What a new floor costs in Missouri.
Eight materials, installed ranges from Kansas City to the Ozarks, and a cost estimator that runs in the page. No forms, no email gate, and nobody calls you afterwards.
Kitchen
Where a slow leak finds the subfloor first.
Bathroom
The other place soft decking turns up.
Living room
The floor everyone sees first.
Entry & foyer
Grit, wet boots and the first four feet of every floor.
Stairs
The most-walked surface in the house.
Bedrooms
Quiet, warm, and the cheapest room to get right.
Eight kinds of floor
What each one is good at, what it costs installed here, and the rooms where it is the wrong answer.
Hardwood
Solid and engineered. Still the best resale return on this list.
Luxury Vinyl Plank
Floats rather than bonds, so it rides over ground that still moves.
Carpet
Bedrooms and stairs — and the first thing to go after water.
Refinishing
Sand, stain and seal the boards already under the carpet.
Tile & Porcelain
Hard-wearing, and the one that cracks if the ground moves under it.
Laminate
The budget end done properly — and where it is a false economy.
Natural Stone
Entries and great rooms, where the floor does the talking.
Stairs & Landings
Treads, risers and railings, raised-floor houses included.
Installed ranges across Missouri
Materials and labor together. The Kansas City and St. Louis metros set the top of each band, central Missouri sits under them, and northwest Missouri and the Ozarks below that. Only the labor half moves — material is a national commodity.
| Work | Installed range | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardwood, installed | $6 – $22 | per sq ft |
| Luxury vinyl plank | $2 – $12 | per sq ft |
| Carpet, installed | $2 – $8 | per sq ft |
| Laminate | $3 – $9 | per sq ft |
| Refinish existing boards | $3 – $8 | per sq ft |
| Tile, installed | $9 – $15 | per sq ft |
| Removing the old floor | $1 – $4 | per sq ft |
An estimate, not a quote. These are planning ranges for Missouri, not a quote. What you actually pay depends on your rooms, your subfloor and the material you choose.
Work out your own number
Your room, your material, what is already down. It runs in the page, it does not ask for your email, and nobody calls you afterwards.
- Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere unless you ask us to email it.
- Splits the number into materials, labor and the extras that actually move a flooring bill.
- Regional labor differences are applied to labor only, because that is the part that varies.
- No email required, no phone number, and nobody calls you.
Four things that are specific to Missouri
A floor is only as flat as what is under it
Western Missouri sits on montmorillonite clay — 60 to 80% clay content, rated very high for shrink-swell. It expands several per cent by volume when it is wet and contracts as it dries, and over a full wet-dry cycle the ground surface can move one to two inches vertically. It does not move evenly: it follows moisture, drainage and tree roots. St. Louis has the same problem through clay backfill, central Missouri less of it as the clay gives way to loess, and the Ozarks swap it for shallow bedrock. None of that is a reason to panic about a house. It is a reason to choose a floor deliberately.
The real question: has it moved, or is it still moving?
These are different problems with different answers, and almost nobody asks which one they have. A house that settled decades ago has found its level — it may sit visibly out of level, but it has stopped traveling, and that is a one-off levelling job followed by any floor you like. A house on graded clay fill that has been through only a few seasons is still moving, and that is a material decision rather than a preparation one. Age is the best clue you have: 57.9% of St. Louis predates 1940, and 0.8% of O'Fallon does.
Movement is what cracks a floor, not traffic
Rigidly bonded assemblies — tile, natural stone, glued-down plank — are strong in compression and unforgiving in bending. When the substrate under them flexes, the assembly has nowhere to put the movement and it goes into the grout lines and the tile body. A floating floor is not bonded to anything: it rides on the substrate and absorbs small movement without complaint. That single difference is the most useful thing this site can tell a Missouri homeowner, and it is why the same room can be right for vinyl plank and wrong for porcelain.
Measure the floor before you choose the material
Flatness is a number, not an opinion, and it is the number every flooring warranty is written around. Most manufacturers want about 3/16 in over 10 ft for plank, and tile — especially large-format tile — wants nearer 1/8 in over 10 ft. A ten-foot straightedge and a tape measure will tell you where you are in ten minutes. If the floor fails the number, the fix is levelling compound or self-levelling underlayment, and that is a line item worth having in the quote before anyone starts.
the ground can move vertically over one wet-dry cycle on western clay
of St. Louis housing predates 1940 — it has already found its level
of O'Fallon does, and that ground is still settling
the flatness most tile needs over 10 ft, and what to measure before buying
Across Missouri
Ten Missouri cities, each with its own housing stock and its own answer. Every figure on these pages is that city's own Census number, not a state average.
Questions people actually ask
My floor is not level. Is that a problem?
Not by itself, and in Missouri it is common. The question is whether it is still moving. A house that settled decades ago has found its level: the floor can be brought flat with levelling compound and then take any material. A newer house on graded clay may still be working through its first seasonal cycles, and there the sensible answer is a floor that tolerates a little movement. Neither case means anything is wrong with the house.
Why does tile crack here and vinyl plank does not?
Because tile is bonded to the substrate and vinyl plank usually floats on it. A bonded assembly has to move exactly as much as whatever it is stuck to, and when it cannot, the stress goes into the grout and the tile. A floating floor is not attached, so small substrate movement passes underneath it. If you want tile over ground that moves, the answer is an uncoupling membrane and a properly flat substrate, and it is worth paying for both rather than hoping.
How flat does my floor actually need to be?
Most plank manufacturers specify around 3/16 in over 10 ft, and tile — particularly large-format — wants closer to 1/8 in over 10 ft. Lay a ten-foot straightedge on the floor and measure the biggest gap under it. That one measurement decides whether you are buying a floor or a floor plus a levelling job, and knowing it before you get quotes is worth more than any other ten minutes you will spend.
Does the whole state have this problem?
No, and the difference is worth knowing. The heaviest expansive clay runs through the western counties, from Kansas City south. St. Louis sees it mostly through clay backfill around foundations. Central Missouri transitions to loess and glacial deposits with moderate shrink-swell. Springfield and the Ozarks trade it for shallow bedrock and chert, which is a different substrate problem rather than the same one.
Should I level the floor or just lay over it?
It depends on how far out it is and what you are laying. Small deviations disappear under carpet and are tolerated by most floating floors. Anything approaching the manufacturer's tolerance needs correcting first, and anything bonded — tile, stone, glued plank — needs it correcting properly. Laying a rigid floor over a substrate that fails the flatness spec is the single most common way a new floor fails early.
Do flooring installers in Missouri need a license?
Missouri has no statewide contractor license. Licensing is local, and cities including St. Louis and Kansas City run their own registration schemes, so requirements depend on where the work is. That is a footnote rather than a test: flooring is finish work, and an installer without a state license is the normal case here, not a warning sign. What actually separates two quotes is whether the installer measured the floor.