What would you budget for a small bathroom remodel?

[Olu]

My upstairs bathroom has had a shower leak, toilet leak, and not toilet leak again. I want to remodel the entire bathroom but DH is frugal.

So what would you imagine (or know) the cost of a small bathroom remodel? Right now the floor (not counting the tub is 5x6. That does include the space the vanity sits on. I am also thinking of eliminating the tub for a walk in shower.

This is DD bathroom and she is 15 and says she wants to keep the tub, but she is not living her long term and I have a garden tub in the master bathroom she can use if she wants to use her bath bombs, etc. Eventually, this will just be a guest room only or an upstairs office. I have three boys and they do not use a tub, but their bathroom is the hall bathroom next to two bedrooms so for market purposes, if we were ever to sell (no plans) that bathroom in theory would be next to children bedrooms where parents would want a tub. This bathroom upstairs is basically a FROG that when built was changed to be one bedroom, closet, and bathroom. FROG = Family Room Over Garage. So most parents wouldn't put a little kid upstairs anyways.

I just had a company leave after measurements so I am waiting for estimates.

Here is my favorite pic of what I would like. The contractor mentioned doing a half wall with glass instead of the wall. The bathroom is currently this set-up (position of vanity, toilet, bathtub) minus the window. There is no window in my bathroom.

I do like gray, white, and blues. I like pink too but not sure I would choose a tile with pink since I also have three sons that could possibly move upstairs.

It can vary greatly... Anywhere from 7000 up to 35000. Are you doing work yourself or hiring a handyman, or doing it with a GC? Type of materials used A, B, or C grade. How damaged is the subfloor, will plumbing and electrical need to be brought up to code. etc..... If you're going to hire someone nest bet is get a referral or multiple estimates and go with your instinct not the cheapest. Sometimes that can become a nightmare.

 

[NinaBella]

It can vary greatly... Anywhere from 7000 up to 35000. Are you doing work yourself or hiring a handyman, or doing it with a GC? Type of materials used A, B, or C grade. How damaged is the subfloor, will plumbing and electrical need to be brought up to code. etc..... If you're going to hire someone nest bet is get a referral or multiple estimates and go with your instinct not the cheapest. Sometimes that can become a nightmare.

No damage to subfloor. Home meets all current electrical and plumbing codes. I am waiting for a GC estimate now. I have the plumber estimate to replace the toilet only, which doesn't need to be replaced, just reset, I want to replace it with a higher end model versus the builder grade we have now.

 

[tvguy]

We have a little bathroom that is 5x8, corner shower unit, one sink vanity and toilet. Quotes came back around 8k to do a whole redo, middle of the road pieces.

My bathrooms are 5 x 9 which all 4 contractors who bid on the project called "standard" sized bathrooms. So your's really isn't small.

 

[Olu]

No damage to subfloor. Home meets all current electrical and plumbing codes. I am waiting for a GC estimate now. I have the plumber estimate to replace the toilet only, which doesn't need to be replaced, just reset, I want to replace it with a higher end model versus the builder grade we have now.

Great that will save you some money.

It can vary greatly... Anywhere from 7000 up to 35000. Are you doing work yourself or hiring a handyman, or doing it with a GC? Type of materials used A, B, or C grade. How damaged is the subfloor, will plumbing and electrical need to be brought up to code. etc..... If you're going to hire someone nest bet is get a referral or multiple estimates and go with your instinct not the cheapest. Sometimes that can become a nightmare.

Ok that will save you some money. If you stay mid grade on materials, you might end up around 10000

 

[LovesTimone]

Frist off depending on where you live in the country is going to dictate what the cost will be. As well as - living in the City ~vs~ country, small contractor ~vs ~big firm, as well as the time of year.

You said you have had a shower leak and a toilet leak - when you start gutting any room with a water leak, you could have mold, or rot in the sub floor/ studs, or even need some remediation work which is expensive... So I would have a contingence budget in place for that type of structural problem that could pop up... then you would/could double or triple the budget...

If you are wanting to put in a window.... that's a feature that is pricey... but if it will add value later on it might be worth it..

Changing out the fan or adding one would add value, and this would be the time to do it...and not really very expensive.

