ᐅ $13,000 to replace an old shower and bathtub?

Hello everyone,

maybe someone can give me some advice. It’s about a rather small bathroom where the bathtub and shower need to be replaced, along with the related tiling work.
I received a quote from a company for just under €13,000, with almost €9,000 being labor costs.
That can’t be normal—complete bathrooms can be built for that price. The problem is that work has already started because we had water damage, but no one could have expected such a price. Or is this normal?
Looking forward to your experiences.

Thanks and sunny regards

bunnee82 schrieb:

Or is that normal?

If it’s as you describe, then no. At 100€ hourly wage, that’s 90 hours of work. So, for two people, a whole week of work.
What exactly is being done?

Tearing out an old bathroom, disposing of the debris, preparing the subfloor, creating a new waterproofing layer, and so on is naturally more expensive than installing a new bathroom on a shell construction. In cases of water damage, drying work and other renovation tasks (removing mold, replacing damaged plaster) might also be necessary. And these are primarily labor costs.

But yes, if the project is really that small, it can be relatively expensive. However, it also depends on the specific work involved and the materials used.

Thanks for your feedback. To clarify, so far costs of about 600€ have been incurred for removing the shower tray and drying the area. Now we have received a cost estimate for the remaining work: reinstalling the shower, removing the bathtub and installing a new one, including renewing the tiles that need to be removed during these works. Nothing more. I will attach the offer here so that it might be easier to understand.

Everything is listed here, but I can’t make sense of it.

Yes, I would assume that the plumbing and tiling work includes the items I mentioned.

If the screed has already been removed, a new one needs to be installed first. It has to be sealed, and in the case of a shower, the walls in the shower area must be fully waterproofed as well. Then a bonding layer must be applied (sometimes this is included in the waterproofing, depending on the case). There are drying times between each step, which should not be underestimated.

These are not cheap jobs, and I would recommend asking for a detailed breakdown of the work to avoid surprises, such as silicone joints not being included or extra charges for tile materials, etc.

Tolentino schrieb:

Then a bonding layer is required (sometimes included in the waterproofing, depending on the case). There are drying times in between.

This should be covered in the ..08 items. I did this myself in my own bathroom: it was neither costly nor time-consuming.
However, I also see the cost driver in the ..09 items: how many corners does the bathroom have? And what kind of tiles are used? I also find it strange when tile work is listed twice for a bathroom where only two sanitary fixtures are being replaced.

bunnee82 schrieb:

quite a small bathroom

For a quite small bathroom, I assume 5-6sqm (54-65 sq ft). That can definitely make things more difficult because of limited space to move around. But ultimately, I think this is a somewhat larger, standard-sized bathroom?!
However, it doesn’t make sense to split or double-count the tile work.