It can be frustrating to try to estimate how long a bathroom renovation will take. Once you believe you've got the timetable set, it all changes. Worker illness, late delivery of materials, non-payment, or unforeseen structural problems can all occur.
And nowhere is an accurate estimate more crucial than here, since most homeowners find it essential to have their bathrooms up and running as soon as possible. Unless you're lucky enough to have several bathrooms, leaving the only bathroom incapacitated during remodeling is a major inconvenience.
How Long Does It Take to Remodel a Bathroom?
Under perfect conditions, it should take approximately 23 days to finish renovating a modestly sized bathroom from top to bottom. If there are no interruptions in the flow of work and it is assumed that no work is done on the weekends, this equates to approximately four and a half weeks, which is slightly longer than one month. In the real world, where there is always the possibility of downtime or unforeseen situations, the amount of time may be approximately doubled, coming in at 46 days, or around 9 weeks.
Time Required for Bathroom Renovations and Its Affecting Factors
The truth is that it is extremely rare for a bathroom remodeling project to go exactly as planned, and a variety of factors can change your schedule even if you make the best possible efforts to do so:
- Is the project going to be a superficial renovation or a rebuild from the ground up? The work could take as little as a few days or as much as many months, depending on the nature of the remodeling project that is being done.
- Are you going to be the one doing the work, or are you going to hire a contractor? Doing all of the work yourself and fitting it in whenever you have free time might result in a project that takes as long as a year or longer to finish, according to more than one well-meaning homeowner who has made this discovery.
- If you're going to hire someone else to do the work, you should ask whether the contractor is an owner-operator or whether they subcontract other tradespeople like electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. It's possible that hiring a remodeler who is a sole proprietor and operator will be the most cost-effective option. However, because they are trying to complete all of the work by themselves, that individual will most likely be working at your job in addition to a number of other tasks. This indicates that a task that needs 10 or 15 actual workdays to complete could take anywhere from two to three months to finish.
- Are all of the materials easily accessible, or do you need to place special orders for some of them, which could cause a delay in delivery? For example, if imported ceramic tile needs to be ordered, the completion of a project could be delayed by several weeks.
However, if you are working with a capable general contractor who is working with equally capable subcontractors, it is typically not too difficult to come up with a rough estimate of how long it will take to completely remodel a small bathroom. This is because the subcontractors working on the project will be equally skilled.
Be Well-Prepared for Anything that May Arise.
The following schedule is based on the assumption that the work is being carried out by an experienced general contractor who is collaborating with qualified subcontractors, that all tradespeople show up on time, that no one gets sick, and that materials are easily accessible. On the client side, there is also the possibility of slowdowns. You, as the homeowner, are responsible for making payments on time and refraining from issuing any change orders that are not essential, as this will slow down the construction.
Most significantly, this is a perfectized version of the schedule. Dead days have been eliminated, and all workdays have been condensed in order to ensure that there are no voids in the schedule. It presupposes that as soon as one worker finishes their shift, the next one steps in quickly to take their place. Again, you should not be surprised if the actual schedule is around twice as long as this idealized one.
| TASK | ALLOTTED TIME (DAYS) |
NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition | 2 | Laborious labor that could take far longer than expected if the restroom is located on the second storey or if it is otherwise challenging to remove waste. |
| Rough Carpentry | 2 | It is possible that you will not require any carpentry work if the structure beneath the surface is in good shape. |
| Plumbing Rough-In | 1-2 | If you are moving services like a tub or toilet, you should plan on devoting at least two full days to the task. |
| Electrical Rough-In | 1-2 | Because a skilled and experienced electrician can work quickly, it is highly unlikely that this will take more than a day to complete. The process of running the electrical lines but stopping short of hooking up the final connections is what is meant by the term "rough-in." |
| First Inspection | 1 | The initial examination that takes place before finishing off the work with drywall is relatively quick and shouldn't add more than one day to the overall schedule. However, because it can be difficult to schedule inspectors, this may cause the remodeling project to be delayed by one or two weeks. |
| Insulation | 5 | Because there are typically just one or two walls to insulate in a bathroom, the process should go quite quickly. Bear in mind that in some areas an insulation inspection is required, which will cause this stage to take significantly more time than usual. |
| Hang Drywall | 1 | The installation of dry wall can begin as soon as the insulation is in place. Work for a contractor can be completed quickly here. |
| Finish Drywall | 2 | Putting the finishing touches on something involves applying joint compound, waiting for it to cure, sanding it, and sometimes doing it again. |
| Paint | 1 | Painting a bathroom when it is still in its raw state is a task that can be completed very quickly and with little effort. There is no need to mask anything, with the exception of the ceiling. |
| Final Inspection | 1 | The final inspection itself does not take very long, similar to the first inspection; it may take each inspector less than twenty minutes to complete. However, setting up an appointment with the inspector could potentially delay down your job. |
| Tile Work | 2 | Optional: you might not be working with tiles, but just like with drywall, there is an application and drying cycle that takes some time. |
| Cabinetry and Trim | 1 | Bathrooms don't typically have a lot of cabinetry, so completing this task shouldn't take too long. Cabinets are typically stock cabinets or semi-custom cabinets that have been partially or fully assembled before being purchased. |
| Flooring | 2 | A simple vinyl floor could be installed in a morning; however, installing tile, engineered wood, or any other type of flooring will take more time. |
| Hookups, Fixtures, Etc. | 2 | Hooking up toilet, sink, etc. |
| Miscellaneous | 1.5 | Make room in your schedule for unplanned events. |
| TOTAL | 23 |
3 Ways to Expend a Bathroom Remodel
- Ensure that all payments are made on time or ahead of schedule. Contractors are reliant on you to make payments because they, in turn, need to pay other individuals.
- Maintain constant communication with the contractor by promptly responding to any calls, texts, or emails they send your way. If you delay getting back to the contractor for an additional day, you will push the entire schedule back by one day.
- You should try to avoid making unneeded adjustments by asking yourself if you are OK with the situation before signing the initial contract. If the project is finished exactly according to these standards, do you think you will be happy with the results?
