Luxury vinyl flooring has started to replace tile, carpet, and hardwood. Its multiple advantages include easy maintenance, straightforward installation, and also affordability compared with all other floor types. But what is the cost of luxury vinyl flooring?
The cost of luxury vinyl flooring varies based on the type of floor you want. Luxury vinyl planks cost between $2.5 and $12 per square foot, on average. Luxury vinyl tiles are slightly cheaper, with an average cost between $1 and $10 per square foot. This is what you’ll pay for material only. You can expect to pay about $2,800 for material and labor to install luxury vinyl flooring in a 200-square foot space.
Obviously, there are many things that determine the price, including the type of backing and brand. Let’s have a look at them.
Table of Contents
Luxury Vinyl Flooring Price Per Square Foot
| Luxury vinyl flooring type | Material cost per square foot |
| Luxury vinyl planks | $2.5 – $12 |
| Luxury vinyl tiles | $1 – $10 |
| Commercial luxury vinyl | $5 – $14 |
There are three main types of luxury vinyl flooring: luxury vinyl planks (LVP), luxury vinyl tiles (LVT), and commercial luxury vinyl flooring.
LVP floorboards generally cost from $2.5 to $12 per square foot. LVP flooring is an excellent alternative to hardwood, but you can pick from other designs as well. Some premium LVP models are reinforced with urethane for higher resistance to scratches and stains.
LVT costs between $1 and $10 on average. Tiles are preferred if you want to replicate stone tiles – a design highly popular for kitchens, bathrooms, or countryside cottages. Because vinyl tiles are smaller than the planks, they are easier to replace if needed. Both LVP and LVT are easy to install on a substrate or above existing floors.
Commercial luxury vinyl flooring comes as an alternative to LVP and LVT for high trafficked areas. This floor is more expensive, with a square foot costing between $5 and $14. However, the investment is well worth it if you want a resistant and easy-to-maintain floor.
Luxury Vinyl Flooring Installation Price
The cost of installing luxury vinyl flooring can vary depending on where you live. On average, contractors charge about $36 per hour. This works out to about $3 – $10 per square foot for labor, not including the cost of materials.
In addition to vinyl flooring, you might also have to buy backing and glue, depending on the type of LVP flooring you want to install. Moreover, contractors may also charge more if they have to remove existing floors before installing the new ones. Let’s see what factors can affect the installation cost:
| Labor | Costs per square foot |
| Installing new luxury vinyl floor (floating type) | $1.50 – $2.75 |
| Installing new luxury vinyl floor (glued) | $3 – $5 |
| Removing carpet, hardwood, or floating floors | $0.35 – $0.75 |
| Removing tile or glued-down floors | $2 – $4 |
Other factors may also affect the final cost, such as installing underlayment or a moisture barrier and the type of flooring you want to install (planks or tiles). On average, you can expect to pay between $400 and $1,400 to have luxury vinyl flooring installed in a 200-square foot space.
Backing Types and Prices
| Backing type | Average cost per square foot |
| Felt | $1 – $1.5 |
| Fiberglass | $1 – $2 |
There are two main types of luxury vinyl flooring backing, felt and fiberglass. Felt is a more traditional choice, requiring adhesive to install. Fiberglass is slightly more expensive but way easier to install. This type of backing only requires you to glue down the edges of your floors, the rest featuring a floating installation – the planks or tiles simply snap in place.
Regardless of the backing type, you’ll need adhesive to fix the flooring to the substrate. Luxury vinyl flooring glue costs between $35 and $50 per gallon, a quantity that covers about 140-170 square feet.
Another factor to account for is underlayment. You may not need it, but if you want to reduce noise or if you’re using thinner vinyl, underlayment might be necessary. If you decide to use it, expect to pay an extra $0.5 per square foot, on average.
Factors That Affect the Price
1. Location
Labor costs vary significantly from one state to another, mostly because of the different taxes required by each state. Some contractors don’t include the taxes in their quotes, so make sure to ask or check the tax level in your area before beginning the work. Otherwise, you could end up with an expensive surprise.
2. Flooring Type
You may think all luxury vinyl flooring is the same, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Generally, you can choose from the following three types:
- Floating: Made with click-together planks or tiles, this vinyl floor type is the easiest to install. However, it is the most expensive to buy. Prices range from about $4.5 to $6.5 per square foot. Rigid core flooring can cost more than that, though.
