Small Bathroom Remodels - Budget Insight Requested

[RickFLM4]

We have 2 small bathrooms that we want to remodel. Bath 1 is 5 x 8 with combo tub / shower and Bath 2 is approx. 6 x 10 with a small walk-in shower, no tub. We are planning to gut them and replace everything, including all tile. For finish materials (vanity, toilet, fixtures, mirror, lights, tile, etc.), we are looking for better than the builder grade they are replacing, but not over the top. Houzz, Build.com, Home Depot and Floor and Decor (for tile) are where we are looking for finished material. These are secondary baths that need to be remodeled.

For anyone in the business or homeowners who have recently remodeled anything similar, what are your thoughts on (a) project pricing for the 2 bathrooms, and (b) the percentage split between finish materials and contractor costs (labor, building materials, shower enclosure)?

We have been reviewing materials and came up with a range of $11K - $18K for finish materials for both bathrooms combined, depending on final choices between a few alternatives. To that we would need to add contractor costs and I was thinking it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of a 50/50 split. Overall thinking $23K - $30K max all-in for both bathrooms.

Contractor quoted $25K for his piece (excluding all the finish material I mentioned above), or $27K if we chose to also put sliding glass doors on the tub / shower in Bath 1. So that would imply a total project cost of $36K to $45K, which made me throw up a little. He also suggested saving money on materials, which he thinks could get down to $8K combined (from my $11K - $18K), but I am concerned about spending so much on labor to install stuff we aren't crazy about. Seems like the labor / material balance is out of whack, even though we like this contractor and know his work.

We have another estimate (allegedly) arriving tomorrow, which I think will be less, but we shall see.

So, long story short, looking for any insight into realistic project costs. Have labor prices gone up so much they left me out of touch? TIA.

[dreamingat30fps]

We are in the same boat. Would love to redo my bathrooms and kitchen, but considering the quotes I've gotten just to put vinyl flooring over our existing tile flooring... I just can't even imagine what ridiculous amount it would be to redo a whole bathroom.

Then even if I wanted to spend all that money on the remodel I still have to find someone who actually knows what they are doing and isn't some scammer.

Just thinking about it makes the existing kitchen and bathrooms look pretty nice.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

We are in the same boat. Would love to redo my bathrooms and kitchen, but considering the quotes I've gotten just to put vinyl flooring over our existing tile flooring... I just can't even imagine what ridiculous amount it would be to redo a whole bathroom.

Then even if I wanted to spend all that money on the remodel I still have to find someone who actually knows what they are doing and isn't some scammer.

Just thinking about it makes the existing kitchen and bathrooms look pretty nice.

Tell me about it. We still have the kitchen plus flooring in main living areas after this, the cost of which I don’t want to think about. I’m pretty certain this contractor will do good work. Just struggling to think how the return on that investment can make sense.

[chassis]

Material estimate is in the ballpark. Years ago I redid a master and a main bath - 2 projects. Labor was DIY except the custom full height glass shower. Tile floors and showers, corian counters, Lowe’s cabinets. The main bath floor was a full mud job, floor and walls - hawk, trowel and all. Master bath used cement board. Portland-based thinset and Mapei grout, good stuff.

[mjj]

We have one room left in our entire home that has been remodeled - master bathroom. When I told my wife I was ordering a new BMW, she said ok…but she was going to have the master bathroom remodeled. It is a small master bath. I am guessing 10x10.

She originally told me 40K. Now it is over 50K. Daughter just left to go back to college so works starts Sept 4th. I think it is overkill but being my car cost 2x+ of the bathroom I just shut up and smile.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Tell me about it. We still have the kitchen plus flooring in main living areas after this, the cost of which I don’t want to think about. I’m pretty certain this contractor will do good work. Just struggling to think how the return on that investment can make sense.

We have been actively looking to just move to another house. Seems like it would be way easier than doing all the updates we would want. We wouldn't mind staying in our area, but our house does backup to a main street which was super quiet when we bought it in 2011, but it's a drag strip now. Wouldn't mind moving somewhere quieter, but that's it's whole separate can of worms.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

We have been actively looking to just move to another house. Seems like it would be way easier than doing all the updates we would want. We wouldn't mind staying in our area, but our house does backup to a main street which was super quiet when we bought it in 2011, but it's a drag strip now. Wouldn't mind moving somewhere quieter, but that's it's whole separate can of worms.

