$5,000 to demo TINY bath - outrageous?

5 years ago

We are in the early stages of planning our master bath remodel and had our first contractor, who is affiliated with a design-build firm we are considering, come out to take a look. He sent over a proposal that I found rather overpriced in general, but one line item that REALLY stuck out was demolition. The bathroom in question is TINY, 6x6 minus a bit, and only 2 sides of a 36x36 shower and the floor are tiled - the rest is just drywall. In addition, we would be demoing the wall between the bath and master closet (6', not load bearing) and replacing the closet doors and trim (so some additional disposal there, but not really a lot of demo work - I could remove the doors myself!).

Am I insane to think that $5,000 to demo this bath is completely ludicrous? His entire quote was overpriced IMO ($35,000 not including shower glass, vanity, tiles or any other fixtures) but the demo seemed particularly insane. We do live in a HCOLA, but when I had my (larger, with plaster walls) bath in Queens remodeled 12 years ago, I paid around $12,000 for the ENTIRE job, including tiles/fixtures. Obviously, we are going to get quotes from other contractors, but I would really appreciate a reality check on pricing (if I need one). We were hoping to do this bathroom INCLUDING fixtures for under $25,000, and if that is really out of line then it may just have to wait!

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Comments (5)

iamtiramisu
5 years ago
I’ve seen some crazy prices on here for things that turn out to be entirely reasonable for the area (usually Canada) but to me, yes, for the size of the bathroom $5k to demo seems insanely high. It could be that the contractor just doesn’t want to do the job because it’s small (to them) and therefore he padded the price. He either doesn’t get the job he didn’t want or makes a whole bunch extra for a small job to make it worthwhile for him. I’d get more quotes. Also, demo is the easy part - so if they keep coming in high do the demo yourselves and save that $ for some nice finishes.
biondanonima (Zone 7a Hudson Valley) thanked iamtiramisu
biondanonima (Zone 7a Hudson Valley)
Original Author
5 years ago
iamtiramisu, I definitely considered the idea that he jacked the prices because he doesn't want the job, but he actually followed up a couple of days after sending the estimate so I'm not sure it's that. The design-build firm with which he is affiliated is not especially high-end but does focus on kitchens (at least from what I could tell after having visited the shop), so it could be that without a major spend on cabinets they find other ways to make money.
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Mr. Memes
5 years ago
Don’t go through a contractor who is affiliated with a design company. That right there is jacking the price. People who get a designer can afford most any price thrown at them.
biondanonima (Zone 7a Hudson Valley) thanked Mr. Memes
iamtiramisu
5 years ago
Ditto Mr Memes. If you’re not moving things around and reconfiguring there is no need for a design build firm. Even if you are moving things you don’t necessarily need that. Find a couple of good, reputable licensed and insured general contractors and get estimates from them. In our former home we gutted 2 bathrooms (one the same size you have and one a bit bigger) to the studs and reconfigured both of them and used mid range finishes and didn’t spend $25k on both. We had a great general contractor who did it all at a very fair price, we took care of the demo to save some money. Granted it was a few years back, but even accounting for inflation the total cost today still wouldn’t hit $25k. Based on that experience, my thought is that with a good contractor you should be able to get a spectacular 6x6 bathroom for $25k.
biondanonima (Zone 7a Hudson Valley) thanked iamtiramisu
biondanonima (Zone 7a Hudson Valley)
Original Author
5 years ago
Good to know that going through a designer will contribute to higher costs - I should have realized. We are going to substantially reconfigure the bath and closet, but I have already gotten a lot of great assistance with layout, etc. from the pros here. We'll start looking for independent contractors and go from there!