Fusion Twist from Balta Carpets

Balta carpets had promised more colour into the UK market and are delivering on their part in funonthefloor with several new ranges.

The latest of these I got hold of today is Fusion Twist. Coming in a whopping colour palette featuring 30 shades to cover any taste.

30 Colours

Technically it is not a top of the range product, far from it in fact. It comes with a 5 year wear and stainfree warranty though and weighs in at 20oz (Dublin is 13oz, Bali is 15oz), so it’s not as bad as some and for a budget twist, it is pretty good value. It is only available felt-backed and 4m wide.

I’d reckon it will go out between £6 and £10 per metre and it will sell very well with landlords and for cheap kids’ bedrooms. It seems like it could well be the new version of Fiesta Twist, which was once a top seller at this kind of price.

(Originally posted on 21st May 2009)

Abingdon? You’re Having A Laugh

At one time, Abingdon were one of our biggest suppliers of carpet. That was when they were known as Carpets International. We would stock many rolls of a lot of their ranges, take their display stands and do very well with them.

That now seems like a long time ago (it was only about 7 years back). Yesterday I acquired their new sampling for the revamped (?) Stainfree Twist, Stainfree Heather and Stainfree Tweed ranges they run and what a massive disappointment they are.

Used to Sell Well

First off, a word to Abingdon about their samples – display stands tend to be 18″ wide or 27″ wide. Nine inch wide samples fit on these stands nicely, look good and sell the product. However, if you make them nine and a half inches wide, they look crap and don’t sell the product. Very careless of whoever made that decision. Now they don’t look the best on our display racks.

So to the carpet itself. Well the colours are certainly plentiful and varied and Abingdon certainly still believe in colour – it isn’t all beige and brown thankfully. The feel of this carpet though is unimpressive given its price. I’d say it will retail between £14.99 – £18.99 per metre and frankly for that money it is poor value. Talk all you like about the warranty, but the fact is that most comparable companies now offer similar warranties and at a lower price.

Wilkies Carpets list the pile weight as being 35oz for Stainfree Twist and 33oz for Stainfree Heather and Stainfree Tweed. Compare that with Shepherd Twist by Balta at 45oz and likely to retail for less and Stain Defender by Domo at 40oz which will retail for way less. There are ranges aplenty that outscore these and Abingdon are merely trading on the brand name here.

One plus point is that it can be ordered 2m, 3m, 4m and 5m wide, but realistically the orders for us at least will be few and far between. I’ve put it out on the racks, but it looks well beaten by the other ranges either side of it.

It isn’t a crappy carpet, but it’s really not worth the kind of money you will be asked for it in my opinion. Oh and if you are offered Stainfree Style instead of these three ranges then I’d say avoid it – it’s a poor replacement and some colours are the same so be careful for unscrupulous traders trying to pass of the lightweight Stainfree Style (26oz) for the heavier weight Stainfree Twist.

At least it’s made in the UK though.

(Originally posted on 1st May 2009)

Dublin Twist

Dublin Twist has long been the main budget twist pile carpet sold across the UK, or at the very least in the North of England. In spite of the name, it is not made in Ireland, but in Belgium by Beaulieu International Group/Ideal Carpets.

If you are in the trade then you know all about it. For many it is the standard option to show people when they want something as cheap as possible. There are actually carpets that we can buy cut lengths of for less now, yet still a lot of retailers insist on advertising and showing this carpet to customers. The larger carpet retailers also run it.

It’s now available 4m or 5m wide and comes in around 20 shades and a choice of Action or Felt backing. The pile weight is a mega-low 13oz and yet still most sample books label this as heavy domestic. It is astonishing that this carpet can be labelled ‘heavy domestic’ and surely this makes a mockery of this entire system of carpet classification. If you are a propspective carpet buyer then pay no attention to what the label says in terms of ‘heavy domestic’ – almost every carpet claims this and it means virtually nothing.

The problem with Dublin is that it almost always looks terrible and lasts no time at all. Often it looks lined and shaded as soon as it is laid (some colours seem more prone to this than others) and if you go ahead with it then I can’t imagine you will be happy with the finished job. At best you will be satisfied. I don’t even think that it does a job at a price.

I’d definitely go with a cheap natural if you are looking to tidy a property up to sell rather than Dublin. At least they don’t look shaded immediately, but they won’t stand up very well over time either. Landlords often choose one or the other. If you can afford it, then try and step up a couple of pounds a metre to something like Revolution Twist, Wembley Twist or even Fiesta Twist. While you will pay more, they are easier to look after, look pretty good when fitted and will last at least twice as long, possibly three times as long as Dublin. In a tenanted property you will only get one tenant’s worth out of Dublin (if that), whereas the others may well be able to be used again. Buying Dublin Twist in my opinion is a false economy.

