I requested a quote (from Lowe's) to replace the existing carpet with vinyl planks. The area the quote uses to calculate the labor cost of installing the planks ("basic labor floating LVP/LVT") is about 5% larger than the area to calculate the labor cost of removing the carpet ("removal haul carpet and pad no glu [sic]"). Why is there the difference? They are for the same physical area since the project is replacing the carpet with vinyl planks.
I am new to this site. I hope this question is not off topic since I am not installing the flooring myself, but it is a technical question about a home project. Thank you!
Best Answer
There are two main reasons:
When you install planks there is a requirement that the ends of the plank must be within a certain distance of ends of other planks on adjacent rows. This means you probably cannot make your rows match perfectly even if the planking comes in a variety of sizes. So you will have some cut-off waste and for most planking, especially click lock, you do not want to install small pieces often.
There can be defects in the planks. The installer will not know until he is out there. It could be scratched, miscolored, whatever. These will be thrown out.
The extra 5% is to accommodate cut-off waste and any issues with the flooring. For smaller jobs we actually go to 10%. Lowes is probably being nice because it is something they stock or can get easily.