How Much Does Carpeting Cost?

The cost of carpet flooring can vary widely depending on the type of carpeting you choose and the space you're planning to carpet. Most carpet needs to be installed by a professional, so it's unusual to save money by doing a project like this yourself.

The cost of a carpet installation ranges from a low of $785 to a high of $2,802.¹ The average price of installing carpeting is $1,769.¹

There are a lot of choices to make about your carpeting project, and most of them will impact your project cost. Here are the main factors that influence carpeting costs.

Obviously, the size of the space you plan on carpeting impacts your project cost. The cost to install carpet will be much higher if you're doing the entire top floor of a 1,500-square-foot house versus a single room of just 200 square feet.

Keep in mind that square footage will impact the cost of materials the most. If you're planning to have a professional installer do your carpeting project, be prepared for a minimum charge, even for smaller jobs.

Hiring professional installers will make your carpeting project more expensive; it will generally cost around $0.50 to $1 per square foot.² But if you're handy, you can opt to save on labor costs and do it yourself.

However, remember that DIY-ing has its own costs and limitations. Beyond the cost of the materials, you might need to buy specialized tools, rent a vehicle capable of transporting the carpeting or pay a fee to have the carpeting delivered. These extra costs can quickly add hundreds of dollars to your total project cost.

In addition, installing carpeting yourself can be tricky because the product is unwieldy and hard to transport, and the job requires at least two people to complete. You should also factor in your time and disruption in the home because DIY-ing a carpet install can take around four days.³

In contrast, hiring out the project will most likely reduce the installation time to about a day.⁴

The cost of your carpeting project also depends on the specifics of your installation. For example, carpeting stairs makes a project more expensive because it requires detailed work, custom cutting and extra time.¹

Carpet isn't installed directly onto a subfloor. Instead, a layer of padding adds cushioning between the carpet and subfloor. The thickness of the padding you choose will impact sound absorption and affect how comfortable it is to walk and stand on your carpet. Typical padding for carpet is bonded urethane, which costs around $0.90 per square foot.²

As with most home improvement projects, the cost of your carpeting can vary widely depending on the type of material you choose. And the material that makes up the carpet significantly impacts the cost. For example, a synthetic material like polyproplyene costs between $1 and $3 per square foot, while a natural material like wool tends to be more expensive—between $4 and $20 per square foot.²

The final bill on your carpeting project will largely be determined by the cost of the carpet you choose and the square footage of your project. Other considerations include labor and additional materials, but these make up a smaller portion of the cost.

Here are the steps you should take to estimate your carpeting project cost:

Square footage is calculated by measuring the length and width of the room (or rooms) you're carpeting. It's usually recommended that you add 10% to 20% on top of that figure to account for waste generated by cutting the carpet around doors and stairways.⁵

For example, let's assume you're carpeting a portion of the basement of your home, which is 20 feet wide and 20 feet long. Here's how you would calculate your square footage, including an extra 10% for waste:

20 feet x 20 feet = 400 square feet

400 feet x 1.10 = 440 square feet

Now that you know the square footage of the project, you can accurately estimate the cost of labor and materials.Let's say you plan to DIY using nylon carpeting and urethane foam padding. You can use the following calculation:

• 440 square feet x $3 per square foot for nylon flooring = $1,320
• 440 square feet x $0.90 per square foot for bonded urethane padding = $396
• Total cost: $1,320 + $396 + $200 for miscellaneous materials and tools = $1,916

If you're hiring pros, add the cost of labor instead of miscellaneous material and tools:

• 440 square feet x $0.75 per square foot for labor = $330
• Total cost: $1,320 + $396 + $330 = $2,046

In this example, you're only paying $130 more to hire pros instead of doing the work yourself.

While carpet isn't as standard as it once was, it still has benefits, especially for young families or older homeowners. Here's what you can expect if you install carpet.

