How Much Does A Bathroom Renovation Cost?
Bathroom renovation costs can vary significantly depending on the plumbing fixtures/requirements, tile selections, storage considerations, etc. In this article, I want to give you a walk through of the costs of a standard 5’x8’ bathroom. Think hall bath where the door opens and there is a single sink vanity, toilet, and shower/bathtub combo lined up against the wall opposite the door. I’m choosing this bathroom for our example because it is a common layout and one of the less complicated renovations. It’s also one of the less costly bathroom renovation projects that we work on.
We’re located northwest of Chicago in McHenry County. If you’re familiar with the area about 30 years ago it was pretty much farmland and salt quarries. The development of Algonquin, Cary, Crystal Lake, Lake in the Hills and Lakewood, to name a few, was fast and furious in the late 1980s – late 1990s. Flash forward to 2019 and this building boom leads us to quite a lot of outdated bathrooms. Design trends usually run in about 10-year increments so by year 15 it’s usually a good time to start thinking about a remodel if you haven’t already done it. I always say you might as well do it so you can enjoy it knowing that down the road when it is time to sell, it will help differentiate your home in an area where the majority of the growth took place at the same time period as your own home.
The example I’m going to walk through is from my own home. It was built in 1996 smack dab in the middle of the McHenry county boom. My hall bath lived through our kids from first grade up to and through college. But now its reserved for my visiting millennials so I decided it was time for an adult bathroom update.
After scouring my photo archives, I discovered I have no before pic so if you can picture basic builder finishes like an oak cabinet and a white tub surround you have a pretty good image of it. My redesign started with tile selection. I fell in love with these rustic hexagons and all the warm/cool tones that they gave me to work with. We are starting to see the warmer colors coming back with updated cooler undertones, so this floor tile would buy me a lot of flexibility in creating my timeless look. Using them on the floor and keep the walls simple added interest and kept the bathroom from being too trendy. I chose a simple porcelain subway tile for the walls and ready-made barn door sliding glass shower doors by Kohler for a clean open look.
I wanted to keep the budget tight. After all, the bathroom really isn’t used that often and I always like to keep my house design/redesign bucket available for projects. We at New Perspective have done gorgeous bathrooms – with beautiful finishes and complex plumbing designs, but for my kids rarely used hall bath, I decided to keep it simple and budget friendly. I paid normal retail prices for all the materials and shopped locally. All the selections are available to the general public and I paid the going rate to give you a good realistic cost analysis. Here’s a peek at the after of the same bathroom
Material Selections from the Design Perspective
There are many options to select from when it comes to the materials and the best way to sort through tile, plumbing vanities etc. is to know going in what type of look you want. Keep the look relevant to the rest of your home. You would not want to plan a clean and contemporary look if the rest of your home is traditional. Start with a few inspiration pictures then back into the tile, cabinet, color and plumbing style. Believe it or not, plumbing most definitely has a style. Fixtures can range from strong clean lines to soft traditional handles. What you select for the style and finish can be carried through your accessories (towel bar or hooks, toilet paper holder etc.), cabinet hardware and lighting.
I did splurge a bit on plumbing with a comfort height toilet, faucet with 8” spread and 2 handles a deep tub and I added a hand shower.
A vanity in taupe finish, big round mirror, mirrored medicine cabinet, a dark light fixture with faceted glass and a whimsical set of wine opener hooks for towels completes the look.
How much did it really cost?
Material Cost for the bathroom pictured in this blog:
| New Tub - Right Side Drain | $ 712 |
| Drain | $ 164 |
| Shower Doors – Ready Made | $ 439 |
| Grab Bar | $ 80 |
| Shower Head, hand shower and trim/diverter | $ 1,003 |
| Tile for tub/shower walls and floor | $ 1,458 |
| Comfort Height Toilet | $ 396 |
| Vanity | $ 1,120 |
| Faucet | $ 396 |
| Mirror | $ 65 |
| Light Fixture | $ 336 |
| Magnifying wall mirror | $ 165 |
| Towel hooks | $ 40 |
| TP holder | $ 65 |
| Exhaust Fan | $ 300 |
| Mirrored recessed medicine cabinet | $ 50 |
| Pay nephew to pick up tile 😉 | $ 40 |
| Dumpster bag | $ 275 |
| Material Total | $ 7,104 |
| Electrician | $ 750 |
| Plumbing | $ 2,100 |
| Tile | $ 1,750 |
| Carpentry | $ 1,500 |
| Paint | $ 550 |
| Village Permit | $ 50 |
| Labor Total | $ 6,700 |
| Grand Total | $ 13,804 |
So, there you have it – a realistic budget for a standard bathroom makeover. There are always ways to adjust the budget but this gives you a good idea of what items need to be selected and what they can cost.
The only labor cost I did not include is Interior Design fee.
Email me for more information on our renovation services.
We can make the selection and layout process easier, help you control the budget, and take the worry out of putting together a beautiful composition.
Stay tuned for the next blog article. It will cover the tasks and timeline for a bathroom project.
Good luck on your project and if you get stuck don’t hesitate to call us!
Angie