Labour to lay LVP across a floor of about 1,000 sq ft runs from $2,000 up to $8,000 around Portland, most often near $4,000, or somewhere between $2 and $10 per square foot (market figures for the Portland area, November 2026) . Planks cost extra. Where your job lands depends on the subfloor, the old flooring that comes up first, and the trim and doors.
My name is Slava, and I put this page together. What we install and how a floor job is booked lives on the page for our LVP and laminate work. This one sticks to the money: the lines in a quote, the ones that surprise people, and when fixing a few planks is the smarter spend.
How much does LVP installation cost around Portland?
The market figure for a 1,000 sq ft floor is $2,000-$8,000 with $4,000 typical, and it covers labour alone. Below it sit the side jobs a new floor often drags in, each with its own price. Every line in this table is labour only.
| Work | Unit | Typical | Range | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl plank floor | whole floor near 1,000 sq ft | $4,000 | $2,000-$8,000 | market figure for Portland, 11/2026 |
| Leveling of low spots | per job | $700 | $300-$1,500 | our hourly estimate for the area, 11/2026 |
| Soft or damaged subfloor | per job | $1,200 | $500-$3,000 | our hourly estimate for the area, 11/2026 |
| Transition strips, thresholds | per job | $200 | $100-$400 | our hourly estimate for the area, 11/2026 |
| Baseboard, new or repaired | per job | $900 | $300-$2,500 | our hourly estimate for the area, 11/2026 |
Don't add the rows into one total; most floors need only some of them. Laminate labour lands close by: $2,000-$7,000 for the same size floor, $3,500 typical, market figure . Planks, underlayment when the plank has no pad attached, and trim stock are not in any line .
The LVP line assumes about 32 hours of labour, roughly four working days for one installer . For smaller jobs billed by time, see pricing or read handyman cost per hour.
What does LVP installation cost per square foot?
The same market data gives $2-$10 per square foot for labour . That spread is wide because square feet aren't equal. A big open living room with straight walls is mostly full planks, clicked in row after row. A hallway with four doorways, a closet and an angled wall is mostly cutting, scribing and fitting.
Small jobs don't scale down neatly. One 120 sq ft bedroom won't cost 12 % of a whole floor, since setting up the saw, moving furniture, the doorway transition and the trim take time whatever the size .
For a rough number of your own, measure each room's length and width, multiply, and add closets separately. Then buy extra plank for cuts and bad boards . Send room-by-room numbers rather than one total; they tell me where the cutting is.
What makes one LVP job cost more than another?
What's coming up comes first. Carpet and pad roll out fast. Glued sheet vinyl, ceramic tile and glued-down wood are slow, dusty and hard on the subfloor .
Then the layout. Every doorway, closet, heat register and angled wall means a cut and a fit.
How the plank goes down matters too. Most LVP is a floating click floor. I won't give a price gap between the two until I can stand behind it.
Then there's what has to be moved: furniture, the fridge and range, a toilet. And stairs. Each step gets measured, cut and fitted with a nose piece by hand, so stairs get priced separately. I'm not printing a stair price yet . Repairs to the stairs themselves are on our stairs and railings page.
Does the subfloor need work first, and what does that add?
Usually some, and after square footage it's the line that swings a quote most. Leveling small areas is $300-$1,500 ($700 typical) and subfloor repair $500-$3,000 ($1,200 typical), labour only, both estimated from local hourly rates in November 2026 .
LVP is thin and stiff. It shows a hump, and over a dip the click joints flex every time someone walks across, until a seam opens or the floor starts to click underfoot. That's why the old floor comes up and the subfloor gets checked before the first row goes in .
A good share of the 1950s-80s ranches and splits around Cedar Hills, Cedar Mill and Beaverton have a crawl space and a wood subfloor rather than a concrete slab. Once the carpet is up, a soft patch next to the tub, the toilet or the dishwasher is the usual find . That's fixed before any plank goes over it, as floor and subfloor repair.
A damp crawl space also ends up as a floor problem sooner or later . Vents and water getting in down there are covered under crawlspace repairs.
Do the baseboards, doors and transitions cost extra?
Transition strips and thresholds come to $100-$400 a job, $200 typical, labour only, by our local estimate. You need one wherever plank butts into tile, into carpet, or against the sill of an outside door .
