Flooring Financing Options

Is your home in need of new flooring, but you don’t have enough funds to pay for it upfront? Don’t worry. Not many homeowners keep that kind of cash lying around the house. Fortunately, there are several great options for flooring financing. 

Getting a new floor that you have been eyeing, was never this easy. You get to pay for it over a favorable loan term — through manageable monthly payments — not all at once.

Simply put, flooring financing is a financial arrangement whereby you can get monetary aid from flooring finance companies to install a new floor. And, you can pay back the loan over the course of several months or even years — with interest rates that make for convenient monthly installments. 

If you’re ready to secure new flooring financing, the loan application process is quite simple — with you filling out an application form and giving your personal details as well details about your financial situation and employment history.

Special financing gives you full control of updating your floors. Whether you’re choosing from wall-to-wall carpet, hardwood flooring, floor tiles, laminate flooring, vinyl flooring, or any other — it’s very much doable. And, necessary. 

After all, imperfect flooring will bring down the value of your home apart from taking away from its aesthetics. Bad flooring can make even the nicest home look worn. 

So, if you’re thinking of updating your floors. Do it ASAP. There are really good financing options, ranging from credit cards to home improvement loans. With a little homework, you can choose the right flooring financing. And, you can be walking on your new investment and feel great. Quite literally!

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How much does it cost for hardwood flooring?

Hardwood flooring costs run anywhere between $2,495 and $6,750 — the national average being $4,540 or $8 per square foot. Most floor installers charge $6 to $12 per square foot for lower-end jobs and $13 to $25+ per square foot for complicated, high-end flooring. 

Two of the most important factors that determine the total flooring cost are the flooring material and the size of the room that needs renovation. For instance, the average cost to install a 1,000 square feet flooring with oak or ash wood is between $5,500 and $15,000. A more expensive wood flooring with cherry wood, walnut wood, and maple wood can cost you anywhere between $8,500 and $20,000.

How much does it cost for laminate flooring?

The average cost of a laminate floor is about $1 to $8 per square foot — with most homeowners spending between $1,415 and $3,400. The installation and material cost of installing a laminate floor comes to approximately $3,300.

How much does it cost for carpet flooring?

When it comes to installing a carpeted floor, the average cost comes to between $1 and $4. Of course, the price depends on the material, style,  thickness, density, size of the space, and the room’s construction. 

What is the cheapest option for replacing or installing flooring?

If hardwood flooring is out of your remodeling budget, you can opt for less-expensive options such as laminate flooring, ceramic tiles, cork flooring, and carpet flooring. In fact, one of the cheapest flooring options is to use sheet vinyl flooring. It’s as inexpensive as $0.50 per square foot.

If you want to go even lower than that, you can opt for a peel-and-stick vinyl tile that can be installed directly over your existing vinyl or linoleum floor. This type of flooring is available at big-box do-it-yourself home improvement stores. You can choose the colors and patterns you want. 

How to finance flooring for your home?

Since flooring covers every square inch of your home’s foundation, it tends to be quite expensive. For this reason, flooring financing is always a good idea. Unless, of course, you have some good savings with you to buy new flooring.

Here are some of the best flooring financing options for you. Each one of them is subject to credit approval, your credit score rating, credit report, and financial history. 

Flooring financing through credit cards

Expert tip: To get the best deal on your flooring purchase through a credit card, be sure to compare interest rates, fees, and credit card agreement before applying. Do try to pay back the loan amount before the promotional period or any introductory financing offer ends. 

Flooring financing with an unsecured personal loan

Expert tip: Always compare multiple loan offers before selecting one. Examine the loan’s terms and conditions, not just the monthly payment amount. Analyze APRs, the repayment structure, length of the loan, and the minimum interest charge — carefully. Keep in mind that a loan offer with the lowest monthly payment may not necessarily be the best deal. 

Home equity loan to finance flooring 

Expert tip: most conventional mortgages and refinance loan providers also offer home equity loans. However, remember that you are putting your home on the line to secure this type of loan. Therefore, you need to be very sure that you can afford the required minimum monthly payments. By the way, your home’s equity is the value it has beyond the balance of your mortgage. 

Financing through a flooring provider

Expert tip: If you are more of an individual who likes to compare loans before zeroing in on the best one, it may not be a very good idea to finance floors through a flooring company. You’re completely dependent on the retail provider to give you the best rates they can. 

