opinions on price for installation of vinyl plank flooring?

[Gabe G.]

I recently had vinyl plank flooring installed(first time). 

It was a small bathroom about 45 sq ft of actual flooring.

It included ripping out 3-4 layers of flooring/wood, due to a failed wax ring, that was moldy, and crappy.

Installation of a new wax ring,  laying a new subfloor of 2X4, then laying the plank flooring, and the trim/quarter round. 

Obviously there was more here, than a normal flooring job.

Any opinions on how much in labor you would expect to pay for that job?

[Account Closed]

$400 my guess

[Brian Pulaski]

2x4 sub floor? Not sure what that means? I have seen tongue and groove roofers, plywood, but never 2x4s as a subfloor. Also when you replace wax ring, did he also install the toilet? Sounds like a solid day of work, possibly 2 depending on the actually complexity. I would think $500-1000. Just the flooring I'd expect less, but it sounds like a larger scope than just floor.

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Brian Pulaski:

2x4 sub floor? Not sure what that means? I have seen tongue and groove roofers, plywood, but never 2x4s as a subfloor. Also when you replace wax ring, did he also install the toilet? Sounds like a solid day of work, possibly 2 depending on the actually complexity. I would think $500-1000. Just the flooring I'd expect less, but it sounds like a larger scope than just floor.

 I guess he won't tell us until someone hits the number 

[Erin K.]

$250-300

[Wayne Brooks]

$ 841.32

[Gabe G.]

Hahah. Sorry didn't mean to start a guessing game.

His labor came out to about 550.

it was one long day, and a half day.

I thought that was sorta high, even considering the additional scope of work, for only 45 sq ft of flooring.

He did not install a toilet, just pulled and reseated it with new wax ring.

This also is in Indiana, which costs should be a bit lower.

I was thinking somewhere around 350-400.

I am going to go ahead and pay it of course, he does good work.

But if you aren't monitoring costs, for better deals out there, you will be broke as a landlord, that doesn't do the work themselves.

[Brian Pulaski]

@Gabe G. sorry but...

"he did not install a toilet, just pulled and reseated it with a new wax ring" This means he actually probably did MORE work than installing a new toilet. He had to remove the old, clean the old toilet, and then reinstall.

You can't simply think along the lines of SF costs when dealing with this. A new floor in a 1000 SF living room (just an example) would be a LOT easier per SF than a 45 SF bathroom with the small cramped space, more cuts, more fitting, more to deal with in less of an area. Laying subfloor in the larger room is also "easier" per SF.

His labor at $550 if it was a long day and a half day, probably 14-16 hours. That works out to roughly $35-40/hr. If he is simply a handyman, no insurance, the price seems like it could be "high". If he is licensed and insured then that is a fairly good deal. 

Just be careful when trying to save money on scopes like this. You might see he charged $550, whereas maybe someone else would charge $400. If this guy does quality work and you trust him, the $400 guy might not. You might regret the minor savings.

[Lee Smith]

@Gabe G. We would have probably paid around $400~ in labor. 

Vinyl plank flooring is generally around $2.50-$3 a sq ft(labor and materials)
Toilet reseat would be $50~ labor if it was pretty simple. A lot of times it's not so simple.
Tear out and replace of subfloor would be $100-200 labor depending on how bad.

Bathrooms are a tough call.. I almost prefer tile for floors and tub surround. Lasts a long time and looks much better. Plus the difference in price isn't that much. I can do a tile floor and tub surround for about $350-500 labor and materials(doesn't include toilet reseat or new subfloor).. THose cheapie tub surrounds cost $150~ in just materials and you are constantly having to recaulk and deal with them. You need to make sure you put down hardibacker under tile floors though with screws every 4-6 inches..