Carpets, underlay, and fitting

NT

It is going to depend on the quality of carpet fitted. If a cheap one which is going to have a short life, cheap (free) underlay might last as long. But it won't last the life of a decent carpet. If a decent carpet, you want something like Cloud 9.

Well, it's not the cheapest carpet, but is pretty much low end. I've used Cloud 9 before. They do a 6mm thick version.

Is there a maximum thickness underlay that a carpet will take?

I know CarpetRight will rip you off with the price of the underlay, but then throw in free fitting. In this case, I think the price difference is only about £50 (vs. me buying the underlay and paying for fitting).

Dunno but generally speaking with stairs the thicker the underlay the harder it is to shape around the nosings - which may or may not matter to you.

On flat surfaces (rooms/halls) I've always gone for Cloud 9 either 9 or

I note that the thinnest Cloud 9 underlay (7mm) is described as "Fitter Friendly Underlay" probably because it takes less time to fit a carpet over a thinner material.

Except, of course, the edge of a step is where a carpet gets the most wear.

But on the third hand most people don't stand around on stairs so a thinner but higher density underlay (eg 9mm) may give the same protection as a thicker but softer one (eg 12mm) more suitable for other areas.

On the 4th hand neither will offer the carpet much protection against wear.

NT

Problem I've found is the standard 'free' underlay pretty soon loses any effectiveness where it is heavily loaded - like the edge of the stairs. So doesn't make much difference how thick it was to start with. It's often just a pile of dust after a few years. Unlike Cloud 9. Of course if you change the carpet anyway every few years this is unlikely to matter.