So you want to build a new luxury master bathroom. You’re spending more time at home thanks the pandemic. Further, your existing master bathroom is getting old. Let me share the true cost of building a luxury master bathroom after building a couple before.
Despite my frugal nature, there is one area where I feel no guilt spending a large amount of money: everything housing related!
We spend roughly half our lives in our house. Maybe even more post pandemic. Why shouldn’t we buy the best mattress to sleep on or pay up to rent a beautiful house with a balcony overlooking the water?
After going through an unpleasant roommate situation when I first moved to San Francisco in 2001, I decided to “live it up” by getting my own $1,800 a month one bedroom in a nice part of town.
Living in a craptastic place for years in order to save money to one day live a better life seems a little backwards. You don’t have to spend $100,000+ a year to rent a nice place. But if you’re over 30 years old, perhaps the days of living like a college student are over!
This post highlights the true cost of constructing a dream master bathroom. Mine was really an expansion instead of a remodel, since the bathroom went from 36 square feet to roughly 170 square feet.
Deciding On Building A Luxury Master Bathroom
After purchasing my fixer in Golden Gate Heights I had a choice between finally buying a nice car to replace Moose, my decrepit 14 year old Land Rover with a lit up dashboard full of warning lights. Or I could upgrade my incredibly crappy 6 feet X 6 feet bathroom from the 1950s and own a cheaper new car instead.
Oh, the curse of not having an endless amount of money to spend!
Instead of spending ~$66,000 out the door for a sweet new Range Rover Black Series Evoque, I decided to build a new luxury master bathroom. Not only was building a luxury master bathroom a necessity, it was also a wiser financial move. My goal was to turn my 36 sqft master bathroom into a 175 sqft master bathroom with all the amenities.
My Rational For Luxury Master Bathroom vs. New Luxury Car
1) Cars are guaranteed to depreciate, housing is not. Therefore, spend the least amount possible on a depreciating asset, and the most amount possible on a potentially appreciating asset. This is the principle of the Financial Samurai Fiscal Responsibility Ratio.
2) Building more livable square footage is one of the best ways to make money in real estate. Don’t confuse remodeling with expansion. Always look for property that has expansion potential. Many people have trouble visualizing how awesome things could be.
3) After remodeling the upstairs with a new kitchen, bathroom, paint, windows, and hardwood floors, the downstairs needed to be updated in order to match the overall quality of the house.
4) At my former residence, I spent 1-3 hours every other day in the jacuzzi working online. It was the best home office possible! I spend way less time in a car, especially now that I don’t have to commute M-F to a day job downtown.
5) I found a “capable” licensed contractor who bid a reasonable price of $15,500 for the rough, and $8,500 for the finishings over a two month period. We all know that initial bids are low in order to gain business, but even a 50% overage to $38,000 was OK since I was adding 140 square feet that is valued at ~$120,000 (neighborhood is going for ~$850/sqft X 140 sqft).
What My Old Master Bathroom Looked Like
My old bathroom had a small sink, an old toilet, and a shower that was so tiny you could barely turn around or bend over. It was also on a weird one foot raised platform, a short cut way to install the plumbing so the builder didn’t have to break concrete. The total size was only 36 sq ft.
As you can see from the third picture, there really wasn’t any room to maneuver in my old bathroom. The L-shaped pipes hugged the outer border of the walls. This was a bathroom where you wanted to do your business and get out as quickly as possible.
What I wanted to create was a place where I could hang out for hours. Maybe I could host a hot tub party with some wine and cheese? Or maybe we could have a Wet N’ Wild shower adventure? Having a private toilet stall with a heated seat is a newspaper reading man’s dream! Let’s see if I could make this dream a reality.
Construction Of A New Luxury Master Bathroom
The plan was to start the bathroom demolition and construction on Feb 1 and finish by April 1. To meet this estimated time frame, my contractor would employ two helpers and work with them for most of the time.
Unfortunately, my unreliable contractor would disappear for a week at a time, busy chasing other business while his helpers would do some things wrong and have to correct.
San Francisco code requires there to be 18 feet of distance between the garage entrance and a back wall. If there wasn’t such a code, I’d probably expand by another foot closer to the garage door for 10-15 more livable feet. Even a Chevy Suburban is not longer than 16 feet.
Finished Luxury Master Bathroom
After five months (three months LONGER than expected), the master bathroom finally passed plumbing, electrical, and final building inspection on June 30, 2015!
If I were to build a new luxury master bathroom in 2023, it would probably take 35% longer due to high demand and backup at the Department Of Building Inspection.
The Finest Custom Finishing In My New Master Bathroom
Not bad huh? I literally created everything I wanted in a master bathroom: double wide rain showers, deep soaking jacuzzi for two, a private toilet stall with Toto washlet/bidet that has a seat warmer, double vanity, and a custom closet with a pull out shelve for double laundry baskets. Obviously you need that right?
I used Spanish porcelain tiles for the floors that look like wood, and similar color porcelain tiles with a different pattern for the wall to create the spa-like feeling at a luxury resort I visited. The main landing area is large enough to put a queen size bed if I suddenly have massive amounts of children.
