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Contractor Business·19 min read

How to Price a Bathroom Remodel in 2026: A Contractor's Real-Numbers Guide

Bathrooms look small on paper and bleed margin in practice. The footprint is tight, the trades stack on top of each other, the waterproofing is unforgiving, and the surprises hide under every fixture. Here's how to price bathrooms in 2026 — by tier, by trade, with actual dollar ranges and the contingency math you need to not lose money on a 50-square-foot job.

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Mitch Reise

May 1, 2026

bathroom-remodelpricingremodelingcontractor-businessprofit-marginresidentialtileplumbing
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Bathrooms are the small project that quietly destroys margin. They look manageable on paper — 40 to 80 square feet of finished space, a handful of fixtures, two or three weeks of work. Then the toilet flange comes up with the rotten subfloor, the tile substrate behind the tub is warped, the cast iron drain stack has a hairline crack you discover the day before tile, and the frameless glass is on a six-week lead time you didn't price into your schedule.

Pricing a bathroom well is mostly about not being wrong on the things that move 5–15% of a small bid. On a $25,000 bathroom, a 10% miss is $2,500. On a $65,000 bathroom, it's $6,500. There aren't 100 levers — there are about ten that matter. Get those right and you'll bid bathrooms at 35%+ gross margin and finish on time. Get them wrong and you'll work nights to deliver a job that broke even on a project you bid as profitable.

This guide walks the actual numbers I'd use to bid a residential bathroom in 2026, by remodel tier, by trade, with the contingency math and the line items that get missed.

The Three Bathroom Tiers (and How to Tell Them Apart)

Pricing a bathroom starts with locking the tier. Mixing tiers is the single fastest way scope creeps and bids drift below water.

Tier 1 — Cosmetic refresh. Existing layout. Existing tub or shower stays. Existing tile floor stays or gets a vinyl-plank overlay. New vanity, new mirror, new lighting, new toilet, new fixtures (faucet, showerhead, valve trim). Paint. Maybe a new exhaust fan. No plumbing rough-in change, no tile work beyond grout repair. Typical run: $4,500–$12,000 in a mid-cost-of-living US market for a 40–60 sq ft hall bath.

Tier 2 — Pull-and-replace. Existing footprint preserved. Tub or shower replaced in the same location. New tile floor, new tile shower surround (or a high-end fiberglass/acrylic surround), new vanity, new toilet, new lighting, new exhaust. May include minor plumbing (relocating shower valve, swapping tub-to-shower with the drain in the same general area), minor electrical (added vanity outlets, GFCI compliance, recessed lights). Typical run: $15,000–$35,000 for a hall bath, $22,000–$48,000 for a master.

Tier 3 — Full gut, layout change, or addition. Walls move. Plumbing rough-in is rebuilt — drain location changes, vent stack may be relocated, supply lines re-run. Custom tile shower with niche(s), bench, curbless entry, or steam features. Frameless glass enclosure. Possibly heated floors. Possibly conversion of tub to walk-in shower (or shower to soaker tub). May include window relocation, expansion into adjacent closet space, or addition of a powder room. Typical run: $35,000–$85,000+ depending on size, finishes, and whether structural framing changes are involved.

If you can't tell a client which tier you're bidding from a 10-minute walk-through, you don't have a scope yet — and any number you give them now will not be the number on the final invoice.

Cost Breakdown by Trade and Category

The numbers below are 2026 ranges for a typical 40–60 sq ft hall bath in a mid-cost-of-living US market. Master baths run 1.4–1.8x these numbers depending on size. Adjust your local market by your standard regional multiplier.

Demo and Disposal

Underestimated on almost every bathroom bid I see.

  • Cosmetic demo (vanity, toilet, fixtures, sometimes flooring): $600–$1,400 plus a 10-yard dumpster at $350–$550.
  • Pull-and-replace demo (full tile out, tub or fiberglass surround out, vanity out, fixtures out, possibly drywall to studs in wet areas): $1,800–$3,500 plus a 10–15 yard dumpster at $450–$750.
  • Full gut demo to studs including cast iron tub or mortar-bed tile shower: $2,800–$5,500 plus a 15–20 yard dumpster at $550–$900.

Cast iron tub removal is the single most-underbid demo line in bathroom work. A cast iron tub weighs 250–400 lbs and almost never comes out of a remodeled bathroom intact — it usually has to be cut in place with a sawzall (carbide-grit blade, eye protection, ear protection, and patience). Plan a half day of crew time and a 25% spike in disposal weight. If the tub is on a second floor and has to come down a stairway, add another half day and budget for drywall/trim damage on the path.