• Comfort. There's nothing quite like the softness of carpet underfoot. Carpet provides comfort and coziness that can't be replicated by hard flooring or even rugs laid over hard flooring.
• Warmth. Hardwood and tile flooring have many benefits, but warmth isn't one of them. Carpet, on the other hand, is made from fiber and has the best R-value(a measure of a material's insulation qualities) among all standard flooring choices.⁶
• Quiet. Do you have active family members or pets who love running back and forth in your home? If so, you'll love the sound-deadening effects of carpeting, which minimizes echoes as well as sound transfer from one floor to another.
• Safety. Any parent knows that a soft place for young kids to land can be the difference between a minor bump and a trip to the emergency room. Carpeting on areas that might result in a fall—like stairs—can improve safety.
• Lower cost. While the cost of carpeting varies, installation is generally less expensive than for other types of flooring (like hardwood or tile) because it requires less preparation and is more forgiving. For example, some flooring, like luxury vinyl, requires a perfectly smooth subfloor. Carpet doesn't have this requirement.

No flooring product is perfect, and carpet does have some drawbacks.

• Allergens. Carpeting isn't the best for people with allergies because the fiber used to make carpets can trap dust, pet fur and other allergens. You can mitigate this by choosing a low-pile carpet, vacuuming frequently and hiring professional carpet cleaners.
• Mold. Like all fabrics, carpet is very absorbent. That means if your carpet gets wet or is regularly exposed to moisture, it can start to mold. Moldy carpet is hard to remedy and usually needs to be replaced.
• Difficult to clean. Unlike hard surface flooring, which you can clean almost to like-new status with household cleaners, carpet is a little more complicated. Daily cleaning can be achieved with a good-quality vacuum, but deep cleaning requires specialized equipment like a portable carpet cleaner.

Installing new carpet is a different process than replacing old carpet. Usually, replacing an old carpet requires a bit of preparation, which can add to your overall project cost.

Here are the additional steps to take if you're replacing an existing carpet, including what's DIY-friendly and what you may want to leave to the pros.

• Move furniture out of the space. The room needs to be empty to begin your carpeting project. You can hire movers for this step at a cost of $25 to $50 per mover per hour, or you can do it yourself.⁷The displaced furniture can be stored in another room or in an external storage container like a pod.
• Remove the old carpet. Pulling up the old carpet and pad can be an easy and fun DIY, or you can hire your carpet installers for this project at about $2 to $3 per square foot².If you do the project yourself, you'll also be responsible for disposing of the old carpet. You can do so by renting a construction debris disposal tool or by taking the debris to your local dump.
• Repair the subfloor. If the old carpet was moldy or had pet stains, you'll need to repair the subfloor. These repairs could be as simple as treating the subfloor with a stain-resistant primer, or as expensive as replacing portions of the floor.

Carpets can add comfort and coziness to your home, but they aren't as hard-wearing as other types of flooring, like hardwood. So you'll probably need to replace your home's carpeting at some point. Here are the signs that it's time for a new carpet:⁸

• Water damage and mold, which can be tough to fix without replacing the carpet
• Excessive worn spots due to high traffic or wear and tear
• A dirty look even after cleaning
• Stains that can't be removed by cleaning, like nail polish, candle wax or spilled bleach
• Degraded padding due to traffic, making the floors uncomfortable to walk on

Installing carpeting is one of the smaller renovations you may do over the life span of your home. Here are some options to finance your flooring renovation:

• Personal line of credit. An unsecured personal line of credit is a revolving credit tool, which means you can use the available balance over and over as long as you pay down the balance. A personal line of credit offers a low interest rate, and you only pay interest on the balance you owe.
• Home equity line of credit. This is a line of credit that's secured against your home, and it's one of the lowest interest credit tools available. A home equity line of credit is a revolving credit tool similar to your credit card, where you only pay interest on what you owe and can use and repay the line of credit many times over.
• Synchrony HOME™ Credit Card. This credit card is a good choice for home improvement projects because it offers 6 months of promotional financing on purchases of $299 or more.* It's also accepted across thousands of home improvement retailers.

Carpeting is a cozy and safe type of flooring that can make your home welcoming and inviting. It's affordable to install compared to other types of flooring, but it does require some upkeep and occasional replacement. The cost of your carpet project will depend on many factors, but the customizability of carpeting means it's likely you can find a style that's well within your budget.

Learn more about the benefits of using the Synchrony HOME™ Credit Card to pay over time for on your next home renovation project.

Subject to credit approval. Minimum monthly payments required. Promotional financing offers available at the time of purchase may vary by location. See store for details.