Whole-house flooring is a five-figure decision for most homes. We'd rather you go in with real numbers than get ambushed at the quote stage. Here's how the math actually works for a typical 2,000 sq ft house in the western suburbs.
Start with real square footage
What most homeowners think they have vs. what we laser-measure tends to differ by 5-15%. A "2,000 sq ft" house usually has 1,700-1,900 sq ft of actual flooring once you subtract walls, cabinets, closets you're not doing, and the garage.
For budget math, use your real flooring area and add 7-10% for waste. Carpet and LVP waste out around 8%; hardwood around 10%; herringbone or diagonal installs 15%+.
Category costs, installed
For a 2,000 sq ft house doing everything at once, here's what we see:
- All carpet (3/4/6 mix): $10,000 - $14,000
- All LVP (Apex Lux or Antiquity): $18,000 - $26,000
- All hardwood (Turku EcoWood): $36,000 - $48,000
- Mixed: LVP main + carpet bedrooms/stairs: $15,000 - $22,000 (most common)
- Mixed: hardwood main + carpet bedrooms/stairs: $28,000 - $38,000
These are installed prices with our lifetime labor warranty included. Tear-out, haul-away, and standard prep are in the number. Surprises — rotten subfloor, asbestos tile underneath, major leveling — are not, and we'll flag them before we do the work.
Where to save
- Bedrooms. Nobody's dragging furniture across bedrooms all day. Mid-grade carpet at $3.50-4/sq ft installed is plenty.
- Guest rooms and closets. Same logic. Save the premium stuff for where you actually walk.
- Basements. Mid-range LVP is fine; you don't need the top-tier wear layer for a space you use 3 hours a day.
Where to spend
- Stairs. Good nylon, period. Cheap stair carpet mats down in a year.
- Kitchen + main traffic path. This is the 20% of your floor that takes 80% of the abuse. Spring for the better wear layer here.
- Pad under carpet. A $0.50/sq ft upgrade from builder-grade to 8-lb rebond pad extends carpet life by years.
Should you phase it?
Sometimes yes. Reasons to do it all at once:
- Transitions line up cleanly between rooms
- Our crew is mobilized once (you save on minimum charges)
- Price lock on the full job
Reasons to phase:
- Cash-flow constraints
- You're remodeling a kitchen or bath next year anyway — don't lay floor that's coming up
- You want to live with one material before committing the whole house to it
If you're phasing, we'll write the quote so the phases match cleanly — same product, same dye lot where possible, same transition plan.
0% financing
For customers who want the whole job now and want to spread the cost, we offer 0% APR financing through Wisetack with 3, 6, 12, and 24-month terms. A $20,000 LVP job on a 24-month plan is about $833/month at zero interest. Approval is a soft credit check that doesn't affect your score.
What's next
Start with our Floor Finder to narrow which products fit your lifestyle, then book a free in-home consult. We'll laser-measure, bring samples, and give you a written number the same day. No pressure, no today-only tricks.
All projects under $1,000 carry a $194 minimum job charge — worth knowing if you're only doing one small room. Above that, you're paying for material + labor, straight line.