Flooring financing no credit check

Usually, conventional flooring financing options are not available to those with borrowers or those who do not wish for a credit check. After all, your credit record and credit score play a major role in determining whether or not you get loan approval.

Instead, such homeowners can opt for a no credit check loan. It does not require a hard inquiry into your credit report during the loan application process. However, keep in mind that your credit would mean higher interest rates and shorter repayment periods.

Read more: Deck finance options

Pros and cons of flooring financing

The biggest advantage of financing flooring is that you can go ahead with your remodeling schedule and budget. You can pay for it over time through favorable interest rates and fixed/adjustable monthly payments. However, you must choose a payment program that’s comfortable and convenient for you.

Home improvement loans (whether personal loans or home equity loans), will get you the flooring you’ve always wanted. 

The downside of flooring financing is paying back the debt. Making payments can affect your lifestyle and finance management. Always remember that taking a loan comes with its risks. If you default on your repayments, it can adversely affect your credit score and credit rating. 

Want to apply for flooring financing?

Kukun lets you compare personalized offers from reliable loan lenders — with no impact on your credit score. 

You can finance your entire project, including materials and installation, up to $100,000. Whether it’s for your carpet flooring, tiling, luxury vinyl tile installation, hardwood floor financing, or engineered flooring. In some cases, you can receive funds in as little as one business day. 

So, go ahead and buy the floor you’ve always wanted!

Is buy now pay later flooring a good idea?

Buy now, pay later is a trend that is taking the market by storm, but before you decide to go that route to finance your home flooring, let’s understand a little more about how to buy now, pay later financing works.

The way buy now, pay later (BNPL) works like a credit card, except that if you stick to the payment schedule, there is no interest involved. The repayment window, however, is limited to two to four weekly or monthly installments debited directly from your debit card account. 

The way it works is that when you buy something, you give the BNPL company your date of birth, name, phone number, and address instead of your credit card details. Based on an algorithm that usually works in the favor of the borrower, you either get approved or rejected. It is noteworthy that your credit rating has nothing to do with the process. 

Essentially, BNPL is like getting a small loan without interest for a limited period of time. Failure to stick to the payment plan will incur late payment fees, inflated interest rates, and will negatively affect your credit score.

Using BNPL to finance your flooring is a good idea only if you’re sure you can adhere to the repayment schedule.

Does new flooring increase a home’s value?

If your home is the market to be sold, one of the first things prospective buyers will notice is the flooring of your home. Whether your home has hardwood, vinyl, or ceramic tiled floors, a well-kept floor is a pleasure to experience. However, with wear and tear, heavy furniture, pets, and other factors, even well-maintained floors will need to be replaced once they have outlived their usefulness.

Hardwood and tiled floors can cost anywhere between $6 to $22 per square foot. This means replacing hardwood floors for a 2,000 square foot home could cost as much as $44,000. However, keeping in mind that a new floor will increase the value of your home by around 5% and that 54% of all home buyers are willing to pay more for a home with a new hardwood floor, this seems like a good investment.

Is It a good idea to finance any kind of flooring?

Most personal financial advisors will tell you that the best way to pay for new flooring for your home is by cash. If you’ve got enough cash saved up, you’re better off paying cash for your new floor as opposed to getting a loan. However, if you haven’t got enough saved up, financing your new floor with a signature (personal) loan, home equity loan, HELOC, or a new mortgage.

The reason a new floor is a good investment, whether it is hardwood, tile, vinyl, or any other kind, is because it will add to the value of your home by around 5%, and will make it easier to sell your home as well.

What Lasts Longer, Vinyl, or Laminate?

For a long time, laminate was the favored choice when it came to affordable flooring, simply because it looked better than vinyl. Now, however, laminate has come a long way and mimics the look of natural stone and even hardwood. Not only does vinyl look just as good, luxury vinyl feels much better underfoot, and lasts much longer than laminate does. It is, however, more expensive than laminate as well.

Read more: Kitchen remodel financing & loan options

Written by Ramona Sinha. December 2, 2020

Ramona is a content writer for Kukun. This experienced blogger uses simple and succinct words to decipher the complex phenomenon called life. An avid traveler, she’s a digital nomad at heart and an animal lover from the depths of her soul.