A helpful guide showing what flooring products are available at different price points.

$0.50 sq ft or $4.50 sq yd.

Very little floorcovering is available at this price point. Apartment grade residential carpet and commercial 20 ounce level loop will get close. You can sometimes find ceramic tile close-outs in the $0.59 - 0.79 range, and commercial VCT, vinyl composition tile, specials at about $0.69. This price point gives you little or no choice in most cases for 1st quality, warranted merchandise, but if you shop hard, 2nd quality carpet, 2nd quality laminate (which can be horrendous), and ceramic tile close outs may meet this price, with a very limited selection. Remember installation costs stay about the same, no matter the cost of a particular category of flooring.

$1.00 sq ft or $9.00 sq yd.

At this price point, many different categories, and a much broader selection, are available.

Engineered and solid hardwood are usually not avaialbe at this price point, but nice carpet, nice vinyl and vinyl tile, some ceramic, VCT and entry level laminates are available.

$2.00 sq ft or $18.00 sq yd.

At this price point an excellent selection of carpet, vinyl, vinyl tile, and laminate are available, but usually only cabin grade engineered wood and little or no 3/4" thick solid wood is available.

$3.00 sq ft or $27.00 sq yd

Carpet

At this price point, you will find an excellent selection of residential and commercial carpet. Only the super high end designer styles exceed this price point. In most cases, you should find exactly the carpet you want below $3 sq ft. But having said that, more and more styles are showing up at a higher price.

Laminate

You may have to shop a bit, but most laminate can be purchased at this price. Many of the highest end laminate floors (such as Grand Illusions) are priced at $4 sq ft, but if you shop hard, you should get close to this price point.

Vinyl

While there is a great selection of quality vinyl flooring under $2 sq ft, this price should include all but the most expensive vinyl floors.

Hardwood Flooring

Unfortunately, this price is still low for most hardwood floors. Standard running line engineered hardwood and some cabin grade 3/4" solid oak is available around $3. Most 1st quality solid hardwood is around $4 sq ft. However, if you shop hard, you will find lots of cabin grade engineered in the $2 - 2.50 range, and a good selection of cabin grade solid in the $3 sq ft range.

$5.00 sq ft or $45.00 sq yd

Carpet

Most all turfted carpet, except the highest end, like woven imports. I'm sure if you look hard you can find lots of carpet that exceed this price, but almost all of your needs can be met in the $2 - $4 sq ft range.

Laminate

All laminate I am familiar with is under $5 sq ft. Your best laminate is still in the $2 - $4 range.

Vinyl

$0.50 sq ft to $3.50 sq ft. There are some very nice loose lay vinyl flors, like Armstrong's StrataMax, that sell under $2 sq ft.

Luxury Vinyl Tile

Luxury Vinyl Tile, like Karndean, DuraCeramic, and Adura, are available in the $4.50 sq ft range.

Hardwood Flooring

At $5 a sq ft, you have a wide selection of hardwood floors. Many hand scrapes and exotic woods like Brazilian Cherry can be found at this price point. Many standard running line solids in wide width are around this price, but most manufacturers have some beautiful wood floors, both engineered and solid, that are in the $7 - $13 range.

$8.00 sq ft / $64.00 sq yd - $13.00 sq ft / $117.00 sq yd

Their is a very broad selection of both solid and engineered hardwood in this high-end range. Much of this wood is absolutely beautiful.

In choosing wood over $10 per square foot ($90 per square yard), I prefer engineered to solid. High end engineered wood is more dimensionally stable, and a thick, over 3 mm, veneer straight sawn and not rotary cut can look fantastic.

Remember, we have only priced the material, and not the installation. The following cost must be added to material cost to get your total installed cost.Laminate and Loose Lay vinyl are popular do it yourself products, but by far the vast majority of flooring is installed by a flooring professional.

These are standard prices and there could be many add ons, such as floor preparation, removing old flooring, moving furniture and appliances, etc.