Price of laying
parquet.

These ranges do not come from a national scale: we went through 120 laminate flooring lines in 46 of our quotes, drawn up between 2024 and 2026 for houses and apartments in Savoie and Haute-Savoie. Each range covers eight quotes out of ten, the two extremes being set aside. The amounts are rounded and excluding tax; the last column applies VAT at 10%.

The median value for fitted laminate is €75/m² excl. VAT. What widens the gap is first of all the board: in our descriptions, its value ranges from €12 to €40/m² excl. VAT depending on the range. An entry-level board, fitted, comes to around €45 to €50/m² excl. VAT; a higher-range board with four bevelled edges, around €80 to €95.

Laminate is not solid wood: it is a printed decor, protected by a wear layer, on a high-density fibreboard panel. It cannot be sanded. It is by far the “parquet” floor we lay most: almost all of our lines concern 8 mm boards, class 32.

Engineered parquet combines a layer of fine wood with a backing: it has the look and feel of wood, and can be sanded depending on the thickness of that layer. Only one of our quotes prices it: that is too few to publish an honest range. What it shows is that the share outside the board comes to around €40/m² excl. VAT, and that the price of the parquet chosen accounts for most of the difference. The order of magnitude given in our guide to redoing your floors comes from these same lines.

Solid parquet, a board of solid wood, appears in none of our 2024-2026 quotes: we therefore publish no price. It is priced on a visit, depending on the species, the thickness and the method of laying. The same caveat applies to the sanding and varnishing of an old solid parquet: a single line in our quotes, no range.

Each method of laying has its own unified technical document: NF DTU 51.11 for floating installation, NF DTU 51.2 for glued installation, NF DTU 51.1 for nailed installation on battens.

All our laminate lines are clip-together floating installation: the boards interlock with one another, on an underlay, without being fixed to the substrate. It is the quickest and most common method in renovation. Our quotes contain no priced glued or nailed installation; these concern real wood and are decided case by case, depending on the substrate. Here again, no published price.

Over underfloor heating, the revised NF DTU 51.11, published in May 2024, requires the heating to be kept up to temperature for three weeks before laying, then switched off for the last 48 hours. It also requires laying when the air humidity is between 40 and 60%. The parquet must be declared compatible by its manufacturer.

Two quotes at the same price per m² do not necessarily cover the same work. Before comparing, look for these lines, or the mention that says they are included.

The underlay. It is included in our floating installation lines. It reduces impact noise and absorbs small defects in the substrate.

The skirting boards. In 18 of our 46 laminate quotes, they are included in the price per m². Elsewhere, they are counted per metre, around €30 to €35 excl. VAT fitted. This is the first source of difference between two quotes that seem identical.

Thresholds and planing the doors. A new floor, thicker than the old one, can stop the doors opening: our quotes then provide for planing the bottom of the interior doors, and for threshold strips where the covering changes.

The substrate. A floating laminate tolerates an old tiled floor that is flat, not a hollowed or cracked floor. If it has to be levelled, a levelling compound is added: its price per m² is in our guide to the price of laying tiles, which requires the same preparation.

Removal. Taking out and clearing an old parquet is priced at €15 to €25/m² excl. VAT in our quotes.

18 of our quotes provide for a so-called hydro or water-resistant laminate, designed to withstand the splashes of a kitchen or the wet shoes of an entrance. In our pricing, it does not cost more: same range of €55 to €90/m² excl. VAT, same median value of €75.

Resistant to splashes does not mean waterproof. For a bathroom, read what the manufacturer's instructions allow before choosing: they set the limits of the guarantee.

Take a bedroom of 3 × 4 m: 12 m² of floor and about 13 m of skirting boards, the door deducted.

Laminate supplied and fitted, skirting boards included in the price: 12 m² × €55 to €90 = €660 to €1,080 excl. VAT, i.e. €726 to €1,188 incl. VAT.

If the skirting boards are counted separately: 13 m × €30 to €35 = €390 to €455 excl. VAT more.

If an old parquet has to be removed: 12 m² × €15 to €25 = €180 to €300 excl. VAT more.

Depending on the range and the additional lines, the bedroom therefore comes to €660 to about €1,835 excl. VAT, i.e. at most about €2,020 incl. VAT. A calculation of this kind does not replace a measured survey: it only shows where the difference arises.

Homes closed in winter. Chalets and holiday homes often stay lightly heated for part of the season, then fill up all at once. These humidity swings make the boards move: the gap left around the perimeter, hidden under the skirting boards, and acclimatising the packs in the room before laying, according to the manufacturer's instructions, are not details.

Old timber floors. In farmhouses and old houses, the new floor is often laid on an existing floor. Before pricing, we check its flatness and its stability: a floor that deflects is put right before laying, not after. Above a cellar or a crawl space, it is also the time to insulate: see our guide to ground floor insulation.

In a home completed more than two years ago, laying a parquet by a company falls under VAT at 10%, boards included when it is the company that supplies them. The 20% rate applies in new-build, and to boards that you buy yourself. The 5.5% rate does not concern a floor covering on its own. The detail of the rules is in our guide to VAT on renovation work.