm on each measurement for the cuts but assume you mean something different? My method was to take the shortest length as other than the loft each room is less than 4m and thus the offcuts would do most of the stairs.

 

[crazydaze]

Ah apologies. Does there tend to be a lot of variation between a 4m and 5m width carpet? Are you saying you’d do them all in one length to ensure that doesn’t happen?

I added 10cm on each measurement for the cuts but assume you mean something different? My method was to take the shortest length as other than the loft each room is less than 4m and thus the offcuts would do most of the stairs.

I’ve already explained in two seperate posts the basics of measuring, planning and how carpet is supplied. I’ve also detailed what you have to take into consideration when planning an installation, trying to explain how to measure stair cases correctly is a lot more difficult to explain, especially as in your case you have a bullnose and a number of winders that are all individual sizes and split over two stair cases.

You say you need 65m2 of carpet, I’ve been in the trade 30 years and am suggesting you need closer to 80m2

Again, the basics, you’ll need some graph paper so you can draw out your room sizes and landings and your stair pieces to plan best use of the carpet that you have to plan from 4 or 5m wide widths. You basically mark out 4m wide and then a long length that represents the carpet roll you order from and draw your room sizes and landings and stairs onto it to work out how much carpet you need.

All the computerised estimating software packages I have been shown essentially require you to do exactly the same but electronically, they do not work the carpet plan out for you.

Carpet has to be purchased in 4 or 5m wide rolls.

A 4m Roll and a 5m Roll of the same range and colour WILL NOT COLOUR MATCH.

So you are better off planning ALL areas from either 4 or 5m wide rolls, not a combination of both unless you don’t mind colour discrepancy.

Carpets have a pile direction. If you cross pile direction between carpets in adjoining areas, then even if you have ordered all carpet from the same roll/width, they will appear a different shade due to the way the light reflects off the pile at different angles. In the adjoining areas.

Carpets should be planned fo have the pile lay over the nosing of a stair and/or Landing. Running the pile accross the stair will cause premature wear and likely be hard to fit and getting a good finish would be hard/impossible as the carpet won’t bend over the nose properly and the pile will lay incorrectly.

You can’t order carpet in the sizes that you have listed.

For example, a room 2.50m long x 3m wide would have to be ordered from a carpet 2.60m long x 4m wide which obviously generates wastage that you have to pay for unless you can perhaps use the 2,60 x 0.90m off cut for some stairs.

Each bullnose and winder step has to come from an individual piece of carpet planned from a ‘cutting plan’ or off the side of a room piece.

Straight stairs can be planned in ‘runs’ or as individual stairs depending on the most economical way of planning from wastage or a piece of carpet but ALWAYS needs to be planned so the pile is running correctly and preferably from the same width of carpet as all the other areas of the installation.

Carpets can be joined (known as heat seamed in the trade) however again, the waste to add onto a piece to be seamed together should come from the same width of carpet and lay in the same pile direction otherwise the seam piece will look a different colour to the rest of the installation.

The above refers to plain and plain loop pile carpets, if you are planning a striped carpet or a patterned carpet, you will need to allow for the pattern repeat across the width and on the length (if there is one on the length) to allow enough material for the fitter to line the design up correctly.

 

[Notch7]

Carpets should be planned fo have the pile lay over the nosing of a stair and/or Landing

Is it easy to work out pile direction- for example is it always parallel to the carpet roll or perpendicular to It?

I'm thinking of fitting some carpet upstairs so would be interested to know how to read carpet.

 

[crazydaze]

Is it easy to work out pile direction- for example is it always parallel to the carpet roll or perpendicular to It?

I'm thinking of fitting some carpet upstairs so would be interested to know how to read carpet.

Always parallel.

Matters less if you’re just fitting a room, is more critical when laying stairs/landing and the direction of the pile may then influence how you choose to plan rooms off the Landing etc.

 

[0Floz0]

I’ve already explained in two seperate posts the basics of measuring, planning and how carpet is supplied. I’ve also detailed what you have to take into consideration when planning an installation, trying to explain how to measure stair cases correctly is a lot more difficult to explain, especially as in your case you have a bullnose and a number of winders that are all individual sizes and split over two stair cases.

You say you need 65m2 of carpet, I’ve been in the trade 30 years and am suggesting you need closer to 80m2

Again, the basics, you’ll need some graph paper so you can draw out your room sizes and landings and your stair pieces to plan best use of the carpet that you have to plan from 4 or 5m wide widths. You basically mark out 4m wide and then a long length that represents the carpet roll you order from and draw your room sizes and landings and stairs onto it to work out how much carpet you need.

All the computerised estimating software packages I have been shown essentially require you to do exactly the same but electronically, they do not work the carpet plan out for you.

Carpet has to be purchased in 4 or 5m wide rolls.

A 4m Roll and a 5m Roll of the same range and colour WILL NOT COLOUR MATCH.

So you are better off planning ALL areas from either 4 or 5m wide rolls, not a combination of both unless you don’t mind colour discrepancy.

