Time to put your foot down on flooring

Kya de Longchamps points out the key factors — from hygiene to sound — you need to consider when choosing your house’s floors

CARPET is not always a quality product, and most of us are astute enough to notice the glitter of polypropylene underfoot. Add a foam backing and prices start as low as €3 to €4 a square metre. Even in the cheerily cheap wool mixes you get what you pay for. I can attest to that having an 80% wool mix cheapo. After 8 years it is quietly disintegrating from its backing into cloudy lint.

Carpet is either tufted (the standard medium price range choice, with short lengths of pile pulled through a prepared backing and trimmed to a uniform length) or woven (laced through front and back as it is created). It is known for its luxury and dimensional stability (less likely to flatten) and the durability of high wool content varieties.