Home flooring takes a beating every day while tasked with a monumental responsibility: setting the design tone for your entire house. The picture-perfect pages of your Pottery Barn catalog don’t reflect the pet shedding settled deep into your living room carpet fibers or the normal wear-and-tear of your wood floors.
You can bet, though, that buyers who come through your house for showings have those magazine images in mind. They not only want floors in good condition, but materials that match the purpose of each room and look like a million bucks.
“Flooring, in my opinion, is always a low-cost expense, yet you get a higher return on your investment,” said Leighann Russell, a real estate agent in the Atlanta area who’s got 329 transactions under her belt to date.
“So, if your carpet needs to be replaced, you can spend a few thousand dollars, especially if you have pets, and it goes a long way.”
We did all the ROI research around different types of floors and found out out what’s trending (spoiler: hardwood’s still king), plus talked to an interior designer with 30 years of experience who has her own line of hardwood flooring.
So the short answer to “does new flooring increase home value?” is yes—if you’re smart about your selections. The right upgrades also make your house move faster on the market. Follow these 5 pro tips to get the most out of this wise home investment.
1. Go with hardwood flooring to get the biggest bang for your buck at resale
Sometimes you can’t beat a classic. And when it comes to homes and the type of flooring buyers love, hardwood floors have stood the test of time.
Throughout the 18th century, wood floors evolved from bare lumber, to checkerboard or geometric painted planks to match the ornamental interior design of the times. In the late 1800s, the polished hardwood floors so popular in American homes today started being produced in mass.
Now, any buyer who walks into a home will no doubt gush over the gorgeous hardwood floors if your home can offer it.
54% of home buyers are willing to pay more for hardwood floors when buying a house—about $2,080 extra, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
And showing that hardwood floors aren’t just popular among luxury home buyers, a 2017 study from the National Association of Home Builders found that 87% percent of buyers in the $100,000 to $149,999 price range want hardwood flooring.
Both timeless and versatile, hardwood is also more durable over the long haul than carpet, which ideally should be replaced about every 10 years. Recoating hardwood floors every three to five years or refinishing them every 8 to 10 years can make them last for the long haul.
What should you expect to pay for the total package that is hardwood flooring?
Installing about 300 square feet of prefinished hardwood flooring costs an average of about $2,700 to $3,800 nationwide, including materials and labor. (By comparison, installing the same amount of carpeting costs a national average of about $1,300 to $1,800.)
Prices vary by location and company, of course. The best way to find out how much the job would cost you is to collect a few estimates from local contractors.
But to get a range for your area, Porch (which has data on over half a million projects) provides this Hardwood Floor Install Cost Calculator that gives you a price range customized to your ZIP code.
How do the different types of hardwood vary in cost?
Even among wood floors, there are different cuts, degrees of thickness, and wood types that affect price:
Stained red oak The most common wood-strip flooring nationwide, stained red oak costs about $3.30 per square foot.
Black cherry Black cherry, which has a natural cinnamon tint that darkens with age, costs about $4.90 per square foot.
Rusty-hued heart pine Popular in Southern homes since colonial days, rusty-hued heart pine falls in between at about $4 per square foot.
White ash Lighter in color but sturdier, white ash costs about $5.60 per square foot.
2. You can do wood—and floors that mimic the look—on a budget
If you love the look of hardwood but need to upgrade your flooring on a budget, you’ve got various options at your disposal.
Carpets and vibrant rugs remain popular, and eco-friendly and organic materials and innovative designs mean that homeowners have more flooring choices than ever.
Linoleum for the long haul Linoleum is another long-wearing yet versatile option, running about $4 to $6 per square foot for sheets and tiles, and about $7 to $9 for click-together pieces, plus installation.It’s made from renewable materials, recyclable, and naturally antistatic and antimicrobial, although not waterproof. It also needs resealing every five years or so. Installing about 300 square feet costs an average of about $1,100 to $1,400 nationwide.
Pick hardwood with personality Hardwood flooring also comes in different “grades” which refers to the specific characteristics of the material. Wood is naturally occuring in nature, after all, and bound to have some character! Some lumber yards advertise cheaper oak flooring, with more variation in color, knots, and streaks. You can get “rustic” or “utility” grade wood with more blemishes and imperfections—or some might say personality—for a bargain.In the right space, sheets of 2×4-foot plywood that are stained and sealed as floor planks can produce a rustic look for a fraction of the price, about $0.70 per square foot.
