How much of my building costs are labor and how much are materials?
Have you been picking out products for your home renovation? Are you wondering how much you can expect to spend on the installation of these products?
So, you went to a plumbing showroom or box store and picked out all of the fixtures you would like to have in your new bathroom. You picked out a new vanity, vanity top, lavatory faucet, tub, shower head, shower faucet, and toilet. Then, you went to a flooring showroom to pick out the floor tile!
When you were at these stores, you scribbled down the prices for these items on a notepad. You added everything up, and now you know what the materials for your project will cost!
Now you can’t help but wonder how much the labor costs will be! Is there a way to figure out how much your total project will cost?
How do I estimate the labor costs of a remodel based on the material costs?
If you had to guess, how much would you expect the labor for your remodel to cost, compared to materials?
Do you think they will be equal? Will the labor cost less than the materials? Will it cost more? If you picked out $10,000 of materials, how much do you suppose it will cost to install them?
Would it surprise you if I told you that the number is usually somewhere around 5x? When you pick out $10,000 worth of finish materials for your bathroom remodel, you can usually expect the entire project to cost around $50,000.
Seriously? $50,000! That can’t be right! Is labor really that expensive?
Yes, that is correct! But, the calculation isn’t quite as simple as it may seem. Labor costs for a full remodel usually aren’t 4 times as expensive as the materials. There is a bit more at play in projects like this.
In this example, the homeowner picked out $10,000 of finish materials. She picked out the tub, vanity, faucets, flooring, lighting, and all of the other things she will see in the space. All of these materials cost $10,000.
She didn’t gather pricing for the pipe, wire, lumber, mortar, drywall, insulation, & paint that she (mostly)won’t see. These materials will likely cost around $4,000.
This project will also require another $1500 worth of dumpster fees and building permits. These costs are also often overlooked.
When we calculate the unseen material, demo, & other costs, we will find that the costs for this project are about 50% more expensive than the homeowner’s original estimate. All of these costs add up to about $15,500.
Meanwhile, the labor/project management costs in this example are approximately $34,500, or roughly twice as expensive as the material costs.
How do material costs compare to labor costs in construction projects?
Different types of construction projects have different ratios of material costs to labor costs. Some projects, like kitchen remodels, are very “material heavy” meaning the materials are often the most expensive part of the project. Other projects, like painting, are very “labor heavy”, meaning that materials are a very small part of the overall cost.
Material costs for a bathroom remodel tend to be pretty high, compared to some other projects. But, many of the tasks in a bathroom remodel are still very “labor heavy”. The combination of high material costs and labor costs is why bathrooms are the second most expensive rooms in a home (second only to kitchens).
Let’s take a look at how the cost of some of the typical tasks in a bathroom remodel compare to the material costs for these tasks.
How do labor costs compare to lumber costs in a remodel?
While lumber is expensive, material costs are cheap compared to the costs of doing structural work in an existing home! Repairing floor framing, installing headers, or building new walls is tedious work! The labor costs for this kind of work will often cost 4, 6, or sometimes even 8+ times more than the lumber costs (depending on the type of work that needs to be done)!
How much does plumbing labor cost compared to material costs?
Plumbing is one of the few “material heavy” tasks in a bathroom remodel. Plumbing fixtures are expensive, so the ratio of plumbing materials to plumbing labor often ends up close to 1 to 1.
If you spend $200 to $400 for a new faucet, for example, you can probably expect to pay a plumber close to the same amount to install it.
How much of an electrician’s bill is labor vs. materials?
Copper wire is expensive! So expensive! That means that the costs for electrical work are probably mostly materials, right?
You would think so, but material costs don’t make up as much of the electrical budget as you might think. Because the materials costs for different electrical projects can vary a lot, the ratio of materials to labor on an electrical project will also vary. But, for a bathroom remodel, you will likely pay your electrician 4 or 5 times as much as you spend on wire, boxes, outlets, and lights.
What are the labor costs for drywall work, based on the material costs?
Drywall is another labor-heavy trade. It may only cost a few hundred dollars to purchase the drywall for a bathroom, but the labor to install and finish it will be closer to a couple of thousand dollars.
It is hard to be efficient while drywalling a small space, like a bathroom. So, the labor costs for a bathroom will be at a premium compared to what these costs would be on a large drywall project.
For a bathroom remodel, the cost of the drywall labor will be around $6 or $7 for every dollar spent on materials.
How does the cost of flooring installation compare to the cost of the flooring itself?
How installation costs compare to flooring costs depends a lot on the type of flooring that is being installed.
The installation costs for luxury vinyl flooring is usually close to the same as the material costs (don’t forget to account for the cost of underlayment, glue, & transition strips!).
Ceramic or porcelain tile is a very different situation! While the cost of porcelain tile is similar to vinyl, it is much more difficult and time-consuming to install. The labor costs for tile floor installation are often 4 times more expensive than the materials are. Shower installations are even more, usually $5+ of labor for every $1 spent on materials.
How does the cost of paint compare to the labor costs for a painting project?
Painting is very similar to drywall. The effect a beautiful paint job has on the feel of a space is almost indescribable. But, the cost that it takes to achieve this feeling is almost entirely based on labor costs. The material budget for a paint project is very small, compared to labor costs.
Painting the entire interior of your home will probably cost somewhere around $20,000. Likely the cost of paint is less than 1/10th of that cost. Small projects can have a slightly higher material cost, as there is often a little bit more material waste, but you are still looking at $800 worth of work for every $100 spent on paint & supplies, at a minimum.
How can I expect the labor costs of my bathroom remodel to compare to the material costs?
As you can see, bathroom remodels require a lot of work to complete.
Depending on the complexity of your project, you can usually expect to pay between 5 and 6 times the material cost for your completed remodel. That means for every dollar you spend on fixtures and finishes, you will pay between 4 and 5 dollars on labor, management, and the costs you didn’t calculate, like fasteners, adhesives, dumpster fees, etc.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that even though you have only picked out $4,000 worth of plumbing fixtures and flooring, your project is still going to cost around $24,000! Or the $10,000 worth of products you selected are going to be used to create a $50,000 bathroom!
The costs we describe here are averages for typical projects, your project will be unique, so it may be different.
If you would like to learn more about what factors affect the cost of a bathroom remodel, make sure to check out the article: rothrockcarpentry.com/learning-center/what-will-affect-the-cost-of-a-bathroom
If you need some help with your bathroom, feel free to give us a call or fill out the form on our contact page. We love helping people like you transform their bathrooms into the beautiful spaces they deserve!
