You can easily lay DIY laminate floors in almost every room in your home, including kitchens, since it doesn't have to be glued down and doesn't involve grout or mortar. Planks can be cut with a hand saw, circular saw or flooring cutter, so you don't need many tools.
DIY installation is significantly cheaper, but remember that it's not free. In addition to the personal time and effort you'll spend on the project, you'll have to invest in materials to prep the subfloor and supplies such as grout, nails, screws, sealer, adhesives, stain, or baseboards.
Cost to Install Laminate Floors: Labor Cost
The average labor cost to install laminate flooring is $1,500. Installing laminate flooring for a 1,000 sq. ft. floor costs $800 to $2,800 per square foot on average.
To cover 1,000 square feet, you can expect to pay $6,000 to $20,000. For materials alone, you'll pay $2 to $15 per square foot.
Installing vinyl plank flooring is an easy beginner-friendly project. Get all the details of how to prep the floor and install step-by-step! We needed to install new flooring in our kitchen/entryway/staircase area. It needed to be durable, waterproof, and easy to maintain.
When comparing vinyl plank to laminate, it's a close race as to which is easier to install. However, the installation of vinyl plank requires fewer tools and steps, so it's the superior choice in this category.
wood floor, we must confess, laminate planks are often easier to install than tile or solid hardwood.
Luxury vinyl flooring is also one of the best types of flooring for an easy install process. Since many luxury vinyl floor styles come in planks, they can easily be installed with a click-and lock-system over your floor's sublayer; it's what's known as a floating layer.
1. Luxury vinyl tiles or planks: These more durable versions of vinyl floors are also easier to install. They use a “tongue and groove” system you'll find with most floors in this tier.
Available in sheets, tiles, or luxury vinyl planks, vinyl flooring is the easiest kitchen flooring material to install. If your subfloor is in good shape, vinyl is also the cheapest because you can usually install it right over the subfloor (or suitable existing flooring), avoiding the expense of new underlayment.
Vinyl and laminate flooring are similar in cost. They're both less expensive than other flooring materials like hardwood or porcelain tile. However, vinyl can get more expensive as you explore the luxury flooring options. Most laminate flooring can be purchased for about $1-5 per square foot.
If you consider installation and upkeep costs, carpet is more expensive than vinyl. Our prices range from $30 to $100 per square metre at Carpet One. High-quality brands tend to be more expensive, but there are cheaper options too.
While the materials themselves might be close in price, their installation costs are not. We'll explain why a little further down, but suffice to say that laminate generally costs $1–$2 per square foot to install, while tile generally costs between $5–$8 per square foot to install.
The disadvantages of vinyl floors
Can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) Shorter lifespan than wood floors. No impact, or negative impact, on home resale value. Difficult to remove, especially if adhesive is used during installation.
Both flooring types are compatible with underfloor heating, although vinyl is slightly more efficient. Vinyl floors have the lowest thermal resistance of all Pergo flooring solutions and act as excellent thermal conductors.
Subfloor must be clean, structurally sound/tight, and visibly dry. Floor must be flat to within a 3/16” in 10' radius tolerance.
The most common way to lay hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists, this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it aesthetically provides the best result.
Most vinyl floors don't need an underlay. If the surface you're laying on is level and smooth, a well-cushioned vinyl floor should be fine on its own. Our Luxury Vinyl Click flooring is laid using the same as technique as laminate options in that it's loose laid creating a "floating floor".
On average, you can expect it to cost somewhere between $600 to $8,300 to rip up your carpet and install laminate flooring. Prices will vary depending on several factors, such as square footage, materials, labor costs, and preparing the space.
Expect to pay between $4,500 and $30,000 for 1,500 square feet of solid wood flooring. The species of wood you choose for your home can be a big determinant of the installation costs.