Carpets have a pile direction. If you cross pile direction between carpets in adjoining areas, then even if you have ordered all carpet from the same roll/width, they will appear a different shade due to the way the light reflects off the pile at different angles. In the adjoining areas.

Carpets should be planned fo have the pile lay over the nosing of a stair and/or Landing. Running the pile accross the stair will cause premature wear and likely be hard to fit and getting a good finish would be hard/impossible as the carpet won’t bend over the nose properly and the pile will lay incorrectly.

You can’t order carpet in the sizes that you have listed.

For example, a room 2.50m long x 3m wide would have to be ordered from a carpet 2.60m long x 4m wide which obviously generates wastage that you have to pay for unless you can perhaps use the 2,60 x 0.90m off cut for some stairs.

Each bullnose and winder step has to come from an individual piece of carpet planned from a ‘cutting plan’ or off the side of a room piece.

Straight stairs can be planned in ‘runs’ or as individual stairs depending on the most economical way of planning from wastage or a piece of carpet but ALWAYS needs to be planned so the pile is running correctly and preferably from the same width of carpet as all the other areas of the installation.

Carpets can be joined (known as heat seamed in the trade) however again, the waste to add onto a piece to be seamed together should come from the same width of carpet and lay in the same pile direction otherwise the seam piece will look a different colour to the rest of the installation.

The above refers to plain and plain loop pile carpets, if you are planning a striped carpet or a patterned carpet, you will need to allow for the pattern repeat across the width and on the length (if there is one on the length) to allow enough material for the fitter to line the design up correctly.

Woah a bit defensive there. I wasn’t questioning you saying you were wrong. I was just curious what the specifics of the difference were so I’d know for next time. Just trying to learn. Didn’t mean to offend.

I know you said they wouldn’t colour match my question was how different do they tend to be. In my previous house we had new carpet and the colour looked completely different depending on which way you ran the vacuum over it. Again just curious.

Yeah in my head I meant to do what you did and do the shortest length multiplied by 4 or 5 but forgot to put that onto the calcs. It’s been a long week… Like you say though the pile direction means it’s not that simple anyway.

Going for a plain grey carpet with a fleck in it as I hear that is more forgiving over time.

 

[crazydaze]

You seem pretty confident in your 65m2 but haven't taken into account that you can’t order the carpet in the sizes you plan to.

Pile direction is different to hoovering the carpet against the pile.

The Pile will lay in the direction on the roll in which it’s produced, if you lay adjoining areas at 90 degrees to each other, light will reflect off the knapp of the pile at 90 degrees to each other causing colour discrepancy.

Colour match from different dye batches can be suprisingly noticeable yet still within industry tolerance, if continuity is important, plan everything from the same carpet width laying in the same pile direction, no-one will guarantee a ‘good’ colour match between dye batches.

If you get some graph paper, mark out 4m across 4 squares, each with 10 squares to represent 10cm, then draw a line down the length of the page on the ‘0’ this will give you essentially a ‘roll’ of 4m wide carpet from which you can plan all your rooms and landings and stairs and bull nose and individual winders with your cutting allowances and with everything running the same pile direction.

 

[0Floz0]

You seem pretty confident in your 65m2 but haven't taken into account that you can’t order the carpet in the sizes you plan to.

Pile direction is different to hoovering the carpet against the pile.

The Pile will lay in the direction on the roll in which it’s produced, if you lay adjoining areas at 90 degrees to each other, light will reflect off the knapp of the pile at 90 degrees to each other causing colour discrepancy.

Colour match from different dye batches can be suprisingly noticeable yet still within industry tolerance, if continuity is important, plan everything from the same carpet width laying in the same pile direction, no-one will guarantee a ‘good’ colour match between dye batches.

If you get some graph paper, mark out 4m across 4 squares, each with 10 squares to represent 10cm, then draw a line down the length of the page on the ‘0’ this will give you essentially a ‘roll’ of 4m wide carpet from which you can plan all your rooms and landings and stairs and bull nose and individual winders with your cutting allowances and with everything running the same pile direction.

For clarity my calculations were wrong. Wasn’t trying to defend my numbers in the last post. Was just trying to work out where I’d gone wrong. That’s why I said I’d done the thing you suggested in my head but didn’t write it down on paper when I calculated it. Running on about 4 hours sleep a day at the minute so please excuse the dopiness.

Really useful info. Thank you for taking the time to explain it. Gives me a solid benchmark to work from.

Last carpet I had it started bedding down and getting matted together as the pile was quite long. Are you of the opinion it’s better to get a shorter pile and thicker underlay as a balance for plush feel without it getting matted from foot traffic?

 

[crazydaze]

For clarity my calculations were wrong. Wasn’t trying to defend my numbers in the last post. Was just trying to work out where I’d gone wrong. That’s why I said I’d done the thing you suggested in my head but didn’t write it down on paper when I calculated it. Running on about 4 hours sleep a day at the minute so please excuse the dopiness.

Really useful info. Thank you for taking the time to explain it. Gives me a solid benchmark to work from.