The tub is debatable - as long as there is a tub in the house I don't think it would be a problem for resale later on, and you said your not planning on selling any time soon, I would go for the shower...let who ever buys your house then worry about it.

Fixtures, and finishes are where you can spend a lot or a little, things like running the tile to the ceiling really don't cost that much extra but make a big impact.. or add in a shampoo shelf with a different tile creates a higher end look without to much added money...you could splurge here with a "fancier" tile, and go with something neutral and more basic on the body of the shower stall.... basic sink ~vs~ a bowl sink,

When picking a contractor, see if they are willing to let you purchase things and then they put them in such as lights, mirrors, shelving, shower heads, and such.... We just built our house, and wanted a really nice shower/rain head... in the design room they wanted 500.00 for the style we wanted...so we went with the builders one, and I went and bought the one we wanted at Home Depot for around, 100.00.

When picking a contractor... do your research...if you have a bad feeling listen to it, and trust your gut instinct... cheapest may not be the most cost effective in the long run...

My guess would be around 8,000 to 15,000 depending on what they find with the previous water leaks...and what you pick in the way of tile, and vanities, flooring.

 

[tvguy]

You said you have had a shower leak and a toilet leak - when you start gutting any room with a water leak, you could have mold, or rot in the sub floor/ studs, or even need some remediation work which is expensive.


When picking a contractor, see if they are willing to let you purchase things and then they put them in such as lights, mirrors, shelving, shower heads, and such.... We just built our house, and wanted a really nice shower/rain head... in the design room they wanted 500.00 for the style we wanted...so we went with the builders one, and I went and bought the one we wanted at Home Depot for around, 100.00.

.

I did not include the cost of getting rid of black mold in my bathroom cost. The master bath shower tile wall had black mold behind it, requiring proper/legal removal, re-framing of an entire 5 foot of exterior wall, and replacement of 5 feet of exterior wood siding. I was afraid of the cost since every year my homeowners insurance provider sends a notice that my policy does not cover black mold removal. Ended up costing $1,200 which I didn't think was too bad. And given my insurance has a $1,000 deductible, even if it was a covered condition, the majority of the cost would have been out of my pocket.

Yes yes yes, on buying appliances, fixtures, anything you can on your own. My contractor makes it clear, if HE buys it, he marks the price up by 40%. If you buy it.....from one of his regular suppliers......there is no mark up and the supplier will deliver everything to the contractors warehouse. Given that a nice faucet can cost $300, that was a huge savings.

 

[neatokimmo]

We are working on our master bathroom now.

Pex, connections, tub fixtures - $500

Tile (doing it myself) -$500ish. That includes concrete board but I can’t remember if that includes grout and cement.

Vanity area $400. I have my sink and faucet picked out for about $150. The other $250 I was wanting to spend on a beautiful piece of wood like black walnut, and float it on the wall. If I can’t find that, I might build something more farmish.

Barn door - $220 if I build one. I have a old door that I am going to try to use, if I can make it look good (that will save $100+).

Light fixtures - I haven’t picked them out. I set a budget of $200 for two. I am hoping I catch them cheaper on clearance.
—— that leaves me a very tiny amount of wiggle room in my 2k budget.

 

[Tiki_Sara]

We recently paid 25k for a complete gut and remodel of our small bathroom. It nearly floored us when we got the first quote but we had several and that was the one we went with, not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive. We wanted tiles, which upped the price considerably and seeing as how we won't be doing it again in our lifetime, we went for relatively expensive fittings. We do live in probably the most expensive part of one of the most expensive States and we were warned of the quotes we would get, but seriously, it was shocking. The amount of time it took was also incredible. But it's done now and it looks great and no more leaks which would potentially cost us $$$ if we didn't address them sooner rather than later.

Good luck with your project, it's worth it when its done (but often not before and at times you will wonder why you ever started it)!

 

[tex1989]

From experience the cost is all about what you can do vs what you have to hire people to do. We did our second bathroom after the kids were out of the house and we removed wallpaper, textured the walls, painted, new vanity and sink, new toilet, tiled the floor, new baseboards and new sink and tub hardware. Did not replace or retile the tub as it was a marble sheeted surround. We did it for about $1,400 but we did all the work ourselves. Friends with the same home builder paid someone to do basically the same work and paid around $4,500. I am not sure if we are cheap or I just learned all this stuff over the years. Wife did wallpaper, texture, tile and paint, I did vanity, toilet, sink and all plumbing.

If we had replaced the tub/shower I would have paid for that and then done the rest on our own.

I learned long ago that tiled showers take a little more special knowledge and will not take those on myself. The vanity was a pre made one which included the top with sink mounted. We just replaced the vanities in our master and we had to buy individual cabinets and mount them and have custom tops and the sinks mounted and that came to a lot more. The cabinets were around $2,100 and the tops $1,900 plus the hardware which was about $300. Did ship lap in the water closet (wife is a fan of Fixer Upper) and that was cheap $40 in plywood plus paint. So the master cost around $4,400.

 

[tvguy]

From experience the cost is all about what you can do vs what you have to hire people to do. We did our second bathroom after the kids were out of the house and we removed wallpaper, textured the walls, painted, new vanity and sink, new toilet, tiled the floor, new baseboards and new sink and tub hardware. Did not replace or retile the tub as it was a marble sheeted surround. We did it for about $1,400 but we did all the work ourselves. Friends with the same home builder paid someone to do basically the same work and paid around $4,500. I am not sure if we are cheap or I just learned all this stuff over the years. Wife did wallpaper, texture, tile and paint, I did vanity, toilet, sink and all plumbing.

If we had replaced the tub/shower I would have paid for that and then done the rest on our own.

I learned long ago that tiled showers take a little more special knowledge and will not take those on myself. The vanity was a pre made one which included the top with sink mounted. We just replaced the vanities in our master and we had to buy individual cabinets and mount them and have custom tops and the sinks mounted and that came to a lot more. The cabinets were around $2,100 and the tops $1,900 plus the hardware which was about $300. Did ship lap in the water closet (wife is a fan of Fixer Upper) and that was cheap $40 in plywood plus paint. So the master cost around $4,400.

You certainly can save on labor, but we found the materials made a huge difference in price. My wife insisted that the shower in the master bath be Corian. It is a bathtub sized shower (5 foot long, by 30 inches deep, but 8 feet high) and just the Corian for that shower was $7,500. The cultured marble we used in the identical bathroom that backs up to it was $1,500. But that of course doesn't have a floor plan, or go as low to the floor as the master bath.

 

[tex1989]

I have manged to avoid big costs by not having redoing showers or tubs. Fortunately our builder used solid sheets of marble in a veined white slab that has gone well with other changes we have made. Avoiding replacing tubs and showers have been the biggest savings of all. Materials for those can really bust a budget but we have been fortunate to only have to do floors, walls, and vanities, otherwise we could have been well over $10 k on both.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Reading this thread with great interest. As soon as we get done installing new countertops in our kitchen and get that room painted we are going to start on our little bathroom. We're working our way through our fixer upper and that bath was going to be the last one done since no one uses it on a regular basis. However, the washing machine died a couple of weeks ago so we started looking at the laundry room while we had the appliances out and decided that it was going to be next. The little bath is right next to it so I think we are going to take out the wall between them (not structural) and turn those two tiny spaces into a larger mudroom/laundry/bath combo.

I'm hoping we can keep it under $2000 doing almost everything ourselves. Our biggest cost will be moving the current sink drain since it's currently on the wall that we are going to remove. Then, I want to install a large stainless steel restaurant style sink in there that can double as a utility sink/dog wash. Everything else except the toilet will stay as is. I'd love to take out the pre-fab shower and replace it with a walk-in but don't think that'll be in the budget this go around.

It's amazing to me how much the costs differ from location to location. We had a small bathroom done in our old house for around $3000 about 5 years ago. We gutted it ourselves, then the contractor rebuilt it.