Grab a paintbrush for a fast makeover Other budget-friendly options for new flooring include carpet tiles, which cost under $2 per square foot in a variety of shades and designs; and painting the floor. Yes, paint can cover wood, cement, tile, or linoleum floors that have seen better days, and there are specialty products that make the prep and finish beautiful. Nationwide, the average cost of painting 300 square feet of floor ranges from about $400 to $900.Get inspired by these 22 painted floor designs from Home Flooring Pros, which offers in-depth consumer guides on home flooring.
3. Pick floors that make sense for the room’s everyday traffic
Looks matter when it comes to floors, but so does basic everyday use.
Kitchens and entryways need material that can handle heavy foot traffic, one reason why ceramic tile is a frequent choice here—and why a harder wood such as oak or hickory holds up well here, too.
However, solid wood flooring is a poor choice for a basem*nt, where high humidity can warp the wood. (An engineered wood floor is more stable).
Because of humidity and water, a solid wood floor also is a poor choice for bathrooms. (Check out this guide from the National Wood Flooring Association for more tips about choosing types of wood flooring and finishes.)
The flooring’s foundation also will influence your budget and flooring choice. For instance, if you rip out carpeting to find concrete or tile underneath, your new flooring needs to be a click-together floating option or flooring that can be glued down—nothing that requires nails.
4. Choose colors with wide appeal that fit your home’s style
Russell said she’s noticed that a lot of buyers tend to want “tile in the bathrooms; hardwoods in the main” part of the house—but that doesn’t mean you’re limited to the shade of brown.
For hardwood floors, some color palettes and textures expected to be popular in 2019 are neutrals derived from nature, said Emily Morrow Finkell, a Georgia interior designer with 30 years of experience who sells hardwood floors through the Emily Morrow Home Collection.
These include:
Dark charcoal black that results in a matte, velvety appearance
Rich brown, especially in walnut hardwoods
Bermuda stone gray, a go-to backdrop that bridges other colors and design styles easily
Off-white similar to French limestone
Matte off-white similar to gesso and plaster
Interior design junkies: keep an eye on these trends. And for sellers, find something that’s en vogue but also fits with your house and appeals to a wide range of buyers.
Russell added that buyers like flooring with gray and brown tones because of the upkeep factor. “People aren’t going as dark because it shows everything,” she said.
5. Be mindful of the flow between rooms
If you do choose to replace your floors to boost your home’s value, be sure to keep an eye on the big picture—how well the flooring flows from room to room. Buyers don’t like any floors that meet in a patchwork of colors and finishes.
A professional flooring company will look at your home’s floor plan to check that each transition between rooms looks right—which with hardwood, for instance, might involve sanding and refinishing surfaces so that they’re level and the color matches well.
“You definitely don’t want to walk into the foyer that’s a cherry color, and then your dining room and your living room off to the left and the right are three shades lighter,” Russell said. “You want to match it to what you already have as best as you can so that you get that flow feeling when the buyer first walks in the door.”
Invest in flooring as the ‘canvas’ of the home
As Morrow Finkell describes on her website:
“Home interior design begins with the floor. The floor is your blank canvas and it determines every design decision you’ll make once it’s down.”
Not every home buyer is a design aficionado, but regardless, your floors are one of the first things they’ll comment on when they walk into your home because it sets the whole tone. Choose your materials based on durability and style, and it will be an investment you won’t regret.
So the short answer to “does new flooring increase home value?” is yes—if you're smart about your selections. The right upgrades also make your house move faster on the market. Follow these 5 pro tips to get the most out of this wise home investment.
So the short answer to “does new flooring increase home value?” is yes—if you're smart about your selections. The right upgrades also make your house move faster on the market. Follow these 5 pro tips to get the most out of this wise home investment.
New flooring can increase the value of a home by nearly 10 to 54 percent. Potential homebuyers say that they will put in a higher offer if a home has new flooring. Potential buyers also said they would reconsider putting in an offer if the flooring is outdated, dirty, or worn.
You may have already guessed it, but the floor with the highest resale value is hardwood. Since hardwood is always in demand, it is an easy choice to up level your home.
Better Flooring (Perceptively) Has Better Resale Value
Engineered wood flooring has surpassed solid wood flooring in popularity. Laminate flooring is often considered to have a lower resale value than solid wood or engineered wood.
Because your home's value is based on the value of similar homes in the area, the local market will have a big impact on your appraisal. If the market is hot, many homes will sell at much higher prices, meaning your home could appraise for higher.
