How Much Is the Average Cost of a Bathroom Remodel? The Ultimate Guide to Bathroom Remodel Pricing

Tired of your tired old bathroom? 

You can knock down that dreadful popcorn ceiling, freshen up the paint, and replace your old fixtures. Or you can knock down a wall and build out your existing bathroom space. 

Whether you go our with a complete bathroom renovation or you make a few small updates, you’ll need a budget.

Before you put together your budget, it's a good idea to calculate the average cost of a bathroom remodel. If that sounds intimidating, relax. Help is here in the form of our ultimate guide to bathroom remodel pricing.

Read our guide as you plan your project. Having information about pricing at your fingertips before you go to the trouble of ordering new fixtures and picking out new floor tile should prevent you from over dreaming. 

How Much Renovating Do You Need?

How much you budget for a bathroom remodel depends on the level of renovation you want.

Midrange

Includes standard fixtures such as a porcelain-on-steel tub, white toilet, and solid-surface vanity top. You can include ceramic tile for both the tub surround and flooring. 

Upscale

Common tasks at this level include increasing square footage, relocating fixtures, adding lighting, and updating ventilation. Natural stone countertops and two sinks. Custom cabinets. You might also upgrade to a soaker tub and a shower with frameless glass doors. High-end faucets are also popular at the upscale level.

Universal Design

A universal design remodel allows bathroom access to anyone visiting your home regardless of age, size, or ability. Updating the space and making it wheelchair accessible is a start. You'll either replace the tub with or add, a walk-in shower. The new toilet is one with a comfortable height feature and an elongated bowl. At this level, it's all about accessibility and comfort.

Speaking of accessibility, at least two of these renovations may include moving the plumbing. Plumbing is a good place to start when planning a remodel budget.

Call the Plumbing Doctor

While a non-plumbing professional can probably Google simple tasks, it’s best to leave the big jobs to the experts.

For a basic bathroom, you’ll pay the plumber for planning and preparing the bathroom for the remodel. You'll also pay for fitment and installation of:

• Bathtub
• Shower
• Sink
• Toilet

The plumber also charges for hooking up the new fixtures to the current plumbing. 

Those old fixtures? There’s a cost to remove them, and the average for that is between $450-650. It can take about 10 hours for a plumbing team to remove old plumbing fixtures.

Plumbers charge between $45-65 per hour. A basic plumbing job for a bathroom remodel should take around 46 hours. For the plumbing, you’ll pay around $2000-3000.

Hint: This is only the cost of your plumbing work. We’ll look at the cost of fixtures next.

The Finest Fixtures in Town

Pricing new bathroom fixtures depends on quality and style.

You can go with a basic toilet and spend between $150-250. Choose the remote activated Smart toilet or the trendy washlet, and you’ll set back your budget by between $900-4000. Yes, that’s quite a range, but these are quite the toilets.

Your new sink will run about $100-500. 

Bathtubs and showers, even for the most budget-conscious renovator, cost the most. Expect to pay between $400-2000 for a new shower. If you select the lowest cost tub, you’ll pay between $400-1500.

While jetted tubs are all the rage for some homeowners, they need more maintenance than a standard bathtub. And you don’t really need a remote-controlled toilet, do you?

Cabinets and Countertops

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home. Cabinets and countertops are the heart of the bathroom.

For countertops, you have a wide range of surfaces to choose but right now, granite, marble, and quartz are most popular. You’ll pay between $900-7000 depending on the quality of the materials.

It’s the same deal when you install new cabinets. Price is directly affected by the quality and you’ll pay around $1,200 on the low end to $13,000 and up for the highest quality wood cabinetry.

From Floor to Ceiling

Most homeowners choose tile flooring and walls for their bathroom renovations. It makes sense because tile is reasonably priced and ideal for the wet environment found in bathrooms.

That said, tile prices start around $2 per square foot if you opt for ceramic. If you fall in love with glass tile, you’ll pay around $10 per square foot. The most expensive floor tile is stone and you can spend about $25 (or higher) per square foot.

These prices don’t include installation. If you don’t want to DIY, tile installation costs $0.50-$15.

If you don’t care for tile, you can always go with the ever-popular vinyl flooring. Vinyl flooring has grown up over the last few years. You can still install sheet vinyl, but now you also have the option of using luxury vinyl plank or tile flooring.

Go with standard sheet vinyl and you’ll pay about $0.50-2.00 per square foot. Luxury vinyl costs between $2.50-$5.00 per square foot. There’s no difference in cost between plank and tile.

Your vinyl contractor will either charge by the hour or by the project. The hourly rate runs around $35. Installation of vinyl flooring adds anywhere from $3.00-10.00 per square foot.

Turn on the Lights

Great lighting plays a critical role in your bathroom. Choose the wrong fixture (or wrong bulb) and you’ll look sickly. Put the right fixture in the wrong spot and you’ll discover you’re bathing in the shadows.

Lucky you if your bathroom faces north. Northern exposure light gives a soft, diffused light. Maximize natural light and save on your remodeling costs.

If you're changing the floor plan or adding the bathroom, consider installing new windows to add natural light.

Lighting fixtures range in price based on whether you go high-end or basic.

When you do a full bathroom renovation, you’ll likely revamp not only the lighting but the ventilation as well. A bathroom fan installation costs between $230-$550. Fans range from $15-$300.

Need More Help Figuring Out the Average Cost of a Bathroom Remodel?

We've covered most of the basics for any bathroom renovation. 

The average cost of a bathroom remodel does depend on the type of renovation you choose. The Cost vs. Value Report is the industry standard study which compares the costs of the most popular remodeling projects in different regions. Here are the averages for the Sacramento Region (according to the REMODELING Magazine's 2019 Cost vs. Value Report):

• Midrange - $24,513
• Upscale $75,168
• Universal Design $38,584

If you're planning a bathroom renovation and have questions, we have answers. We'd love to start with a free quote. Contact us today and we'll schedule an appointment.