Yeah but then you get to the new house and start seeing what that one needs…

[SpeedBuggy]

Just remodeled last year, single project including two Bathrooms and Kitchen.

All cabinetry is Kraftmaid, Flooring was MSI and Cambria Quartz Countertops.

Master Bath 8'x12' was $22,000.00.
Contractor gutted, painted, put down Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring including in the walk in closet. New 72" Combination Vanity, Medicine Cabinet, Toilet, Tub with Tile Surrond, and Quartz Countertop. We supplied two New Lights, two Mirrors, Cabinet Hardware, Faucets, Paint and towel racks.

Main Bath 5' x 8' was $17,000.00
Again contractor gutted, painted, put down Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring. New 36" Vanity, Medicine Cabinet, Toilet, Tub with Tile Surrond, and Quartz Countertop. We supplied two New Lights, two Mirrors, Cabinet Hardware, Faucets, Paint and towel racks.


We started looking at doing this project beginning in 2020 and finally made the move last year. Costs went up about 25% over what we were looking at in 2020.
All toll, contractor was in and out in just over 4 weeks for the total construction project. Had to wait about a week or so for Countertops.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by SpeedBuggy

Just remodeled last year, single project including two Bathrooms and Kitchen.

All cabinetry is Kraftmaid, Flooring was MSI and Cambria Quartz Countertops.

Master Bath 8'x12' was $22,000.00.
Contractor gutted, painted, put down Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring including in the walk in closet. New 72" Combination Vanity, Medicine Cabinet, Toilet, Tub with Tile Surrond, and Quartz Countertop. We supplied two New Lights, two Mirrors, Cabinet Hardware, Faucets, Paint and towel racks.

Main Bath 5' x 8' was $17,000.00
Again contractor gutted, painted, put down Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring. New 36" Vanity, Medicine Cabinet, Toilet, Tub with Tile Surrond, and Quartz Countertop. We supplied two New Lights, two Mirrors, Cabinet Hardware, Faucets, Paint and towel racks.


We started looking at doing this project beginning in 2020 and finally made the move last year. Costs went up about 25% over what we were looking at in 2020.
All toll, contractor was in and out in just over 4 weeks for the total construction project. Had to wait about a week or so for Countertops.

Helpful reference points. Thank you.

[SpeedBuggy]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Helpful reference points. Thank you.

You're welcome.

We found the Vinyl Plank Flooring to be all over the place. Depends on plank width and wear surface. We did go with a heavier wear layer 20ml product from MSI Surfaces. Interactive web site. You can download floor and using your phone camera to see what it looks like in your space.

Cambria has a nice site. Can order samples of countertop although they do charge for them.
Kraftmaid also sells samples of cabinet colors. Just make sure they are available, we picked out a particular cabinet color and selected countertops, tile and paint only to have to go thru the process again when the cabinet color was no longer available.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by SpeedBuggy

You're welcome.

We found the Vinyl Plank Flooring to be all over the place. Depends on plank width and wear surface. We did go with a heavier wear layer 20ml product from MSI Surfaces. Interactive web site. You can download floor and using your phone camera to see what it looks like in your space.

Cambria has a nice site. Can order samples of countertop although they do charge for them.
Kraftmaid also sells samples of cabinet colors. Just make sure they are available, we picked out a particular cabinet color and selected countertops, tile and paint only to have to go thru the process again when the cabinet color was no longer available.

We have Cambria counters in our master bath with custom made cabinets that were painted in the shade of white my wife wanted. We’re probably going with prefab that have built in counters for these 2 bathrooms to save money.

For the flooring, we are probably going with tile in these 2 bathrooms mostly because they are small and also because we likely will use vinyl in the rest of the living areas down the road and wife doesn’t want 2 types of vinyl. Too much to do everything at once. Bathrooms, kitchen, main living flooring in that order.

[jessejericho]

Just did 2 baths in our house, mid-high end (quartz counters, all new tile, tiled shower, pot lights etc). A small 3 piece ensuite and a 4 piece main bath - total was just over $50k CAD. Wish I could have done more of it myself, but just don't have the time.

