A complete framework for pricing bathroom renovations: from site survey and materials through to margin and how you present the quote. A practical cheat sheet that saves hours on every job.
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A solid bathroom quote is half the battle. Price it too low and you're working for free, or topping it up out of your own pocket. Price it too high and the client vanishes to get three quotes from the competition. Below is the framework used by fit-out contractors who do more than 20 bathrooms a year.
Why most bathroom quotes come in too low
The usual culprits:
- Pricing off the top of your head instead of from a template: two or three items will slip past you.
- No buffer for surprises (old pipework, out-of-square walls, hidden damage).
- Indirect costs ignored: travel time, fuel, skip hire and waste removal.
- Labour underestimated: the client always changes something, and by then your price is locked in.
All four can be designed out with one repeatable process. Here's how.
Step 1: Site survey and inventory
Go and look. Measure:
- Room dimensions: length, width, height. Work out the floor and wall area.
- Tiling area: floor and walls separately (subtract the door and window openings).
- State of the services: do the pipes, cables and back boxes need replacing? Take photos.
- Sanitaryware to replace: bath or shower, basin, WC, bidet.
Note everything in one place.
Step 2: Material costs
This is where most contractors lose money. Split materials into categories:
Tiles, grout, adhesive
- Tiles with 10% spare for cuts and breakages.
- Adhesive matched to the tile format: a C2TE S1-class adhesive for large-format tiles.
- Coloured grout: flag the higher cost to the client up front.
- Trim profiles, spacers, silicone.
Plumbing and fittings
- Taps, shower heads, linear drains.
- Sanitaryware (bath, basin, WC, close-coupled pan).
- Concealed frames, toilet seats, traps.
- Isolation valves, one per outlet.
Electrics
- IP44 sockets, switches, ceiling lights plus LED strips under the mirror.
- Cable, back boxes, MCBs if you're upgrading the consumer unit.
Step 3: Labour
Break the labour down into stages and price each one separately:
| Stage | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Strip-out | m² or item | depends on scope |
| First-fix plumbing | per point | flat rate per point |
| Electrics | per point | flat rate per point |
| Plaster and skim | m² | charged by area |
| Floor tiling | m² | format affects the rate |
| Wall tiling | m² | higher rate than floor |
| Second-fix sanitaryware | per item | price per item |
| Siliconing, grouting | m² or linear metre | itemise it |
Don't quote the client a day rate. Quote the outcome (m², point, item). It's much easier to build in time for surprises without an argument.
Step 4: Margin and indirect costs
Add to the running total:
- Travel and time on the road: measured, not guessed.
- Waste removal: skip plus delivery, with the disposal paperwork.
- Tools and consumables (tape, bin bags, dust sheets): around 3–5% of the materials total.
- Company margin: depends on your market and how you position yourself. Below 15% on a bathroom isn't worth it.
Step 5: Presenting the quote to the client
The quote is your shopfront. The client compares three offers and picks the one that's:
- Readable: broken down by line item, not one bucket marked "bathroom renovation €7,000".
- Professionally laid out: PDF with your logo, contact details and a validity date.
- With a schedule: the client needs to know when you start and when you finish.
- With payment terms: deposit, stage payments, final sign-off.
A quoting template in Bulido
In Bulido you build the quote room by room and line by line. The service catalogue you build for one bathroom carries over to every job after that. Instead of two hours in a spreadsheet, you send the quote from your phone on the way back from the survey.
Set up a free account and try it out. Your first quote is ready in 10 minutes.