To sum this up then:

If you want a cheap carpet on a really tight budget – There is a new twist called Bali (AKA Kildare), which is better and also you could look at a cheap natural like Madrid, Buxton or Palma.

If you are a landlord – Try Revolution, Wembley or Fiesta as Dublin will cost you way more in the long run.

If you are doing it up to sell – Go for a cheap natural like Madrid, Buxton or Palma.

More Polystyl Vinyls

Following on from the ‘Colours of Today’ post the of last week, I have now got my hands on a full set of new Polystyl vinyl samples. Here is how they look:

Display Stand

Origin:This is Polystyl’s entry level product and is the only one of the ranges of theirs I’ve seen that does not feature their RMAX surface coating. That being said, it does still carry R10 slip-resistance, which is fine for domestic vinyl and will definitely mean less possibility of slipping.

On top of that the other point worth noting is that its warranty from Polystyl is significantly less than the others, coming in at ‘just’ 5 years. The vinyl itself is 2.6mm thick, so respectable enough from that point of view and the wear layer is 0.2mm, which seems now to be about standard at budget level.

Designs are typical fare- several wood planks, some tiles and so on – nothing to write home about here and it’s not winning any design awards, but it does a job at a price.

Elegant:Going up the tree quite a few branches, we see Elegant, which does feature Polystyl’s RMAX coating, which they claim is tougher and stands up to heavier wear. Hence you see the 15 year warranty on this product. Again this is R10 slip-resistant, which you would certainly expect from a high-end vinyl.

Gibraltar Black

It is beefed up to a chunky-ish 3mm total thickness and the wear layer here is a pretty impressive 0.3mm. This may not sound much better than Origin’s 0.2mm, but it does make a significant difference in the long run.

Designs are again pretty disappointing – just the usual suspects prevail again here and the only mildly interesting design is a large intricate parquet wood design. As Roy Walker would say, “It’s good but it’s not right!” It seems to me as if Polystyl’s creative juices were all sapped by Colours of Today and that’s a shame.

Elite:This one is very similar to Elegant and features both RMAX and R10 slip-resistance, yet somehow manages just a 10 year warranty (don’t ask me why. The gauge is again 3.0mm and 0.3mm wear layer.

Stromboli Bronze

Design is a lot better here though. We see some gorgeous plain metallic designs – the bronze being particularly nice and even the wood plank designs seem to incorporate this metallic theme pleasingly. It reminds me of some of Rhinofloor’s metallic stuff from a year or two back, but it looks more impressive to my eyes. Intriguingly some of the wood plank designs in my sample book run the wrong way and before I sell any of this I need to make sure which way the planks run. I have never seen a vinyl sample book like this before – most run the ‘right’ way, but a couple run the wrong way – why would they do that?

Agora:Jumps on the felt-backed vinyl bandwagon, which Leolan and Gerflor have exploited so well recently. Felt back vinyls seem to go to well with customers and you can definitely get away with some minor subfloor imperfections with them – it’s not a panacea, but it can get you out of a fix I think.

Agora has a 15 year warranty, RMAX and R10 and comes in at 2.8mm thick and has a wear layer 0.35mm thick - the highest within this range. It’s a good option, but once again the designs are somewhat bland.

Felt Back Vinyl (Better images to follow)

(Originally posted on 21st April 2009)

Lano Carpets and 5m Wide Wilton

The last few years has seen the explosion of choice available in 5m wide domestic carpet. Mostly these have been twists and berber, with the odd saxony and print thrown in for good measure. Where once I would be looking for the best place to position the seams for the customer, now I lazily show them 5m wide carpets and that usually does the trick.

Ceylon Wilton 5m Wide

Until now I had never seen a 5m wide Wilton. I’d read that Ceylon from Lano Carpets was coming out 5m wide, but now we have seen both this and another range from Lano, which a Headlam Group sales rep showed me this week.

The problem I have with them is price. We really need to be selling this out at £27+ per metre. To me that is over the top for the quality of the carpet - it’s just not worth it. Speaking impartially and looking at what else is around at what price, this carpet should be being retailed at £16-£18 per metre tops. If you have £27 per metre to spend on a carpet then this is not a great choice in my opinion. You can buy an Axminster for a little more and have yourself an 80/20 that will outlast this polypropylene Wilton comfortably.

Lano seem to be backing this to sell big for them and I will be surprised if it does. A rep for an Axminster manufacturer came in last week and I showed him the Lano and told him the price and he immediately told me that he did a nice 80/20 Axminster for £2 per metre more and he’d whisk me up some samples as soon as possible. I couldn’t argue with his reasoning.

