Carpet Shenanigans

I had hoped to do some painting last night but I got home and was under the weather so went straight to bed. I feel like I have a cough starting but I'm okay so far.

Anyway, enough feeling sorry for myself. The carpets and underlay for the loft bedrooms arrived shortly after lunch today and, my goodness, they're long rolls!

You see 4 metre length and 5 metre length on the website but actually stop for a moment and consider just how big that is and how weighty and cumbersome they must be to move around. Well reality smacked me in the face today when this lot landed:

After work I set about moving the carpets. I got the tape measure out, fixed it at 3 metres and worked out a plan of action for the shorter of the two carpets. I enacted the plan. Got myself and the carpet stuck. Then I realised that the shorter roll is four metres, not three!!!

Still sort of stuck with the plan though. 

Some tight bits needed a bit of brute force but it got to the loft eventually.

The 5 metre roll doesn't stand a chance though. I could probably get it to the first floor landing (after smashing up part of the bathroom) but getting it up into the second stairwell just won't be possible. The 4m barely did it! 

No idea what the best way to tackle the larger roll is. Here's my two ideas so far:

• Unroll the carpet then reroll along the shorter side. This will convert length to girth. No idea if that will damage the carpet, no idea if it'll be too girthy and I'd probably have to reroll out the front of the house. Could probably do this solo.
• Enter through a loft window, probably the front velux window. Would involve lifting a heavy, unwieldy, plastic covered tube up the side of the house, rotating it in mid-air, all while not demolishing mine or my neighbour's guttering / roof tiles. Would need several people to help and risk of collateral damage is high.

The engineer in me likes the second option. I can visualise how it would work. My ladders would protect the gutter and act as a guide. Ropes would be used with people both inside and outside the house. The carpet would arrive directly where it needed to be but it's risky. If the roll slips it could take out some roof fixtures. Any weight on the Velux window opening could damage the window / plaster inside. 

I think I need to at least try the first option. I'll do some research and see if rolling in another direction is bad for the carpet. If it's okay, then I'll check the girth. That'll have to be a job for a dry day though.

In other news, the colours look good from what I've seen. I was concerned about the back of the carpet having some foam fitted but that wasn't the case so the carpet grippers should work just fine.