Tile demo on a mortar bed (typical pre-1985 bathrooms) is similarly miserable. The tile sits on 1–2 inches of mortar over wire lath over either solid wood subfloor or cement board. You're chipping it out with a demo hammer, the dust is severe, the disposal weight is brutal, and the substrate underneath is often surprises-on-surprises (rotten plywood, asbestos mastic in homes pre-1980, joist damage).

Always include a contingency line for subfloor rot: $400–$2,500 depending on extent. Two-thirds of pull-and-replace and gut bathrooms have at least some subfloor repair under the toilet flange or around the tub apron.

Plumbing

Cosmetic refresh: $400–$1,000 (toilet, faucet, valve trim swap; no rough-in changes).

Pull-and-replace: $2,200–$5,500 (rough-in adjustments for new tub or shower, new shower valve install, new toilet, new vanity supplies and drain, possible vent fix).

Full gut with layout change: $5,800–$14,000+ (new rough-in for relocated fixtures, possible main drain work, vent stack relocation, possible whole-house water shutoff replacement, fixture install, water-test, inspection prep).

Watch for these on older homes:

  • Galvanized supply pipe in homes pre-1970. When you cut into it for a fixture move, you usually have to re-pipe a meaningful section because old galvanized cracks rather than threads cleanly. Re-piping a hall bath supply in PEX or copper: $600–$1,800 added.
  • Cast iron drain stack in homes pre-1980. The stack often has hairline cracks around the toilet flange or the tub drain that aren't visible until you cut into it. Repair is usually a 2–4 ft section replacement: $400–$1,400.
  • No vent or improper venting. Old bathrooms (especially additions and DIY work) often have no proper vent or use an AAV where code now requires a stack. Adding proper venting: $800–$2,500 depending on routing.
  • Shower valve compatibility. New trim sets often don't fit old rough-in valves. If you didn't catch this on the pre-bid walk, you're either replacing the rough-in valve (open the wall, $400–$900) or sourcing a discontinued trim ($150–$400 plus 1–3 weeks).

Add a defined plumbing surprise contingency line of $500–$1,500 on any pre-1985 bathroom.

Tile (Floor, Walls, Shower)

The single largest labor line on most bathroom remodels.

Material costs (2026):

  • Standard ceramic or porcelain (12x12, 12x24, basic finishes): $3–$8/sq ft.
  • Large-format porcelain (24x48, 36x36, low-variation): $7–$16/sq ft.
  • Natural stone (marble, travertine, slate, limestone): $9–$24/sq ft.
  • Mosaic (sheets, accent strips): $14–$45/sq ft.
  • Premium designer porcelain (Italian, slab-look, custom finishes): $18–$40/sq ft.

Labor costs (installed, including thinset, grout, cleanup — not material):

  • Standard tile (12x12 to 12x24, straight-set, floor or walls): $14–$22/sq ft.
  • Large-format (24x48+, requires lippage system, leveling clips, premium thinset): $22–$38/sq ft.
  • Pattern work (herringbone, picture frame, miters at corners): add 30–60% to base labor.
  • Mosaic: $35–$65/sq ft labor due to the sheet-by-sheet alignment.
  • Natural stone: add 15–30% to comparable porcelain labor due to material fragility and sealing.

For a typical hall bath:

  • Floor: 30–45 sq ft
  • Shower walls (full surround): 70–110 sq ft
  • Shower floor: 12–18 sq ft (or pre-formed pan)
  • Optional: tub deck, niche surround, bench, curb

So total tiled area on a Tier 2 bath is typically 120–180 sq ft. At $18/sq ft labor for a standard porcelain spec, that's $2,160–$3,240 in labor alone. At $30/sq ft labor for a large-format spec with a niche and a curbless entry, it's $3,600–$5,400+.

Niches deserve their own line item. A niche is a small framed pocket in the shower wall for shampoo storage. Each niche adds $350–$900 in labor depending on size, tile pattern, and whether it has a stone shelf insert. Quote them as a labor allowance and include the spec (single, double, with shelf, with backlight strip, etc).

Waterproofing

The most-skipped line on contractor bids and the most expensive callback when it fails. You waterproof the shower pan, the curb, the niche, the wall-to-floor joint, and the wall-to-curb joint. Every shower failure I've ever investigated as a callback starts with a shortcut here.

