If you've got a positive experience with the first company, I'd have no hesitation with them...

Posted on September 21, 2026 at 08:29:18 AM by jfitz

For a reference cost, we paid about $16k for a full bathroom remodel a couple years ago (also after a leak). It's not a large bathroom, but it included a nicely tiled shower and floor, and we replaced all cabinets and counters...and I wouldn't say what we did was "plain" (nor was it luxury...somewhere in the middle I guess). If your situation involves installing new plumbing/drains instead of just replacing fixtures, I could see it being more expensive even if you are going with basic/plain decor choices.

I'll also note that our pricing involved purchasing all the materials ourselves, except for the behind the scenes stuff. So we found and bought our own cabinets/tile/counters/fixtures/etc, and basically paid a company to do the labor of demolition and install...they had nothing to do with the design choices, so there was no middle-man markup with that. But it did mean a little more work for us.

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Thread:

Got two wildly different estimates for putting in a bathroom - By Damaniac September 21, 2026 at 07:43:24 AM
- As much as you can, is it an apples to apples comparison? Same size, same equipment, some configurtation?* - By kccambo September 21, 2026 at 01:19:55 PM
- Generally good thoughts below...additionally... - By ajs September 21, 2026 at 10:06:39 AM
- If you've got a positive experience with the first company, I'd have no hesitation with them... - By jfitz September 21, 2026 at 08:29:18 AM
- We had this when we finished our basement. We had two estimates that were in the same ballpark. The third quoted us 3x higher than the others. - By Bluebuck September 21, 2026 at 08:19:22 AM
  - This isn’t uncommon at all. Some places don’t want a job or have the capacity for it. So they’ll wildly overbid. People actually will take them up on it sometimes, so it’s then worth it.* - By toffee September 21, 2026 at 08:28:55 AM
- Some places really don't want to do smaller jobs, so they will give large estimates, and if you are willing to go with them, they will take the money.* - By gvsublue September 21, 2026 at 08:18:34 AM
  - ^^^this*** - By Craig September 21, 2026 at 08:39:33 AM
- Just had a similar situation with roof quotes. Quotes: Company 1 = $48k, Company 2 = $21k, Company 3 = $22k* - By RampantWolverine September 21, 2026 at 08:16:11 AM
- You can putt in my bathroom for free. Just don't take too long about it.* - By jjwalker September 21, 2026 at 08:12:07 AM
- Not uncommon in residential construction / renovation now. One was probably a “make me hire new guys / cancel current work” price. They’re busy as hell.* - By weebay September 21, 2026 at 07:44:58 AM
  - How are companies busy with the current state of the economy? How are people paying for these renos?* - By Rich September 21, 2026 at 08:39:01 AM
  - That's a good point. Second place (high offer) is booked til February.* - By Damaniac September 21, 2026 at 07:45:46 AM
    - Then why not quote closer to $20K but say “but we can’t start until February”?* - By LKLIII September 21, 2026 at 08:01:13 AM
      - No idea what materials, labor, fuel, etc will cost in February, so they have to make sure they're covered.* - By SmilingChewbacca September 21, 2026 at 08:23:08 AM
        
        Plus whatever other jobs they may have lined up* - By harbaughdyssey September 21, 2026 at 08:30:19 AM

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If you've got a positive experience with the first company, I'd have no hesitation with them...