Getting underlay flat

[Steve]

Hi. I'm putting in some new carpet underlay (a carpet fitter will fit the actual carpet).

I've bought what I think is decent quality stuff (Tredaire Softwalk 9 mm Luxury Carpet Underlay), but when I roll it out, it doesn't lay perfectly flat. There are a few areas which are 'hills' 2 or 3 mm high, with a gap underneath. I'm worried that this will stop the carpet laying flat. This isn't a problem with the floor by the way, which is flat (large boards).

Can any one suggest the best approach to get rid of the hills? Extra staples? Cuts to ease the 'hills'? Or is this normal and the carpet flattens them?

Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

Steve

[Phil L]

2 or 3 millimetres? - does it matter?

[Steve]

Phil, it will matter if it stops the carpet laying flat by the same amount - it would look cr*p.. I don't know if the weight and tension in the stretched carpet will flatten the underlay. I've never done it before so I don't know how critical it is to get the underlay to lay perfectly flat. I don't want the appearance of the (quite expensive) carpet to be spoilt due to bad preparation.

Steve

[MikeS]

I have a friend who fits carpets and he once told me 'If it's hard you have to flatten it, if it's soft ignore it'. My carpets are lovely/

[Steve]

Thanks Mike - they're soft. Yipee!

[mark]

Have a look here:

[Derek Geldard]

It's a problem for the carpet fitter, but IME is pretty normal anyway. Don't cut the underlay, and don't keep walking on it before the carpet's fitted.

Our recent new carpet + underlay was like that when the fitting was finished. The fitter said the slack areas would go away and they did.

Derek