  • Schluter Kerdi system (membrane on cement board or framing, full-bath kit): $700–$1,400 in materials, $400–$900 in labor for a typical hall bath shower.
  • Wedi or similar foam-board system: $900–$1,800 in materials, $300–$700 in labor.
  • Hot mop pan with traditional cement board walls: $400–$700 for the mop, $200 in additional labor coordination.
  • Curbless entry waterproofing: add $400–$900 for the slope-to-drain mortar pre-pan and the membrane detail at the threshold.

Always include waterproofing as a separate, named labor line. Don't hide it inside "tile installation" — the client and the inspector will treat them as different scopes, and your tile sub may not include it.

Plumbing Fixtures and Trim

Bid as an allowance unless the client has already selected and paid for them. Typical 2026 allowance ranges:

  • Builder-grade: toilet $200–$400, vanity faucet $80–$180, shower trim $120–$280, valve $80–$160, showerhead $40–$120. Total: ~$520–$1,140.
  • Mid-tier (Kohler, Moen, Delta premium lines): $1,200–$2,800 for the full set.
  • Premium (Hansgrohe, Brizo, Toto Neorest, Grohe spa): $3,500–$9,000+ for the full set.
  • Frameless glass enclosure: $1,800–$4,800 standard size; $4,500–$9,500 for custom or steam-rated.

Frameless glass deserves attention on the schedule. Lead time runs 3–6 weeks from final measure. The measure can't happen until tile is fully installed and grouted. So your install window pushes 4+ weeks past tile-set day. If the client is mid-Airbnb-lockout or moving in by a fixed date, this lead time is the constraint.

Vanity and Counter

  • Stock RTA vanity (24"–36"), basic finishes: $250–$700 plus $100–$200 install.
  • Semi-custom vanity (real wood, soft-close, decent finish): $700–$2,200 plus $150–$300 install.
  • Custom vanity (built-in, painted, designer hardware): $1,800–$6,000+.
  • Vanity counter (laminate): $80–$200. Quartz: $400–$1,400. Marble or premium quartz: $900–$2,800.
  • Undermount sink with cutout: $80–$180 in labor, $200–$600 in material.

Electrical

Bathrooms are GFCI/AFCI everything per current NEC. Older homes often need a panel evaluation before a remodel.

  • Cosmetic: $200–$700 (vanity light swap, GFCI receptacle replacement).
  • Pull-and-replace: $1,400–$3,200 (new vanity light circuit, recessed shower light, additional GFCI outlets to code, exhaust fan circuit, possibly heated floor circuit).
  • Full gut: $3,500–$8,500+ (full rewire, lighting redesign, possible panel work, heated floor wiring, steam shower wiring if applicable).

If you're adding a heated floor mat, there's an electrical coordination cost most contractors miss: the mat goes in before tile, but the thermostat circuit has to be rough-roughed before drywall. That's two visits from your electrician, not one. Add $300–$500 for the coordination.

Drywall, Paint, Insulation

Cosmetic: $400–$900 for paint and minor patching.

Pull-and-replace: $1,200–$2,500 including new drywall in wet zones (cement board or DensShield where tiled, regular drywall elsewhere), tape, finish, primer, paint, baseboards.

Full gut: $2,800–$5,500 including all new drywall on relocated walls, all wet-zone substrate, full paint, all trim, possible insulation upgrade in exterior walls.

Insulation deserves a quick mention: bathrooms on exterior walls often have under-insulated cavities that are the perfect environment for mold. If you're opening the walls, batt-insulate properly with vapor barrier per your climate zone. Adds $200–$500.

Exhaust Fan and Ventilation

Often overlooked. New bathrooms require ducted ventilation (not just a fan into the attic — that's how you get attic mold). Code in many jurisdictions now requires fans rated for the bathroom volume on a humidity sensor or timer.

  • Standard ducted exhaust install: $250–$550 for the unit, $200–$450 for install and ducting to soffit or roof.
  • Premium quiet fan with humidity sensor and Bluetooth: $400–$900 plus install.

Heated Floor (If Spec'd)

Increasingly common on master baths and a real upsell.

  • Mat material for a 30–40 sq ft floor: $400–$900.
  • Thermostat: $150–$300.
  • Install labor coordination (under-tile, electrical rough-in, thermostat wiring, integration with tile install schedule): $300–$600.

Heated floors are mostly profit when priced right because the client perceives them as luxury but the cost-add is moderate. Mark them up 35–50% above your standard line markup.

