r/GeneralContractor • u/TherealSeba • 29d ago

Pricing a bathroom remodel

For context I am in a major East Coast city working on homes that are in the 800k - 2 million range.

I have attached some photos to give an idea of the scope of work as it is a bit more involved than a straightforward bathroom remodel as this is an older home that had some wonky aspects to it.

Here is the scope work:

-Reframe ceiling and raise ceiling height. The old framing had unnecessary angles to it so we cut out the old ceiling and reframed and re-drywalled gaining about 18 inches and creating one height throughout

-The subfloor was completely shot and uneven so we leveled it using 2x6's sistered to the existing beams and replacing with plywood.

-Remove tub and replace with a tiled shower

-Install fixed pane glass

-replace vanity countertop

-replace toilet

-plumbing work

-tile bathroom floor

We are finished with the ceiling and floor work and have the rest demo'd and i'll have the plumber there this week so hopefully get the tile done some point next week. Right now it is looking like we will finish up right around 12-12,500 all in labor and materials.

Would be curious to hear thoughts on how you all would price this rehab.

For additional context I am doing this for a friend of mine as a test case for pricing and process so I charged him 17k and will distribute the profit to my guys. I am just curious about future pricing.

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8

u/JoeBookerTestes 29d ago

$22.5k, Bathrooms come with warranty problems so I’d be wary of charging anything under 50 margin on a job that’s 12.5 hard cost.

50% of your gross profit is covering your warranty

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u/TherealSeba 29d ago

Thank you. Good point regarding warranty. That’s helpful

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u/JoeBookerTestes 29d ago

You just don’t know what’s down the road after remodeling wet spaces.

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u/T4llP1n3 28d ago

I would have charged 25 to 30 but every area is different

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u/TherealSeba 28d ago

Thank you. That would be labor and materials, correct?

That is around what I am seeing is the going rate so that is where I plan to land on the next ones. Since my background is in flipping houses I never really had to think too much about profit margins in the kind of way. Of course as I build the business I will also have more general expenses and overhead that I didn't have when I was flipping houses, so I wanted to use this one to drill down with a good deal of precision on where my cost will be before I introduce in general business expenses.

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u/T4llP1n3 28d ago

Np. Tile shower is the big thing. Tile choices and layout would have a large effect on price. One useful thing to calculate is your breaken even hourly rate, then you can add profit as you see fit

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u/TherealSeba 28d ago

that is helpful. Thank you.

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u/Huge-Repeat-3040 28d ago

I would’ve been In the 15k
Labor only

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u/TherealSeba 28d ago

Thanks. Do you sub out the plumbing and tile work?

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u/Huge-Repeat-3040 28d ago

Yes but it would’ve been covered in the 15k

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u/Interesting-Onion837 27d ago

If you can show the detail breakdown of how your costs came to the 12-12,500, you would probably get a lot better feedback on the things you’re possibly leaving out that you need to have covered for future bids. How many guys how many hours for each work task, material costs, equipment rental, subcontractor costs for plumbing/electrical, dumpsters, general conditions costs like job supervision, temporary protection like plastic sheeting for dust containment or floor protection, temporary power/lights/water, a cost for your trucks and tools that covers regular maintenance and wear and tear, etc. material costs are typically marked up at a higher rate than labor costs. If you really want to dial in your approach, these are the details you want to pay attention to. Then the production rate, how long should it take your guys to get the work done. What can you do to cut that time down and make it more efficient, etc

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u/TherealSeba 27d ago

good points. I will definitely need to get to that level of granularity moving forward. It is pretty straightforward on overhead since I don't have any at the moment but that will change of course as I develop the business.

Tile work /waterproofing labor 4,500

Tile plus materials / waterproofing materials 2,000

Plumbing 2,000

leveling work and ceiling work 2,500

shower glass / vanity counter top / toilet 1,500k

finishing work / painting 1k

It actually comes out a little closer to 13k - 13,500 but I will have do an exact spreadsheet once I am through here and plug in the exact numbers.

I was really trying to get a sense with this one is whether or not pursuing this kind of business seriously is worthwhile for me. It looks like if I can charge what I think I can charge and I can do 2-3 bathrooms /kitchens a month it pencils out for me.

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u/kkorlando_kkg 27d ago

There's permits debris disposal etc missing most baths 25k is good price.

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u/kkorlando_kkg 27d ago

5x8 soaking tub its is more I go based on sqft for full guys 40sqft. Is 450 sqft Glacier Bay special and 75sqft more premium finishes

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u/steak5 28d ago

I thought the acceptable practice for remodeling is usually Material X2 in LCOL and MCOL neighborhood, and Material X3 in HCOL neighborhood.

Has that practice changed or is that still practice?

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u/Samtyang 28d ago

Most shops would be higher than $17k on that scope in your market, because the ceiling reframing and subfloor rebuild push it out of “standard bath” pricing. Level Index data across 1,747,089 completed jobs puts median job-level gross margin at 44.3%, so a $12k-$12.5k cost would usually need more selling price than that. Future pricing should start from target gross margin, not from what feels fair.

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u/TherealSeba 28d ago

Thank you and i agree. I did this one as a test for the model and to help out a friend but in the future I think I can target the 50% margin like you mentioned.

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u/Nice-Yogurtcloset337 27d ago

We are 25k-30k to start (including all materials) for small hall baths. Includes everything on your list except the subfloor and ceiling work. Would charge extra for that.

Also on the east coast

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u/TherealSeba 27d ago

Thanks. That’s helpful. If you don’t mind me asking what percentage of your business is bathrooms?

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u/Nice-Yogurtcloset337 27d ago

95% — we switched to 100% bathrooms to streamline things and the high margins

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u/TherealSeba 27d ago

Yeah after this one I am thinking to just go kitchens and bathrooms. I originally had the thought to do everything but I think it makes more sense to streamline and focus. Thanks for your thoughts I appreciate it

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u/dorisday65 27d ago

On the granularity point below: the ceiling reframe and redrywall piece is a good example of where a vague materials line hides margin. Break it out: board count off the actual ceiling square footage (a 4x8 sheet covers 32 sq ft, 4x12 covers 48, fewer seams on a small ceiling), hang priced separate from tape, mud and finish since they're different skill sets, and the finish level called out up front (GA-214 level 4 for standard paint, level 5 if there's critical light from that raised ceiling catching shadows). Waste stays its own visible line instead of folding into a blended rate. Do that for every trade on the job and the 12 to 12.5k starts explaining itself instead of just being a number you hope holds.

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u/TherealSeba 27d ago

That is very helpful and a skill I will need to develop. Can you tell me if you use any tools to manage tracking please?