- Peel-and-stick: This flooring type features adhesive backing for effortless sticking to the subfloor. This luxury vinyl flooring is cheap, with prices ranging from about $1 to $5 per square foot, depending on the floor’s thickness and design. However, installation prices can vary widely, mainly because this flooring type requires a perfectly level subfloor to adhere well. Thus, if your subfloor isn’t perfect, you’ll have to pay to have it adjusted.
- Glue-down: The cheapest to buy, glue-down luxury vinyl flooring is the most expensive to install. While most homeowners can install floating LVP themselves without issues, glue-down flooring almost always requires professional installation. You’ll also have to buy the adhesive, which will further drive up the costs.
3. Material
Luxury vinyl flooring may have luxury in its name, but not all vinyl planks and tiles were created equal. Here’s how the material affects costs:
- Budget flooring: Materials usually cost between $1 and $2 per square foot, but most tiles or planks come without adequate backing. Lifespan is also short, rarely exceeding ten years. Moreover, this flooring is easy to scratch or scuff and comes in limited style options.
- Standard flooring: Materials generally cost between $2 and $4. Standard luxury vinyl flooring is available in most styles and has a decent lifespan, usually between 10 and 15 years. This flooring type is a good option for lower budgets.
- Above-average flooring: Higher quality materials cost between $3 and $6 per square foot. Most vinyl flooring in this group is floating, reducing installation costs. You can also choose from a wide range of styles and textures.
- High-end flooring: High-end vinyl flooring costs between $6 and $12 per square foot, although some options are more expensive. This range includes all styles, colors, and textures. You can choose from planks that mimic hardwood almost to perfection, stone-like designs, or even abstract patterns. The product offers superior quality and durability, most manufacturers backing this option with a lifetime warranty.
4. Space Characteristics
Your space can affect the cost of installing luxury vinyl flooring in a number of ways. As you’d expect, labor costs rise if the flooring needs lots of trimming or if you have stairs. Naturally, installing vinyl flooring is cheaper if your space doesn’t have many corners.
5. Flooring Style
Luxury vinyl flooring styles vary from hardwood imitation to stone or abstract patterns. Wood grain patterns and natural stone imitations are the cheapest, but the effect isn’t very realistic on budget flooring options.
The most expensive options include sought-after styles like reclaimed wood or solid oak finishes. Here are the price ranges for different effects and patterns:
| Pattern/Effect | Price range |
| Marble | $2 – $4 |
| Stone | $2 – $8 |
| Slate | $3 – $5 |
| Wood | $2 – $12 |
| Metallic | $3 – $9 |
| Herringbone | $4 – $6.5 |
| Geometric patterns | $5 – $8 |
6. Vinyl Flooring Brand
Lastly, the cost of luxury vinyl flooring varies from brand to brand. Some manufacturers, like Shaw, are focused on budget options with prices ranging from about $1 to $6 per square foot. At the other end of the spectrum, companies like Mannington sell luxury vinyl flooring at $10 or more per square foot.
Most brands, however, like Stainmaster or Armstrong, have several flooring options in all prices ranges, catering to all needs and all types of consumers.
Summary
Luxury vinyl flooring is a more budget-friendly choice compared to hardwood or tile, but you can still expect to spend several hundred dollars on the project.
Floating luxury vinyl flooring is the most expensive to buy but the cheapest to install – and in most cases, you’ll be able to install it yourself. Glue-down flooring is the cheapest, but installation will cost you more. Peel-and-stick flooring type offers a good compromise, but you’ll need a perfect substrate.
So, what type of luxury vinyl flooring do you plan to install? Planks or tile? Budget, standard, or above-average? Tell us in a comment below. And before you go, don’t forget to share this article with your friends – it might help them work out the budget for their flooring project.
Just bought a Florida house and want to remove existing carpet and white tile squares and replace with luxury vinyl floors in a plank pattern. What are the costs? Also, costs of removing ceramic tiles? Can we do this ourselves?
My husband is a T-10 paraplegic and uses a power wheelchair for mobility. We are building new and have heard from others that LVP is the best choice for flooring that will stand up to daily wheelchair use. But the installation has me confused. What would be best? Floating scares me because of shifting or planks separating. Glued down seems best to me, but adhesive products rarely seem to stick as well as glued ones. Am I off base here ?