Flooring estimating software that wins more jobs

A flooring price is built from five pieces:

1. Moving and protection: clearing furniture, protecting the rooms you're not working in.
2. Tear-out and disposal: the old floor, the pad or adhesive under it, and the haul-off.
3. Subfloor prep: grinding, patching, leveling, underlayment and repairs.
4. Installation: the new floor, by the square foot.
5. Trim and finish: baseboard, shoe molding, transitions, and cleanup.

Each line item carries your own hours

These are the common lines on a flooring estimate and what each is measured in:

• By the square foot: tear-out, prep and install.
• By the linear foot: baseboard and transitions.
• By the section: subfloor repairs.

The hours and prices are yours to set. Your crew's pace is yours, and every line's hours are editable.

Tear-out and trim take real hours

Example: Here's 600 square feet of floating luxury vinyl plank replacing carpet, with 120 feet of baseboard taken off and put back, and 10 feet of transitions. The hours below are example figures; say your own records show your crew needs:

Work	Your hours
Carpet and pad tear-out	8
Luxury vinyl plank installation	20
Baseboard removal and reinstallation	10
Transitions	1
Total	39

The tear-out and the baseboard together take almost as long as laying the floor.

Put the same 600 square feet in porcelain tile, with an uncoupling membrane and grout, and the install takes far longer than floating plank. That's why a single per-foot number can't cover every floor.

Your labor rate covers more than the wage

An installer's wage isn't your labor rate. Your rate has to cover:

• the wage
• payroll taxes, workers' comp and liability insurance
• saws, nailers, grinders, moisture meters and the van
• the hours spent measuring, picking up material and moving furniture

Wage, overhead, then markup

Then the rate needs a profit. BuildWell builds your rate in three steps:

1. Wage: the median wage for each line's trade in your metro.
2. Overhead: your labor overhead, which starts at 100%, doubling the wage.
3. Markup: your labor markup, which starts at 20%.

Example: Say your installer costs you $25 an hour. Use your real number. The plank, baseboard and transition work in that job comes to 31 hours:

• Wages: 31 × $25 = $775
• With 100% overhead: $1,550
• With 20% markup: $1,860 for that labor

The tear-out is priced separately, at the construction laborer wage.

Price material with waste included

Price flooring at what it costs near the job this week, with waste included. In the job above, 600 square feet of floor means ordering more than 600 square feet of plank.

Underlayment, adhesive, thinset, grout, fasteners and transitions are planned per foot, so they scale with the job.

Mark up material to cover handling and warranty

Add a markup that covers:

• picking up and storing the material
• the boxes you return
• your warranty on the install

Material markup starts at 20% in BuildWell's Pricing settings and can be changed per estimate. If the client bought the flooring themselves, mark it as theirs; it's listed on the estimate but not charged.

Check what's under the old floor

• Flatness: every flooring manufacturer sets a flatness requirement for the subfloor, and floating floors are especially sensitive to dips and humps. Price leveling as its own line, and say in your terms how much you've included.
• Moisture: concrete slabs and crawl spaces can hold moisture that ruins wood and some vinyl. Test before you install, following the flooring manufacturer's instructions, and price any moisture barrier the test calls for.
• Subfloor damage: water damage near tubs, toilets and doors is common. Include a number of repair sections as an allowance, and put the price for each additional one in your terms.
• Old flooring that may contain asbestos: some older sheet vinyl, floor tiles and the adhesives under them contain asbestos. If you suspect it, have it tested before you disturb it, and follow your state's rules for removal.
• Homes built before 1978: taking off painted baseboard disturbs paint. Say the house is pre-1978 when BuildWell asks about the site, and the lead-safe setup and cleanup line goes on the estimate.

Put stairs, furniture and extras on the estimate

These all take time, so put each on the estimate:

• stairs
• moving heavy furniture and appliances
• undercutting doors and casings
• hauling away the old floor

Anything BuildWell doesn't list, like stair treads, goes on as a line of your own with your price.

Pay depends on the market and the floor

Wages vary between metro areas and between materials, and many installers are paid by the square foot rather than the hour.

A flooring business owner earns the margin between what the job is billed at and what labor and material cost. So how you price prep, trim and waste matters more than any wage table.

Self-employment tax is 15.3% of net earnings

As a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, you pay self-employment tax on your net earnings: 15.3% in total.

• Social Security, 12.4%: applies to net earnings up to the Social Security wage base, which is $184,500 for 2026.
• Medicare, 2.9%: applies to all of it.
• Deduction: you can deduct half of the self-employment tax on your income tax return.

Federal and state income tax come on top of it, so set part of every payment aside.

Pay quarterly estimated taxes

Tax isn't withheld from your jobs, so pay estimated tax during the year on Form 1040-ES. The payments are usually due in mid-April, mid-June, mid-September and mid-January. Underpaying through the year can mean penalties.

Track these deductions

Flooring businesses commonly deduct:

• saws, nailers, grinders and tools
• moisture meters and knee pads
• the business share of your van and trailer
• fuel
• insurance and license fees
• disposal fees
• phone and software

Keep receipts and log mileage as you go.

Send subs a 1099-NEC at $2,000

If you pay an unincorporated subcontractor for services, you'll generally need to send them a Form 1099-NEC. For payments made in 2026 and later, that applies once you've paid them $2,000 or more in a year, up from $600 before 2026.

Collect a Form W-9 before the first payment. Paying an installer by the square foot doesn't settle whether they're a subcontractor or an employee; how you control the work does.

Sales tax on materials depends on your state

States treat flooring contractors differently, especially those who sell the flooring they install. Some have you pay sales tax when you buy materials. Others have you charge it to the client on materials, or on the whole job.

Check your state's revenue department. In BuildWell, sales tax applies to materials only, not labor, at the rate you set.

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. A tax professional who works with contractors can tell you what applies in your state and to your business.