Bathroom and Shower Cost & Pricing Guide

Our aim is to help you understand realistic pricing for a quality bath remodel, so you can budget appropriately.

TURN-KEY APPROACH

Our “turn-key,” one-stop-shop approach saves you time, stress, and hassle. When you work with Simplicity to remodel your bathroom or shower, you will NOT have to:

• Hire a designer or architect

• Make selections by yourself

• Buy your own materials

• Pick up or haul any materials

• Be your own contractor and coordinate amongst various trades and third parties

…unless you choose to. Most clients prefer us to handle all aspects of their project, and so do we.

This does not mean you have to remodel your entire bathroom; we build many partial bathrooms and shower remodels all over southeast Texas

Your project needs to be fully developed and “build-ready” to get a firm, fixed price for your bathroom. Our team will guide you through this process.

• To develop your personal budget, the first step is to consider your scope of work and overall objective. For example, a simple refresh to increase utility and renew your pride in ownership is often less expensive than a total remodel with a laundry list of high-end items. This is because the number of “must-haves” is often smaller and more reasonable with an upate / refresh project. You need to determine your level of “must haves” before you begin!

• If you’re on a budget but still expect a good job with a smooth build, you have to be flexible. We can’t fit ten pounds of quality bath remodel into a five pound bag. There are only two things we can “tweak” to reduce your total investment, without impacting build quality: scope and selections. In most cases, reducing scope is the better choice.

• For simple, pull-and-replace projects that don’t need design, we’ll go straight into selections. Many of our clients find it helpful to start selections with allowances provided by us. This seems to keep most projects from going too far astray. We’ll set allowances based on your desired finish level (i.e. basic, mid-range, luxury, etc.), and do budget “check-ins” as you go. You’ll get a final, fixed price when selections are complete.

To find out what we can pack into your budget, reach out to us to get started.

There are seven components to the overall cost of a bathroom remodel:

1. Size. Bigger bathrooms cost more to remodel, even if the space is largely taken up by flooring, sheetrock, and trim.
   

   • Scope. The number of distinct trades involved in your project directly correlates with price. If your remodel requires flooring, lighting, sheetrock repair, painting, mirrors, and cabinets, this is a larger and more involved scope of work versus a project where you’re only wanting a new tub surround and countertop.
     

   • Wet Areas. The most expensive single component of a bathroom is the wet area, which is simply a tub or shower. A bathroom with both a tub and a shower will cost more than a bathroom with just a shower. Powder bath remodels are usually less expensive, as these bathrooms lack a wet area.
     

   • Materials. What goes into your space matters. Higher-end materials tend to cost significantly more than their average counterparts. There are many ways to blow your budget with expensive items that add joy to your bath.
     

   • Complexity. Increased complexity = higher skilled labor and management costs. Pencil tiles, accent stripes, angled walls, LED-backlights, plumbing and electrical movement, and heated floors are examples of items which add significant time and cost to bath remodels.
     

   • Location. Without a doubt, it costs more to remodel a bathroom on a third floor (or higher) than it does a first-floor bath. How workers access your space will affect your cost.
     

   • Existing Conditions. If your bathroom is 50 years old and built with mud-set tile, more time and effort (and therefore cost) are required to remove your old tile and prepare for your new build. Similarly, if you have a rotten subfloor, faulty plumbing, mold, or other problem conditions which must be addressed, this will increase your cost.

As a general rule, your biggest expenses are labor and project management, by a mile. Regardless of the materials you choose, getting those materials into your bathroom and properly installed is the most difficult portion of your project.

We recommend faucets, fixtures, and materials that are Made in the USA, wherever possible. In almost every case, these will have a more robust build quality than imported alternatives.

Phillips renovations Basic Guest Bath Remodel in Southeast Tx -$20k's

If you’re limited by budget, you’ll likely have a better outcome with less-expensive materials installed by top-notch tradespeople, as opposed to high-end materials installed by sub-par trades. Less-expensive, lower-skilled laborers tend to cut corners and ignore manufacturer guidelines, which are the leading causes of product failures.

According to Zonda Media’s 2023 Cost Vs. Value Report, previewed below (full version available at costvsvalue.com), a tiny bath remodel with very basic finishes averages almost $24,000 in the Southeast Tx area:

Here is the description set that was used to gather pricing data for this $24,000 project:

“Update existing 5×7-foot bathroom. Replace all fixtures to include 30×60-inch porcelain-on-steel tub with 4×4-inch ceramic tile surround; new single-lever temperature and pressure-balanced shower control; standard white toilet; solid-surface vanity counter with integral sink; recessed medicine cabinet with light; ceramic tile floor; vinyl wallpaper.” ©2023 Zonda Media

By all acounts, the 5′ x 7′ bath remodel described here is a very small guest/hall/kids’ bath with very basic finishes. Far and away, the vast majority of our clients expect better finishes than this, unless they are planning to sell their home within the next two years.

Net takeaway: you can easily exceed this figure when working with a professional bathroom remodeler for a total overhaul of any bathroom. We’ve built very few complete guest bath remodels below $7,000, but we’ve done some partial guest remodels in the $10k-15k range.

As we move into the $20k’s, more entry-level possibilities open up. Basic master bath makeovers in the mid-to-high $20k’s are possible, as with the bathroom pictured to the right; however, these projects are not built with custom tile and high-end finishes. In this price range, we are designing with solid surface, LVT flooring, pre-fab countertops, and stock painted

According to the same Cost Vs. Value Report referenced above, an upscale master bath remodel in Southeastv Texas averages around $35,000.

With this in mind, we suggest that homeowners wanting a complete master bath overhaul, for a 15′ x 15′ or larger bathroom with both a tub and a shower, as well as a 2-sink vanity or separate vanities, budget at least $30,000 for a turn-key project with stock products.

The more tile you want, the higher your cost will be, as proper tile work is difficult and expensive. Of course, for most homeowners, tile is also the most beautiful product for your bathroom, but solid surface is one viable alternative that can help lower costs.

For fully-custom, upscale master bathroom projects, the sky is the limit – some of these projects end up well over $100,000, with no hard ceiling.

Even high-end guest baths truly have no ceiling, as in the project pictured here to the left. This is a 6′ x 11′ guest bath in a penthouse condo we remodeled back in 2022. The project features porcelain slab walls, floor, and ceiling, along with a custom teak screen, high-end faucets and a custom vanity.

Although this project had a relatively small footprint, the space was difficult to access, and the bathroom was designed with high-end materials. We also had to perform detailed, intricate work on walls, ceilings, and floors. Each of these factors played a major role in the overall expense required to bring this bathroom to life.