Published
Ask a flooring contractor what a new floor costs per square foot and the usual answer is "it depends." It does, but that doesn't help you plan. So here are WoodPro's actual 2026 rates, the same numbers behind the price estimator on this site, and what pushes a job toward the low or the high end. We're a flooring installer based in Maple Ridge, and these are the prices we work to across Pitt Meadows, Mission, Langley and the rest of the Lower Mainland.
Every figure below is in Canadian dollars, per square foot, before GST, as of October 2026. They're ranges, not a quote. The firm price comes from the free on-site measure, once someone has actually looked at your floor.
The three parts of every flooring price
A flooring price is made of up to three separate costs. Comparing quotes gets much easier once you split them apart:
- Labour: installing the new floor.
- Material: the flooring itself, plus underlay where the floor needs one, whether you buy it or we supply it.
- Preparation: taking up the old floor and making sure the subfloor underneath is flat and sound enough for the new one.
When a per-square-foot price looks surprisingly low, it's usually because one of those three isn't in it. Always ask what's included.
Flooring installation cost per square foot (labour)
- Waterproof laminate: $2.50 to $3.50
- Luxury vinyl plank (LVP): $2.50 to $3.50
- Engineered hardwood, floating: $4 to $5
- Engineered hardwood, glued down: $5 to $8
- Solid hardwood, nailed down: $7 to $9
- Carpet: $4 to $7
- Vinyl tile (the large, square, tile-look product, mostly used in bathrooms): $12 to $15
Vinyl tile looks like the odd one out, and there's a reason. Every tile is laid out and lined up by eye, usually in a small room that's mostly cuts around the toilet, tub and vanity. Glued-down engineered costs more than floating for a similar reason: glue takes more time and care than a click joint. Refinishing an existing wood floor isn't on the list, because the price depends entirely on the floor's condition, so it's worked out once we've seen it.
Flooring material prices, if we supply it
- 12mm AC4 waterproof laminate, with 3mm underlay, delivered: $3.20
- Luxury vinyl plank, delivered: $3.50
- Engineered hardwood: $5.50 to $6.50
- Vinyl tile: $5.50 to $6.50
- Solid hardwood: priced at the measure, because the species and plank width change it so much
- Carpet: you choose and buy it, and we install it
You don't have to buy the flooring from us. If you've already found the floor you want, we'll install it, and you pay only for the labour and preparation.
Either way, you'll need a little more flooring than the rooms' square footage, because boards are cut to fit at walls, doorways and closets. How much extra depends on the room shapes and the layout, and it's worked out at the measure so you don't end up a box short or with five spare.
Installed cost per square foot: labour plus material
Put the two together and, for a straightforward room with the flooring supplied by us, it comes out like this, before any removal or levelling:
- Waterproof laminate: about $5.70 to $6.70
- Luxury vinyl plank: about $6.00 to $7.00
- Engineered hardwood, floating: about $9.50 to $11.50
- Engineered hardwood, glued down: about $10.50 to $14.50
- Vinyl tile: about $17.50 to $21.50
Removing the old floor: often the surprise
Most new floors go where another floor already is, and what's down now changes the cost more than people expect:
- Carpet: $1.00 to $1.25 (that includes the underlay, the tack strips around the edges and every staple left in the subfloor)
- Floating laminate or vinyl plank: $1.00 to $1.50
- Nailed-down hardwood: $4 to $6
- Glued-down hardwood or engineered: $4 to $8
- Ceramic or porcelain tile: $4 to $8
- Glued-down lino or sheet vinyl: priced at the measure
The spread comes down to how the old floor was fastened. Carpet and floating floors lift out in pieces. Glued wood and tile have to be broken free, and the glue or mortar left behind has to come off too, because anything left on the subfloor shows through the new floor as a bump. In homes built before 1990, old sheet vinyl and its adhesive are tested for asbestos before anyone disturbs them, which is why that one is priced at the measure. Taking the old floor away is part of removal and disposal.
Levelling: the cost nobody can price over the phone
Levelling is only priced once the old floor is up and the subfloor has been checked. That isn't us being vague. Until the old floor is off, nobody can see the dips, humps and soft spots underneath it, and click-together floors need a flat base: on an uneven subfloor the joints flex, and the floor can creak, gap or separate. Our post on what goes wrong when levelling is skipped explains it in detail.
Where you live in Maple Ridge makes a difference here. In older areas like Hammond, a floor that has carried a house for decades is rarely flat, and a room can have a hump through the middle rather than a dip. A dip gets filled; a hump has to be taken down. Newer homes in Silver Valley and Albion usually have flatter subfloors. Either way, if the measure suggests levelling may be needed, you'll hear about it before you decide, not on install day.
How much do stairs cost? Priced per step
Stairs aren't priced by the square foot, because every tread and riser is measured, cut and fitted on its own. A basic stair makeover, taking off the old carpet and installing the new flooring on each step, is $120 to $140 per step. Custom square nosings made to match your floor add $55 to $60 per step. For a staircase of 14 steps, that's $1,680 to $1,960 for the makeover, or $2,450 to $2,800 with square nosings.
Why nosings are worth it is a post of its own: the stair detail that makes or breaks a staircase. You can see finished custom stairs on our Our Work page.
A worked example: carpet to laminate on a main floor
Say you're replacing the carpet across a 400 sq ft main floor with waterproof laminate that we supply:
- Carpet removal: 400 sq ft × $1.00 to $1.25 = $400 to $500
- Installation: 400 sq ft × $2.50 to $3.50 = $1,000 to $1,400
- Laminate with underlay: 400 sq ft × $3.20 = $1,280, plus a little extra for cuts
- Total: about $2,680 to $3,180 before GST, plus any levelling the subfloor turns out to need
Add 14 stairs with square nosings and the total rises by $2,450 to $2,800. That's just the arithmetic on the rates above, not a quote for your home. Your own rooms, floor and stairs give the real number.
What moves a job up or down the range
- Room shapes: lots of short walls, closets and door frames mean more cuts and more time.
- Long open-plan floors: many floating floors need an expansion break on a long run, and where it goes is planned at the measure.
- The subfloor: flat and sound, or in need of levelling or repairs first.
- Baseboards and door casings: new baseboards, or taking yours off and refitting them, are priced at the measure.
- Stairs and landings: priced per step, as above.
Is GST included in these prices?
No. Every price in this post, and in our estimator, is before GST.
Why do flooring quotes vary so much?
Usually because they don't include the same things. One quote has removal, disposal, underlay and trim in it; another leaves them for later. Put two quotes side by side and compare them line by line: labour, material, removal, levelling, baseboards and stairs.
Can I get a price without a visit?
Yes, roughly. The estimator gives you a ballpark in a couple of minutes from your square footage, the floor you want and what's down now. The firm price comes from the on-site measure, which is free and commits you to nothing.
Get a real number for your floor
WoodPro Flooring is based in Maple Ridge, and Danny does the work himself, from the measure to the last nosing. If you're planning new floors anywhere from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows to elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, book the free on-site measure and you'll get a price for your rooms, with nothing left for later. Call (604) 787-5557; most calls get a reply the same day.