All recessed lights are dimable in order to create different moods. I chose translucent doors to bring in more natural light. The translucent window over the hot tub was strategically positioned for ventilation and natural light as well. The bathroom has two electrical vents, one in the main area with a heater and one in the toilet stall.
It was an incredible amount of fun coming up with the design and picking out the fixtures. If you’re a creative person, home remodeling can be quite a rewarding experience as you go from concept to finished product.
Now on to the cost of construction. Will I stay within my mental budget of $57,000 given my contractor went over by 90 days? Let’s see!
The True Cost Of Building A Luxury Master Bathroom
At 170 square feet, the master bathroom is relatively large. Most master bathrooms I see are under 120 square feet. Most master bathrooms don’t have tile all the way up to 9 foot ceilings either.
Since it cost the same to install a $500 shower head vs a $100 shower head, I decided to get the best finishes possible. The custom cabinetry for the double vanity and closet took a lot more time than expected.
As you can see from the meticulous spreadsheet, I actually stayed within budget with a total cost of $55,214.32! Add up all the line items, not just the line items in bold to get to $55,214.32.
Bathroom Could Have Cost Even More
With such a long delay in construction, I thought surely I’d be on the hook for more. In fact, my contractor used the classic line that all contractors use, “If I start calculating how much money I’ve lost on your project…….” to try and guilt me into paying more. Don’t fall for this line folks. Stand strong!
I had no sympathy because he and his crew hardly did any work for the entire 3.5 weeks I was in Asia. Instead, the contractor let slip one day that he ended up building a whole restaurant during the time he was supposed to build my bathroom, even though he told me he had no other projects he was working on. WTF. He used the excuse that his helpers were injured as the reason why they didn’t work. What was daily work became visiting once a week for a couple hours at a time.
The good thing about my contractor is that he didn’t argue when I told him we would be sticking to the budget in the contract. He knows that I’ve got other potential projects for him to do, like building a couple decks, and maybe expanding my rental house, so he has to stay relatively honest. Dangling future projects is one of the best ways to keep a contractor from taking advantage of you.
Extra Necessities For The Luxury Master Bathroom
There are two items I didn’t highlight in my main spreadsheet, but that are in my “Side Projects” tab I should mention. The first is spending $2,150 to upgrade my main water line from the street to a 1.5 inch pipe from 3/4 inches given my new bathroom has so many more pipes. A 1.5 inch pipe is there so I can build another full bathroom in the future if I’m crazy. Might as well prep the house for expansion potential.
I also spent $1,050 to create a new drain in my garage while they were already trenching. The drain is there in case the washer pipes burst. Or if any of the bathroom pipes burst and leaks into the garage. If I add these two costs together, then my total bathroom cost is roughly $58,414.32. This is $1,414.32 over my mental budget of $57,000.
Related: Why Home Remodeling Always Takes Longer And Costs More Than Expected
Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
Spending $58,414 on a new master bathroom might sound ridiculous to you. However, for me, I think it’s one of the greatest values ever. In comparison, $58,000 is the out-the-door cost of a BMW 3.35 series or an Audi A4 3.0 sedan. Neither of which bring me any value.
Although, if I try and think how many awesome vacations for two $58,000 could buy, then the bathroom seems more expensive. But, by building this bathroom and creating an extra 140 square feet of living space, I think I’ve easily created an extra $120,000 in value to the house.
How Much The Luxury Master Bathroom Added To Value Of The House
I’ve had three realtors come by the house since the bathroom construction was finished. One of their goals was to guesstimate how much such a bathroom construction would cost. One said $90,000. The other two said “around $100,000.”
I then had a construction foreman come over to install a new vanity and sink in my remodeled upstairs bathroom. He said his construction company would charge $70,000 for just the rough. Rough does not include plumbing, electrical, permits, and finished materials. He estimated $150,000 – $170,000 all-in!
Although my builders were slow, they were a good deal in expensive San Francisco.
How much you spend on a construction project largely depends on how much your home is worth. A good rule of thumb is to spend no more than 5% of the market value of your house on a master bathroom remodel. For example, if you have a $300,000 house, spend $15,000 on a master bathroom. If you have a $2 million house, spend $100,000 on a master bathroom max.
You want to spend within the scope of your neighborhood. Building the fanciest home on the block doesn’t bring the best financial return if you ever sell.
Emotional Cost To Constructing A Luxury Master Bathroom
If you’ve ever taught a loved one how to drive stick shift, take that feeling and multiply it by three to get an idea of the stress involved in building or remodeling anything in your home!
For some reason, contractors will seldom come on time, do things wrong, and ask you for more money. You’re constantly feeling cheated, unless you really know your stuff. The process always costs more and takes longer than expected! Even if you are rich enough to hire a project manager to deal with the contractor and sub-contractors, you will still run into a lot of headaches.
If you’re in a relationship where your finances are not rock solid, your relationship will be severely tested. Your frustrations will spill over to the ones you love the most. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you are being taken advantage of. Contractors can and will hold you hostage.