 

[Sagginit]

I have a friend in the NJ suburbs who just wanted a basic remodel on her bathroom. She got quotes from 5K to 15K. They went with sears for 7K with very basic materials as it was a guest room and they just needed it done fast with a reliable contractor. The pictures you show seem to have more high end finishes so when you get a quote it would be good to discuss how you can save. My mother had a kitchen and bathroom remodel last year (gutted the rooms completely). She was able to buy some items herself from suppliers and have them shipped to the contractor for less than if he had to do the legwork himself. Some items only he could get and she wanted higher quality so she let him buy it. The costs can be crazy. One thing the contractor stated was that extra insulation in the walls is more common now so "noises" don't travel lol.

 

[JenBush]

As most people have said, the cost can vary greatly depending on many variables. Doing most if not all of the work yourselves will save you a lot of money if possible. Pinterest is your friend for easy, reasonably priced DIY bathroom remodels/updates.

 

[tvguy]

Reading this thread with great interest. As soon as we get done installing new countertops in our kitchen and get that room painted we are going to start on our little bathroom. We're working our way through our fixer upper and that bath was going to be the last one done since no one uses it on a regular basis. However, the washing machine died a couple of weeks ago so we started looking at the laundry room while we had the appliances out and decided that it was going to be next. The little bath is right next to it so I think we are going to take out the wall between them (not structural) and turn those two tiny spaces into a larger mudroom/laundry/bath combo.

I'm hoping we can keep it under $2000 doing almost everything ourselves. Our biggest cost will be moving the current sink drain since it's currently on the wall that we are going to remove. Then, I want to install a large stainless steel restaurant style sink in there that can double as a utility sink/dog wash. Everything else except the toilet will stay as is. I'd love to take out the pre-fab shower and replace it with a walk-in but don't think that'll be in the budget this go around.

It's amazing to me how much the costs differ from location to location. We had a small bathroom done in our old house for around $3000 about 5 years ago. We gutted it ourselves, then the contractor rebuilt it.

Like I said early, just the permits here would eat up half your $2,000 budget.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Like I said early, just the permits here would eat up half your $2,000 budget.

Which is why, reading this thread, I'm very glad we don't need permits here for anything we are planning to do. I'll still double check just to make sure nothing has changed, but when we did a similar remodel a few years ago we didn't need one.

 

[tvguy]

Which is why, reading this thread, I'm very glad we don't need permits here for anything we are planning to do. I'll still double check just to make sure nothing has changed, but when we did a similar remodel a few years ago we didn't need one.

Wow, amazing you can move plumbing and remove a wall without a permit!

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Wow, amazing you can move plumbing and remove a wall without a permit!

Yeah, our city is really lenient on some things, ridiculously strict on others. Benefits of a small town, I guess. Like I said, I'll double check to make sure things haven't changed but we didn't need it 6 years ago.

 

[tvguy]

Yeah, our city is really lenient on some things, ridiculously strict on others. Benefits of a small town, I guess. Like I said, I'll double check to make sure things haven't changed but we didn't need it 6 years ago.

Yeah, my FIL lived in a small Texas town and any work on his house was always an adventure. Opened up a wall there were 16 inches between the first 2 studs. 24 inches between the next two, 11 inches between the next two.....

 

[Anthony1971]

I am interested in how much. I can tell you we paid more for our bathroom than kitchen. We have a shower and tub but the biggest expense is the shower stall... it is very labor intensive as well the materials are not cheap... if you want they shower stall done right they can not use a premade pan it needs to be cement a rubber membrane another layer of cement and yet more cement for the tiles... I truly do not think a lot of people realize just how fast a bathroom can get to 20-30K the materials themselves add up very fast if you want even mid end upper end a lot more... you can easily spend 1k on the shower faucets alone and by no means is this high end but far better than having to rip out your wall to repair it 5 years later... A kitchen so long as you are not moving things is far less labor intensive and that labor turns a 10K kitchen into a 30K kitchen.... I believe what you want will be far higher than you imagine as you are moving a tub and building a shower stall and a wall so you are relocating all the plumbing... if you stick with a tub it will go way down in price.

On side note I just had Kohler Warranty my bathroom sink as it was what they call crazing-- it developed lines in the glazing that look like cracks but are not-- I had to go to Lowes.. they handed me receipt for 557 and change that Kohler paid.. add the faucet and base plus labor and you can easily have 2+K in a sink alone