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| Four years on and still shuffling boxes round the lounge |
Finally, at 3pm, the carpet cavalry arrived! Assured of completion before dinner time, another few hours to while away making coffee as an excuse to get a sneaky look at shag pile shenanigans upstairs.
‘Madam, we’re going to have to trim your oak doors’ announces the chirpy chappy who is only a smidge taller than I am. Oh Lord. What now? Not the oak doors. I shudder to think what carnage they could unleash as I cower in front of the telly trying to distract myself watching Garden Rescue.
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| Door trimming - an extra charge per door |
In my over-zealous fervour to order the most thermally efficient floor coverings, I’d chosen the thickest underlay supplied by Tapi Carpets – the Tapi 11 Nike Grip. Think cushioned trainers with a rug on top. In fact, with this underlay there’s no need to bother wearing trainers, slippers or anything else on your feet as you get the same comfy springiness barefoot.
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| Super thick underlay for insulation |
However, I’d forgotten one crucial thing – the thicker the underlay, the higher the carpet level which then results in doors having to be trimmed. Slap on forehead. What a duh-brain!!
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| Thickness matters |
Fortunately, carpet fitters have a special cutting device that enables them to slice the bottom off a door without having to remove it. Oh and that’ll be an extra £30 per door on top of the cost of fitting the carpets. Something to bear in mind if you are carpeting a large house with lots of doors as this could significantly bump up your bill.
Another little snippet to share with anyone thinking of taking up the new Tapi carpet challenge – fitting costs are paid out in cash on the day to the fitters and are not part of your interest-free credit deal. Fitting costs are calculated as a percentage of the overall bill so bear that in mind when deciding what to buy.
Whilst all of these things are something else to factor in to your project if you’re on a tight budget - here’s my advice: you’re only likely to buy new carpets once in a lifetime so wait for the sales then pick the nicest, most hard-wearing and thermally insulating carpets you can afford.
Three and a half hours later, the transformation is complete.
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| Gleneagles carpet - colour Gunmetal |
Goodbye bare floorboards, hello nice warm carpets.
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| No more cold floorboards in the bedrooms |
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| Lovely and soft and warm |
