The Cheapest Ways to Buy Carpet and Flooring
If you're looking for the cheapest place to buy carpet or flooring, the honest answer is that what you buy matters more than where you buy it. The lowest prices on good flooring are on material a store already has on hand: leftovers from other jobs, carpet remnants, and in-stock lines priced to move. They're the same products that sell at full price, and the savings hold up as long as what's available covers your whole room. Here's where to find those deals, and what to check before you buy one.
Where is the cheapest place to buy carpet?
No single store is always the cheapest place to buy carpet. The cheapest option for your project is the one with the lowest total cost once the floor is down, and that depends on the size of the room and what happens to be in stock when you shop.
For one small room, a carpet remnant or leftover stock from another job usually costs the least. A 12 by 12 foot bedroom is 144 square feet, and a piece that size is often already sitting in a store's remnant room. For a whole house, you'll need a full order of one product, and the comparison comes down to the installed price rather than the price per square foot on the tag.
| Option | Usually best for | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Leftover job stock (our Mega Deals) | Small rooms and single projects | Fixed quantity, and final sale |
| Carpet remnants | One bedroom, an office, or a bound area rug | Sold as whole pieces, usually 12 feet or less on one side |
| In-stock flooring | Mid-sized projects | Make sure the quantity covers the project plus extra waste |
| Special-order flooring | Whole homes and exact colors/looks | Longer wait, regular price |
What makes leftover flooring so much cheaper?
Leftover flooring is cheaper because it's priced to move, not because anything is wrong with it. At Floor Craft, our Mega Deals are flooring that comes back from our own installation jobs. It's the same quality material we sell in the main showroom, just heavily discounted because we'd rather it went to a new home than sat in the warehouse.
Our Mega Deals lists 100+ products, including carpet, luxury vinyl, tile, area rugs, laminate, mosaics, and sheet vinyl. The brands are the same names we carry at full price, including Shaw Floors, Karndean, Daltile, Mannington, Emser Tile and Bedrosians. There's no hardwood in Mega Deals.
You'll see other labels when you shop for deals, and they mean different things:
- Remnant: the end piece left on a carpet roll after other jobs have been cut from it.
- Discontinued: a product the manufacturer no longer makes, so more can't be ordered once it's gone.
- Closeout or overstock: stock a store or manufacturer is clearing, usually because a line is ending or there's more of it than they need.
Is discounted flooring lower quality?
A low price on leftover stock or a remnant tells you how much of it is left, not how good it is. A Shaw carpet in our remnant room is the same carpet that sells by the foot in the showroom. The difference is that only one piece of it remains.
Where quality does matter is in choosing the right floor for the room. A floor that wears out early costs more over time, however little you paid for it, which is why it's on our list of the top ten flooring mistakes. A good deal is the right product at a lower price, not a lower-grade product.
Why the price per square foot isn't the whole cost
The price on the tag covers the flooring itself. The finished job also needs what goes under it and around it, and those costs are the same whether the flooring was on sale or not.
Before you compare deals, add up:
- Extra material for waste. For a 144 square foot room, 10 percent extra means buying about 159 square feet.
- Carpet pad. The Carpet and Rug Institute's rule of thumb for most homes is a cushion no more than 7/16 inch thick and no less than 1/4 inch, at 6 pounds per cubic foot density. We stock multiple types of pad and the rest of the carpet supplies an installation needs.
- What goes under hard surface floors. Floating vinyl and laminate may need a moisture barrier or other floor prep products, and glue-down vinyl and tile need adhesive or thinset.
- Trim. Plan the transitions where the new floor meets another surface.
- Labor costs, if you're not doing the work yourself.
It also helps to know how a deal is priced. On our website, hard surface flooring is priced per square foot, and carpet remnants are priced per piece, so a remnant's tag is the price of the whole piece.
What to check before you buy discounted flooring
Check that the stock covers your whole project before you buy, because discounted flooring can't be topped up later at the same price or in the same color. These five checks cover most of the risk:
- Measure before you shop. Mega Deals are final sale, with no returns or refunds, so bring your room measurements and buy for the whole job (don't forget waste!).
- Make sure what's in stock covers everything. Carpet and ceramic or porcelain tile are hard to match later, because it's often impossible to order more from the same dye lot (the production batch that sets the exact color). Carpet and tile deals work best for small jobs where the stock on hand covers the whole room.
- Ask whether more can be ordered. For luxury vinyl and laminate, we can often order more if you need extra square footage and the product hasn't been discontinued. New material comes at the regular price, though.
- Keep a few spare pieces. We recommend keeping extra material for future repairs, and with a discontinued product, your spares may be the only matching pieces left.
- Ask about a hold. We can hold Mega Deals items and remnants for a limited time while you finish measuring or plan the installation.
Carpet remnants: the cheapest way to carpet a room
For a single room, a carpet remnant is usually the lowest-cost way to get brand-new carpet. Remnants are the ends of rolls left over after other jobs are cut. Broadloom carpet is typically made 12, 13.5 or 15 feet wide, but most remnants are 12 feet or less on one side.
At Floor Craft, remnants are sold as whole pieces. We don't cut smaller pieces off a remnant, so choose one that covers your room with a little extra for trimming. Our carpet remnant buyer's guide walks through sizes and what a remnant should cost.
A remnant can also become a finished area rug, because we bind and serge carpet edges in-house. See custom rugs and binding, or browse the carpet remnants we have now.
How to shop flooring deals in Colorado Springs
Start online and finish in person. Mega Deals and our in-stock flooring are both listed on our website, so you can see what's available and how much of it is available before you come in.
Then visit our showroom at 5855 N Academy Blvd, where Mega Deals and remnants are located in the remnant room. In-stock items ordered on our website are usually ready for pickup within 24 hours, and local delivery is available.
Please note that our inventory moves quickly, so there's no guarantee that something you saw online will be available when you come in.
If you'd rather not install it yourself, we install flooring bought from Mega Deals too. You can request a free in-home estimate, and financing is available.
Flooring deal questions
What is the cheapest way to buy carpet?
For a single room, a carpet remnant is usually the cheapest way to buy brand-new carpet, because it's the end of a roll priced to sell. For larger areas, compare the total installed cost, including pad, installation and extra material, rather than the price per square foot.
Is clearance flooring worth buying?
Yes, if the stock covers your whole project and you've checked the dye lot and the return terms first. Leftover and clearance flooring is often the same quality as full-price stock. The real risk is running short and not being able to match it later.
Can you return Mega Deals flooring from Floor Craft?
No. Mega Deals at Floor Craft are final sale, with no returns or refunds.
Will Floor Craft install flooring bought from Mega Deals?
Yes. Floor Craft installs flooring bought from Mega Deals, and you can request a free in-home estimate for the job.
How much extra flooring should I buy?
Most flooring orders include a waste factor of 5 to 15 percent, depending on the product. Keep any leftover pieces afterward, because they're the easiest way to make a matching repair later.
Can I order more of a Mega Deal if I run short?
Sometimes. Luxury vinyl and laminate can often be reordered if the product hasn't been discontinued, but at the regular price and with no guarantee of the same dye lot. Carpet and ceramic or porcelain tile usually can't be matched.
Find your deal
Browse the current Mega Deals before you visit, and bring your room measurements when you come in. We can tell you if what's in the remnant room covers your project, and what else you'll need to go with it.