[XutvJet]

Good Lord these prices. In the last 5-10 years I redid our two small bathrooms of similar size and layout. Total gut jobs, portions of which were to the studs, flooring ripped out, old tub and shower base removed, new water lines, new tile everywhere, etc. Those two jobs cost me around $4K in materials and I didn't use builder grade stuff either. My costs also included buying a tile saw and other specialty tools. I'd imagine the cost now would be 30%-40% more in materials. Never had done that type of work either. It's not rocket science at all. The hardest part for me was:

1) Working in a tight area for hours on end (felt like the doublewide fight scene in Raising Arizona)

2) Learning to get the tile mud the right consistency

3) Getting all the vertical tiles completely flat and on the same plane with one another. Had to redo some of my work.


If you are a DIYer, watch some YT videos, and go for it.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

Good Lord these prices. In the last 5-10 years I redid our two small bathrooms of similar size and layout. Total gut jobs, portions of which were to the studs, flooring ripped out, old tub and shower base removed, new water lines, new tile everywhere, etc. Those two jobs cost me around $4K in materials and I didn't use builder grade stuff either. My costs also included buying a tile saw and other specialty tools. I'd imagine the cost now would be 30%-40% more in materials. Never had done that type of work either. It's not rocket science at all. The hardest part for me was:

1) Working in a tight area for hours on end (felt like the doublewide fight scene in Raising Arizona)

2) Learning to get the tile mud the right consistency

3) Getting all the vertical tiles completely flat and on the same plane with one another. Had to redo some of my work.


If you are a DIYer, watch some YT videos, and go for it.

I thought about DIY but expect it would take an exceptionally long time with football season, holidays and then my busy season approaching. Maybe an option for next spring if we don’t get it sorted before then, but doubtful.

Just to clarify… you spent $4K on materials for 2 bathrooms combined?

[mcsquared]

I recently had our master bath redone. However, it was just the shower portion, as the builder grade crap failed. I’m in NE FL.

I found a contractor that works for himself, but mainly focuses on businesses that own multiple rental homes that he and his crew go in and refurb. Probably best to find one of those if you know someone that knows someone, I suppose. I just happened to find this guy through a friend that he did work for, in the past.

Wife and I picked out the tiles, grout, and a couple of niche’s. All in, probably about 10k including materials and labor. Mostly 2 guys doing the work, for roughly 2-3 weeks. I did a lot of the initial tearing down. There used to be a glass shower enclosure in an aluminum frame, and some other wood pieces and tile that I removed.

[UncleWede]

Just started into a remodel for my wife's aunt's bathroom. To the frame, new shower base, expand about 18" into the hallway (to make it flush all the way down) and move the water and sewer within the cement - $17K. We get to buy the vanity, toilet, and tile. from the materials we initially looked at, not going to spend more than 3-4K more.

This contractor did 2 bathrooms in our home in the past year or so. Master was a complete remodel and rearrangement, including building a walk-in closet and changing the entry door. I think we paid him 27 for that job.

Floor and Decor for the win!

[floridaorange]

We just re-did our kitchen for $14k. Cabinets, counter tops & appliances. This was after new windows throughout. Next is doors. The guy who did all the work is awesome - extremely proficient and experienced and made it look like a walk in the park. Once backsplash is installed will post pics. Wife picked out everything - it was her project - I was content with it before - but it’s so much nicer now

[UncleWede]

Update on Floor/decor: we got out with all the tile needed for a full shower, floors for just under $500!!!! OK, I had 31 sheets of stone pebbles that will fill the shower space that needs 23, they were just in boxes sitting out back.
I was only there to load the supplies into my truck, I don't know if they ONLY looked at the discount table.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I thought about DIY but expect it would take an exceptionally long time with football season, holidays and then my busy season approaching. Maybe an option for next spring if we don’t get it sorted before then, but doubtful.

Just to clarify… you spent $4K on materials for 2 bathrooms combined?

Yep, the most expensive thing was our 18" water level deep soaker tub for $600. I'm not sure where contractor's get these silly material costs from. I know they have a markup, but they also buy direct. Of course, looking at some of these jobs in this post, I guess some people go for some really high end stuff.

As for time, yeah, I worked a lot slower than a sub. Tear out was a day/ea for both jobs, but to get them complete, 4-6 weeks for each bathroom. Largely because I had to learn, research, work on weekends and after work. Seeing that most people get quotes for a ~6X10 BR remodel in the $8-16K range, I said F that and decided to try it myself for 25% the cost. It's just a bathroom and not some structural component of the house.