How to price bathroom remodeling jobs

A bathroom remodel follows the same equation as any job: price = materials + labor + other job costs + overhead + profit.

What makes bathrooms different is density. In 40 square feet you have demolition, plumbing, electrical, drywall, waterproofing, tile and finish carpentry, several trades at different wages. And you can't see behind the walls and floor until the old tub is out.

This guide shows where your hours per unit come from, then prices a 5 × 8 hall bath gut remodel line by line. It covers the arithmetic, not your local prices: wages and material costs vary by metro and by week, so every dollar figure is yours to fill in.

For the general method, see how to price a construction job. For software built around bathrooms, see the bathroom remodeling industry page.

How bathroom remodeling work is measured

A bathroom is measured three ways.

• Surfaces, by the square foot: floor tile, wall tile, cement board, waterproofing, drywall and paint. Measure tiled walls separately from painted walls.
• Runs, by the linear foot: drain relocation, tile edge trim, caulk joints, baseboard and new framing.
• Points, by the piece: the tub, valve, toilet, vanity, faucet, fan, light, receptacles, switches and accessories.

Measure for demo and for new work

Measure the room as it is for demolition and as it will be for new work. A tub swapped for a tub is one job.

A tub swapped for a walk-in shower is another, with a new pan, a new drain location and more tile.

The formula for a bathroom remodeling price

1. Quantity × labor hours per unit = labor hours for each line.
2. Labor hours × that trade's full hourly labor cost = labor cost. Full cost is the wage plus labor burden: payroll taxes, workers' compensation and benefits.
3. Materials at what you will pay near the job now, with waste, plus allowances for fixtures and tile the client is choosing.
4. Other job costs: dumpster, permit and any sub prices.
5. Overhead for every labor hour.
6. Profit, as a markup on the total cost.

Build each trade's labor cost once with the labor rate calculator and reuse it.

Where your labor hours per unit come from

The hours per unit belong to your crew, so only your own jobs can supply them. Job costing is how you get them.

Record hours and quantity, then divide

On every bathroom, record the hours each line took and the quantity it covered, then divide. Use:

• Hours per 100 square feet for surfaces
• Hours per linear foot for runs
• Hours each for points

After a few bathrooms you have numbers you can price from.

Track the lines a swap doesn't have

The worked example below shows the common lines. Track these too. They come up once a bathroom is more than a like-for-like swap:

Count labor hours, not crew hours

Two people working a four-hour morning is 8 labor hours.

Watch the lines that add hours fast

The mortar bed pan stands out once you track it: hours of work for one item, before any tile goes on it. Turning a tub into a walk-in shower adds that line, a drain move and more wall tile all at once.

Drain relocation is priced by the foot, so a long move adds hours before the floor is closed up.

What you cannot see until demo

A bathroom estimate is written before the walls and floor are open. The question is not whether something will turn up, but who pays when it does. Put the answer in writing before demo.

Rot, old valves and drain moves

• Subfloor: slow leaks around the toilet flange and tub drain soften plywood for years before anyone notices.
• Supply lines and valves: old shutoffs that will not close, or old supply pipe that should be replaced back to a sound connection.
• Drains: a new tub or vanity whose drain does not line up with the old one, or a trap arm that is not to code.
• Framing: a wall that is out of plumb or a joist cut for an old drain.

Allowances for the likely, contingency for the unknown

Handle the likely items with an allowance: a stated amount of subfloor repair, say, included in the price, with a unit price for anything beyond it.

Handle the unknown with a contingency: a stated line, not padding hidden across every price. Add a written rule for how unused contingency is handled.

Either way, photograph what you find and price the extra as a signed change order before you fix it. The change order guide covers the paperwork.

Price each trade at its own rate

A bathroom hour is not one rate. Group the hours by trade and price each group at that trade's full hourly cost.

If you sub a trade out, replace its lines with the sub's price plus your markup. The markup pays for scheduling, inspections and the callbacks that come to you.

Taking off bathroom materials

Turn each quantity into what you buy, with waste added and rounded up to the purchase unit.

• Tile: around 10% extra is a common starting point for a straight lay. The tile calculator turns an area into boxes.
• Cement board and drywall: full sheets.
• Membrane, thinset and grout: from the coverage printed on the product.
• Fixtures and finish tile the client picks: allowances.

Worked example: a 5 × 8 hall bath gut remodel

Example: A client wants a 5 × 8 foot hall bath with an 8-foot ceiling taken to the studs and rebuilt. The client is choosing the tile and fixtures. The ceiling stays.

• A new 5-foot alcove tub across the end wall, with a tiled surround
• Porcelain floor tile
• A new vanity and top, toilet, shower valve and trim
• Exhaust fan, GFCI receptacle and vanity light
• Accessories and paint

Measure tile, drywall and paint

• Wall tile: 6 feet high above the tub, on the 5-foot back wall and two 2.5-foot end walls: 5 × 6 + 2 × 2.5 × 6 = 60 square feet. Cement board and waterproofing cover the same 60.
• Floor tile: 5 × 8 = 40, less the tub's 5 × 2.5 = 12.5, leaves 27.5. Call it 28 square feet, with cement board under it.
• Drywall: the walls outside the alcove run 26 − 10 = 16 feet × 8 feet = 128 square feet. Take off about 18 for the door and add about 8 above the tile: 118, rounded to 120.
• Paint: 120 square feet of walls plus 40 of ceiling: 160.

