Why two quotes for the same bathroom can differ by $10,000, and which of the differences are real.
People are often surprised by how widely bathroom quotes vary. The honest answer is that most of the variation is not margin — it is scope. Two quotes for the same room can describe genuinely different jobs.
The biggest single driver is whether you are moving fixtures. Keeping the toilet, shower and vanity where they are means the existing waste and water stay largely in place. Move the toilet two metres and you are into the floor, and in a slab home that means core drilling and making good.
The second is what is already there. In an interwar home with original earthenware sewer lines, we frequently find cracked sections once the floor is up. Replacing a run while the floor is already open costs a fraction of what it costs to come back for it in three years, but it is a real cost that a cheaper quote may simply have not allowed for.
Third is the waterproofing sequence. Waterproofing has hold points that must be inspected before tiling starts. Quotes that compress this stage are usually quoting a program that will not survive contact with reality.
Finally there is fixture selection, which is the part you control most directly. The difference between mid-range and high-end tapware across a full bathroom can be several thousand dollars on its own.
When you are comparing quotes, the question worth asking is not 'why is yours more expensive' but 'what have you allowed for that the other one has not'. A good plumber will answer that specifically.
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