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Planning estimate · Murray, UTMaster bathroom remodel cost calculator
A master bathroom is six decisions, and two of them account for close to half the total. This prices each one separately so you can see which ones are worth arguing about and which ones are noise.
What is behind the number
The layout question is the whole ballgame
This site publishes three tiers for a master bathroom: $15,000 to $28,000 for a refresh with the layout unchanged, $27,000 to $45,000 for a full mid-range remodel, and $42,000 to $75,000 or more for a high-end custom one with layout changes. The line between the first and the last is almost entirely about whether fixtures move.
When everything goes back where it came from, the drains, the vents and the supplies stay put. Nothing is chased into a wall, nothing is re-vented, and the permit is a straightforward one. When the room is rearranged, most of the plumbing is re-run, and when walls actually move you are into framing, a plan review at Murray City and usually a ceiling repair in the room below.
Almost none of that is visible when the job is finished. It is worth being honest with yourself about whether a new layout is genuinely better or merely different — because if the current arrangement works, the same money spent on the shower and the vanity buys a great deal more than moving the toilet three feet does.
Whether the layout changes
The single biggest lever on this page. Same layout keeps the job in this site's refresh band. Moving walls puts it in the high-end band, and most of the extra is framing, re-run services and a plan review rather than anything you can see.
The shower and the tub
Together these usually account for close to half the total. A tub-shower combination is far cheaper than a separate tub and shower, and a separate pair needs roughly 100 square feet before the room stops feeling like a corridor.
The vanity
A stock single vanity runs $350 to $2,500 for the unit and top in the Salt Lake area. A double vanity means a second drain and a second set of supplies. Custom cabinetry is the line item that most often moves a master bath into the high-end band.
The size of the room
Floor area drives the strip-out, the shell, the flooring and the paint together. A bathroom also carries a small-room surcharge of $1 to $3 per square foot over an open room, because everything is cut around fixtures.
The age of the house
The average Murray home was built in 1979 and the city has stock from the early 1900s. Local builders recommend a 10 to 15 per cent contingency on older homes, and pre-1980 flooring should be tested for asbestos before it is lifted — $150 to $350, against a great deal more if you find out afterwards.
Extraction and electrical
Bathroom electrical runs $300 to $1,200 in the Salt Lake area for lighting, circuits and GFCI protection. A master bath with a separate shower usually wants more extraction than the 50 cfm code minimum, ducted to an exterior wall or roof.
What pushes it higher
- Moving walls, or taking space from a bedroom or a closet.
- A freestanding tub, which needs the waste brought up to wherever it stands.
- Custom double vanity cabinetry rather than a catalogue unit.
- A curbless shower, especially over a concrete slab.
- A pre-1960 house, where nothing is quite square and the subfloor is an unknown.
- Natural stone floors, and a heated mat underneath them.
What brings it down
- Keeping every fixture exactly where it is.
- A tub-shower combination instead of a separate tub and shower.
- A single vanity, or a stock double rather than custom cabinetry.
- Panel shower walls rather than tile.
- Luxury vinyl plank, which is cheaper and far more forgiving of an uneven subfloor.
- Leaving the extractor alone if it already moves air and vents outdoors.
Turn the estimate into a real number
Send a couple of photos of the bathroom, rough dimensions, and say roughly when the house was built and what is underneath the floor. You will get a straight answer about what the drain, the subfloor and the panel will allow before anyone talks about tile.
What people ask about this
How much does a master bathroom remodel cost in Murray?
This site publishes $15,000 to $28,000 for a refresh-level remodel with the layout unchanged, $27,000 to $45,000 for a mid-range full remodel with a new shower or tub, double vanity, flooring and lighting, and $42,000 to $75,000 or more for a high-end custom remodel with layout changes and custom cabinetry.
Do I need a permit for a master bathroom remodel?
Yes. Any remodel touching plumbing, electrical or ductwork is reviewed by Murray City, which runs its own Building Division rather than going through Salt Lake County. Murray City Code sets a $50 minimum fee per table plus $10 per supplemental permit, and a Salt Lake County bathroom permit typically runs $150 to $500 in total. If walls move, Murray asks for a drawing set through eProcess 360. Confirm at 801-270-2431.
How long does a master bathroom remodel take?
Two to four weeks with the layout unchanged, three to five weeks if one fixture moves, five to eight weeks for a full rearrangement, and seven to ten weeks if walls move. Local guidance puts a basic refresh at five to seven working days and a full remodel at two to four weeks, which matches the lower end of that.
Is it worth moving the toilet or the shower?
Only if the current layout genuinely does not work. Moving a fixture means re-running its drain, which has to fall correctly to the stack, and that is the difference between this site's refresh band and its mid band. If the layout is merely dull rather than dysfunctional, the same money buys a substantially better shower and vanity.
What should I not economise on?
Waterproofing behind the shower, and the extractor fan. Both are invisible when finished and both are extremely expensive to fix later, because getting at either means removing tile. Everything else — the vanity, the fixtures, the floor — can be upgraded at any point in the future without demolition.
Do I need a separate tub and shower?
It depends on the room and the house. If there is another bathtub in the house, a shower-only master is increasingly common and buys a much better shower for the money. If it is the only tub, keeping one matters for resale to families with small children. Below about 100 square feet, fitting both usually compromises both.
What about a heated floor?
It runs $8 to $15 per square foot plus about $200 for the thermostat, and it can only go in while the floor is open. In a Murray bathroom over an unheated crawl space or basement it makes more difference to how the room feels than the tile choice does. It normally wants its own circuit, so check the panel has a spare way.
How much contingency should I hold?
Ten to fifteen per cent is what local builders recommend on older homes, and this calculator applies eight to twelve per cent depending on the age of the house. The usual reasons are a soft subfloor at $600 to $2,500, walls that are out of plumb at $300 to $1,000, and asbestos or lead testing at $150 to $350 on anything pre-1980.