Labor hours by line

Say your crew's own records show the hours per unit below. They are example inputs to show the arithmetic, not a standard: use your own.

The check: 2 + 12 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 3.5 + 1.8 + 1.2 + 2.4 + 3 + 0.84 + 7.2 + 2.8 + 2.4 + 1.12 + 0.8 + 1.6 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1.5 + 0.75 + 0.5 + 0.75 + 0.5 + 1 + 3 + 4 + 1 = 69.66 labor hours.

Group the hours by trade

• Protection, demo, punch list and cleanup: 22.00
• Plumbing: 11.25
• Electrical: 7.25
• Cement board, waterproofing and tile: 17.36
• Drywall: 5.40
• Paint: 2.40
• Vanity and accessories: 4.00

Tile and demo are the biggest groups, but plumbing and electrical carry the highest wages. Price each group at its own rate.

Materials for the hall bath

With 10% waste on the tile, and the rest from the coverage printed on each product:

• Wall tile: 60 × 1.1 = 66 square feet, rounded up to full boxes. Thinset from the bag's coverage for your trowel notch, grout from the maker's chart, both rounded up to full bags.
• Floor tile: 28 × 1.1 = 30.8, so 31 square feet, with its own thinset and sanded grout.
• Cement board: a 3 × 5 sheet covers 15 square feet. The walls take 60 ÷ 15 = 4 sheets, plus 1 for cuts: 5. The floor takes 28 ÷ 15 = 1.87, so 2.
• Waterproofing: 60 square feet at the coats the maker requires, from the coverage on the pail, plus seam tape for the corners.
• Drywall: a 4 × 8 sheet is 32 square feet, so 120 ÷ 32 = 3.75, 4 sheets.
• Paint: say the can covers 350 square feet per gallon. Two coats are 320 ÷ 350 = 0.91, so 1 gallon of semi-gloss, and 1 gallon of primer.
• Rough-in kits and parts: valve rough-in kit, supply tubing, fan duct, cable and boxes from each line.

Price the materials you supply near the job and add them up. Call the total M.

Building the price

Markup is not margin

A 25% markup means the total cost × 1.25, a 20% margin; a 20% markup is only about a 16.7% margin. The markup vs margin guide explains the gap, and the job cost calculator adds the lines up.

Tie payments to the work

• A deposit at signing
• A payment after rough-in passes inspection
• Another after tile
• The balance after the punch list

The progress billing guide covers the structure.

Common bathroom pricing mistakes

• No plan for what demo uncovers. Without an allowance and a written rule, rot becomes a fight.
• One blended labor rate. Plumbing and electrical hours at a general rate leave money behind.
• Pricing the tub and forgetting the wall behind it. Cement board, membrane, edge trim and grout are separate lines.
• Allowances with no overage rule. Every upgrade turns into a negotiation.
• Leaving out protection and cleanup. Hall baths sit next to bedrooms and finished floors.
• Skipping lead-safe work. A house built before 1978 may need lead-safe practices when you disturb paint.

How to present a bathroom remodeling estimate

• Group the lines into demo, rough-in, walls and waterproofing, tile, and fixtures and finish.
• List each allowance with its amount and overage rule: tile per square foot, each fixture, subfloor repair.
• Show the contingency as its own line, and say how unused contingency is handled.
• List exclusions: structural repairs, work outside the room, anything you saw and are not pricing.
• State the deposit, progress payments, warranty and an expiry date.

The bathroom remodeling estimate template lays these out, and the bathroom remodeling invoice template bills each phase. When demo turns something up, the free change order generator writes it up.

Pricing bathrooms with BuildWell

BuildWell builds a bathroom estimate from a description of the job by voice, text or photos, such as "gut a 5 by 8 hall bath, new alcove tub with tile surround, porcelain floor, new vanity, toilet and fan." The AI decides what work the job needs and how much; it does not set prices.

BuildWell prices materials at stores near the job and labor at the metro's median wage for each trade. The plumbing, the wiring and the tile each get their own trade's wage, plus your overhead and markup.

You can change any quantity, hour or price, and add a custom line for a sub. The client signs on their phone.

A bathroom remodel pricing checklist

• Tiled walls, floor, drywall and paint in square feet
• Every fixture, valve, fan, light and receptacle counted
• Labor hours grouped by trade, each at its own rate
• Allowances for tile, fixtures and subfloor, with overage rules
• A stated contingency and how it is settled
• Materials with waste, at current prices near the job
• Dumpster, permit, overhead, then profit
• Payments tied to rough-in, tile and completion