Bathroom Remodel Cost: Our Full Budget Breakdown
A full budget breakdown of what a real master bathroom remodel cost and tips for saving money on a renovation.
It is so hard to know these days how much a bathroom remodel costs.
Supply and demand of materials, what contractors charge, labor shortages, and square footage all leave a big ol’ question mark and vary depending on location, which makes it extra challenging to budget for any renovation when you’re a homeowner.
So I thought it would help to break down how much our recent 60 square foot en suite bathroom remodel cost.
It won’t take away the mystery of budgeting for bathroom remodels entirely, but just maybe it’ll help someone out there have a pretty good ballpark understanding of how to financially prepare.
The Most Important Financial Lesson We Learned While Remodeling
In the beginning, we had no idea what to expect since we were thrust into the renovation very unexpectedly without much time to do our homework. It was a big learning experience.
We’re no strangers to working with contractors. But we were the least prepared we’d ever been with this particular project.
Some of the experience we would have changed for sure.
Better communication with our contractors about our budget from Day 1 and always asking the important financial questions would be one of them. “How much will this part of the project cost?”
In the end, we are really happy with the outcome. So here’s the breakdown…
A few atypical points to note about our bathroom remodel cost first
- The supply chain shortage this summer did cause prices on some materials to skyrocket which caused an increase in our overall spend.
- Because this was a water damage incident that required our old bathroom to be demolished for water mitigation, our homeowners insurance did cover a significant portion of the renovation, so it made sense to update bathroom features we’d waited years to do.
- Normally, we would have been more willing to take on some of these home improvement jobs in the renovation ourselves with our usual DIY approach, but since this all happened unexpectedly, leaving us without a/c in July, requiring us to live with my parents for a month in the summer while we juggled our kids, we felt way too overwhelmed to take on the work.
Bathroom Remodel Labor Costs
General carpentry / painting / contracting labor – $2,275.44
This included demo of our bathroom, disposal of the old materials, hanging new drywall, taping, mudding, patching, placing new sub-flooring to correct old water damage, framing new shower, installing moisture barrier in new shower, installing new shower pan and shower niches, undermount sink installation, and placing the vanity.
Plumbing labor – $4,915.38
Plumbing costs included roughing in new plumbing for two wall mounted sink faucets, roughing in new plumbing for shower faucet, setting the toilet, installing two wall mounted sink faucets, and installing two shower valves and two shower heads. (In a nutshell, wall mounted faucets are beautiful, but the labor to install them is pricey.)
Electrical labor – $1,566.20
This included roughing in wiring for 3 separate wall sconce boxes, installing a can light exhaust fan, installing sconce light fixtures, and adding a dead face GFCI.
Tile labor – $6,613.78
Our tile cost included installation of mortar bed, installation of ceramic tile in a herringbone pattern, installation of ceramic tile on shower walls, on shower ceiling, in shower floor, and in recessed shelves.
Shower door labor and materials – $2,933.56
Because the opening of our shower was a custom size, we had to get a local fabricator make our frameless glass shower door and install it using antique brass hinges matching the knob we selected.
Marble countertop and shower ledge labor and materials – $2,178.64
We chose a marble remnant as our countertop from a local fabricator, who also gave the marble a 12 year UV treatment, cut the scalloped backsplash, and installed everything on site. We also used a piece to fit our shower ledge to make it look seamless as opposed to tile.
Bathroom Remodel Materials Cost
The rest of the materials and decor we ordered ourselves, listed below.
- 60″ Double Vanity – $2,160
- 2 Venetian Mirrors – $619.98
- Vanity Hardware – $120
- Champagne Gold Towel Ring – $33.60
- 2 Champagne Gold Wall Hooks – $68.96
- Champagne Gold Toilet Paper Holder – $40.40
- Glass Shower Door Knob – $101.99
- 2 Champagne Gold Wall Mounted Sink Faucets – $608.94
- Champagne Gold Shower Faucet – $483.70
- Champagne Gold Handheld Shower Head – $222.11
- Wood Toilet Seat – $79.98
- Champagne Gold Toilet Lever – $43.93
- Toilet – $299
- 3 Sconces – $219.98
- Recessed Light Exhaust Fan – $118.83
- Soap Dispenser – $15
- Candle – $15
- Towels – $84
- 2 Black Shampoo/Soap Dispensers – $36
- White Shampoo/Soap Dispenser Set – $30
- Fluted Tray – $13
- Diffuser – $12
- 11×14 Black and Gold Frame – $36.99
- 12×18 Gold Frame – $48.77
- Floral Art – $3.60
- Landscape Art – $3.60
- Double Hamper – $199
- Wall Shelf – $199
- Apothecary Jars – $16.72
- Faux Flowers – $57.50
- Marble Bowl – $8.99
- Ceramic Floor Tile, Shower Floor Tile, Shower Wall Tile – $1,942.26 (Alexander James provided all of the beautiful tile for the project.)
What We Did Ourselves to Alleviate Bathroom Remodel Costs
Towards the end of the remodel, once we were able to live in our house again, we did step in to do some finishing work and save money. Robert and I installed the picture frame molding, hung the mirrors, installed vanity hardware, toilet paper holder, towel ring, hooks, the shelves, caulked, and did some of the patching work on our own.