Baseboard work is $300-$2,500, $900 typical, labour only, same kind of estimate. The choice is pulling it off and resetting or replacing it, or leaving it in place and adding quarter round along the bottom to hide the expansion gap .
Older paint is the catch in pre-1978 homes. Prying off painted trim there can disturb lead paint, and that's work we turn down, so the baseboard stays put and quarter round covers the gap . Oregon's rules are explained in our lead paint guide; other jobs we pass on are listed under things we don't take on.
Doors are the line people forget. New flooring often sits higher than the old, and an interior door that cleared carpet can drag on plank. The closest row I have is adjusting and repairing a door: $150-$400, $250 typical, labour only, local estimate. That's planing and re-hanging, not a flooring line . More on doors is on our interior doors page.
Can LVP go in a bathroom or kitchen, and what does that add?
It can. Most LVP is sold as water-resistant or waterproof on its face, but the trouble starts when water sneaks under it at the walls, at the toilet base or beside the tub .
In a bathroom the toilet comes up and goes back down on a fresh wax ring. The closest row is installing a toilet, $208-$469 with $338 typical, labour only (local market figure, November 2026), and that's for a whole new toilet rather than lifting and resetting the old one . Toilet work on its own is on faucets, toilets and sinks.
In a kitchen the fridge and range get pulled out. The dishwasher is the catch: lay the floor around it and it can end up trapped under the counter . If the floor is part of a bigger bathroom job, see small bathroom remodel cost.
How long does an LVP installation take?
The market figure for 1,000 square feet assumes about 32 hours of labour. Days on the calendar depend on what comes up first and how much the subfloor needs .
Certain plank brands ask you to leave the boxes indoors before installing, to let them settle to room temperature . Leveling compound needs drying time too.
Do you need a permit or a written contract for new flooring in Oregon?
A new floor surface usually needs no permit. Oregon's state permit page puts floor tile and finish work like it in the no-permit group, and LVP counts as a finish. Once the work reaches joists or other framing, call the building department that covers your street; around here that may be Portland, Beaverton or unincorporated Washington County. Our permit guide goes further.
The contract rule is the one that bites. Oregon requires a written contract plus three notices on home jobs priced above $2,000, and when a smaller job creeps over that amount, the paperwork has to follow within five days. A full LVP floor starts right at $2,000, so most of them need it; a single room or a plank fix often won't. See what Oregon requires in a contract.
Is fixing a few planks cheaper than a new floor?
Often, yes. Here are the two repair lines next to a new floor.
| Option | Typical | Basis | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swap damaged boards, close gaps, flatten peaking | $400 | labour, hourly estimate | a scratched or water-marked plank, a gap, a doorway that lifts, if spare planks exist |
| Quieting a squeak | $400 | labour, hourly estimate | a squeak under the plank, which usually comes from the subfloor |
| Whole new plank floor near 1,000 sq ft | $4,000 | labour, market figure | water damage over a big area, a floor that keeps separating, or a style change |
Plank repair runs $200-$800 and squeak repair $200-$800. A single board in the middle of a click floor can be swapped without lifting the whole room . Squeaks are easier to fix before the new floor goes down .
That's also the honest downside of LVP. It can't be sanded and refinished like wood, so a damaged board gets replaced, not repaired. It handles everyday scratches fairly well, but a dragged appliance can still gouge it. Keep the leftover box in the garage .
What should an LVP installation quote spell out?
Put two quotes side by side and check that each one shows:
- per square foot or per job, and the square footage of each room;
- who buys planks and underlayment;
- what gets torn out, and where the old flooring goes ;
- leveling and subfloor repair as separate lines, and how they're priced if found;
- baseboard or quarter round, transitions, door trimming;
- the toilet and appliances, stairs, and days on site.
Old sheet vinyl and 9-inch tiles in older houses, and the glue under them, may hold asbestos, and removing it is not something we do. The safe route is a test before anyone scrapes it up, or laying the new floor over it when the floor allows .
Selling soon? A new floor is often on the list of pre-sale repairs, and home inspection repairs covers what buyers tend to flag. My quotes break out every line above. I'm Slava, and I've been doing this work with my own hands for 7 years.