Carpet Installation
Cost Calculator
Enter your square footage, pick a carpet and pad, and see the all-in price — carpet, pad, labor and removal.
Carpet ads quote a price per square foot for the carpet alone. What you actually pay adds the pad, the extra carpet cut away to fit 12-foot rolls, installation, hauling off the old floor and any stairs. The calculator adds all of it up. Below it are the situations that change the answer — a flooded basement, a move-out inspection, pets, aging parents — and a locator for installers near you.
Key takeaways
- What does new carpet cost installed? About $3,280 for 500 sq ft of midrange nylon with a standard pad, removal of the old carpet and a 10% reserve — roughly $6.56 per sq ft all-in.
- Why is the quote higher than the sticker? You buy about 12% more carpet than your floor area because it's cut from 12-foot rolls, and the pad, labor and removal come on top.
- Is cheap carpet a bargain? Rarely. Budget polyester cost the most per year of use in our testing; nylon cost about a quarter less per year.
- What do stairs add? About $27 a step for midrange carpet — around $380 for a typical 13-step flight.
- Can wet carpet be saved? After a clean-water leak, often yes if it's dried within 24 to 48 hours. After sewage or floodwater, carpet and pad must go.
- How long does it take? One day for most rooms up to about 500 sq ft; plan two to four days for a whole floor.
- Is the new-carpet smell harmful? Most of it fades within 48 to 72 hours with good ventilation. Low-emission labels cut it further.
Your floor
3 quick choicesYour estimate
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Carpet, pad, installation and removal,
with a 10% reserve.
A planning estimate, not an installer quote.
Midrange nylon
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Where your money goesCost breakdown
| Item | Planning allowance |
|---|---|
| Project subtotal | — |
| Reserve (10%) | — |
| Total planning budget | — |
Same floor, three carpet grades
Same area, pad and extras. Ranges include your reserve.
Budget polyester
Soft and cheap; mats down sooner
——Midrange nylon
Springs back; the everyday choice
——Premium nylon
Denser, stain-resistant, longer life
——One way to spend less
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Leave room for surprises
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What we found running the numbers
In our testing we ran 28,512 combinations — every carpet grade, pad, removal type, stair count, furniture option, location and reserve, across 11 floor sizes from 100 to 2,000 sq ft. The all-in price ran from $3.33 to $40 per square foot, and the cheapest and dearest jobs were separated far more by carpet grade and room size than by anything else. Here is what one change did to a typical $3,280 job: 500 sq ft of midrange nylon, standard pad, old carpet removed.
Each bar changes one setting from the default: 500 sq ft, midrange nylon, standard pad, old carpet removed, no stairs, you clear the rooms, average-cost area, 10% reserve.
Rolls come 12 feet wide, so any room wider than 12 feet needs a second strip and a seam. The leftover edges are paid for even though they end up in the dumpster. A good installer plans seams to land in low-traffic spots, away from doorways.
We found that the cheapest carpet is the most expensive to live with. Spread over a typical life of five to ten years, budget polyester came to $343 a year for the same floor. Midrange nylon, lasting about ten to fifteen years, came to $262 — about a quarter less — and premium nylon matched it at $263 while looking better for longer. Small jobs surprised us too: a single 100 sq ft room cost $8.90 per sq ft, because installers charge a minimum to show up.
Carpet grades compared
Planning budgets for the same 500 sq ft floor with a standard pad, old carpet removed and a 10% reserve. Life spans assume normal family traffic and regular vacuuming; stairs and hallways wear out first.
| Carpet | Planning budget | All-in per sq ft | Typical life | Cost per year | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget polyester / olefin | $2,570 | $5.14 | 5–10 yrs | $343 | Guest rooms, rentals | Mats down in traffic lanes |
| Midrange nylon | $3,280 | $6.56 | 10–15 yrs | $262 | Most bedrooms and family rooms | Ask about the stain warranty |
| Premium nylon | $4,200 | $8.40 | 12–20 yrs | $263 | Pets, kids, stairs | Pay for density, not just thickness |
| Wool | $6,510 | $13.02 | 20–25 yrs | $289 | Formal rooms, natural-fiber buyers | Needs gentle cleaning; some stains set |
Wet carpet: save it or replace it?
Restoration pros sort water by how dirty it is, and that category decides whether carpet can stay. The clock matters too: clean water left more than about 48 hours can turn into a contamination problem as bacteria and mold grow.
| Water type | Common sources | Carpet | Pad | Act within |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean (Category 1) | Burst supply line, sink overflow, rain through a window | Often saved with extraction and drying | Usually replaced; may be dried if only partly wet | 24–48 hours |
| Gray (Category 2) | Washer or dishwasher discharge, toilet overflow without feces | Sometimes saved with professional cleaning | Always replaced | Under 48 hours |
| Black (Category 3) | Sewage backup, river or storm floodwater | Discard | Discard | Remove right away |
💧 Filing an insurance claim for wet carpet
Stop the water, photograph everything before it's moved, and call your insurer the same day. Most homeowners policies cover sudden leaks such as a burst pipe but exclude slow leaks and, unless you carry separate flood insurance, water that comes in from outside. Sewage backup often needs its own endorsement. Keep a sample of the wet carpet and pad for the adjuster, and get the restoration company's moisture readings in writing — they show why the pad, and sometimes the carpet, had to go.
