Is this bathroom reno estimate reasonable?

[Anonymous]

We are planning to add a shower to the half-bath in our townhome. This will entail bumping out one interior wall about 8 inches of so.

In addition to the shower we are planning new vanity, tiling and toilet, lighting fixtures and exhaust fan. No high-end fixtures will be required; this will be a bathroom in our basement that will double as a guest room.

We received an estimate of $17,700 for everything. Does this seem high or is it in the range of what's expected? We will probably get another estimate for comparison, but I'm curious what others with experience think.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I would say about 8k too high

[Anonymous]

Normal for this area.

[Anonymous]

That's the estimate we received. I live 3 miles from the D.C. line in MD.

[Anonymous]

You can do (much) better. We recently got 3 estimates for a pull and replace for a full bath (5x7, pull all plumbing and electrical, add a vent, tiling only in the bath area, not high end fixtures). Estimates were:7,500, 8k and 16,500.

Your price might come out higher than ours because of the bump out, building up the shower and how much tile work you will have done. But, a large component of our estimate is demo as our house has the very thick, chicken wire wall.

My uneducated guess would say a you should be closer to 8-9k depending on fixtures and tile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can do (much) better. We recently got 3 estimates for a pull and replace for a full bath (5x7, pull all plumbing and electrical, add a vent, tiling only in the bath area, not high end fixtures). Estimates were:7,500, 8k and 16,500.

Your price might come out higher than ours because of the bump out, building up the shower and how much tile work you will have done. But, a large component of our estimate is demo as our house has the very thick, chicken wire wall.

My uneducated guess would say a you should be closer to 8-9k depending on fixtures and tile.

Just want to point out since a pp did, we are in arlington.

[Anonymous]

I was going to guess between $12-$14k for what you described since you are bumping out. So that estimate seems high to me. We had a shower gutted last summer and made larger to use some dead space behind it and it ran us $5k including materials (tile, etc.).

I almost always get 3 bids unless I am positive what something should cost and an early bid comes in right at line with what I was expecting and the company's reviews are good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can do (much) better. We recently got 3 estimates for a pull and replace for a full bath (5x7, pull all plumbing and electrical, add a vent, tiling only in the bath area, not high end fixtures). Estimates were:7,500, 8k and 16,500.

Your price might come out higher than ours because of the bump out, building up the shower and how much tile work you will have done. But, a large component of our estimate is demo as our house has the very thick, chicken wire wall.

My uneducated guess would say a you should be closer to 8-9k depending on fixtures and tile.

Just want to point out since a pp did, we are in arlington.

Ahhh you're fucked especailly If there are permits so the price may be justified. You can thank arlington bureaucracy. oh and most of the renos that need inspections are done illegally so this penalizes the person playing by the rules.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Thanks for the input. Sounds like I should get another couple of estimates. FWIW, this contractor got very good ratings on Angie's List.

[Anonymous]

We did that, for $5k. Our contractor was AWFUL, though, and complained the whole time that we were ripping him off (he gave us the estimate??) and we had to practically beg him to finish. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

I'd say about accurate. You're bumping a wall and ADDING a fixture that needs a big drain - something others haven't caught onto here. Plus, it's the basement, so that's harder to drain than an upper level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd say about accurate. You're bumping a wall and ADDING a fixture that needs a big drain - something others haven't caught onto here. Plus, it's the basement, so that's harder to drain than an upper level.

Good point! I'm the arlington posted and forgot about the need to dig through the foundation to set the drain. This will add a lot.

[Anonymous]

I think that price is reasonable for this area, but of course you should get at least 3 estimates...

[Anonymous]

We got three quotes to add a full bath in the basement (next to the laundry room) and the HIGHEST was $20k - including the cost to jackhammer up 10 feet of the concrete floor to get to the drain pipe. Most quotes were 12-15.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks for the input. Sounds like I should get another couple of estimates. FWIW, this contractor got very good ratings on Angie's List.

Which means nothing, given how those ratings are manipulated. IN fact, you should always be suspicious of the highest rated ones.