What Is a Realistic Budget for a Shower Remodel?

Budgeting for a shower remodel is difficult when you don’t have a baseline to work with. Homeowners aren’t getting remodels often enough to find accurate information. Unless you’re already talking to professionals, it’s difficult to know what to budget before quotes start coming in.

A quality shower remodel ranges from $12,500 to $22,000 (or more). If you're planning to save for the project, that's the range you'll want to budget for.

Shugarman's Bath has completed over 6,000 shower remodels across San Diego and Orange County. We've had the budget conversation with homeowners before nearly every project.

In this article, you’ll understand how much to budget, what drives the cost of a shower remodel, how to spot a contractor cutting corners, and how to move your project forward without saving the full amount.

Table of Contents:

• What Should I Budget for a Shower Remodel?
• What Makes Up the Cost of a Shower Remodel?
• What Corners Do Budget Contractors Cut?
• Don’t View Your Shower Remodel as an Expense. It’s an Investment.
• Look for Financing Options When You Remodel Your Shower
• What Questions Should You Ask a Contractor Before Signing Anything?

What Should I Budget for a Shower Remodel?

Because clear pricing for a shower remodel is hard to find, most people come in expecting to pay around $5,000-8,000, which is on the lower end. A quality shower remodel costs between $12,500 and $22,000 (or more), which is the range you'll want to budget if you're saving up for the project. Much of the cost depends on your shower material and design choices.

On the other hand, saving close to $22,000 or more out of pocket is a large ask. Any reputable remodeling contractor should offer financing options, so you're not stuck saving for years before you can move forward.

What Makes Up the Cost of a Shower Remodel?

For the parts of the shower you can see, you’re paying for the walls, the pan for a walk-in shower, a tub if you want a bathtub remodel, the fixtures, and the doors. If you have a larger tub and shower space, you need more materials. Adding more decorative walls and upgraded features will increase the cost.

Solid-color walls, chrome fixtures, and a standard pan can put you in the lower-cost range. Decorative walls, upgraded fixtures, and a manufactured stone pan can drive costs higher.

You also need to consider whether you add accessories. Seating, grab bars, niches, shelving, soap dishes, and shaving bars are all add-ons that affect the final price.

The other cost driver is the work that happens before the walls are applied. A contractor who quotes below $8,000 is often cutting corners with this work. Proper plumbing, the drain, backer boards, and the valve aren't optional if the remodel is done correctly. This work keeps your shower from leaking, warping, or failing years down the road. Many contractors add a cost for moving plumbing or removing a soffit.

Read our article on why a 1-2 day shower remodel is expensive.

What Corners Do Budget Contractors Cut?

In the home improvement industry (especially with shower remodeling), you get the result you pay for. A contractor who leaves a noticeably lower bid is leaving something out.

Skipping the plumbing and drain work is one of the most common shortcuts. A cheap install might swap in a new showerhead and call it done without touching the existing pipes or drain. Down the line, you’ll likely deal with leaks or water damage behind the wall.

The backer board is another area where some contractors cut corners. They’ll use thin, paper-faced backer boards like greenboard, which is not an approved backer material used for tubs and showers. The updated code requires cement-based or non-paper-faced backer boards.

Sometimes, you’ll notice they cut corners on the surface. You might see gaps in the wall panels, silicone in the corners that looks rushed, doors hanging crooked, or walls flexing when you press on them.

Some contractors quote a low number to get a sale. When they’re in your home, they’ll issue change orders with added cost when they find something behind the wall. This is where many contractors get their money. By the time the job is complete, you've spent more than a higher bid would have cost you.

Don’t View Your Shower Remodel as an Expense. It’s an Investment.

An expense covers something you need right now, but it typically doesn't grow in value or pay you back down the road. An investment is money spent with the expectation that you'll get something back over time, whether that's increased home value, lower maintenance costs, a safer tub and shower area, or avoiding the same project in five years.

A quality remodel backed by a solid warranty falls into the investment category. If the showerhead clogs five years from now or something goes wrong with the installation, a good contractor will fix the issue. A cheap remodel done with shortcuts is an expense you'll pay for later.

There's also a quality-of-life side to this. A shower that's hard to get in and out of is a safety risk, especially as you get older. A shower remodel can be an investment in your safety. A fall in an unsafe shower can mean a hospital visit that costs far more than the remodel would have.

Look for Financing Options When You Remodel Your Shower

Before deciding to wait and save, here’s something you should know: according to the Cost vs. Value Report, shower remodel prices increase roughly 7.8% per year. If you plan to save for a year before moving forward, you're saving toward a higher number than you’re quoted today. If a contractor offers financing at 6.99%, paying it off over a year is the less expensive option.

Here are some options for you to consider to pay for your shower remodel:

• Paying cash.
• A credit card, if the option earns you rewards on purchases.
• A home equity line of credit (HELOC), if you have equity built up in your home.
• A personal loan, if you'd rather keep the financing separate from your home's equity.

A good contractor will offer you financing options so you aren’t paying for everything out of pocket. At Shugarman's Bath, there's a 2-year zero-interest option where you divide the total cost by 24 and pay that amount each month. There's also a longer-term option at 6.99% with no prepayment penalty, so you can pay it off ahead of schedule if your situation changes.

What Questions Should You Ask a Contractor Before Signing Anything?

Ask whether the price you’re looking at is the final price and if there could be additional charges later. Some contractors include wording in their contracts such as “we are not responsible for any hidden or unforeseen conditions we find.” Language like this gives a contractor room to add a change order that increases the project cost.

Ask how payments are structured. In California, “if a down payment will be charged, the down payment shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or 10 percent of the contract amount, whichever amount is less” (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7159). A contractor can ask for a progress payment.

If you’re asked for more than 50% of the total before the job is complete, that can be a sign of a contractor’s financial instability. The final balance should not be due until you've walked through the finished project yourself and decided the job is done to your satisfaction.

For more questions to ask a contractor and answers to look for, download our buyer’s guide.

What's the Best Next Step for Your Shower Remodel?

You probably had a number in your head that you weren’t sure was realistic. Finding accurate information for remodeling isn’t easy. Now, you have a budget range for a shower remodel, what drives the cost, what to watch for when comparing contractors, and other options to pay for your project.

Now that you understand what to budget for a shower remodel, read our article on why remodeling your shower now saves you money later to understand why waiting could cost you more.

Schedule a free consultation with Shugarman's Bath. We'll give you an exact project cost and walk you through your financing options.

The opinions expressed in the referenced materials are those of the authors only, not necessarily of Shugarman’s Bath. While these referenced materials are useful in answering generalized questions, each bathroom is unique. For a particular question about your tub or shower remodeling project, contact your Shugarman’s Bath consultant.