Labor Cost for Bath Reno?
We are going to gut renovate our 7.5′ x 5.5′ (w 9′ ceilings) master bath. How much would you estimate labor to cost for the following: no plumbing has to be moved, extra electric line to be installed for towel warmer, and extra outlet put in by toilet. A soffit has to be demolished, storage…
We are going to gut renovate our 7.5′ x 5.5′ (w 9′ ceilings) master bath. How much would you estimate labor to cost for the following: no plumbing has to be moved, extra electric line to be installed for towel warmer, and extra outlet put in by toilet. A soffit has to be demolished, storage cabinet and medicine cabinet needs to be recess-installed, a couple of shower/storage niches to be built-in. Tiling will be floor to ceiling. Steam shower glass enclosure to be custom installed (fixture already exists). Everything will be swapped out, including floor. We rec’d a quote which seems high. (It does not include the fixtures, which we’ve priced out separately.) Thanks.
Also, we are renovating a 4.5′ x 5′ powder room: tiling, pedestal sink, toilet needs to be ripped out. Replace sink, toilet, medicine cabint, light fixture, install towel ring…pretty straightforward. Painted walls will just be tiled 4′ high, floor tiling will be replaced (replace mosaics with 12 x 12, so less work, IMO, than mosaics.) How much should contractor fees be for this, separate from fixtures and fittings?
In our previous place, we gut renovated a small bath (about 4 x5.5) for 10-12K *including* all materials, and it came out beautifully. We used nice fixtures (Duravit) and lovely, simple finishes. One of the things I miss about our old apartment!
We renovated our small bathroom before we moved into our co-op. The size of our bathrooms are similar. We did not do steam shower nor electrical work. Excluding materials (because we sourced everything ourselves, the labor was approximately 8k, give or take. I cannot give an exact number because we also renovated our kitchen and the labor cost we paid was for the whole apartment. But I feel comfortable saying approximately 8k. Keep in mind that even if the contractor has guys available, only one will be able to fit into the bathroom with his tools and such, so the project can take longer than expected.
You can see the renovation here:
http://donkeehouse.com/?cat=6
Dylanfan, my kitchen renovation including all materials, cabinets, new appliances, stone counters and labor ended up costing $12,000 for 3x the amount of square footage of the bathroom. We could do a lot of that ourselves and replacing a dishwasher is a lot easier than replacing a bathtub. Finding a licensed and insured contractor (as our co-op required) to do a cramped, tiny bathroom for a low price is not as easy as you make it out to be. Most contractors have other jobs they’d rather take (maybe that has changed in recent months) and threw out numbers that really made it worth their while to deal with doing this small, tedious job. It ended up costing us about $17,000 for the bathroom (labor and materials included) which was just about 50% more than the much larger kitchen with the same quality of finishes (both very nice but not uber-high end).
As I said in my first response, if you don’t need licensed and insured contractor of course the price will go down a lot. I don’t think paying more guarantees better work and never implied that, I was just sharing my experience of how much things cost based on 5 real-life labor-only bathroom quotes I received less than a year ago.
dylanfan,
Noone said anything about needing to pay premium prices to get decent work. What I said was that if your renovation is small but involves numerous trades (especially ones involving plumbing and electrical), contractors tend to charge premium prices per Sq Ft because it requires more coordination and the sequencing of construction is more work. That’s a fact. Is it possible to find someone to do the work cheaper? Of course. That’s why I suggested pricing it with over 6 contractors. If you really know someone who can do excellent work at rock-bottom prices, that’s great…and I hope the OP uses your contact successfully. But in most scenarios you get what you pay for.
yea i hear you. i did a lot of the work on my kitchen myself with the help of a couple of friends and a professional plumber. didn’t cost a ton but looks like it did.
you can email me at zfarha AT gmail DOT com
Thanks!
Prefer not to. Any contact info you could give me? Would be happy to supply you with more info.
You know how you can get a *great* dinner that astonishes in NYC for practically nothing? And also how you can go to a heavy-star place for a really special occasion and get food that’s nearly inedible?
I don’t think the people on this site understand that….
dylanfan, i’d be interested in the reference you mention. in a similar boat to poster, but my bathroom is not that complicated or high end, although i am swapping out a tub for a shower … would you mind posting the reference info here?
Thanks
I’ve lost count of how many bathrooms I’ve done over and these prices quoted astonish me. People on this site seem to equate “high-end” with high cost, but as most people know, it is possible to get great quality in this city for a very reasonable price–if you know where to look. In other words, don’t expect a high estimate from a contractor to guarantee beautiful work. And vice-versa.
Get more quotes. If you want a reference for someone who has done great work for me and others I have recommended him to, let me know how to contact you.
btw, the medicine cabinet and storage cabinet are ready-made, ‘just’ need to be recessed into wall.
the quotes you guys are giving me seem to place mine in the ballpark, though on the higher end. i understand that higher-end materials usually = higher labor quotes. i think i’d still feel comfortable with them lowering each room by at least 3k. the bathroom quote seems fine, a bit high. however, powder room seems really high.
cmu, i didn’t list quotes–it’s not weird–bc i didn’t want the quotes given to me to affect what people responded here with.
thanks for the responses. very helpful.