What to do in your situation
🐾 You have dogs or cats
Pick solution-dyed nylon or a premium nylon with a pet-stain warranty, and pair it with a pad that has a moisture barrier so accidents can't soak through to the subfloor, where odor lingers. Read the warranty's fine print: many require cleaning within a set time and exclude damage from chewing or digging. Lower loop styles can snag claws; a cut pile is usually safer.
🧓 You're choosing carpet for an older parent
Falls are the leading cause of injury for Americans 65 and older, and more than 14 million report a fall each year. For anyone unsteady on their feet, choose a low, dense pile over a thin, firm pad — deep plush and thick memory foam make walkers drag and feet catch. Ask for beveled transitions where carpet meets tile or wood, skip loose throw rugs entirely, and have stair carpet installed tight with no overhang at the nose.
🏠 You're a renter facing a move-out charge
Landlords generally may deduct for damage, not for normal wear and tear such as traffic lanes or fading. Courts and state agencies often expect a charge for carpet damage to reflect the carpet's age, not the price of brand-new carpet. Ask for an itemized list with the carpet's installation date, compare it with your move-in photos, and contact your state attorney general's consumer office or local tenant program if the charge looks like a full replacement for an old carpet.
🌬️ Someone in the house has asthma or allergies
Choose carpet, pad and adhesive carrying a low-emission label such as Green Label Plus. Ask the store to unroll the carpet in a ventilated space before delivery, keep windows open and fans running during installation, and keep ventilating for 48 to 72 hours afterward — that's when most of the new-carpet smell fades. Vacuum with a sealed, high-filtration vacuum. If carpet keeps triggering symptoms, a hard floor with washable area rugs may suit the bedroom better.
🏚️ You're pulling up old carpet in a house built before the 1980s
Under old carpet you may find sheet vinyl, vinyl tiles or black adhesive. Some older flooring and mastic contains asbestos, which is only a hazard when it's broken, sanded or scraped. Don't tear it up yourself; have a sample tested first. Often the safest and cheapest path is to leave sound old flooring in place and install the new pad and carpet right over it.
🏡 You're getting the house ready to sell
Peek under a corner of the carpet first. If there's hardwood beneath, refinishing it may appeal to more buyers than new carpet. If you're carpeting, choose a neutral midrange nylon — buyers notice clean, new carpet, but rarely pay extra for wool or thick memory-foam pads.
🏷️ The store advertises "free installation"
Free installation usually covers basic labor only. Pad upgrades, removal of the old floor, furniture moving, stairs, transitions and door trimming are often billed separately, and the carpet price itself may be higher. Compare quotes by the total price divided by your square footage. Store credit cards with "no interest if paid in full" are deferred-interest deals: miss the payoff date and all the interest from day one is added.
Find carpet installers near you
Share your location or enter a ZIP code to center a map on your home and open searches for carpet installers, flooring stores, water damage restoration companies and carpet recycling drop-offs nearby.
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Is my quote fair?
Ask every store to measure in your home and to show the measured square footage, the amount of carpet being ordered and a seam diagram. Then divide each total by your floor area and compare that all-in price with the calculator. A quote well above the range should list reasons — stairs, a premium pad, glued-down flooring to remove — and one far below usually leaves something out.
Prices quoted per square yard look three times higher than per square foot because a square yard is 9 square feet. Divide by 9 before comparing.
Quick answers
How do I measure a room?
Multiply length by width in feet, round each up to the next half foot, and add closets and doorway openings. Add up the rooms; the installer will measure again.
Can I lay carpet myself?
Carpet is one of the harder floors to install well, because it has to be power-stretched to stay flat. Installation is a modest part of the bill, so most people save more by choosing the right grade than by doing it themselves.
Does a thicker pad mean better carpet?
Not by itself. Many carpet warranties call for a firm, dense pad of limited thickness; too soft a pad lets the carpet flex and wear faster. Check the carpet maker's pad requirements.
What happens to my old carpet?
Most installers haul it to a landfill for a fee. Some areas have carpet recycling drop-offs; the locator above can search for one.
How soon can we walk on it?
Right away for stretched carpet over a pad. Wait for glued-down carpet to set as the installer directs, and keep heavy furniture off it until then.
How the estimate works
The calculator orders 12% more carpet and pad than your floor area to cover roll-width cutting, prices each by grade, adds installation per square foot with a minimum job charge, then adds removal and disposal of the old floor, stairs at a per-step rate that includes the carpet on each step, furniture moving by estimated room count, your local cost level and your reserve. The range runs about 15% below to 20% above the subtotal. These are planning allowances, not live prices or an installer quote; they leave out subfloor replacement, baseboard work and asbestos testing or removal.