Updated June 2, 2023
Renovating your bathroom can increase your property value, not to mention provide you and your family with a fresh new space to enjoy. But before you can renovate, you first need to demolish the old components of your bathroom that you'll be rebuilding or replacing.
Understanding your bathroom renovation budget is key to a successful project, and a main component of that budget is the cost of demolition.
Different contractors tend to price their work differently, and there are many aspects to the bathroom demolition process that will affect pricing overall.
There are several different ways to estimate how much your bathroom demolition will cost, and we'll go over each of them.
This cost guide will go over:
It's beneficial to have an idea of the demolition work you want done and how much it typically costs to have it done by a professional contractor. Knowing this information will help to ensure you get a fair price for the work you need.
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Average Price of Bathroom Demolition
The national average price of a bathroom demolition project is $500-$2,000.
This figure is the average price of all different types of bathroom demolition combined.
Below, you'll find examples of what others have paid for their bathroom demolition projects, either by themselves or combined with other demo projects.
Bathroom Demolition Pricing Examples
| State | City | Project Details | Project Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Los Angeles | Removed 50 sq ft of bathroom tile flooring and corner tile shower | $1,300 |
| Massachusetts | Hull | Selective demolition of 4,200 sq ft house, including bathroom, plaster walls, drywall, and insulation | $5,000 |
| Michigan | Clarkston | Interior demolition throughout house, including bathroom, kitchen, and multiple bedrooms | $4,000 |
| Michigan | Farmington Hills | Interior demolition of 104 sq ft master bathroom | $1,900 |
| Michigan | Holland | Removed 300 sq ft of bathroom tiling with presence of asbestos | $1,000 |
| Michigan | Lake Orion | Removed bathtub, tiling, doors, moulding, drywall, insulation, and bricks | $1,000 |
| Michigan | Linden | Interior demolition of master bathroom and utility room | $2,000 |
| Michigan | Madison Heights | Interior demolition of bathroom, kitchen, walls, paneling, etc. | $2,300 |
| Michigan | Royal Oak | Interior demolition of 3 bathrooms and removed plaster and drywall throughout 1920s house | $7,000 |
| Michigan | Waterford | Interior demolition of house down to brick wall, including bathtub, toilet, studs, drywall, wood, carpet, tile, and shelving | $4,500 |
| New Jersey | High Bridge | Interior demolition of bathroom, kitchen island, basement carpeting, basement ceiling, and insulation | $2,800 |
| New Jersey | Marlton | Interior demolition of 100 sq ft master bathroom | $950 |
| New Jersey | Ridgewood | Interior demolition of bathroom, including ceiling, floors, and plaster walls | $825 |
| New York | White Plains | Interior demolition of house down to the studs and subfloor, including 4 bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, garage, and screened-in porch | $13,500 |
| Vermont | Dummerston | Interior demolition of master bathroom and kitchen | $2,500 |
Costs Involved With Bathroom Demolition
As you can tell from the table above, the cost of bathroom demolition can vary a great deal due to various factors.
You can estimate how much your bathroom demolition will cost by determining the work you need done and tallying up the average cost to do each job.
This will give you a relatively accurate estimate of how much your bathroom demolition will cost, regardless of the amount of remodeling you plan to do.
The table below outlines the average costs involved with a small 100 sq ft bathroom demolition, including labor and debris disposal.
Bathroom Demolition Pricing Examples
| Demolition Job | Low-End Cost | Average Cost | High-End Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanity Removal | $40-$70 | $70-$100 | $100-$130 |
| Shower/Tub Removal | $70-$90 | $90-$110 | $110-$140 |
| Toilet Removal | $60-$90 | $90-$110 | $110-$160 |
| Sink Removal | $30-$60 | $60-$80 | $80-$100 |
| Flooring Removal | $60-$100 | $100-$130 | $130-$170 |
| Drywall Removal | $90-$130 | $130-$170 | $170-$210 |
The overall cost of your demolition will depend on the size of your bathroom, the kind of materials being removed, and the extent of the demolition work you want done.
For example, if you just want to replace the bathtub, you can expect to pay between $70 and $140 to have it removed.
If you have a bathroom in which you'd like the entire interior demolished, you can expect to pay closer to $500 to $2,000 or more in some cases.
Learn more:
- 5 Beyond-Easy Ways to Save on Bathroom Demolition Costs
- Pros and Cons of DIY Bathroom Demolition
- 8 of the Hottest Bathroom Remodel Design Trends
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Hourly Rates for Bathroom Demolition
Some contractors may decide to price their work based on how long it takes them to finish the job, rather than on the specific work they're doing.
On average, it takes between 5 and 15 man-hours to completely gut a bathroom.
How long your bathroom demolition takes depends largely on the size of the bathroom and the types of materials involved.
For example, if asbestos or lead is present, it needs to be carefully handled and disposed of in the proper manner based on local environmental regulation. This can prolong the project.
Likewise, if any unforeseen complications arise, your timeline will be extended.
Remember: These are estimates of how long it takes to remove each item.
It may take more or less time for your kitchen demolition depending on your exact needs and how many workers are on-site.
If a contractor tells you they price out work on an hourly scale, you can use their rate to estimate roughly how much your final bill will be if everything goes according to plan.
Let's look more closely at an example of how a company might charge by the hour for the work they do and how to determine if it's a good price.
Say you have a 6 ft x 6 ft bathroom you want completely gutted out...
The contractor informs you that he can be on-site to perform the demolition the next day, and he predicts he can have the job completed within a day or two.
The contractor also lets you know he charges $70 per hour for interior demolition.
Knowing how long a complete bathroom gut-out usually takes (between 6-15 hours), and that the contractor estimates it will take him 8-16 hours to complete the work, you can deduct that your bathroom demolition would cost roughly $420-$1,050 if you hire this contractor.
This is within the lower-end average range for the cost of bathroom demolition and would be a fair price.
How to Choose the Right Kitchen Demolition Contractor
Once you’ve gathered all the necessary information for your bathroom demolition, find highly qualified local demolition contractors with the help of Hometown.
Hiring an experienced interior demolition contractor for your project is important for a number of reasons, but more than anything, it's for your protection.
If the demo is not handled properly, damage can be done to surrounding property, plumbing, or electrical wiring.
This is why we recommend hiring someone you know is licensed and insured to handle your bathroom demolition.
We recommend getting quotes from a minimum of 2-3 contractors, but the more contractors you get quotes from, the better.
This will help to ensure you hire the right person for your bathroom demolition without overpaying.
Ask contractors for line-item bids so that you can closely compare how contractors price their work. And, if possible, take advantage of contractors’ slow time of year—after the holidays but before the spring. Contractors may be willing to do the work at a cheaper rate during their slow season.
Keep reading about how to hire the ideal contractor: