Bathroom remodel cost in Bucks County

The short answer

A full hallway bathroom remodel with S & B Construction and Remodeling starts around $19,500. A full primary bathroom is about $25,000. The numbers cover a gutted room rebuilt from the studs: new tile floor and shower, vanity, toilet, fixtures, lighting, paint, and trim. They move with materials. Porcelain tile at one price and marble at another can separate two bathrooms of the same size by thousands of dollars.

A shower-only or tub-only job costs less than either number, because the floor, the vanity, and the toilet stay. We quote those as tub-to-shower conversions, walk-in showers, and bathtub replacements.

What is in the number

Demolition to the studs and disposal. Plumbing at the rough-in stage where the fixtures already sit: a new valve and the drain hooked up; moving a drain or the toilet is priced on its own. Waterproofing behind the tile and under the shower pan, which is the part that decides whether the bathroom is still dry in ten years. Tile on the floor and in the shower. Then the vanity, sink, faucet, mirror, and lighting, the toilet, ventilation, paint, trim, and the door hardware. The permit and inspection when plumbing or electrical changes.

Why a primary bathroom costs more than a hallway bathroom

A primary bathroom usually has a larger shower, and shower cost tracks tile area and glass. It often has a double vanity, which means two sinks, two faucets, and a wider countertop. It is more likely to get the upgrades people want in the room they use every morning: a frameless glass door, a niche and a bench in the shower, heated floors, better lighting. Each of those is a line item, and together they are the gap between $19,500 and $25,000.

What moves the number

Keeping the toilet, the drain, and the vanity where they are keeps the plumbing work small. Moving them means opening the floor or the ceiling below.

A shower tiled to the ceiling on three walls uses more tile and more labor than a tub surround, and the tile itself ranges from a few dollars a square foot to far more.

A niche, a bench, a low or no-curb entry, and a frameless glass door each add cost. The Buckingham bathroom got a walk-in shower with a tile niche and storage built into the wall.

A single or double vanity, stock or custom, and the countertop material all move the vanity line.

Taking space from a closet or a hallway to make the bathroom bigger adds framing, drywall, and often electrical.

Heated floors, a window in the shower, and a separate tub next to the shower are upgrades and priced as upgrades. The Fountainville bathroom got a corner soaking tub set into a tile deck, a double vanity, and a separate walk-in shower.

Where these numbers come from

The two figures are S & B Construction and Remodeling's starting prices for full bathroom remodels, based on the bathrooms we have built in Bucks County. They are starting points, not quotes. Recent bathrooms include Doylestown, Buckingham, Warrington, Perkasie, New Hope, and Fountainville.

When a smaller job is the right call

If the vanity, the floor, and the toilet are fine and the tub is the problem, a tub-to-shower conversion or a new tile shower is a smaller job with a smaller number. If the shower is fine and the vanity is dated, a vanity swap with new lighting is smaller still. We quote the version of the job that fits the bathroom, and if a full bathroom remodel is not needed we will say so at the walkthrough.

Questions people ask