Bathroom remodel cost in New Jersey — what moves the number, and how to get yours

The lines on a bathroom estimate

Three scopes

• Refresh. New vanity, top, faucet, mirror and floor tile in the existing layout; the shower stays. About a week.
• Remodel. Same footprint, everything new: tiled shower, vanity, tile floor and walls, fixtures, lighting. One to three weeks — the Cranford bath with its Timber double vanity, the maple floating vanity under arched mirrors.
• Full gut. The layout changes — a tub becomes a shower, the toilet moves, a wall comes out — with the plumbing and electrical to match: the Room Therapy primary bath with its marble shower bench and freestanding tub, the whole-home baths in Montclair and at the Mount Arlington lake house.

Where the value is

• A stocked vanity with an integrated top is the fastest and least expensive way to a finished look; a custom vanity from the kitchen line is for matching or odd walls.
• Run one porcelain on the floor and the shower walls; spend the tile money on the mosaic floor, the niche and one feature wall.
• Keep the drains where they are unless the layout truly fails; moving a toilet is the most expensive foot in the house.
• Choose the shower glass and the fixtures with the tile — finish mismatches cost more to fix than to avoid.

Getting your number

Bring the room dimensions, the vanity wall measurement and photos. A designer lays out the bath, pulls the vanity, the tile boards and the top beside each other, and prices the whole room line by line — vanity, top, tile, shower, fixtures, installation and trade work — the same visit. See bathroom remodeling for how the job runs and the vanity buying guide for sizes and materials.