Any suggestions regarding choice of flooring tiles in big shower and colour schemes

Good luck!

I would suggest that you look at photos on houzz or Pinterest for styles and color schemes that you like. Having an inspiration pic to give you a starting point would help. Also, what is the style of the house itself? The bathrooms should reflect the overall style.

We would need a lot more info from you or all you get is a bunch of guesses.

That’s a 60-120K ambition to do 2 baths that include a master. Better hire a designer to help you with it. It’s expensive to mess that up.

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2018/

You haven’t paid a liscensed plumber lately have you? Or gone through how to actually waterproof a wet area properly? Or paid a real tile professional prevailing wages?

Sure you can do an apartment grade job for less with cheepchinesecrapola. Most people don’t tackle remodels unless they want to upgrade from that level.

I did a new shower last year and without the GC fee the proper water proofing, labor, shower fixtures , glass door, lights and tile for a slightly bigger than 3x5 shower cost over 15k just for the shower and this is excluding plumber and electrician costs. So I agree that Sophie's estimated cost are more realistic in my area than ventralpal's. The powder room has a shower so full bath price applies there if you are keeping the shower stall.

What waterproofing system was used? Where are the pics, including the in progress ones? TANSTAAFL

My above costs for the shower only were for a new built shower, so no demo costs, and I used tile that was under 10 per sq ft. My shower fixtures were Grohe, so on the higher end and my glass was not the saphire nor the top thickness so moderate cost material. Kerdi membrane and pan, durock cement board and no bench. Labor was a big factor. I used all licensed and insured pros.

My shower break down,

durock, Kerdi pan, Kerdi water proof membrane, tile install and exterior wall insulation, ceiling lights for shower stall 9k

tile for ten foot high walls and shower floor 1500

Frameless glass factory treated for water protection 2700 with install included

plumbing fixtures 2500ish , Grohe three valves and thermostatic pressure temp control four jets , hand held and 12 inch ceiling rain can 3/4 pipes

plumber and electrical I do not include for this was an addition with no existing plumbing on this side so that was a hefty surcharge.

total for shower area 15,700 with the gc's 10% cut not included with these prices. I am in ct on the metro north line, high cola but obviously no restrictions on number of shower heads.

There may be a market for the grey toilet and sink. Probably not the tub if it is acrylic.

I did two baths and they were fairly in line with the $45K estimates you are getting and they have all the proper plumbing, waterproofing and electrical upgrades, custom vanities, custom tops, custom shower base, and Runtal heaters. However one is tiny, one is the size of your smaller one, and I used very inexpensive tile. My contractor is also relatively inexpensive labor-wise.

My near gut but fairly standard three piece bath with Toto and American Standard, and tile only in the shower and on the floor, nothing-fancy but had to be turned around quickly because it was a condo bath was almost $20,000. Various plumbing and electrical and room wall repair was done slowly over a few years, and then the full gut and replacement of shower area and flooring and putting it all back in a matter of days was $14,000 of it.

Carol having a GC was the best money I ever spent. I got lucky mine was a very honest guy and had my back 100 percent when a problem occurred a few months after my bath was completed.

He had already been fully paid but when my shower floor was not draining properly he insisted that the tiler rip it out and redo it floor to ceiling, new cement board, new waterproofing, new tiles at his cost until it was done right. If it had been me the tiler would have no reason to redo it without a court case but since he got jobs from my GC and my gc's industry friends it would have shut his business down to anger my GC.

Another reason I am so thankful for having used a GC was that one week after my roof was removed to add the second floor bath addition my DH was diagnosed with cancer. He had three surgeries back to back during our construction that spring. I could not have contracted out all the needed jobs, over seen the work and been present for deliveries myself as it turned out.

As to designers or architect's pricing vs true labor costs, my neighbor's quote from the design team of 300 dollars per sq ft to build an addition was underpriced between 250 to 400 per sq ft when they met with the teams doing the work...

$45,000 seems high for two small bathrooms. Our house had two master bathrooms when we bought. We gutted all three bathrooms from wall to wall (300 square feet) replacing old fixtures with new, moved walls and doorways to accommodate the bathrooms, added electric outlets, built new custom cabinets from a local guy, porcelain flooring with Quartz counter tops, added 10 can lights, replaced two double hung windows with picture windows, removed most of an exterior wall to add a double exterior door, added closets to the master bedroom, and replaced 16 interior doors with solid doors and new hardware. I don't feel like we scrimped on anything and the cost was $60,000. Shower was built from scratch. Tub in the other bath was bought and installed. I used high pressure low flow shower heads instead of the water wasting shower heads posted in the pix above. Cost included 3 American Standard Cadet 3 toilets and Kohler sinks with Moen faucets. That price was 2 years ago in rural Texas.

Material cost is only a fraction of the equation. Labor costs make up a bigger percentage of total price and that will vary from location to location. rural Texas is likely a much lower COLA than the New York metro area. If you get a at least four quotes, carol, from those hiring the subs, only than can you get a realistic view of what your individual project will cost.

My only advice is to not accept a low ball quote for the showers. Waterproofing and properly sloped pans are essential. In retrospect I wish I bought a Kohler shower pan. So many horror stories on the bath and remodel forums pertaining to uncontracted inexpensive shower constructions. This week alone I have seen five examples of issues. Mistakes happen even with a contract, as I found out but If you have a strong contract specifying how the shower will be constructed and waterproofed if it fails you have redo or refund protection.

Also take pictures of every step of construction incase you need to trouble shoot any issues later.

Good luck.

You can easily see where the cost difference in the projects come from. One is a 6 Level and one is a 4 Level. That’s still in the middle of the bell curve.