[Peter_Blackburn]

Hi,

     Any business conscious person will be aware of the FACT that there is a massive increase in laminate flooring in homes around Britain, there could be many contributing reasons for this new trend whether it be home improvement TV shows, the constant barrage of anti carpet  style advertisements, global warming, who knows but it will hit on our industry very hard and a lot sooner than you lot actually think.

Don't get me wrong there will always be call for good carpet and upholstery cleaners but unfortunately no where near the level of demand we are currently enjoying. Estate agents are now claiming that houses with laminate floors WILL achieve a better price on the market than those with carpeted floor coverings

I have two friends who own carpet shops in my area and they both say that laminate and wood flooring is now the modern choice for floor covering and carpet sales are now only a very small percentage of there business, and of this small percentage of people buying carpets the age group is around 50+.

So this leads me onto my next question, what will you do next?. All business need to diversify with the modern age in order to stay profitable, Im currently thinking of taking up a course in restoration of wood floors and leather care restoration, I have a gut feeling in around two years Carpet Cleaning will only be a small part of my business.
Are you ready to jump ship when the time comes?.
My prediction is..... 2yrs for all homes to have wood/Laminate floors, 15yrs for a reverse in trend back to carpets.

Thanks
Pete
 

[Doug Holloway]

Peter,

I think Mark Twain's quote 'Rumours of my demise have been greatly exagerated' can be applied to carpets.

Lets face it people have been saying this for years.

Cheers,

Doug

[cheryl new]

I predict that anyone with a laminate floor will change back to carpet within 2 years.

Laminate floors hold dirt on the surface making dust continuously airborne until it clusters together.  It's highly irritating and not good for astmatics etc.

Anyone with a dog will hate having laminate floors because of the continuous trip trap of claws.

Anyone with a laminate floor will undoubtedly have a rug to clean.

Still, taking the additional training and having the additional skills can't hurt .

Best regards
Cheryl

[lee_gundry]

been cleaning laminate floors for years.

more laminates the better for me,no colour run shrinkage,traffic lanes etc.


Lee G

[stu_thomson]

funny you said that someone said that the house price would increase, i saw a programme the other week with them scottish guys who said that if youve laminated flooring in your home you would decrease the value and would make selling harder. i think its got its uses but, alot of my customers who have it say they will go back to carpets. I think its abit like artex ceilings and walls, once a craze now no one wants them.
  stu

[Peter_Blackburn]

I think its abit like artex ceilings and walls, once a craze now no one wants them.

Yes your right stu but after a 15 year period , all Im saying is we should be all looking at other means of earning money as a back up when the majority of people turn to laminate in there home, Who knows when carpets will be back could be 5 Years Could be 30 Years.

Pete

[Peter_Blackburn]

Stu,

      This was randomly taken from an estate agents web site, they all say the same thing, 'Will increase the market value of your home'.


Other Home Improvement Projects to Consider

Your choice of flooring is limited only by your taste and budget. Rip up the old carpet and replace it with contemporary hardwood flooring or laminate flooring. If you already have hardwood, simply sanding and re-staining it or giving it a clear finish may give your rooms the lift they need. Other flooring replacements that can transform a room include tile, vinyl, linoleum, or textured rubber.

[Derek]

Peter

You are undoubtebly correct ..not sure about the time factor though.

There is also the concept to support your theory of a diminishing market that many of the young/middle age people are buying cheaper items of carpeting/ furniture and replacing more frequently. This is reflecting the 'throw away' society that many talk about

Derek

[lee_gundry]

my local carpet retailer has stopped stocking laminate floors 18 months ago due to lack of customers buying laminate.

where there is a laminate lounge there is a large rug sitting on top of it.

Lee G

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys,

One thing I've noticed is the big increase in light plain carpets especially with younger people.I suppose it's because these go so well with wood/laminate.They need very regular cleaning 

I think wood floors look very nice but laminate is horrible and cheap .
Remember laminate is paper laminated using resins and most of it is cheap and nasty.

Onwards and upwards,

Doug

[David Ware]

Hi
I agree with Doug on this one,must be the Essex sindrum. More and more homes are having woodlaminates in hallways and light colured carpets stairs and landings.Great in some ways, they get more soiling quickly.When you explain to customers that they have taken the filter effect away,that carpets offer and therefore the carpets will need to be cleaned on a more regular basis.


David Ware

[Dynafoam]

Can't  argue with the other Essex boys - When the 'big doormat' is replaced by a hard surface, I know that my return visit is going to be sooner.

[Phil Marlor]

Peter,

If everyone is installing Laminate floors your idea of learning how to clean wood floors is going to be a none starter as well.

I think you are being a bit over the top with your predictions of 2 years before everyone has laminate flooring.

