If you are like me, you see before and after pictures of homes and are immediately curious about how much it cost to make that transformation.
I had always heard how expensive a bathroom remodel was and I was nervous to start getting quotes. We knew we were not in the stage of life to do a DIY and I knew contractors were going to be expensive. However, I wanted to see what we could do to make a big impact in our brown linoleum, outdated upstairs bathroom.
We opted to keep our original shower, mirror, and toilet and change the rest.
Here is what we ended up doing:
Flooring: This was hands down the first thing that had to go. We had this brown linoleum that was really dating the entire bathroom. We ended up using this mosaic tile and I love the way it turned out.
Vanity: We had a honey oak vanity with a leaky sink–so this was a must.
Light fixture: The ones before were rusting and dating the bathroom. Switching this out was an Immediate update.
Toilet Paper Roll Install: A very inexpensive change (only $10!) that made quite the difference!
Removing original towel bar, shower rod, and hooks: I am still deciding what hooks we want to do in here but even just removing the hooks that the previous owner had, makes it feel like we can breathe! PS: I know I am an adult when I get excited about shower rods but this one really is beautiful!
New shower-head: We needed one with better water flow!
Paint: Changing the paint color brightened up the entire upstairs!
Baseboard Molding: Needed to be replaced after the tile install.
And now for the cost…
Cost Breakdown- Supplies:
Vanity/Sink/Faucet: $594
Tile: $172
Light Fixture: $77
Shower-Head: On sale at the time– $13
Paint: (Don’t skimp on the paint! Buy high quality and the right sheen!) $46.95
TOTAL SUPPLIES: $942.95
Cost Breakdown- Labor
Bathroom Vanity Removal: $110
Bathroom Tile Install: $980
Molding Install and Vanity Install: $360
Paint Labor: $350
Toilet wax ring and reset: $90
Plumbing charge: $295
TOTAL LABOR: $2050
Things I Learned
We had these as two separate goals. We bought the supplies as part of our initial “move in our house” budget (furniture, updates, repairs etc.) and then budgeted $2000 as a separate goal for a bathroom remodel (which all went to labor).
All in all, I would say we did pretty good!
One of the big things I learned from this experience is to budget for some wiggle room. We ordered our vanity from Ikea because it had drawers instead of cupboards and ultimately used the under sink storage space so much better. (Why aren’t all vanities made this way?) However, it had a different plumbing attachment than most sinks and required a special plumbing visit (Additional $300 charge we weren’t planning on).
I also wasn’t planning to paint originally but after we took out the shower rod (screwed into the wall), hooks, old vanity and towel rod, I realized it would look very splotchy if we only painted over the places where the drywall had been patched. (Added another $400 charge we weren’t planning on)
If you wanted to cut costs, you could do some of this yourself because labor was definitely the priciest part! Just a note that the supplies would be a bit more expensive if you did it yourself (ie: tile saw, grout, tools, caulk etc.)