I have started and stopped a complete bathroom remodling project (teard down and start over) twice in the last two
years. My main concern is price. The first time I was quoted $35K and the second time I was recently quoted $37k. My master bath is only 11 x 13. I paid $255K for my condo. These quotes both seems very high. I would describe the fixtures included in this price as medium priced. I don't mind paying for good work and quality products. But I don't want to pay too much in total, and also don't want to "overbuild" the bathroom in relation to the overall cost/value of the condo. I would appreciate any thoughts as to the reasonableness of the two quotes I have received and/or how much would be reasonable in relation to the cost of condo (located in Buckhead if that makes a difference).
Believe it or not, those price quotes don't seem all that outrageous to me if you are doing a total remodel with nice quality materials. Have you had the chance to look up the prices of the different components and totaled the cost? That will at least give you an idea of what the contractors are charging you for labor. Also, is there any aspects of it that you can do yourself to help further reduce that labor cost (such as the demo work)?
Great inputs so far. James mentioned a valuable resource...and that is the Cost vs Value Report published annually by Hanley-Wood in their Remodeling Magazine. Here is the link to the 2010-2011 version which will give you a great concept as to what things cost. http://www.remodeling.hw.net/2010/costvsval... ...»
Make sure you download it to get the project descriptions...or click on each project on the chart in the website and the description will pop up.
Unfortunately, there is not a "master bathroom" project, but you can interpolate figures of a couple of the close ones and come up with a rough idea. Use the values in this chart as a point of reference only because every project is different in some way.
I don't make it a habit of commenting on remodeling costs in regions other than my own. However, I do make exceptions so just a few comments.
Belle alluded to a great thought.... do not "over-improve" your condo if you are concerned about getting your investment back...only you can decide what that is....but to steal a line I just heard, don't put $5,000 rims and tires on a car worth $500.
As opposed to working in single family homes, working in condos is generally more complicated (that means more expensive in contractor-speak) from a logistics standpoint to dealing with where to cut tile with a wetsaw, to debris removal, to keeping the noise down for the neighbors, lots of stairs, the list goes on..... So, it will cost you more than your buddy living in a single-family house.
$35k for a master bathroom remodel does not come close to knocking me off my barstool. Like Dan mentioned, get a breakdown of what those items you get to select are costing you. The difference in the cost of those installation items can easily run into the thousands.
Hopefully what I have said thus far is helpful...but here is the most important thing, regardless of everything else.
If you like the guys....and you trust them.....and you have verified that your trust in them is justified, then it is hard to put a price tag on that.
I guarantee sure as I'm sitting here you can find someone down there in the Atlanta area that will offer to do it for less....but you have to decide how much your piece of mind, confidence and stress level is worth to you.... Tim
One point I didn't make previously is once the size of the bathroom gets to a certain point, for example, large enough to have a double vanity, private water closet, separate tub and separate shower, additional square footage is basically just more floor space. One way to look at it is just more slices of bread in the middle making the loaf longer, but not changing the shape or making it ...»