Flooring Calculator
Estimate the cost to replace or refinish flooring: hardwood, laminate, engineered, linoleum, carpet or tile.
You can calculate the cost of installing floors for multiple rooms at once (it needs to be the same material).
Flooring Estimator is designed to be very detailed, and takes into account most aspects of floor installation.
If you have different types of flooring to be installed or removed, we recommend running this calculator several times, for each room individually.
To start your floor replacement project, get free flooring installation estimates from licensed pros in your area.
How Do I Use Flooring Calculator?
To get accurate pricing on new floors, whether you are estimating for the entire house or just one room, there are a few important factors to keep in mind.
1. Select flooring material
After you make your initial selection, you will see additional options. For example, if you choose Hardwood, you will get options for: Oak, Cherry, Birch, Bamboo, etc.
2. Choose flooring quality
Again, we will use hardwood flooring as an example. It is usually divided into 3 grades or quality levels:
1) Clear or 1st Grade
2) Millrun or 2nd Grade
3) Rustic or #2 Common (3rd Grade)
As for cost, clear is the most expensive and rustic is the least expensive.
3. Estimate flooring cost for additional rooms
Click “add room” for additional rooms. If you do not know exact room sizes, but have the total square footage to be replaced, enter your size * 1.
This will however skew results for the “trim” calculation. Once you select the material you want, an additional field will appear, with more choices for a particular flooring type.
4. Room sizes
It is only possible to calculate prices for one material at a time. However, you can do multiple rooms at once. Enter the size of each room where flooring will be installed.
If you have more than 3 rooms, click “Add Room” for each additional room that you need to calculate.
4. Old flooring removal
This is an optional and sometimes unnecessary expense. For example, if you have hardwoods and want to install carpet, we recommend NOT to remove the existing hardwood. It acts as a solid subfloor, and can be later restored to it’s original condition, if you decide to do so.
If you want to install new hardwood flooring and you already have hardwood, laminate or tile flooring, you will need to remove those. To add this cost, select the type of existing floor that you need to remove.
How Do I Calculate How Much Flooring I Need?
To figure out how much flooring you need, you will have to measure each room where floors will be installed.
The easiest and fastest way to do this is to measure the room’s width and length using a tape measure.
Then multiply the width by length to get total square footage. For example, if your room is 11 sq.ft. by 14 sq.ft. (11×14) 154 sq.ft. total.
Pro Tip: Its best to add about 10% to your total estimated square footage to account for any flooring materials waste and ensure that you order enough flooring.
If you are planning on installing tile, its best to add up to 20% in square footage because there is more waste, cuts and you will also need to have extra pieces of tile.
Average Floor Installation Cost
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The average cost to replace old floors in your home is $6-9 per square foot, and depends on the type of flooring material you would like installed.
Cheaper flooring options such as laminate, carpet, vinyl or linoleum cost as little as $1.5-4 per square foot.
Installing all new, good quality floors in a 300 sq.ft. room costs $1,800 – $2,700, including all materials and professional installation.
Keep in mind that if you want to replace floors only in one room, you will actually be charged 10-15% more per square foot, than if you were redoing floors in multiple rooms or the entire house.
Flooring Cost Per Square Foot
Here are the average floor installation prices per square foot for the most popular materials:
| Flooring material | Price per sq.ft. |
|---|---|
| Hardwood flooring | $8-22 per sq.ft. |
| Natural stone tile | $7-20 per sq.ft. |
| Engineered wood flooring | $6-18 per sq.ft. |
| Ceramic and porcelain tile | $4-12 per sq.ft. |
| Concrete flooring | $2 – 8 per sq.ft. |
| Carpet | $3-10 per sq.ft |
| Laminate wood flooring | $3.85 – 6 per sq.ft. |
| Vinyl plank flooring | $2.5 – 5.5 per sq.ft. |
Floor Installation Cost
Floor replacement is a labor intensive process that requires a lot of skill and expertise.
Most flooring pros specialize in installing only one type of material. For example, tile installers will not install hardwood floors, etc.
Labor costs for flooring installers range from $1.5 – 5+ per square foot, depending the material and complexity of the work involved.
The cheapest floors to install are carpeting, vinyl plank (LVP), laminate wood and engineered wood flooring.
Tile as well as hardwood flooring installation is a lot more involved, especially if there is a request for any special design.
For example, tile mosaic installers charge $15-20+ per square foot for their work, depending on the size of the space, and complexity of the design.
Finally, concrete flooring installation has the widest price range for labor, depending on the style you want to have.
Pouring a basic concrete floor costs as little as $2-4 per square foot. However, high-end concrete flooring installation can cost $15-30 per square foot, if it includes things like special stencils, air brushing, multiple colors and textures, etc.
Factors That Increase Your Total Flooring Cost
Size of the space: the bigger the space the less you will be paying per square foot.
On a small project, your contractor will charge you the same price for set up, clean up and overhead, as he would for a large project, thus driving up the cost per sq.ft.
Room configuration: if your room has multiple corners or is odd shape, the flooring installer will charge you 15-25% more for labor
Condition of the floor: if you have old floors, the subfloor may need to leveled or repaired in order to put the new flooring material on top.
Some signs that your subfloor will require extra work include: sunken areas of the floor, uneven flooring, squeaking, buckling, or bouncing floors when you step on them.
