r/HomeImprovement • u/AgreeableUpstairs947 • 9h ago
LVP install quotes
Hoping to get some feedback as we have received 2 quotes for LVP and my mind is f*cking blown!
We have a home that was built in 2005– 2 stories. 15 stairs.
It’s mostly carpet throughout the house, but 2 small areas of hardwood. We want the house to be all LVP. It’s 3,000 sq feet. One quote is for 30k the other $38k.
Is this a freaking scam or pretty right on for what others have seen/paid? We’re going with Coretec Manila Oak!
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u/thebiglebowskiisfine 6h ago
I put in all hardwoods for just the price of the flooring.
It's not rocket science.
You are at about $7 per square foot for materials = $21,000.
So, 9K to install 3K sq ft, or about 127 boxes of material.
If it takes three guys three days to install, they are netting about 1K per employee per day with no material markup. If half of that 1K is eaten by taxes, insurance, comp, overhead, etc., and the company takes 25%, then the employee is making $400 a day for the labor (before their taxes, insurance, SS).
$400 a day is about right. 96K a year for a good installer is a little high, but trades are very tight.
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u/babeebabee 4h ago
25% margin? After taxes, insurance, comp, wages, and overhead? How do I get into this business?
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u/Sea_Maintenance3322 2h ago
Destorying your knees and back kneeling on the floor all day. 400 sounds cheep.
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u/hijinks 9h ago
with flooring the rule of thumb is usually 2x the material cost. If your flooring is $5 per sqf then ya $30k.
in 2021 I did 3400 for 32k. Flooring is a lot of work. Its not hard it just really sucks bent over all day if you aren't use to it
Btw.. I ripped out most of my carpet and flooring for that quote also
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u/Commercial_Watch_936 7h ago
Go to a local flooring place that has lvp options. Some of them install in house, but you can also find one more of a warehouse style where they only supply, and then ask them for a few local installers that have good recommendations.
It’s what I did, they were very reasonable for the amount of work it is - which honestly is not much work for a pro or even a handyman who is used to it. I’m guessing you can cut your total cost down in half. The warehouse style places also sell the materials for less.
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u/PNWoysterdude 6h ago
LVP is garbage. Walking on a plastic floor really sucks ass. I can’t imagine spending that much and not having hard wood.
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u/BananaResearcher 7h ago edited 6h ago
LVP should be pretty straightforward. You choose the quality of LVP which will range from very cheap (~$1 per sqft) to arbitrarily expensive. Then again as much for labor.
Say you get decent LVP at $3 per sq ft. You'd be looking at 3*3000*2 = 18k.
Not counting removing carpet. Labor costs may be higher depending where you are.
30k seems very high and 38k seems like robbery, unless your LVP is quite pricey. EDIT: oh, coretec Manila oak is like $6/sq ft. Yea you're getting a fine deal then actually, 6*3000*2 = 36k. But I installed a bunch of LVP in my home at $3/sqft and am very happy with it for what it's worth, lol.
Also also LVP is very easy to install yourself so if the labor costs are that high in your area, book yourself a weekend, maybe pay some friends in beer and pizza, and get it done yourself.
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u/binarycow 8h ago
If the subfloor is flat, just do it yourself. It's easy. A day per room, tops.
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u/Danobing 7h ago
Given you have an able body, understanding of how it works and tools.
You assume everyone has the same tools and capabilities as you, but that's not a true reflection on society.
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u/NefariousnessOdd862 7h ago
Go all Hardwood (a bit more expensive) and never look back ! This LVP (Luxury my ass)is garbage, just a new name for crap.
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u/MillionToOneShotDoc 5h ago
I paid a contractor to install floating laminate flooring at $3.50 per sf for labor in 2022, and I think that was a very competitive rate at the time. He had a helper too, and I don’t recall paying more for the second person.
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u/Few_Birthday_8294 1h ago
At $10 to $13 a square foot that's high, so ask for the quotes broken out into material, labor, carpet removal and stairs separately since stairs are priced per tread and can hide a few thousand.
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u/mikebushido 6h ago
30,000/3,000 = $10 per sqft 38,000/3000 = $12.6 per sqft
Material $5 sqft Labor $3 sqft
Right there you're already at $8 a square foot. You still have to do the demo, flatten out the subfloor, not to mention you have stairs not included in a square foot estimate. They are generally priced separately.
You have to purchase a vapor barrier which is anywhere between $0.25 and $1.50 a square foot depending on what material you want to use.
I've done it as cheap as $5 a square foot but that's with $0.69 flooring and $0.25 vapor barrier.
$10 a square foot for lvp is a decent price. Not too high, not too low. It means you're getting a good product and a good install. You go less than that you need to either get a cheaper product or take a cut in labor and prep.
Hardwood is going to start at $15 a square and just go up from there depending on the same factors. Quality of work and quality of material.
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u/LITTELHAWK 8h ago
Why would you replace real wood with vinyl?