$6,000 to add shower - worth it?

[Anonymous]

I wanted to add a standing shower to the half bath in the basement. It's not really needed, it could be used maybe once a year for overnight guests and it would also give me the option of renting out the basement as an apartment in the future.
It is currently a half bath with a tile floor. The estimate was so high because of the labor involved in breaking up the tile. Does this sound like too much of an investment just to add a small shower stall?

[Anonymous]

Is the estimate from a general contractor? Or is it from a plumber?

Does it include all of the work (breaking up the tile, doing the drain and water stuff, the shower basin, retiling the floor, doing tile on the wall for the shower stall, all of the fixtures, et cetera, and any permits?

Or is it just for the plumbing?

If it is just for the plumbing, that's really high.

If it is for everything, it might be a bit high (it all depends on the location, where the drain is, water line, et cetera).

I would definitely get three estimates.

[Anonymous]

I'd do it, mostly because when we have guests they have no choice to use our bathroom upstairs, so that makes it hard to take huge craps in the morning and then say "Hi Marie, go ahead and take a shower."

[Anonymous]

How many other bathrooms do you have? If only one, I would definitely go for it.

Otherwise, if you have two baths upstairs and no bedroom in the basement (now or in the future), not sure I'd bother.

[Anonymous]

hm, get more estimates. tile is not THAT hard to break up.

[Anonymous]

You can demo tile yourself in half a day. Also look at cost of a fiberglass shower unit.

[Anonymous]

We did this one year ago. Our half bath was HUGE but not quite big enough for the shower install. So they redid the entire space, removed walls, moved the toilet and got a new vanity, added a full tub/tile and flooring. All of that was $5600.

If you have enough room to add the shower in the half bath as it is now, I'd get another estimate.

[Anonymous]

Op, we are thinking of doing it but elevating the shower for the drain by about 6 inches. Yes it would look tacky but people will rarely see it and it would work just fine.
I am also no fan of anyone breaking through my intact slab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, we are thinking of doing it but elevating the shower for the drain by about 6 inches. Yes it would look tacky but people will rarely see it and it would work just fine.
I am also no fan of anyone breaking through my intact slab.

I'm curious as to how much that would save

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, we are thinking of doing it but elevating the shower for the drain by about 6 inches. Yes it would look tacky but people will rarely see it and it would work just fine.
I am also no fan of anyone breaking through my intact slab.

I was hesitant too, but since the tender age of 16 its been smooth sailing.