The middle bid sounds about right for a full gut and remodel, particularly if you're looking at adding the plumbing for a steam shower and a heated floor. Don't know what part of the country you live in, but generally, construction labor is expensive. The materials are probably the least of your costs.

You have three specialty items: Steam Shower + heated floors + acoustic insulation. Two of those items alone push you above the average $30K for a full bathroom reno.

Yes. The North American AVERAGE price for a full bathroom renovation (full gut) = $30K. This average includes the $16K powder room redo right up to the $150K master bath to the GODS!

As soon as you add in 3 (three) specialty items, you move OUT of the $30K average and into the "above average" range. Which is smack dab in the $50K range. With the acoustic insulation I would feel the higher of the 3 is more likely.

It all depends on the finishings. Costly tile + costly bath + costly floor heating system + costly vanity + costly....= costly. Your idea that this could be done for $20K or so was a little off - the average being $30K. If you had stuck with Home Depot level products and professionals (the guys who may or may not know how to do all of this) then $20K is *possible but not likely.

And the $50K is assuming there is nothing NASTY hiding behind those walls.

A couple of additional details - we are in coastal New England, the building is about 90 years old.

The contractor who gave us the middle quote wants $5,640 for the tile work on the 8x12 floor and 40x48 shower, where the tile would cover 2 walls, one 40" wide, the other 48" wide, both 8" high. That includes waterproofing the steam shower. And that quote is for laying standard 6x6 tile, with any variants and patterns costing extra.

In total, the materials and fixtures in his estimate are projected at $17k, while labor is projected at $27k.

Does this seem reasonable?

The company has been is business for 50 years, and does a fair amount of high end jobs in our town, ranging from renovations to building from ground up..

Here is the link to the Houzz Remodeling Forum.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/remodel

Sorry, but for what you want, your contractors are not charging nearly enough. They are out of their depth if they think they can do a luxury master bath for that. There are just too many difficult things on your want list.

A steam shower requires specialty construction and vapor proofing. That is a step above water proofing, which 85% of contractors don't know how to do right either. A regularly tiled shower, properly waterproofed, is 7-10K. Add steam, with the dedicated electrical line, and that vapor proofing, and double that.

A heated floor also requires a new dedicated circuit be run, straight from the electrical panel. Old houses sometimes don't have enough of a panel, and that has to be upgrades. 5-7K.

A freestanding soaker bath requires extensive precision plumbing relocation, as it all comes straight out of the floor in a precise location for the tub position. Just the tub, filler, and plumbing is in the 10k-15K range if you don't go with the 5 minute durability of Cheepchinesecrapola.

And then there is demo, proper floor prep, that ventilation fan, the rest of the fixtures, , the unrealistic expectation of ''soundproofing insulation'', and the services of a licensed and insured expert to coordinate all of the different trades needed in the proper sequence.

All of the quotes are too low. Significantly too low. Although the 55K guy isn't as ridiculously off as the other 2.

$55k sounds low to me. My neighbor spent that on much less than what you're wanting done & that was about 5 years ago.

Even the top price of $55K sounds like a steal for what you want. 90 year old house probably requires lead paint removal too. More money if done correctly.

Find a friend or neighbor who has had work done in the last few years and who had a trusted contractor. Talk to that person's contractor about either bidding the work or giving you advice on the bids you have. Depending on where in "coastal NE" you are -- are we talking Maine or Massachusetts? Island or mainland? -- labor is at a premium there (I'm a suburban Bostonian) so you should expect to pay much higher than the national average anyway.

Well, at least now, after reading your replies, I don't think these estimates were crazy high. The lowest bid contractor is out, we didn't get a good vibe from him, on a personal level. The middle bid is from a very reputable company, with a 50 year track history, and the highest bid is from a well-known statewide kitchen-bathroom design-build firm. We are not changing plumbing layout in a major way, just some minor moving of the drains [famous last words, I know].

The 2017 Cost vs Value Report (google it) will provide average costs at a regional level. One must read the project descriptions very carefully. Everyone believes they have a mid-range project and generally they have a high end project based on the descriptions in the study.

Blackwood Builders, Inc., thanks for the advise. I just downloaded it, and I must say that the top two estimates we've got seem to be right o the money...damn, it's expensive to live where we are.

I'm glad it is helpful. We continue to watch the CvsV information for our area, and it tends to be a pretty good indicator of cost. Good luck on your remodel.

nnigrt, Who was the Providence contractor? This is our area. Were you happy with them?

it went ok. a contractor is only as good as the subs and installers. we used our own electrician, their installers had an issue with actually looking at the plans before they started nailing cabinets to the wall. i dont think they were bad people but their name is completely wiped from my memory. the tile guy they hired was from boston and STELLAR. no idea who he was but i wish i did.

but my advice is still the same, look for contractors out from providence but make sure they have experience with your high end needs.