Some upgrades aren't necessary when looking to increase your home's resale value. Flooring, however, is one of the most effective ways to make your home more attractive to potential buyers while also increasing your home's value.
The best flooring for resale value: The ROI on wood floors
According to real estate experts, the average ROI for installing hardwood floors is about 70% to 80%, and wood floors can boost the sales price of your home as much as 2.5%.
While LVT is a little higher end than laminate, it looks more modern and is better able to stand the test of time…and water! Furthermore, when you replace damaged tile, laminate, or linoleum with LVT, you add to the resale value of your home.
Retail flooring salespeople work at a gross profit margin of around 35% to 45%. This means they will take the cost of material, and mark it up 35% to 45% before selling it to the customer. In fact, many salespeople get paid on gross profit margin.
Dark hardwood flooring is in style. It makes your home easier to sell and also boosts your home's resale value. Shows off the furniture in the room. Dark hardwood floors have a way of contrasting with lighter colored furnishings.
BROWN. Brown is of course among the most popular hardwood floor colors, and within the brown wood tones there are well over two hundred subtly different shades!
Vinyl flooring will work just about anywhere in your new home. It's 100 percent waterproof, so it can withstand the moisture levels in bathrooms, kitchens, damp basem*nts, and mudrooms.
“Buyers like carpet in bedrooms, especially in basem*nt bedrooms, for comfort and warmth.” Carpet is also much quieter to walk on than other types of flooring and can help absorb noise. It can mask sounds, such as footsteps and squeaky floors, Fisher adds.
Hardwood floors are one of the best flooring options for homeowners looking to increase the resale value of their home, with hardwood typically yielding around a 75% return on investment.
Appraisers are trained to overlook clutter. Stray clothes, scattered toys, unwashed dishes, unmade beds, disorganized closets, and other items that suggest you actually live in your house should not affect an appraisal if they don't affect its structural integrity.
Extensive landscaping, solar panels, and luxury touches like heated floors are among the items that won't increase your home's resale value much. If you're hoping to increase home value, highly customized upgrades or improvements that do not have universal appeal probably won't help.
The best time to buy flooring and get the best prices is in the off-season, between December and January. This is when you are likely to find the best clearance sale prices.
Whether laminate will increase or decrease a home's value will also depend on what flooring was there before. If the laminate replaces old, worn carpet or sheet vinyl, you could see a value boost.
Generally, a higher quality of flooring will need only 5% extra overage, while a more affordable option might be better with 15%. Because laminate is engineered, it usually has a consistent coloring, pattern, grain, and is free of inclusions. Only a 5% overage is usually recommended.
When it comes to overall popularity and resale value, dark stained hardwood flooring is the most superb option. Espresso, antique brown, and dark walnut are some of the best dark stains for wood. Because they don't have a yellow or orange tint, these darker colours frequently allow more colour combinations.
The average expectation for profit margins in the flooring industry is 38% to 45%. Keep reading to find out how you can maintain a 38-45% profit margin for your flooring company.
Even so, vinyl flooring generally will bring in a lower resale value than laminate flooring. High-quality laminate floor ranks below solid hardwood and engineered wood for resale value. But laminate flooring still commands a higher resale value than most types of vinyl flooring.
That trend is especially apparent in the flooring industry. Since last year, the prices of hardwood, laminate, vinyl tile and carpet products have all increased anywhere from 4 to 8 percent.
To estimate the flooring cost to cover a 48-square-foot floor, you need to know the flooring cost per square foot. The vinyl flooring cost ranges from $1 to $4 per square foot, laminate flooring is $2 to $6 per square foot, and hardwood flooring costs $3 to $7.
What are timeless hardwood floor colors? Timeless hardwood floor colors are typically the natural hues that are found in the hardwood species that are most often used for flooring. Walnut, for example, is renowned for its dark, chocolate hues while Cherry is prized for its deep red tones.
New paint colors can transform a room's atmosphere and increase your home's value—if you choose the right paint color. "Generally, going with neutral colors like shades of white, beige, taupe, and grays lead to a faster sale," she shares.
So, what flooring looks cleanest? Typically, lighter color woods show less dirt and dust. Dark floors can easily show dust, while lighter floors mask it.
If you'd like a relaxing, peaceful environment, try light gray or light-toned wood. To emulate class and elegance, black or red are great options. These colors can also give the room a powerful or dramatic edge. An interior using brown colors can give the room a cozy, natural and rustic feel.