Ease of access to the floor: if your space is located on the second floor or higher, there will be extra charges for having to haul all the materials and equipment upstairs. Any other accessibility issues will also increase the total cost.
Installing flooring in a bathroom or kitchen: usually costs more money than in a regular room, because of permanent fixtures in these spaces and the need to work around them.
Your geographic location: contractor labor costs vary by as much as 12-20% depending on where you live. High income cities and neighborhoods see much steeper labor charges from flooring pros for the same job, compared to less affluent areas.
Additional Floor Installation Costs
In addition to charges for the flooring install itself, there are other labor costs that may be involved, which will increase your total flooring cost.
| Remove and dispose of old flooring | $1.50 – 4 per square foot |
|---|---|
| Level a concrete subfloor | $2 – 3 per square foot |
| Repair plywood subfloor | $1.70 – 2.10 per square foot |
| Install new plywood subfloor | $2 – 2.35 per square foot |
| Repair single floor joist | $100-250 each |
| Replace floor joist | $300 – 1,000 each |
| Install vapor barrier | $0.5 – 1 per square foot |
If your floor installation calls for subfloor replacement, its worth it to install a vapor barrier under your new floors.
This additional investment into a vapor barrier will help to reduce moisture and prevent leaks, so that you can enjoy your new floors for many years to come.
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Cost of Home Depot Flooring Installation
If you don’t want to deal with interviewing flooring contractors and going to flooring showrooms, the easiest one stop for all your flooring needs is Home Depot or Lowe’s.
Both of these stores have a wide range of materials (hardwood, engineered wood, laminate flooring, tile, linoleum) that would be a good match from the majority of budget to average priced home remodels.
To install laminate floors, Home Depot charges around $4 per square foot, for both flooring and installation. Hardwood floor installation costs $6-8 per square foot.
Lowe’s charges similar prices.
For carpet installs, both Home Depot and Lowe’s sometimes advertise free installation when you purchase the carpet that they have in stock.
Carpet prices here are as low as $0.78 per square foot to $6-7.5 per square foot for designer carpet.
This is the carpet that they have hanging in rolls, and its typically of very budget to low mid-range quality and price. So if you are looking to save a lot of money and need carpet installed in many rooms, this can be a good option to consider.
How Much Should I Budget For New Flooring?
The table below provides estimates how much you need to budget for installing top flooring materials in a 1,000 sq.ft space.
| Material | Price per 1,000 sq.ft. |
|---|---|
| Hardwood flooring | $8,000-22,000 |
| Natural stone tile | $7,000-20,000 |
| Engineered wood flooring | $6,000-18,000 |
| Ceramic and porcelain tile | $4,000-12,000 |
| Concrete flooring | $2,000 – 8,000 |
| Carpet | $3,000-10,000 |
| Laminate wood flooring | $3850 – 6,000 |
| Vinyl plank flooring | $2500 – 5500 |
Best Flooring For Resale Value
When it comes to spending thousands of dollars on new floors, you want to invest in the flooring materials that bring the best returns (ROI) and can boost your home resale value.
According to Remodeling Magazine, hardwood floors offer the biggest returns, of about 70-80%.
Since natural hardwood is a top favorite among homeowners, new hardwoods throughout the home can actually boost the value of your house by as much as 2-2.5%. Homes that have natural wood floors also show a lot better and are easier to sell at a high price point.
If you are installing new hardwood floors, real estate experts recommend that darker floors offer a better ROI because they are most preferred by prospective buyers.
Dark color wood floors are followed by lighter color wood, while grey wood tones are overall last in terms of preference among the majority of homeowners.
Natural stone tile also has a high ROI of about 60-70%
Next best in terms of returns on investment are high-end carpeting, engineered wood flooring and porcelain tile.
As long as the floors in your home are durable and look attractive, you are sure to get good resale value on them.
I am installing snap in laminate floors for the first time in a 20 by 10 kitchen what should I look for on the subfloor and what tools and equipment will I need to be successful on my instalation
You need cutting tools … like chop-saw for straight (and safer) cuts… This can also be done with a razor blade knife. Tape measure, cutting knife, hammer / rubber mallet … stuff like that. Probably just watch on youtube “how to install laminate” to get better idea of tools you will need, and how to do it.
Good luck
I recently had to replace the carpet in my living room, and the cost really took me by surprise! It’s amazing how something as seemingly simple as carpeting can vary so much in price.
Great information. Thank you. Could you tell me the name and store to purchase flooring featured in the photo, w both dark, medium and light wood? White chair and fireplace in photo.
We are looking at having the carpet removed and the flooring replaced with the Brazilian Cherry prefinished solid wood flooring for the Living and Dining Rooms of the house were are going to purchase.
Larry,
Sounds like a great plan – carpets collect dust and are hard to clean, and Brazilian cherry is an amazing hardwood floor.
Still, I feel like your comment is missing a question – wast there one?
Leo
I almost got excited about your tech. Then I realized high end, midrange, and rental grade are all the same price with no options for different flooring.
lol I was like oh look a cool calculator. Your price estimate for mid range and high range are the same cost. Um. No. Fix your calculator folks!
American Construction and Plumbing specializes mold inspection and remediation. Give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you!
interested to see if the app for flooring contractors is available