New flooring usually runs $4–$15 per square foot installed, depending on material and prep work. Use this free flooring cost calculator to estimate the cost to install hardwood, engineered hardwood, laminate, luxury vinyl plank (LVP), tile, or carpet. Enter your room dimensions and we'll automatically add a 10% waste factor and break out material vs. labor costs.
Material accounts for roughly half the cost, with hardwood and tile at the high end and laminate and carpet at the low end. Tile is unusually labor-intensive due to setting and grouting — expect $7–$10 per sqft in labor alone. Removing existing flooring adds about $1.50–$3 per sqft, and damaged subfloor that needs replacement can add another $2–$5 per sqft. Always plan for 10% waste on cuts and breakage.
This flooring calculator multiplies your room length by width (times the number of same-size rooms) to get square footage, then automatically adds a 10 percent waste factor to the material so you have enough for cuts, trim pieces, and the occasional damaged board. Material and labor are priced per square foot by flooring type: hardwood around $8 material plus $6 labor, engineered hardwood about $6 plus $4.50, laminate roughly $2.80 plus $3, luxury vinyl plank about $4 plus $3, tile near $5 plus $8 (tile is unusually labor-heavy), and carpet about $3 plus $2. If you choose to remove existing flooring, the tool adds roughly $2 per square foot, and a subfloor that needs repair adds about $3 per square foot. A regional factor — from around 0.92× in the Southeast to 1.22× on the West Coast — scales the result, and the breakdown separates material, installation labor, removal, and subfloor repair.
Take a 15-by-12-foot living room — 180 square feet — getting new luxury vinyl plank in the Midwest, with no removal and a sound subfloor. With the 10 percent waste factor, material is priced on 198 sqft × $4 = $792, and labor is 180 sqft × $3 = $540. That's $1,332 before region; the Midwest factor (0.95) brings it to about $1,265, or roughly $7 per square foot installed. Choose tile instead and the same room jumps to about $2,500 — almost entirely because tile labor is $8 per square foot versus $3 for LVP. Add flooring removal and the bill rises by another $340 or so.
Plan on about 10 percent extra for a straightforward rectangular room, which this calculator adds automatically. Diagonal layouts, herringbone patterns, lots of corners and closets, or large-format tile push waste toward 15 to 20 percent. Buying a little extra from the same lot also gives you matching boards or tiles for future repairs.
Laminate usually has the lowest material cost, while luxury vinyl plank costs a little more but is waterproof and very DIY-friendly. Installation labor for both is similar — roughly $3 per square foot for a floating click-lock floor — so the choice usually comes down to moisture resistance and feel rather than install price.
Tile is set in thinset over a prepared, often reinforced subfloor, then spaced, leveled, grouted, and sealed — a slow, skilled process that runs about $7 to $10 per square foot in labor alone, well above floating floors. Natural stone and large-format tile add even more because of weight, cutting, and flatness requirements.
Not always. Floating floors like LVP and laminate can often go over existing vinyl or tile if the surface is sound and flat. Carpet, damaged flooring, and most tile installs require removal first, which adds roughly $1.50 to $3 per square foot. Removing old material also lets you inspect and repair the subfloor.
A note from me: Measure each room separately and round up — running short mid-install and waiting on a new lot is the most common flooring headache. These are planning estimates, not contractor quotes, so confirm material and labor pricing locally before you order. — Lisa Tran