Think cream carpets, natural and neutral toned tiles and whitewashed wood flooring. These attractive, light and neutral colours give a room an open and airy feel, making it appear larger, whilst also drawing in the natural sunlight from outside.
No. 1 Common Grade – Characterized by prominent color variation as well as prominent (but limited in size) character marks such as knots and open checks, as well as variations resulting from drying and machining processes. This grade results in a tasteful floor where prominent variation is to be expected.
Porcelain and ceramic are some of the longest lasting flooring materials available, and they require little maintenance. Tile flooring is also moisture resistant, making it the perfect choice for areas where spills are common like bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms.
Bedrooms and playrooms are ideal for carpeting. In addition to family rooms, hallways, and stairways, carpeting can also be beneficial. However, these high traffic areas will be subject to more wear over time. Entryways and rooms that see a lot of traffic and messes shouldn't be carpeted.
For most people, the bedroom is a cozy sanctuary from the bustle and activity of the rest of the home. The softness, quiet, and warmth of carpet often make it the best flooring option for this private oasis.
Many people prefer carpet in bedrooms because they enjoy a softer surface. And in the case of two or three-story homes, carpet can also help reduce noise.
Colonial. Colonial-style homes have the highest resale factor when all other elements are equal. These two-story homes that often have a boxlike appearance are popular because of the amount of functional living space that they often have.
Light-colored neutrals generally work best, as they help the space to feel larger. However, many homebuyers will be put off by white carpet, as they will worry about how they will keep it clean. So go with a light beige, taupe, or warm gray tone; cool grays can feel uninviting.
Bathroom– Water is hardwood flooring's arch nemesis. In the bathroom, there is almost always water coming from somewhere. Even if it's just by accident, water can easily get on the bathroom floor. If that floor happens to be hardwood, it can quickly be ruined.
Engineered wood flooring is a better choice in high-moisture environments than solid hardwood, making it a better option for kitchens, bathrooms and basem*nts. But, for whole-house installations, both flooring options offer a wide range of style choices.
Vinyl flooring is waterproof, so it's usable in any area of the home, including bathrooms and low-grade basem*nts where water or moisture is a concern. Yet, hardwood floors can be damaged, warped, or even grow mold when exposed to water or moisture because they soak up liquids easily.
Refresh paint, remove clutter. The quickest, easiest way to increase your chances of a higher appraisal is to paint, which can take years off an outdated home. ...
Without replacing or updating structural items when they're in disrepair, the home's value will suffer. Kitchen remodels, and bathroom renovations or additions will yield the biggest bang for your buck. Home buyers have long focused on the kitchen, and even millennials want a modern kitchen.
The short answer is 'yes. ' New floors will improve the value of your home. That said, there are also degrees of value and tips that realtors want you to think about.
As CNN reported, hardwood floors can also increase home value by 3-5%. This makes them a very attractive prospect for anyone looking to sell their house in the near future. However, even if you don't plan on moving any time soon, hardwood floors may still be a good investment.
What negatively affects a home appraisal? One of the big things that can have a negative affect is the age and condition of the home's systems (HVAC, plumbing) and appliances. If the local market is declining, that'll also hurt your home's appraised value.
The home's location has the biggest impact on the valuation. The value will be negatively impacted if the home is in an undesirable neighborhood or situated next to a junkyard, power lines, or a busy street.
The appraiser will consider all factors that could affect the property's value. These factors include the condition of the property, any upgrades or additions made to the property, the size of the lot and “comps” or recently sold properties of comparable size and condition in the same market.
Organizing a list of repairs and upgrades is something you should do whether you're thinking about an appraisal or not – you can point them out, along with any other special features of your home, to the appraiser. Enclosed garages, fireplaces, pools, and things of the like increase the value of a home.
You should also keep in mind that vinyl plank and tile flooring might not increase the value of your home as much as laminate flooring. However, vinyl flooring can still make all the difference in how long your floors will last, which could be vital as we head into a more competitive real estate market.
Many homeowners, interior designers, and builders are opting for Luxury Vinyl Flooring as a substitute for other vinyl-type options due to its hardwood style. Compared with other hardwood flooring it is an attractive choice for those who want some classic hassle-free flooring without high-price tags.
Dark hardwood flooring is in style. It makes your home easier to sell and also boosts your home's resale value. Shows off the furniture in the room. Dark hardwood floors have a way of contrasting with lighter colored furnishings.
Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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