Carpet vs Hardwood
Compare the lifetime cost of carpet against hardwood flooring.
About Carpet vs Hardwood
Dividing each flooring's upfront cost by how long it lasts gives a cost per year, which fairly compares a cheap short-lived carpet with a pricier long-lived hardwood. Carpet is cheaper today but replaced more often, so the annualized comparison exposes that hardwood is often the better long-term value.
Formula
Carpet vs Hardwood
Annualized cost = upfront / expected life in years
- life
- Years the flooring lasts before replacement
Worked example
With the default values below, Carpet vs Hardwood returns Carpet Upfront of $1,600.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Floor areaminimum 0 sq ft
- 400 sq ft
- Carpet installedminimum 0 $/sq ft
- 4 $/sq ft
- Hardwood installedminimum 0 $/sq ft
- 8 $/sq ft
- Carpet lifeminimum 1
- 10
- Hardwood lifeminimum 1
- 40
Results
- Carpet Upfront
- $1,600.00
- Hardwood Upfront
- $3,200.00
- Carpet Cost/Year
- $160.00
- Hardwood Cost/Year
- $80.00
- Cheaper per Year
- Hardwood is cheaper per year
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Carpet vs Hardwood
- 3Carpet Upfront= 1,600.00
- 4Hardwood Upfront= 3,200.00
- 5Carpet Cost/Year= 160.00
- 6Hardwood Cost/Year= 80.00
- 7Cheaper per Year= Hardwood is cheaper per year
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Carpet vs Hardwood calculated?
Annualized cost = upfront / expected life in years Dividing each flooring's upfront cost by how long it lasts gives a cost per year, which fairly compares a cheap short-lived carpet with a pricier long-lived hardwood.
Why does Carpet vs Hardwood matter?
Carpet is cheaper today but replaced more often, so the annualized comparison exposes that hardwood is often the better long-term value.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Floor area, Carpet installed, Hardwood installed, Carpet life, Hardwood life. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.