Please give your loved ones multiple “free passes” to vent. All that anger will pass once you get your project approved!
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I was very excited to study your spreadsheet only to find out the total did not match up 15k plus 8k equals 23k, your bath Reno was 53k, were are the detail records for the missing 30k, it might make your article more interesting and accurate if you provided ALL the data.otherwise enjoyed your article.
No worries John. You have to add up all the line items, not just the two in bold. They are not subtotals. Cheers
Did something quite similar here in NY in the same time frame, taking a big chunk of an adjacent spare bedroom to double the bathroom size. A lot of nice tile, but maybe not as nice and not quite so much of it (we do plan to sell when we retire in less than a decade). No concrete pad, no bidet/toilet thing, linen closet is in the hall outside so that wasn’t a part of it, and got it for just a shade over 30k. It probably didn’t hurt that the contractor was a close relative of a good friend.
With heated under tile floor (my toes thank me so much when I walk in barefoot in the winter), and heated towel racks, really didn’t “feel” the need for a heated toilet seat.
One of those Kohler Numi toilets would have been nice, but I really didn’t want to pay 9k for a toilet that occasionally needs to be rebooted.
The jetted tub, big enough for two (or just me, really stretched out), with the inline heater to keep the water hot, is something I will never, ever, regret.
The author says “I find no joy in spending money on fancy cars or designer labels. In fact, I feel stupid whenever I purchase an item with high profit margins… I’d much rather spend money on experiences.” And in the next breath he says “We spend roughly half our lives in our house. Why shouldn’t we buy the best?” I don’t know, but the “experience” of spending 3 hours a day on Los Angeles freeways is made IMMENSELY more pleasant in an S Class Mercedes than in a Chevy Volt (it would be even better to not have to drive at all, but.). And, although hardly the most expensive, a pair of Allan Edmonds cap toes will not only far outlast (by YEARS) a pair of oxfords from Kohl’s, but feel WONDERFUL on your feet. Now, if you’re talking about blowing money on some V-12 Italian Viagramobile that I can’t even get INTO, I agree with him 100%!
This is a very nice article. posting every detail of the remodeling job and including the cost computation and the final cost of the job. well done!
Your bathroom turned out stunning! WOW! Congrats on staying under budget and even bigger congrats on surviving the stress. I hope that you are enjoying the fruits of your perseverance :).
I just reno’d my kitchen and first floor flooring and I can totally relate to
“contractors will seldom come on time, do things wrong, and ask you for more money. You’re constantly feeling cheated, unless you really know your stuff.” I researched this project for a whole year before pulling the trigger so I did know my stuff, and yet I STILLfelt that way lol. My complaint centers around a sub who lied about his capabilities–ugh–lesson learned.
Beautiful wood look tile you used–I also did grey wood look tile on my entire first floor.
Are you going to be doing your kitchen too? If so I’d love to hear about your plans!!!
Thanks K! I’ve actually done my kitchen already too, but haven’t written a post about it. Opened it up after 65 years of being untouched!
Nice job with your remodel too. It’s really the stress that’s the killer.
Please write about the kitchen!!!
And what about furniture? What style did you furnish your house in?
How long did you have to wait for your permits to be approved? Since you changed the exterior envelope, you had to notify your neighbors, did any of them object?
If you house is over 50 years old, you might have to go to the Historical Preservation review, did you end up doing that?
I am expanding a house in Glen Park and it has already taken 12 months in planning and we aren’t even close to getting our permit yet. Our project is much more extensive than yours though.
I didn’t change the envelope. I just reclaimed 135 sqft of my garage and turned it into a bigger bathroom.
To do an extension and deck would probably take 7-9 months to get approved, which I’m happy to wait and save money for and have more peace and quiet,
How much are you spending on permits, plans, and the final build?
I just had a contractor come last week and guess the bathroom I built would have cost me $150,000 – $170,000 if I went with them!
Be diligent on price as there is a lot of leeway!
Glen Park is hot!
We have been waiting on planning for a year now and now have to do a Historical Review, for an extra $3500 and then resubmit. Our architect expects another six months after that.
His estimate for the whole job is $800,000 and that includes a new foundation to raise it up and 1500 extra square feet total.
We are thinking of waiting until things cool off to do the work though, it is too expensive and too hard to get a good GC right now.
$533/sqft is still much cheaper than buying in Noe(?).
Unfortunately, the $800,000 bid could easily go over $1M. Do not trust initial bids!
Hi Sam,
Congrats, the bathroom turned out great. Thanks for sharing the cost breakdown. Your contractor was cheap! But yeah, dealing with contractors can be very frustrating especially if they don’t charge an arm and a leg.
BTW, did you use a designer or who did your construction and permit drawings, spec finishes & fixtures? I’m a professional Interior Architect + Interior Designer based in San Francisco, CA and doing mostly residential remodels for clients (if anybody on here has a need). I also own a small investment property and I am interested in expanding my portfolio. I signed up for your newsletter and have found your info extremely insightful.
Thank you!
Manuela
MP DESIGN