Labor Markup Math

Direct labor cost is what you pay your crew (or sub) for hours worked on this bathroom. Labor markup is what you bill the client beyond that direct cost to cover overhead, supervision, project management, warranty reserve, and profit.

A common framework:

  • Direct labor cost (crew wage + payroll burden): your raw cost.
  • Burden multiplier for taxes, workers comp, benefits, and PTO: typically 1.30–1.50x the wage. Bath work skews higher burden because tile installers and plumbers have higher workers comp class codes than carpenters.
  • Overhead and profit (O&P) markup on top: 40–60% for a residential remodel GC running real numbers on bathrooms (higher than kitchens because the per-sq-ft supervision load is higher).

So a $38/hr crew member with a 1.40x burden costs you $53.20/hr fully loaded. With 50% O&P markup, you bill that hour at $79.80.

For a bathroom, total labor hours typically run:

  • Cosmetic: 30–60 crew hours.
  • Pull-and-replace: 110–180 crew hours.
  • Full gut: 220–420+ crew hours.

Sub trades don't bill by your hour — they bill their flat or T&M rates. Mark up sub work at 15–25% depending on coordination load. Tile and plumbing on bathrooms run on the high end of that range because the schedule choreography is unforgiving — one trade running late slides the entire job by a week. (See Subcontractor Markup and Pricing.)

Contingency: What's Actually Eating Bathroom Jobs

Reserve contingency separately from your profit margin. Not at the end as "and then I'll have some buffer" — as a defined line item the client sees.

The hidden costs that bleed bathrooms, in rough order of frequency:

  1. Subfloor rot under toilet flange or around tub apron: $400–$2,500 to repair properly.
  2. Old cast iron drain stack cracks or root intrusion: $500–$1,800.
  3. Galvanized supply pipe crumbling on first cut: $600–$1,800 to re-pipe section.
  4. Vent stack issues failing inspection: $800–$2,500.
  5. Shower valve rough-in incompatibility with new trim: $400–$900 valve replacement plus drywall repair.
  6. Tile substrate failure (waterlogged green board behind old tile): $500–$1,500 to remediate.
  7. Cabinet panel damage in transit or install: $200–$1,200.
  8. Counter template error or remeasure: $400–$1,500 in fabricator change orders.
  9. Frameless glass remeasure or remake: $800–$2,800 plus 3–5 week schedule slip.
  10. Inspector flagging GFCI/AFCI compliance beyond the bathroom (code-creep into adjacent rooms): $500–$1,800.

Stack two or three of these on a single job and your 9% net margin goes to zero. Bid 12–25% contingency depending on tier and the home's age.

A Real-Numbers Example: Mid-Range Pull-and-Replace Hall Bath

50 sq ft hall bathroom, mid-cost-of-living market, 1995 home, semi-custom vanity, large-format porcelain tile floor and shower walls, mid-tier fixtures, frameless glass enclosure. Tub-to-shower conversion (drain stays in same location). Existing electrical service adequate.

| Line item | Cost | Markup | Bill | |---|---|---|---| | Demo + disposal | $2,400 | 25% | $3,000 | | Plumbing (rough-in adjust + install) | $3,800 | 22% | $4,636 | | Electrical (vanity, recessed, GFCI, fan) | $1,600 | 22% | $1,952 | | Drywall + cement board + paint | $1,700 | 30% | $2,210 | | Tile material (130 sq ft large-format porcelain) | $1,560 | 18% | $1,841 | | Tile labor (130 sq ft @ $26 installed) | $3,380 | 20% | $4,056 | | Waterproofing (Schluter Kerdi system) | $1,650 | 25% | $2,063 | | Niche labor (1 large + 1 small) | $850 | 25% | $1,063 | | Vanity (allowance, semi-custom 36") | $1,400 | 20% | $1,680 | | Vanity counter (quartz, 30 sf) | $900 | 22% | $1,098 | | Plumbing fixtures (allowance, mid-tier) | $2,200 | 18% | $2,596 | | Frameless glass enclosure | $2,800 | 18% | $3,304 | | Exhaust fan (humidity sensor) + ducting | $700 | 25% | $875 | | Toilet (allowance) | $350 | 22% | $427 | | Mirror, lighting, accessories | $650 | 25% | $813 | | Direct GC labor (PM + supervision) | $3,200 | 50% | $4,800 | | Permits + inspection | $480 | 0% | $480 | | Subtotal | $29,620 | — | $36,894 | | Contingency (14%) | — | — | $5,165 | | Total bid | — | — | $42,059 |

Direct cost: $29,620. Bid: $42,059. Gross margin: $12,439 (29.6%). After overhead allocation at 12% of revenue ($5,047), net margin is $7,392 (17.6%).

Most contractors I see bid this bathroom at $32K–$36K and net under 6%. The difference isn't skill — it's the markup discipline on every line item, the explicit waterproofing and niche labor lines, and the contingency carried as its own visible line.

Common Mistakes

Bidding without a written tile spec. Tile is the line that moves the most. The client picks 12x24 large-format on selection day after you bid 12x12 standard, and you're $1,500 under cost on labor alone. Tile selection happens after contract on most jobs — write a tile allowance in the contract that names size class (small, standard, large-format), material class (ceramic, porcelain, natural stone, mosaic), and per-sq-ft pricing tiers above and below the allowance.

Not pricing waterproofing as a separate line. Hide it in tile labor and the client never sees it; your tile sub may not include it; the inspector flags the lack of it; the callback two years later because of a leak is on your name. Always quote waterproofing as a named line with a system (Kerdi, Wedi, hot mop) and a material spec.

Underbidding the demo on cast iron and mortar-bed homes. You quoted $1,200 for demo on a 1962 hall bath. The demo took three days and the disposal bill was $850. You're $1,500 under before tile day starts. Walk every pre-1985 bathroom thoroughly, look for cast iron tubs, and add 30–50% to your standard demo number on those.

Lumping the frameless glass into the tile schedule. Glass measure happens after tile is grouted, lead time is 3–6 weeks, install is the last visible step. If your schedule shows the bathroom done on day 18 and the glass arrives on day 30, the client is locked out for 12 days they didn't expect. Quote glass on a separate schedule line and tell the client the day-30 install date upfront.

Skipping the vent or sticking with the old undersized fan. Code in most jurisdictions now requires sized exhaust ventilation with humidity or timer control. Skipping it is a code violation, an inspection fail, a callback when the homeowner's mirror fogs every shower, and a real mold-liability exposure on remodels you're warrantying for a year.

Pricing fixtures at retail instead of as an allowance. Clients change minds on fixtures three times. If your bid includes specific Kohler Forte trim, every change is a renegotiation. Allowance with a defined tier range avoids this.

Treating contingency as profit. Contingency is not yours unless the project finishes without using it. If you treat the 14% contingency line as part of your margin, you'll burn it on the first subfloor rot discovery and finish at zero.

Not pulling permits. Saves the client $300–$700 in permit fees, costs you your insurance coverage if anything goes wrong, costs the client their resale appraisal disclosures, and on a tile shower failure two years later, costs you the warranty defense in court. Always permit bathroom work that touches plumbing rough-in, gas, or electrical beyond a fixture swap.

What This All Adds Up To

Pricing a bathroom well in 2026 is a discipline problem more than a knowledge problem. The numbers above aren't secrets — they're roughly what experienced remodelers carry in their heads. The contractors who profit on bathrooms are the ones who:

  1. Pick a tier and price it cleanly (no scope drift in either direction).
  2. Quote allowances on every cabinet, tile, fixture, and counter line — with written specs and tier ranges.
  3. Mark up labor and subs explicitly, not by feel — and run higher O&P on bathrooms than on whole-home work because the supervision load is heavier per sq ft.
  4. Quote waterproofing, niches, and frameless glass as their own named lines with their own labor and lead-time numbers.
  5. Carry contingency as a visible line item, not as buffer hidden in profit. 12–25% depending on tier and home age.
  6. Track actuals against bid post-job and adjust the next bid.

If you do those six things, bathrooms stop being the small project that destroys your year. They become reliable 30%+ gross-margin work — and on master baths with custom showers, your highest-margin line of work, period.

For more on the mechanics that go into a bathroom bid, the related guides on this site cover the labor math, the markup discipline, and the cash-flow side of running these projects:

How ProJobCalc Pro Handles This

The pricing discipline above — tiered scope, written allowances, named waterproofing labor, sub-trade markup math, contingency as its own line, post-job actuals — is exactly what ProJobCalc Pro builds into every bid.

The tool comes with bathroom templates that ship with the line items most contractors skip on bathroom bids: separate waterproofing labor, niche labor allowances, frameless glass with its own lead-time-aware schedule slot, fixture allowances by tier, demo lines that scale by home age, and a contingency reserve that's explicitly separated from your profit margin so you can't accidentally bid the cushion as upside.

