Bathroom Remodel Estimate Template: A Complete Worked Example

1. Start with the site visit

Write down what stays, what comes out, and what moves. A bathroom with the same fixture locations is a different job from one with relocated drains and a larger shower. Measure the floor, tiled walls, ceiling, and access route separately. Take photos of the conditions behind your assumptions.

This fictional example was prepared October 15, 2026: an 8 × 9 ft bathroom with a 3 × 4 ft shower base, 60 sq ft of measured floor tile and 100 sq ft of shower wall tile. Fixture locations stay. It includes a stock 36-inch vanity with integrated top, toilet, faucet and shower valve/trim. Retain the existing mirror, light, towel bars and shower curtain/rod. No structural repair is assumed. These are teaching inputs, not current local prices.

• Confirm who supplies the vanity, fixtures, tile, and accessories.
• Record the shower assembly, tile layout, edge details, and finish selections.
• Identify protection, disposal access, permit responsibility, and inspection time.
• List concealed damage as an unknown with an agreed review process.

2. Turn measurements into quantities and hours

Measure installed area first, then add purchasing waste where it applies. At an illustrative 10% waste allowance, 100 square feet of wall tile becomes 110 square feet to buy. At $5 per square foot, that tile costs $550 before tax and delivery. Round purchases to the supplier’s box size. The floor tile purchase is 66 square feet at $5 = $330. The worksheet also prices $200 of setting materials and 36 labor hours at $45 = $1,620, bringing the tile phase to $2,700. The 10% waste factor is an assumption, not a universal ordering rule.

Price labor from the hours each phase needs and your loaded labor cost. For example, 36 tile-installation hours at an illustrative $45 cost per hour is $1,620. This is an employer cost, not the rate you charge the client. If a subcontractor quote includes labor and materials, do not add those same costs again.

3. Build the direct-cost estimate

The table rolls the 15 editable cost lines in the worksheet below into phases. Labor is a loaded employer cost; trade quotes include only their listed scope. The $1,500 plumbing quote includes setting the vanity and connecting the listed fixtures, whose supply costs appear separately. The $850 electrical quote includes fan supply and replacement on the verified existing duct route. Purchase taxes and tile freight are omitted pending verification; add them before issuing a real quote.

4. Add risk, overhead, and profit deliberately

In this example, add a $535 internal risk allowance ($300 for extra preparation labor and $235 for incidental access/disposal costs) to the $10,700 subtotal. The cost base becomes $11,235. An illustrative 30% markup adds $3,370.50, producing a $14,605.50 selling price before applicable tax. That markup must cover your planned overhead allocation and profit; it is not all money you take home.

A 30% markup is about a 23.1% gross margin on this cost base. It is not a 30% margin. Choose the percentage from your actual costs and business goals. If you price overhead as a separate cost, avoid recovering it twice without intending to.

Keep an internal risk allowance separate from a client selection allowance. One covers uncertainty in your cost estimate; the other states what is included for an unselected product. Explain any client-facing contingency and how unused amounts are treated in your agreement.

5. State allowances, exclusions and schedule assumptions

The sample includes supply allowances of $550 for wall tile, $330 for floor tile, $1,500 for the vanity/top and $700 for fixtures. These are direct-cost budgets already included in the subtotal. Installation is separately priced; vanity and fixture delivery is included, tile freight and taxes are not. Compare selections on the same basis and agree both overages and credits before ordering.

The contractor supplies the listed items and coordinates permits and inspections. The $300 fee line is a placeholder, not a jurisdiction-specific permit quote. Verify the applicable code, local amendments, assembly instructions and actual fees before issue.

• Excluded: concealed-damage and structural repairs, hazardous-material work, layout or service relocation, panel or duct upgrades, custom glass, niches, benches and specialty tile patterns.
• If a concealed condition appears, document it and agree the affected extra scope, price and schedule before that work proceeds.
• Illustrative duration: 15 working days after selections, deliveries, permits and trade availability are confirmed. Verify drying, testing and inspection time for the actual system.
• Enter your own issue date, selection deadlines, valid-until date and payment milestones. No new monthly edition is needed to reuse this worksheet.

6. Review the proposal before it leaves the truck

Read the estimate against the scope, not just the total. Check quantities, current supplier prices, trade inclusions, selections, exclusions, and who owns each responsibility. Verify tax treatment separately rather than applying one rule to every project.

Add a valid-until date, realistic duration, payment milestones, and a clear process for changes. The free worksheet below runs in your browser. Use the linked proposal and scope pack to turn verified quantities and costs into a customer draft; the paid GreenlitBid workspace is still in development.