Underlay Explained
Underlay is an essential addition to your new carpet and plays a variety of vital roles that will ensure any new carpet performs to the best of its ability. After all, a carpet is a major decision when redecorating your home. You should always be considering underlay with the purchase of any new carpet, and the only question you should have is what type. The following article looks at the options available to you and covers the benefits of installing a good underlay in your home.
The Benefits of Good Underlay
Customers often ask whether underlay is essential. To put it simply, the answer is yes. It’s important that you make the right choice of underlay to ensure it suits your chosen type of carpet and gives you the best possible results. Poor underlay will leave your carpet feeling hard underfoot and can significantly reduce the life of your carpet. The fibres in your carpet will break down far quicker without the protection of underlay, and this will lead to premature wear and damage. Even with luxury carpets, good quality underlay will vastly improve the comfort of the carpet underfoot. The extra level of protection also benefits the appearance of your carpet, helping to reduce the flattening of the fibres and smooth out any imperfections on the sub-floor. Through absorbing the shocks of footfall, underlay also has excellent sound insulation properties. This is a critical feature and one that is often overlooked. Installing a top quality underlay will also help with heat insulation in the home, enhancing the overall tog rating of your flooring. It’s important to take into consideration the increase in tog rating when choosing your underlay. British Standards govern carpet and underlay, and purchasing underlay you know up to scratch can save you a great deal of hassle in the future.
Thickness of Underlay
As you might expect, an underlay of different thicknesses is available. It’s generally recommended to use underlay no thicker than 12mm. When looking at thickness, you must consider the density of the underlay. Thick underlay with low density will – as you can imagine – not perform particularly well, losing its shape, structure and stability. 7mm and 9mm are the most common thicknesses used in most domestic installations, although 11mm underlay is often used in certain luxury applications. Of course, this type of underlay is extremely dense to provide the best combination of support, comfort and durability.
Explore our range of carpets, flooring & beds
Customer Stories
Once an order is complete we always encourage customer feedback. Here’s a selection of different projects and customer comments.
Flooring for complete house
We have used Downs in the past and once again the salesperson was very helpful, answering all my queries. The fitter was equally helpful and able to give knowledgeable advice for a future product. I highly recommend Downs as a local business.
Marian G
Carpet order
From the first enquiry to the fitting of the new carpet, we were warmly welcomed by friendly staff, which helped to make our choice and decisions easy. Carpet came much sooner that originally told but that was great as it meant we could get on with the other changes in the particular room. Many thanks for an excellent service.
Richard M
Kitchen/diner
Customer service is top notch. We have used CMS for all of our flooring requirements to date and will continue to do so throughout the renovation of our house.
Vicky B
Bedroom carpets
The sales team were really efficient and helpful, taking into consideration our requirements. The fitters worked well, efficiently and cleared up afterwards a real blessing. The choice of flooring was great and the prices very competitive. Recommend CMS carpets and would use them again. Thank you.
Karen P
The Downs Difference
At Downs Carpets & Beds, we stay true to our original core values. Take a look at why our customers choose us for their beds and carpets time and time again.
Free Measuring Service
We can visit you with carpet samples at a time to suit you. We will check your sub-floor, measure, plan and provide a free no-obligation quote.
Leading Brands
We aim to offer the largest choice of products at the very best prices, with all the leading brands of beds and carpets in one shop for your convenience.
Running For Over 50 Years
All Fitting Guaranteed
Every home or office carpet installation we undertake is covered by our one year Fitting Guarantee for complete peace of mind.
Specialist Expertise
We specialise in great quality carpets, flooring and beds at the very best prices, with friendly, knowledgeable staff to provide expert advice.
Speedy Fitting & Home Delivery
Most of our popular carpet, bed and flooring ranges are held in stock to ensure that we can offer competitive pricing and fast delivery times.
Our bespoke service
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Design consultation: Working collaboratively with you, your designer helps you select the right products.
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Technical consultation: We will conduct a technical survey, checking all measurements and any unusual angles.
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Supplying the product: Your chosen product will be ordered and delivered to you in the time frames discussed.
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Professional Installation: Our expert installers precision fits your product for an exceptional finish.
What Our Customers Say
James AvisonKev, Ash & Mark, our fitters, have been brilliant. Working at light-speed, they've been thorough, meticulous and professional. It's not every group of tradespeople that you'd be happy to recommend, especially in a predominantly female office environment but these three were respectful, thoughtful and good company to have around. We'd be glad to have them back and the quality of their workmanship is excellent. Thank you.
peter brunsdenExcellent job done, good price and very professional at all times. recarpet of first floor of period property, tricky job well handled. Highly recommended
Debbie AshworthI knew what I wanted when I went in and had the measurements as well. The person serving me was very helpful and we were able to get everything sorted easily.
Ian Fewtrell-SmithGood. There was a small hiccup but quickly resolved.
Carole HornerWe have found this company to be excellent with their service and with great recommendations for carpets in relevant rooms. So our latest purchase for lounge and 2 flights of stairs and landings. Process was well explained and nothing seemed too much trouble. The fitters were exceptional !
Yvonne HossackCarpets and vinyl lovely. Dave the fitter was so accomplished, he fitted the stair runner brilliantly. Both Dave and his assistant Andy were courteous and helpful
Katherine SingletonHi Simon, Thank you for getting all the carpets all sorted, you have been brilliant Simon, its been a pleasure and I appreciate you always being quick to communicate and answer any questions. I am very pleased I came back to you after 18 years! Stress free process and quality carpets and good honest prices! Barry the carpet measuring guy was prompt and has a nice friendly and polite manner. The fitters Kevin & Paul are nice chaps too. All in all a great team from start to finish. I wish all companies operated like you do. Well done and thanks again. Best Regards K
Yoshihiro SunbeamHad a superb experience when we went in recently looking for a carpet quote. Spoke to Simon and he was very helpful and accommodating, explaining how the prices worked and what the best underlay was for our particular situation. Would highly recommend if in the West Berkshire area.
Judith CursonVinyl for a small space fitted well and at much shorter notice than we expected