After the job closes, the actuals comparison flags every line where your bid and your real cost diverged by more than 10%. On bathrooms, the most common drifts are tile labor (under-bid pattern complexity), demo (under-bid cast iron and mortar-bed homes), and plumbing (under-bid pre-1985 supply). One quarter of running bathrooms with the comparison turned on tightens the next bid by $1,500–$3,500 average, which on a 20-bath-per-year shop is $30,000–$70,000 of margin recovered without raising a single price to a client.

If you're remodeling bathrooms for a living and you've finished a job wondering where the margin went on a 50-square-foot project, the tool is built for you. Start a free trial — no card required, full access to the bathroom templates and the actuals comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average cost of a bathroom remodel in 2026?+
National averages mislead more than they help, but for context: a cosmetic refresh runs $4,500–$12,000, a mid-range pull-and-replace hall bath runs $15,000–$35,000, and a full gut master bath with a custom tile shower, frameless glass, and any layout change runs $35,000–$85,000+ in most US markets. High cost-of-living markets (coastal CA, NYC metro, Boston) run 25–45% above these. Rural and secondary markets run 15–20% below. The sq-ft range that matters more is your local tile labor rate and your local plumbing rough-in rate — those two trades drive 50–60% of bathroom cost variance.
What's a healthy gross margin on a bathroom remodel?+
Targeted gross margin (revenue minus direct cost of labor and materials, before overhead) for a residential GC running bathrooms should be 33–42%. Bathrooms run higher gross margin than kitchens because the per-job complexity is lower but the trade choreography earns its markup. Below 28%, you have nothing to absorb overhead and you're working for free. Most contractors who track gross at 35% net 8–12% on bathrooms after overhead allocation. Watch the gut bathrooms — they often net less than the cosmetic refreshes despite the larger ticket, because the surprise rate is much higher.
How much should I add for contingency on a bathroom?+
Minimum 10% on cosmetic work, 12–15% on pull-and-replace, and 18–25% on gut bathrooms. Bathrooms hide more rot than any other room in a typical house: water sits where you can't see it, the subfloor under the toilet and around the shower pan rots quietly, and old galvanized supply or cast iron drain almost always has a failure waiting. Contingency is not the same as profit margin; it's a reserve for actual unknowns. If you bid contingency as profit, the first subfloor surprise wipes you out before tile day.
Should I bid bathrooms fixed-price, cost-plus, or T&M?+
Fixed-price for cosmetic and most pull-and-replace bathrooms where the scope is bounded and the surprise risk is moderate. Cost-plus or guaranteed-max-price (GMP) for gut bathrooms with layout changes, tub-to-shower conversions, or any project where you can't see what's behind the walls until demo. T&M alone almost never works residentially because clients can't sleep without a number. If you must use T&M because of unknowns, cap it with a not-to-exceed clause and define what would trigger going above it.
How do I price tile labor without burying margin in the small bathroom?+
Bathrooms are the project where tile labor pricing makes or breaks the job. Price tile by square foot installed, not by the day — a typical hall bath has 100–180 sq ft of tile across floor, walls, and shower, but it takes the same 4–6 days regardless of pattern complexity. If you bid by the day at your standard rate and the spec turns into 12x24 large-format on a heated mat with niche detail, you'll lose 2–3 days you didn't price. Use $14–$22/sq ft for standard tile, $22–$38/sq ft for large-format or pattern, $40–$65/sq ft for mosaic, niche detail, or high-end natural stone. Quote the niche separately as a labor allowance ($350–$900 each).
What's the most common mistake contractors make on bathroom pricing?+
Underbidding the demo and waterproofing. Demo on bathrooms is harder than it looks — you're tearing out tile mortar bed, an old cast iron tub, possibly cement board on the walls, plus disposal weight that surprises every dumpster bill. Waterproofing the new shower properly (Schluter Kerdi, Wedi, or hot mop pan) takes a full day of finicky labor that contractors who came up doing pull-and-replace tile-on-greenboard routinely skip in their bid. Add a defined waterproofing labor line ($800–$1,800 depending on system) and a defined demo line that includes weight-based disposal ($1,200–$2,800).
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Mitchell Reise

Founder of Reise Tools · Contractor finance nerd. Building tools that help freelancers and 1099 contractors understand their money.

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