Last carpet I had it started bedding down and getting matted together as the pile was quite long. Are you of the opinion it’s better to get a shorter pile and thicker underlay as a balance for plush feel without it getting matted from foot traffic?

Avoid 100% man made carpets re: flattening.

Get a 80/20 Twist pile carpet in a 40oz or 50oz pile weight. (80% Wool, 20% man made fibre)

For underlay, the firmer the underlay the better, Ulster Axfelt65 is a fantastic underlay if it’s in budget. Great wear and durability and very insulating from both heat and noise point of view but it’s not suitable over under floor heating.

If you go for a puFoam underlay you’ll want a 9mm depth and you’ll want it as dense/firm as possible and not soft. Avoid 11mm pu Underlays

Firmer, denser underlays will support the carpet better than a deep soft underlay.

Hard to beat Cormar Pembroke 50oz 80/20 twist for the price it is at the moment (should be around £26m2)

Or if you have a more premium budget, you won’t beat Ulster Carpets York Wilton Twist at around £46m2 or it’s big brother range Ulster Carpets Grange Wilton Twist at around £58m2 Ulster Carpets are one of only a couple of suppliers that offer multi width ordering with guaranteed colour match (all their plain ranges are available 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m and 5m to colour match)

 

[0Floz0]

Avoid 100% man made carpets re: flattening.

Get a 80/20 Twist pile carpet in a 40oz or 50oz pile weight. (80% Wool, 20% man made fibre)

For underlay, the firmer the underlay the better, Ulster Axfelt65 is a fantastic underlay if it’s in budget. Great wear and durability and very insulating from both heat and noise point of view but it’s not suitable over under floor heating.

If you go for a puFoam underlay you’ll want a 9mm depth and you’ll want it as dense/firm as possible and not soft. Avoid 11mm pu Underlays

Firmer, denser underlays will support the carpet better than a deep soft underlay.

Hard to beat Cormar Pembroke 50oz 80/20 twist for the price it is at the moment (should be around £26m2)

Or if you have a more premium budget, you won’t beat Ulster Carpets York Wilton Twist at around £46m2 or it’s big brother range Ulster Carpets Grange Wilton Twist at around £58m2 Ulster Carpets are one of only a couple of suppliers that offer multi width ordering with guaranteed colour match (all their plain ranges are available 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m and 5m to colour match)

Thank you. Axfelt looks a good option.

Do the denser ones still feel soft under the foot?

£46m2 is a fair bit out of my budget. Was hoping for £30m2 including the underlay. Appreciate that won’t get me really good carpet but we are looking to sell our house soon and the carpets are completely shot so we need to do something. That said it may need to last a year or two.

 

[crazydaze]

A firm, dense underlay will not be soft, so no.

Your budget probably wont stretch close to a 80/20 twist including underlay of any quality for £30m2 , you’ll be looking at an all man made fibre product and these will ALL crush and lose their appearance and feel fairly quickly especially in traffic areas like stairs and landings.

If you go with man made fibre, be prepared for the loss in appearance retention and flattening.

You may get a combination close to £30m2 if you buy online but make sure you have someone happy to fit and also consider how you will take delivery of 80m2 of carpet and underlay and where you may store it prior to delivery. Most deliveries services will be roadside only so be prepared to be carrying the carpets and storing them

 

[0Floz0]

A firm, dense underlay will not be soft, so no.

Your budget probably wont stretch close to a 80/20 twist including underlay of any quality for £30m2 , you’ll be looking at an all man made fibre product and these will ALL crush and lose their appearance and feel fairly quickly especially in traffic areas like stairs and landings.

If you go with man made fibre, be prepared for the loss in appearance retention and flattening.

You may get a combination close to £30m2 if you buy online but make sure you have someone happy to fit and also consider how you will take delivery of 80m2 of carpet and underlay and where you may store it prior to delivery. Most deliveries services will be roadside only so be prepared to be carrying the carpets and storing them

Thank you. Appreciate the input. I thought I’d probably be at the very low end with that budget. Thanks for all your effort on this one.

 

[Notch7]

Avoid 100% man made carpets re: flattening.

Get a 80/20 Twist pile carpet in a 40oz or 50oz pile weight. (80% Wool, 20% man made fibre)

For underlay, the firmer the underlay the better, Ulster Axfelt65 is a fantastic underlay if it’s in budget. Great wear and durability and very insulating from both heat and noise point of view but it’s not suitable over under floor heating.

If you go for a puFoam underlay you’ll want a 9mm depth and you’ll want it as dense/firm as possible and not soft. Avoid 11mm pu Underlays

Firmer, denser underlays will support the carpet better than a deep soft underlay.

Hard to beat Cormar Pembroke 50oz 80/20 twist for the price it is at the moment (should be around £26m2)

Or if you have a more premium budget, you won’t beat Ulster Carpets York Wilton Twist at around £46m2 or it’s big brother range Ulster Carpets Grange Wilton Twist at around £58m2 Ulster Carpets are one of only a couple of suppliers that offer multi width ordering with guaranteed colour match (all their plain ranges are available 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m and 5m to colour match)

Thanks for posting, that’s a really helpful post.