We recently completed a major bathroom renovation and one of my most asked questions is, « But how much did it cost? » So today I thought I’d share exactly how much we spent and where every penny went.
I am sharing this information with the hope that it will help you calculate and plan for your own renovations. It can be weird to talk about money, but openness is so helpful in the planning phase, so here we are. Please, please!
We worked at such a frantic pace to complete the space in just six weeks that I didn’t keep track of costs as thoroughly as I normally would, but I think this estimate is pretty close to what we spent and just wanted to be off. with a few hundred if there were little things like caulk and nails that I forgot to account for.
Another difficult part about splitting the budget is that I received free product from two companies in exchange for creating content for them. I have included the cost of the products in this total, but that money didn’t come out of pocket for us since I worked for trade. I still feel it’s important to include to give you a realistic estimate of what things cost.
And now, without further adieu, here is the cost breakdown.
So there you have it. Do any of these expenses surprise you?
We were definitely shocked at how much money we spent on everything included with the tile…cement board, grout, mortar, sealer, etc. The total for all that stuff was over $500.
I included the cost of the tile saw we bought, but I’m hoping that we’ll be able to sell it one day and recoup some of that cost. We want to help my parents tile their kitchen backsplash and then we’ll decide if it’s worth keeping or not. However, I don’t regret buying the nice tile saw, I must say, because tiling was hard enough with a good saw. I can’t imagine having the added stress of a junk tool.
I didn’t include the cost of decorations, art, shower curtains, drawer organizers, etc. If it wasn’t nailed down or « installed » I figured it wasn’t included in the cost of the remodel since we would be taking these things with us if we moved. I don’t know… is that how you do things like this?
I regret not replacing the tub while we had the chance. The original tub is nice, but it’s amazing how « nice » looks terribly shabby next to « brand new ». My husband didn’t want to change tubs and I gave in, but I still think it’s a mistake. Yay! We made it through the most stressful weeks ever and we’re still married so that counts for something.
Normally I’m a pretty thrifty girl, so I’ll admit that when I added up the total costs, it was more than I would have guessed. But this bathroom is a NICE bathroom. Everything is high quality and really luxurious and we replaced pretty much everything. And I really wanted to push my interior design skills with this one since it was part of a competition, so I went for it.
Anywhoobs, there you have it. The complete budget overview for a complete DIY bathroom remodel. Can you imagine how much more it would have cost if we had outsourced the labor? Gosh!
Be sure to read the disclosure post if you have any source questions. I shared all the links there.
