How Much Does Carpet Installation Cost?

If you’re deciding what type of flooring is best for various rooms in your home, you might be considering carpeting. It’s attractive, keeps your feet warm, muffles noise and allows you to pretend you’re walking on soft grass indoors. It’s the sod of the indoors! If you love the look of hardwood flooring in your living spaces, carpeting can be a great addition to bedrooms, for the best of both worlds.

One factor to consider when thinking about carpeting is the cost of installation. Let’s go over what those costs are and what factors affect the prices.

What’s The Average Cost To Install Carpet?

The average price to install carpet ranges from about $700 to $2,800, with the national average at about $1,800. You can expect to pay about $3.50 to $11 per square foot, with more high-end types ranging up to $20 per square foot. For an accurate idea of how much it’ll cost to install carpet in your space, get an estimate.

It’s essential to remember that these are average prices. Actual prices may differ, and they’re often affected by outside factors such as labor shortages and supply issues.

Your carpet installation costs can vary widely due to a number of affecting factors. Let’s look at those.

Factors That Affect Carpet Installation Cost

Carpet installation costs vary depending on several factors: the square footage you’re covering, the type of carpeting you choose, the cost of padding underneath the carpet, and the labor expenses for the installation itself.

Square Footage

The square footage will be one of the biggest factors affecting the overall cost of carpet installation – the bigger your space, the more it’ll cost. Other aspects to consider are whether or not the area you’re looking to carpet is curved or otherwise oddly shaped. This means the carpet will need to be cut precisely to fit the area, which could incur a higher cost.

Type Of Carpeting

The type of carpeting you choose will affect the total installation cost. The material you select, or fiber, is important, as well as the pile. First, let’s look at the costs and benefits of seven main types of carpet fibers.

Another factor that will affect your carpet costs is the pile, whether it’s cut or loop. This is how the fibers of your carpet are treated to create the surface.

Cut pile refers to carpet fibers that are sheared off at the top, creating a soft surface that’s easier to clean. These carpets come in different lengths and thicknesses. The sturdiness of this type of carpet is dependent on how tightly twisted each carpet fiber is. The more tightly each fiber is twisted, the more resistant to footprints and vacuum marks the carpet will be. The downside of cut-pile carpet is that it needs to be replaced more often than loop-pile carpets.

There are many styles of cut-pile carpeting that can affect the overall cost, depending on the pile and the overall carpet material:

• Saxony: This has short fibers that stand straight up, making it soft and lush. This style tends to be more expensive and less sturdy, showing footprints, making it a better choice for lower-traffic areas in the home.
• Plush or velvet: This has fibers that are densely packed, giving a pile that is shorter than Saxony and very plush. It shows footprints easily and is better suited for lower-traffic areas.
• Textured: This type of cut pile is created by twisting each carpet fiber into a spiral, making it extremely sturdy and resistant to footprints. It’s a great choice for mid-to high-traffic areas in the home.
• Frieze: This shag type has longer fibers cut into different lengths and twisted to curl. It’s great for high-traffic areas and is very durable.

Loop pile refers to the fibers being left uncut, in a loop. The length and density can vary:

• Berber: This is a sturdy, low-maintenance loop pile that’s ideal for high-traffic areas. The loops can range from looser to tighter.
• Sisal: This loop pile contains loops of different colors and sizes to produce a pattern.
• Level loop: This pile contains loops of the same height, giving it a uniform look.
• Patterned loop: This pile has loops with different heights, woven to form a pattern on the surface.

There are also several styles of carpeting that feature both cut and loop piles, creating patterns in the carpeting.

Finally, an additional expense to consider is any stain-resisting treatments you may want to apply to the carpet. This could be especially helpful in high-traffic areas, or if you have children or pets.

Stain-resisting treatments coat the fibers of your carpet with a liquid-repellant substance. This prevents oil- or water-based spills from soaking into the fibers and staining the carpet. It also helps prevent solid particles from sticking to the carpet, too, and makes them easier to vacuum.

There are two main kinds of stain-resisting treatments:

• Mill-applied: This treatment is applied when the carpet is being manufactured. It’s generally solvent-based and is longer-lasting, about 5 years.
• Post-cleaning applied: This treatment is applied after the carpet has been installed. It’s generally water-based, and it tends to wear off more quickly than mill-applied treatments, meaning you’ll need to re-treat your carpet after cleaning it. Expect this type of treatment to last about 2 years.