Bathroom Remodel Total Cost – $29,125.15
We have never ever done a project of this magnitude before, and while it felt so overwhelming in the midst of such a big remodel (including the foyer stairway, and hallway happening at the same time), we feel more prepared for whatever future remodels life throws at us.
With all of the back and forth for 5 months between our insurance company and our contractors, we didn’t know what the final cost would be until about 2 weeks prior to the project being finished. It was a little bit of a sticker shock, and it taught us to be more assertive about communicating estimated costs early on before any work happened so we could pivot around our budget more effectively.
In the end though, I’m so head over heels for this bathroom. It really is so much more than I could have imagined in the beginning.
Takeaways – How to Stick to a Bathroom Renovation Budget
- Estimate to spend at least 20% more on a remodel than what you think you’ll have to pay.
- Communicate your budget early on with contractors and keep those lines of communication open as much as possible.
- Utilize look-alike materials when possible. We used marble look ceramic tile instead of real marble tile to help lower costs.
- Be willing to take on some of the work yourself to cut costs like demo, painting, or finishing work.
Got any others you’d add?
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I’m still waiting for the final cost of my master bath reno that turned into a bedroom/bath reno. The project wasn’t planned but in my case, it was my health that prompted the update. A year ago I was in the hospital with Covid/Pneumonia. After 16 days in the hospital, I spend 15 days in rehab. A week into my rehab, they told me I’d be going home with a walker. I told my youngest son that my bathroom door was so narrow that I couldn’t get a walker through the door. The door was less than 23″ wide! The only way to widen the doorway was to take out the closet that formed the right side “hall” into the bathroom. The left wall was a sliding glass door so that had to go too. My son interviewed contractors and asked one of my daughters to help pick out tile. By the time I got out of rehab, my old bathroom and the closet had been demoed. I approved the tile and the new fixtures they’d chosen and thought the rest would be easy! Eleven months later, it’s still not quite done! First, it took longer than expected for everything they’d pre-ordered to arrive. Supplies that were ordered later took a long time to come in and caused countless delays. Sub-contractors weren’t always available immediately. My contractor got Covid. The carpet installer got Covid. Admittedly, I added some things to the original project. Project delays give you too much time to think! I decided to combine the remaining closet in my bedroom with the closet behind it. That meant I needed a new door to replace the plain by-pass doors. I choose a door with a curved panel and decided to change all the too-narrow interior doors. That meant the doorways all had to be widened at least an inch. I was finally able to move into my bedroom about 5 weeks ago! I love the built-in blinds in my new French door, the new blue walls, and the new carpet. I now have a much bigger shower with a built-in bench and two showerheads. The bathroom now has 6 LED can lights. My new medicine chest is 24×36 and the mirror has a built-in LED light. The bathroom doorway is now 48″ wide and has a custom barn door. The final projects are finishing details. The new doors have to be painted as does the exterior stucco repair. There is also some drywall repair in the adjacent bedroom that needs a little more work before the new wall can be painted. The process was much slower than I expected but the quality of the work is excellent. I love the look—even the unpainted doors! By the way, I only used the walker for a couple of weeks!
Thank you for posting the costs. I live in California and we spent more on a very small bathroom. People are always surprised but that’s the way it is here. Your bathroom is so beautiful. One thing is for sure, you never remember the cost if you’re in love with the final product.
What a beautiful end result! and yes, pricey for such a small space, however you did pick beautiful finishes. We gutted our kitchen in 2016 ourselves and had a contractor finish it out with new cabinets, new granite counters, new lighting – ceiling and under cabinet, ceiling repair/refinish, wall removal, moving of water line, addition of natural gas line, new trim work, new and additional electrical outlets and paint. One very important item on the contract we over looked, or made an assumption about were the appliances. It was in our contract where to go to get the appliances. Now, we have worked with contractors over the years, and when they specify a location to “get” something, in our experience, has meant it is part of the contract price, and/or you have an allowance toward the purchase, so to say. Well, surprise to us, that no, none of the appliances were included in the cost. So, we had to pull out of pocket about $18K for a vent hood, gas cooktop, electric wall oven, microwave, dishwasher, and disposal. We luckily had purchased a new refrigerator about 18 months prior and were able to use it. Lesson learned – no assumptions – EVER! I also learned over the years, keep it business and not get too “friendly” with the contractor and workers. That sounds harsh, but if you have to work something out it can feel awkward with people you have come to feel like friends with. I’m not saying be rude, but…
Bathroom turned out beautiful! So glad you posted the actual cost breakdown. Many people have unrealistic expectations of what things costs. Cost of labor and materials have skyrocketed over the last year. The only way to reduce your cost is to do most or all of the work yourself and or do only cosmetic updates. Full gut jobs on bath and kitchens are pricey.
Holy Moly!!!! For one small bathroom??
Yep. We weren’t able to DIY anything but finishing work since we couldn’t live here for a month and had to use a contractor approved by our insurance (we were happy with their work though). Supply chain shortages means increases in the price of everything and having to order more expensive things that were in stock when what we would have originally ordered was out of stock for months. It was a lot of hurdles, so those are some factors resulting in that final price. But also… full gut jobs are dang pricey.