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The True Cost Of Building A Luxury Master Bathroom

Updated: 01/27/2023 by Financial Samurai 76 Comments

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

Building a dream bathroom - The True Cost Of 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.

Old crappy bathroom - The True Cost Of Building A Luxury Master Bathroom
Old sink and toilet with no storage
tiny bathroom shower - The True Cost Of Building A Luxury Master Bathroom
A shower so small you can hardly bend over or turn
Size of old bathroom. Pipes around signify the outer wall border. Demolition!
36 square feet old bathroom.

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.

Bathroom Construction Rough - The True Cost Of Building A Luxury Master Bathroom
View from garage looking in. Framing done. Helper installing plumbing in the walls.
trenching of new pipes and vents - The True Cost Of Building A Luxury Master Bathroom
New vent and pipes for the laundry area.
Trenched new sewer pipe - cost of building a luxury master bathroom
Trenched new sewer pipe
trenched pipes - cost of building a luxury master bathroom
Trenched plumbing to new toilet stall
Hot Tub Rough
Framing the new FS office. At 65+ years old, one of the helpers is pretty agile!
Drywall Up
Rough is almost done as sheet rock and backer board are nailed in
Rough of double shower looking towards garage
Rough of double shower looking towards garage
Double Vanity Rough
Finally got the custom double cabinet to fit. 10 drawers total. A whole day was spent adjusting the drawers to fit perfectly.
home remodeling
Two new vents installed along the side of the house

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.

Luxury Master Bathroom
Facing the translucent door entrance for more light
finished-vanity
Waterfall faucets and a massive mirror that was installed twice because the first one cracked
Toto Washlet in luxury master bathroom is a must
The Toto Washlet is incredible. Multiple water spray settings and heated seat.
Porcelain wood-looking tile
Spanish porcelain tile
Double Rain Showers
Double rain shower with extra shower head. White pebble floor.
Custom porcelain tile shower bench
Shower bench made of porcelain tile
Custom Jacuzzi Tub
The new Financial Samurai office! 10 jets and in-line heater to keep the water always warm
Custom Closet in master bathroom
Custom closet with double laundry pullout drawer

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.

Total Cost Of Luxury master Bathroom Expansion Spreadsheet

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

Final Inspection Sign Off For Plumbing, Electrical, and Building

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!

Invest In Real Estate More Strategically

If you don’t want to build a new luxury master bathroom to add value, then don’t. Instead, invest in real estate through Fundrise, one of the largest real estate crowdsourcing companies today.

Real estate is a key component of a diversified portfolio. Real estate crowdsourcing allows you to be more flexible in your real estate investments by investing beyond just where you live for the best returns possible. For example, cap rates are around 3% in San Francisco and New York City. But cap rates are over 10% in the Midwest if you’re looking for strictly investing income returns.

Sign up and take a look. It’s free to explore. I’ve personally invested $810,000 in real estate crowdfunding in the heartland. Valuations are cheaper and yields are higher.

Fundrise Due Diligence Funnel
Less than 5% of the real estate deals shown gets through the Fundrise funnel

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Credible has a strong network of no-obligation lenders that will compete for you business. This way, you will be able to get the best rate possible. Always shop around for a mortgage. When banks compete you win!

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Filed Under: Retirement

Author Bio: I started Financial Samurai in 2009 to help people achieve financial freedom sooner. Financial Samurai is now one of the largest independently run personal finance sites with about one million visitors a month.

I spent 13 years working at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. In 1999, I earned my BA from William & Mary and in 2006, I received my MBA from UC Berkeley.

In 2012, I left banking after negotiating a severance package worth over five years of living expenses. Today, I enjoy being a stay-at-home dad to two young children, playing tennis, and writing.

Order a hardcopy of my new WSJ bestselling book, Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom. Not only will you build more wealth by reading my book, you’ll also make better choices when faced with some of life’s biggest decisions.

Current Recommendations:

1) Check out Fundrise, my favorite real estate investing platform. I’ve personally invested $810,000 in private real estate to take advantage of lower valuations and higher cap rates in the Sunbelt. Roughly $160,000 of my annual passive income comes from real estate. And passive income is the key to being free.

2) If you have debt and/or children, life insurance is a must. PolicyGenius is the easiest way to find affordable life insurance in minutes. My wife was able to double her life insurance coverage for less with PolicyGenius. I also just got a new affordable 20-year term policy with them.

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Comments

  1. john says

    January 27, 2023 at 3:40 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      January 27, 2023 at 9:59 pm

      No worries John. You have to add up all the line items, not just the two in bold. They are not subtotals. Cheers

      Reply
  2. Snazster says

    February 5, 2020 at 10:06 am

    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.

    Reply
  3. Bob P says

    August 8, 2018 at 8:53 am

    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%!

    Reply
  4. Ruth R. Nero says

    November 29, 2016 at 4:58 am

    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!

    Reply
  5. K says

    August 17, 2015 at 12:00 pm

    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!!!

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      August 17, 2015 at 12:44 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • K says

        August 17, 2015 at 1:03 pm

        Please write about the kitchen!!!

        And what about furniture? What style did you furnish your house in?

        Reply
  6. Jim A says

    July 26, 2015 at 11:12 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2015 at 12:03 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • NoeValleyJim says

        July 26, 2015 at 5:54 pm

        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.

        Reply
        • Financial Samurai says

          July 26, 2015 at 7:17 pm

          $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!

          Reply
  7. Manuela says

    July 14, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    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

    Reply
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