The reason for this:-
 
Most of our customers are 50+ anyway!
Old people dont like hard floors! ( a fall on a hard floor is going to be much more more dangerous)
Laminate is cheap & needs to wiped down nearly every day.
Its a fashion that will pass.
Its not very homely/comfortable, people realise this after a while!
Animals hate it!
Everyone buys a rug to cover it!
People never Laminate Bedrooms/Stairs
Never seen Laminate upholstery in my life yet!

If you noticed recently the home improvement programs have started laying carpets & not Laminate.

I beleive its reached it peak now, go in your local Carpetright, when you walk in all you see is Carpet.

Anyway I cant see them changing their name to Laminateright.

Phil


 

[Big_Fish]

Absolutely agree with Phil.
Several of our customers who had laminate have gone back to carpet. After a couple of years, laminate starts to look worn and in my opinion looks cheap from the moment it is laid.

Not many upper end domestic properties have laminate, proper wood floors and quarry tiles maybe but also stacks of carpet.

It's a fashion that has already started to pass.

Nicky

[SMP]

I'm not going to get too bothered about this just yet.  Don't forget that we have a rapidly ageing population - the number of older people is a growing percentage.  There is a lot of talk in the various parts of the economy of the grey pound!

I have seen a lot of the cheap laminate floors that are being laid already looking like crap.  The slightest bit of moisture and they bulge at the seams.  So either people will have to re-lay them or cover them up in carpet. Also when it gets scratched it's so wafer thin you can't do anything with it.

I'm sure that we could talk our profession into the ground if we really want to !!!!

There will be an impact and there will be adjustments to be made - but this is no different to other services / sectors.

Cheers

[Len Gribble]

I agree with Essex boys   so

While cleaning a lounge this week and talking to the master of the house (yes am expeditious) the lady said that in the New Year they are redecoration the lounge and having laminate put down the same as what’s in the hall, we then herded a thump one of her kid slip over in the hall and banged his head, lump came up size of an egg, all heart me, I ask do you kid wear cycle helmets when on a bike reply Yes, I think they need to wear them in the house, now reconsidering is it a wise move.

An add note hard floors of any description gives impression of cold even with the central heating turned up, they also need a heath warning

Len

[Michel Roberts]

The fashion for laminates has already peaked in my view. I am laying carpets over wooden floors on a regular basis now.

 A far greater threat to carpet cleaning in my opinion and one that will be around for a long time is the plummeting(in real terms) price of carpets.

I recently had a fitting job to do in a buy to let flat in clapham SW London(posh nowdays)

The customer had brought the carpet himself from B&Q, an ordinary polyprop twist on a secondary back not great stuff but not compleate rubbish either. It looked nice enough when it was down. I asked him how much he paid for it and he said £3.50 per meter. He still had to pay me to put it in for him but at the end of the day he said the price of the new carpet, fitting included was only double the cost of quotes he had for cleaning it! 

He's a professional landlord and says he does this quite often now saying why clean when for an extra 200/300 pounds you can buy new for a whole flat(70sq meters)

The top end of the market which was previously immune to cheap carpet is also starting to be more accepting of this throwaway approach.

Michel

[dd dave]

Statistics say that on average 14 per cent of the population have there carpets cleaned ( source ncca iicrc instructors),  now to what standard this is to is unknown but if you look at the rest of the 86 per cent ther is so much work out there that even if 50 per cent of the country had hard floorings we  will always be in work if you are honest and do a good job, .

With reference to a throwaway society, I can not agree more. On average Carpets do not  wear out they just become unfashionable - so if the average person looks at carpets and uph as a 5-7 year investment  and then get a replacement .  This could be why some of the top end (no names mentioned) manufacters are having  a very hard time because their products are designed to last anything up to 10 times longer than  a product costing a quarter of the price - If you were standing in the shop and offered £25 or £75 a metre you would certainly think how long am I going to require this for . Also somebody mentioned about a chairman saying his uph comp products are only designed to last 5 years (bet thats not written anywhere)- Yep we are in a throwaway society- IMO (so not to get sued)

[mark_roberts]

Lee

How do you clean laminate flooring?

At lot of the above opinion are only just that our baised opinions.  We need facts ie. carpets sales v laminate etc and even stats over a period of time to draw conclusions of market trands.

IMO in my market and in my geographical area the average cleaning job from a new customer is no longer 3 or 4 carpets but rather a stairs and landing or just one room.  This is due to IMO to an increase in hardflooring in general.  Who knows how this trend will continue but I am cleaning more polypropolene than wool axminister.

Will we go out of business.   Dont think so as 90% of us are one man bands with a turnover of less than £50k and with a customer base to support us.  Large companies will loss trade and may downsize or diversify.  It will be and now is a lot harder for new starts to get a head start.

Mark

[Ian Gourlay]

As someone who already rides two horses I can tell you there is still a lot of carpet about.
90% of homes i visit are mainly carpeted.
Does appear to be a trendtowards a block type wooden floor not sure what its called but it is quite thick.