Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 May 31, 2010 10:28 pm Hi, i have been reading this forum to get an idea of what to look for in carpets, but still its not clear to me what exists out there in the carpet world. we are looking to replace our existing carpet which i was told is a nylon cut pile and loop with foam underlay. we have a two year old who is very active in throwing things everywhere and drawing on everything, you get the picture. so far, reading from the discussions here, we would be looking for SDN carpet and foam underlay. BTW, we are on timber floor. we need the carpet to keep us warm as well or at least retain heat from the heater. not going for wool at this stage. So, what brands are good, what type of capet (we like bit of softness) and underlay, any recommended shops in canberra (or to avoid). also, we have been to one shop so far, the guy recommends quest carpets and nothing else. he says its the best and has less complaints. i am not familiar with companies, but if there is info on who is a BMW (or Toyota or Ford or Kia) of the carpet world, it would be nice to know. just so that we can pick something middle of the pack but get a chance to compare it with best and the worst. Grateful for your tips and advice. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 2May 31, 2010 11:07 pm G'day! litapajar not going for wool at this stage. Any reason for that? Thing is, wool rich carpets are unbeatable for thermal insulation and have lots of other benefits. Not trying to push you into wool, but I would suggest you don't discount it. To avoid; Really cheap carpets. Polypropylene loop pile carpets. Actually most polypropylene carpets. Plain very light coloured synthetic carpets. The Rolls Royce & Mercedes etc; Brintons Tascott Most woven axminsters & wiltons. Cavalier Bremworth. Middle of road; Most others. Quest is good, but there are plenty of comparable brands. For thermal insulation and some softness, go for a heavy weight rubber underlay like PRIME. Carpets to look at, perhaps 40oz or greater wool or nylon, in a twist pile. See what you like and get back to us. Ash. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 3Jun 02, 2010 10:14 pm Brands mean almost nothing in this industry. The "brands" all make cheap gear, middle of the road stuff, and great cloth too. The only exception is wovens who whilst also having quality ups and downs, don't delve nearly as low as tufted mills do. If you want to get a FULL spectrum of what's on offer, go to HN Fyshwick. Ask for Tony McCosker, the franchisee. Tell him I sent you and that I promised you he would look after you - he is very knowledgable, been in the industry for 20 years or so and can sell you most major brands such as; Brintons Feltex Redbook Minster Godfrey Hirst Invicta Hycraft Victoria Carpets Quest and more. Including the smartest carpet in the world, Smartstrand IQ150 !!! (before you buy any carpet from anyone you have to check it out). Good luck. Tony is a great guy and will look after you well. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 4Jun 03, 2010 12:03 am Ash and Andrew, many thanks for the advice. i will check out HN as suggested and take a printout of both your suggestions. since we have a two year old, thought of sticking to SDN and ruled out wool. we may not be able to get to spills etc quickly and therefore, thought wool might be difficult to maintain in such situations. Ash, i was advised by one of the dealers over the phone not to go for rubber underlay. his suggestion was dunlop springtread extra or ultimate for an extra $10. we are on timber board floor. not sure if that makes any difference? Is plush usually pricey one? we like plush feel but need something that wears hard, for atleast next few years. would twist pile do bit of both? Re: advice on carpets for canberra 5Jun 03, 2010 2:00 am litapajar Ash, i was advised by one of the dealers over the phone not to go for rubber underlay. his suggestion was dunlop springtread extra or ultimate for an extra $10. we are on timber board floor. not sure if that makes any difference? Is plush usually pricey one? we like plush feel but need something that wears hard, for at least next few years. would twist pile do bit of both? Suggest you do a search and read through other posts about underlay. It's been covered ad infinitum! Twist pile is harder wearing than most plush pile carpets, and is less prone to show shading. IQ150 may well be a good choice, but as real life feedback is very lacking, I hesitate to actively promote it at this stage. Ash. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 6Jun 03, 2010 11:18 pm Ash, i have read a bit about underlays on this forum. that is why i am left a bit confused. the feedback from dealer was that rubber makes it feel hard after a few years. also, rubber content in those underlays, apparently, is less than five or so percent. that is why i am left more confused. This IQ150 looks good on the HN web. does anyone know more about them? how do they compare to SDN etc? also the amount of warranty is great. but does that mean much in real terms? Re: advice on carpets for canberra 7Jun 03, 2010 11:26 pm In the REAL world Ash, 50 KILOMETRES of it has been installed in the past 12 months. Does it have to be 57 years old to have enough cred ??? If you lived on the right side of our vast country you could see for yourself In America it is called Sorona Smartstrand. Google it, Youtube it. You'll be impressed. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 8Jun 03, 2010 11:57 pm Anthony, is this carpet soft like plush (or similar) and does it keep that way for long? is there anything about this carpet that we need to take into account or be aware of? our little one likes rolling on the carpet, and therefore, we like the soft feel. we require, about 20 linear mts, based on one dealer's measurement. it seems about right for 80-90 sqm of carpetting area. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 9Jun 04, 2010 1:15 am litapajar Ash, i have read a bit about underlays on this forum. that is why i am left a bit confused. the feedback from dealer was that rubber makes it feel hard after a few years. also, rubber content in those underlays, apparently, is less than five or so percent. that is why i am left more confused. Lit, you will usually get a lot of MISinformation from dealers. The great bulk of rubber underlays that are installed in residential carpet installations will be the lower spec black or yellow rubber underlays. They are pretty basic, and may well fail as has been suggested. Bridgestone PRIME rubber underlay is vastly better! It also is superior for thermal insulation, which is why its your best choice. The dealer probably has a shitload of foam underlay that he wants you to buy, and that is why he is bagging 'rubber'. Anthony, you are very consistent at talking up your iq150, but very slow to present specs or the sample you keep promising. You can carpet the Nullabor to Perth if you like, but until I have substantial knowledge of this carpet, I will not be promoting it. You and I have very different versions of "real world" Ash. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 10Jun 09, 2010 12:00 am Ash, another complexity with HN underlay is that it is something called cloud 9 or similar. Dunlop Flooring - Dunlop in Australia offers Ultra-Fresh treated carpet underlay to control odors cause by molds and mildew and create an in hospitable environment for dust mites, a well known cause of allergies and asthma. Cloud 9 underlay is available only at Harvey Norman stores. so, not sure how this compares to other dunlop products on the market? with regard to IQ150, it has nice feel to it and qualities look good. it also has synthetic backing to make it less stretchy. we are kind of leaning towards it given the warranty from HN or IQ150. however price is very steep compared to SDN. Anthony, it doesn't appear that Tony can do much on the price front. it is so high, that it will have to be upto 30% off to match what we have shortlisted in SDN plush from Quest. we'll see how it goes. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 11Jun 09, 2010 3:41 am litapajar Ash, another complexity with HN underlay is that it is something called cloud 9 or similar. Dunlop Flooring - Dunlop in Australia offers Ultra-Fresh treated carpet underlay to control odors cause by molds and mildew and create an in hospitable environment for dust mites, a well known cause of allergies and asthma. Cloud 9 underlay is available only at Harvey Norman stores. so, not sure how this compares to other dunlop products on the market? It'd be rebadged Dunlop Springtred (probably equivalent to Springtred Extra or Ultimate) Still not as good as Dunlop Excellay. Harvey Norman SHOULD provide specs of the Cloud 9, which you could compare to the normal Dunlop range. Ash. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 12Jun 09, 2010 10:36 am Tony can provide you with thickness, density and all specs on the Cloud 9 range. They are made for HN, not rebadged. When comparing carpets you need to compare apples with apples. The quest SDN plush is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but it's not Smartstrand. I sell both products and they are both great. Tony can provide you with a competitive price on the SDN plush too, if you want to go the less expensive option. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 13Jun 09, 2010 11:52 am anthony_carter They are made for HN, not rebadged. Same dif really! Its marketing codswallop to suggest the range is exclusive to H/N when it is the same as the Springtred range with another name. Its nice that they donate some $ to charities though. Guess that makes it a 'feel good' purchase. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 14Jun 09, 2010 12:09 pm The flying doctors is an invaluable service to many in this country. When they get cheques for thousands of dollars, I think it's a little more than feelgood. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 15Jun 09, 2010 12:13 pm Also, it is NOT the same as Springtred. You need FACTS before making assumptions about product that you have never seen before. Being in WA, I understand why, but go easy on the mis-information. For example, Cloud 9 Cumulus is 10% thicker than Ultimate. It's made for HN. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 16Jun 09, 2010 12:18 pm Anthony, one can only assume when the specs are NOT forthcoming and made plain. Instead they are tucked away out of sight so consumers are not readily able to compare apples with apples. Anyways, if its thicker than 'ultimate' its WAY TOO THICK in my opinion. It would give the trampoline effect that you yourself have pointed out is not so good. You blame people for assuming when we are all treated like mushrooms? Ash. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 17Jun 09, 2010 2:22 pm anthony_carter The flying doctors is an invaluable service to many in this country. When they get cheques for thousands of dollars, I think it's a little more than feelgood. CERTAINLY! Its good to see this in the marketplace! I just think that decisions are best made on the basis of careful and considered choice, rather than being 'beclouded' (pun intended ) by marketing initiatives designed to make consumers simply go for what's promoted. They can choose the BEST underlay to give better service, and still donate to Flying Doctors or the charity of their choice. Ash. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 18Jun 09, 2010 10:28 pm With all respect Ash, you are again leaping to assumptions. Tucked away ? Hidden ? Because you yourself are tucked away, tucked away from the Eastern Seaboard, you wouldn't have seen the product, nor taken a sample home, nor read the glossy brochure that sits on each counter - CLEARLY stating the density, the height, the features and benefits - PLUS, unlike most, we have the full range of ALL Dunlop and ALL Bridgestone products available to our customers. Now, you and I know that too thick an underlay is not as good for your carpets health as a rigid, denser product, BUT people want what people want. Some people want the thickest, softest underlay, even after having it pointed out that a thinner underlay would extend the life of the carpet to a degree. It's like tyres. How many cars do u see with low profile tyres - they cost more, give you a worse ride and wear out up to 3 times faster than "normal" tyres, but car people still get excited by them, and buy them ! I get annoyed when you assume we hide info, when we don't. You don't know how HN operates it's flooring business Ash, as it's not in WA. Everything is priced, everything is transparent, customers get full info. WE, more than any other retailer in the flooring industry, set benchmarks in customer service. Do you know hom many times HN has replaced a floor, when the manufacturer had walked away ? Many times. Just to do the right thing by our customers. We fix any problems ASAP, with or without the support of a supplier. You don't get that at ALL in your mum and pa stores. So please don't go making up assumptions about HN, or our products. Your input in this place is great, and helpful to many Ash, just keep it real. I'll only comment on stuff I am sure about, not guess about. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 19Jun 09, 2010 11:59 pm Quote: Now, you and I know that too thick an underlay is not as good for your carpets health as a rigid, denser product, BUT people want what people want. Anthony, does this mean i should ask for different underlay than cloud 9? we are one of those people pointed out here who like thicker umderlay, but only thinking thicker means more softness, insulation etc. but i was not completely aware of its impact on durability etc. glad to be on this forum to learn all this. with regard to SDN and IQ150, we were close to finalising SDN choice but looking at IQ 150, we are now at fork in the road. even with SDN, we would have changed it to twist pile rather than plush. IQ150 looks and feels good only in the higher range. the regular stock in HN may not be as dense as the one we are looking at - in the lifestyle range, i think. that has similar or slightly better feel than SDN plush we had set our eyes on. are you able to comment on HN regular IQ150 stock (in twist pile) - whats the density etc. i could see the bottom of the carpet with ease in that compared to the lifestyle range or SDN plush. since no one else sells the product, its really hard to compare prices - its something in the order of $300+ per lm. BTW, i'll visit HN over the weekend and will see what will be offered to me. we are also buying furniture there, so it will be a HN weekend. Re: advice on carpets for canberra 20Jun 10, 2010 2:07 am Anthony, thanks for that response. You make some valid points and quite fairly put me in my place. Its just that I have asked you many times for specs or more info about iq150, and you have not provided them here. Instead you've kept on saying you will send the info and a sample but they've not arrived. From my position, its like trying to extract teeth! If the info is so transparent, why not just answer my queries up front. You could very easily have avoided the volley of comments by doing so! Ash. Wow I hadn't realised things had gotten that pricey in just a couple of years since I built, that is crazy with how much land is now costing if you aren't lucky enough to… 3 5334 Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 3169 Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 10734 |