Only around 2-3 years ago we were selling Wilton very simiar to this for £16-£17 a metre and it was hardly flying out of the door back then. The escalation in the price of a style of carpet in decline is staggering to me. On top of that we are now pretty much bereft of any budget Wilton to show our elderly customers who aren’t looking to break the bank (we used to call it Granny Carpet). All the stuff we could sell between £10-£15 a metre is now no more – it wasn’t great but it served a purpose and filled a real hole in the market.

(Originally posted on 20th April 2009)

Why I Prefer Balterio Laminate to Quickstep

I’m often asked the simple, blunt question by customers, “what’s the best laminate flooring?”. When you are dealing with good quality laminates, the question can only really be answered based on personal preference rather than a dazzling amount of technical data.

I used to swear by Quickstep. The Uniclic joint was always far superior to so many of its competitors and the designs always seemed to be one step ahead. I remember when they introduced their ‘Antique Oak’ and ‘Harvest Oak’ in the 9.5mm V-Groove Perspective ranges and those decors just sold and sold (can’t give them away now though). This was maybe 5 years or so ago now and for me, Quickstep have not moved with the times at all. I find their new ranges to be dull, awkward, overpriced and far from eye-catching. To a certain extent they have done something about this with their latest update and included ‘Largo’ which does look interesting, as well as dropping a few tired decors, but ultimately it isn’t enough.

I can’t abide their ridiculous ‘Lagune’ bathroom range. Retailers do not want this product! At best you will supply around 6 square metres and for that dubious honour the customer expects a wholly waterproof laminate floor. The fitting instructions are a nightmare and hence we just don’t offer the product fitted. Even DIY I hesitate to sell it and I never recommend it. Why laminate companies seem so obsessed with bathroom laminates is utterly beyond me .

I tend to recommend one of Balterio‘s ranges now. In ‘Tradition Exotic’, ‘Magnitude’, ‘Tradition Sapphire’ and several others, Balterio supply the most impressive looking laminates today. The quality is excellent and most fitters seem to enjoy working with the product. Best of all, customers are continually bowled over by the design.

Used to Great Effect on Tradition Sapphire

Balterio even beat Quickstep at the lower end, with ‘Senator’ and ‘Vitality Standard’ easily outselling Quickstep’s Classic 700 (or whatever they call it now). The constant changing of the names of ranges and the huge array of products to fit on their horrendously overpriced display stand. I refuse to pay £300-ish to have it updated with a few samples when I have already shelled out a lot for the stand. Unbelievable!

Balterio’s stands and sampling are invariably free and they win hands down in this department. You also don’t get every Tom, Dick and Harry giving it away on Ebay for peanuts, like you do with Quickstep – way to go gentlemen.

One word of warning to Balterio though – where are your brochures? In over 10 years of selling your stuff we have never had any brochures and that’s bizarre. Also your website is not a patch on Quickstep’s, so you really need to sort that out.

People in the trade often talk about customers having brand awareness of Quickstep, but in my experience I think this is overstated. Mot customers I come across are only aware of ‘Floormaster’ the B&Q range and have no idea about quality until you get the chance to talk to them about it and show them some samples close up.

Of course there are several other notable laminates, but I am talking about my personal favourite here. Pergo is excellent quality, Egger make some decent stuff, Tarkett do too (some dodgy old colours), Parador are there or thereabouts and we also have a new Austrian laminate called Kaindl which is undoubtedly impressive.

(Originally posted on 15th April 2009)

Stainfree Destiny from Abingdon

Abingdon have unveiled a couple of new budget twists (should sell between £10-£15m) in Stainfree Destiny and Stainfree Essentials.

Destiny is the cheaper of the two and is available in felt or secondary back (unusual for Abingdon). Here is an image of the standout colour for me, which is ‘Zebra’.

Essentials is a wee bit heavier and handles a lot better. We’ve priced it £2 per metre more than Destiny and it looks well worth it I would say. Neither carpet is especially ground-breaking, but Abingdon’s ranges seem to crop up in many retailer showrooms and are distributed widely by Headlam.

The samples we have say 4m wide only, but I’m not sure if they are available direct from Abingdon in multi-width cuts – as they do with most of the Stainfree range.

As per usual, they carry the now ubiquitous ’10 year’ warranty info as well as the new ‘Clean Air’ branding, to convince us that apparently after all carpet is way better for us all than smooth floor with regard to allergies. Forgive me if I’m not yet convinced of the science behind that claim.

Overall then a decent couple of low-mid price British made carpets in a saturated market for this kind of stuff. Personally I prefer the likes of Stainbuster and Weaver’s Twist from Domo, or Carousel from Condor Carpets.

(Originally posted on 14th April 2009)