Padding Cost

You’ll need to factor in the expenses of padding to go beneath your carpet. Padding is the foundation on which your carpet sits, and it protects both your floor and the carpet backing. It adds cushioning and noise reduction, and it’s an essential part of carpet installation. When choosing your padding, you’ll need to make sure it’s compatible with the type of carpet you’re buying.

Let’s look at the main types of padding and their average costs.

Labor Costs

Your final major factor in calculating your cost estimate of your carpet installation is labor. Labor can include many different aspects besides installation, and all of them can add to your budget.

Carpet installation itself can cost about $0.75 to $2 per square foot. These prices can vary, especially if the job is complicated by oddly shaped rooms or the carpet is thick and heavy, making it more difficult to move and cut. Installation costs are generally calculated based on the carpet material, thickness and quality, room size, number of cuts needed and the quality of your subfloor.

Let’s look at a variety of additional costs you may want to factor into your budget:

• Furniture moving: This is generally left up to the homeowners to take care of. Having furniture moved as part of your carpet installation can add about $180 – $350 to the price.
• Removal of old carpet and padding: This involves several different tasks, all of which will add to the cost of labor. Removing your old carpet and padding involved cutting and tearing up the old carpet and padding, removing old tack strips, and scraping away any remaining adhesive. Each has its own average costs per square foot:
  • Carpet removal: $2.00 – $3.00
  • Padding removal: $1.50 – $2.00
  • Tack strip removal: $0.50 – $1.00
  • Scraping away adhesive: $0.50
• Hauling and disposal of old carpet: This cost is usually separate from removal fees. This fee includes the gas and vehicle needed to haul the old material to the dump site. Expect to pay $0.40-0.50 per square foot.
• Any repairs to the existing floor or subfloor: If your subfloor is damaged from water, rot or pests, or it’s sloping, it’ll need to be replaced or repaired. Expect to pay around $500-720 for this. The price is also dependent on the materials you choose for your subfloor, which vary in price:
  • Plywood: The most common subfloor material. It’s strong and durable, costing about $1.50 per square foot.
  • DRIcore: An engineered subfloor that prevents moisture and mold damage. It adds softness to concrete floors, costing about $1.65 per square foot.
  • Barricade: This dampens sound and warms floors, making it an excellent choice for basements. Expect it to cost about $2.25 per square foot.
  • Tyroc: Engineered from recycled rubber and compressed magnesium oxide, making it very strong and sustainable. It also reduces damage from mold and mildew. It runs about $2.70 per square foot.
  • Amdry: An insulated subfloor best for basements. It’s energy efficient and reduces moisture issues, costing about $3 per square foot.
  • Warmboard: This a sturdy subfloor that’s used with radiant heat systems and costs about $7 per square foot.
    
    
• Leveling concrete: You’ll want to ensure your concrete floors are level before having carpet installed. Carpeting an uneven floor will cause uneven weight on your carpet, leading to extra wear and tear. Expect to pay around $1 per square foot to level your concrete floors.
• Custom cuts: The more cuts you need, the higher the cost will be. Prices vary, so when getting quotes for your installation, ask about this!
• Carpeting stairs: If you’re carpeting stairs, note that this will often be a separate cost, due to the amount of labor involved. Stairs will often have an extra fee attached per stair, generally about $11 – $26. This covers that extra work involved, like the trimming and the higher number of tack strips needed.
• Trim installation: Baseboards and other trim will likely need to be removed and reinstalled before and after the carpet installation. This can cost about $0.60 – $1.20 per foot.

In some cases, carpet companies may throw in labor costs for free with the purchase of the carpeting. If that’s the case, make sure you crunch the numbers, because often this typically only accounts for a savings of around $1 per square foot.

If you’re looking to save money on your labor costs, consider doing some of it yourself. If it’s safe to do so, you might be able to move your furniture yourself. Consider undertaking the removal of your old carpet and padding instead of paying for your installer to do it. You’ll still have to pay labor costs, since installing carpeting is best left to professionals, but you may be able to save some money in your budget.

The Bottom Line

The cost to install carpet in your home will fluctuate based on several major factors, all of which have their own varying costs: your carpet material, quality and pile, the cost of padding, the square footage you’re looking to cover, and the costs of labor you’ll incur. Get estimates from local professionals and ask for detailed quotes. If you’re interested in making more home improvements or upgrades, check out other homeowner tips in the Rocket Homes^SM Learning Center.