How much does laminate flooring installation cost?

The laminate flooring costs in this article are correct as of 2022

Laminate flooring is a popular choice of flooring in homes across the country, chosen for its low cost, neat finish, and functionality. If you’re looking to add new laminate flooring in your home, you’ll want to get a good idea for the kind of costs involved before you get started on your project. This guide will help show you the typical kind of laminate floor costs you can expect.

Laminate flooring prices

Laminate flooring is a type of wooden flooring, though it only uses a very small amount of wood in its production. Laminate is created by taking a strip of MDF, a board made of reconstituted wood fibres, and covering it with a thin layer of plastic with a wood-effect image on it. When these strips are laid together, they give the impression of a real wood floor, without some of the drawbacks. Laminate flooring is easy to clean and relatively resilient to bumps and scratches, and doesn’t have the same issues with expansion and contraction that can cause problems with solid wood floors. It is also considered relatively environmentally friendly as little wood is used in the production of laminate flooring.

The cost of laminate flooring depends on the quality of the product you choose to purchase, however, it can be relatively inexpensive, costing around £5 per metre squared or even less. At a higher end, some laminates may cost up to £15 per square metre, but it pays to shop around and find a look you are happy with.

Installation costs

Installation is the other key cost to consider - to ensure a neat finish requires a certain level of skill, and installation can cost as much per square metre as the product itself, at around £10 per square metre. Other fitters may prefer to charge on a day rate rather than on the size of the floor to be fitted, in which case, a fee of £150 to £200 is typical, depending on the size of the firm hired and your location, with the highest prices in London and the south east. Assuming a cost of £5 per square metre for laminate, and £10 per square metre for installation, a 5m x 5m room would cost around £400 once various extras are factored in.

Other laminate flooring costs to Consider

Tradespeople will typically charge for removing and disposing of any carpet or old flooring that needs taking out, though it is something you can do yourself. Similarly removing skirting boards is often necessary to ensure a neater finish - and if you have to buy new skirting boards, or wooden beading, this will incur an extra material cost, of around £5 to £10 per metre depending on the material. Door trimming can cost around £50 per door. 

If the floor where you need to lay the laminate is uneven, your flooring fitter may need to level it using screed, which can cost up to £20 per square metre depending on how much work needs to be done. Underlay can also be put down to help beneath a wooden floor, which is typically less than £5 per square metre, while a damp proof membrane, which can be laid over a concrete sub-floor, is usually only around £20 for an average room.

Keep in mind that you will also need to order extra materials beyond the straight dimensions of the room - a good rule of thumb is ordering 10% extra than needed, to cover all eventualities.