Bathroom Remodel Cost in Ann Arbor and Brighton

What does a bathroom remodel cost according to national surveys?

Houzz surveyed 1,738 registered users in July 2025 about their bathroom projects. It counts a remodel as major when at least the shower is upgraded and minor when it is not, and reports both medians and 90th-percentile spend.

These are national medians, so they do not reflect southeast Michigan labor rates or the condition of a particular house. And spend is not the same as value: in the 2025 Remodeling Impact Report from the National Association of Realtors and NARI, Realtors estimated that a bathroom renovation recovers about 50% of its cost at resale. Remodel a bath because it fixes how you live, and treat resale as a secondary benefit.

Where the money goes in an Ann Arbor or Brighton bathroom

When we break down a bathroom remodeling budget, the same line items carry most of the weight, and the ones buried in walls and floors are the ones homeowners underestimate.

• Plumbing moves. Keeping the toilet, tub and sink where they are is the single largest saving. Relocating a toilet means rerouting a 3-inch drain and its vent, which may involve opening the ceiling below.
• Shower construction. A site-built tile shower needs a sloped base, a waterproofing membrane, a niche and often a bench. A molded base with a tiled wall costs less; a curbless shower costs more because the floor framing is recessed.
• Tile area and pattern. Floor-to-ceiling tile, small mosaics and herringbone layouts add both material and installer hours. Large-format porcelain needs a flatter substrate, which adds prep.
• Cabinetry. A stock vanity, a semi-custom vanity and a furniture-grade piece built to the inch sit at very different price points. Drawer boxes cost more than doors.
• Glass. Heavy frameless panels are measured after tile is set and are a real budget line.
• Electrical and ventilation. New lighting, a heated floor, added GFCI-protected circuits and an exhaust fan ducted outdoors all require a licensed electrician and sometimes a new circuit at the panel.
• Hidden conditions. Rotted subfloor under an old tub, galvanized supply lines or a cracked cast-iron drain only show up at demolition.

Housing stock matters too. Ann Arbor’s century-old homes in Burns Park and the Old West Side often have plaster walls, cast-iron drains and out-of-square framing, and some sit inside local historic districts. Many Brighton subdivisions built in the 1990s and 2000s have fiberglass tub-shower units and builder-grade vanities that tear out cleanly but can hide moisture damage. Our notes on remodeling in Ann Arbor and bathroom and kitchen work in Brighton describe those housing types in more detail.

How do powder rooms, hall baths and primary suites compare?

Powder room

No shower, so no waterproofing and no glass. The budget lives in the vanity or pedestal sink, wall finish, mirror and lighting. A premium wallpaper or stone top costs less here than anywhere else in the house.

Hall or kids’ bath

Usually a 5-by-8-foot room with a tub-shower combination. Keeping the tub and replacing the surround is a minor remodel in Houzz terms; converting the tub to a walk-in shower makes it a major one.

Primary bath

The widest range. A master bathroom remodel can include a double vanity, a separate tub and shower, a water closet with its own door, and heated floors. Borrowing space from a closet adds framing and flooring work, so we price layout options side by side.

Which decisions move a bathroom budget the most?

To bring a number down without making the room feel cheap, these are the levers we reach for first.

1. Keep the toilet and main drain in place, and move the vanity or shower only if the layout truly improves.
2. Choose one feature to splurge on, such as a stone vanity top or a tiled walk-in shower, and keep the rest restrained.
3. Tile the shower walls fully but use paint above a wainscot height on the remaining walls.
4. Select a vanity in a standard width and spend on drawer organization rather than custom dimensions.
5. Pick a semi-frameless glass door or a fixed panel instead of a fully frameless hinged enclosure.

What does a bathroom budget have to cover besides the finishes?

People price a bathroom by what they can touch: tile, vanity, faucet, glass. The lines that protect those finishes are less visible and just as real; a quote that leaves them out is not cheaper, only incomplete. Before comparing two numbers, check that both carry the same behind-the-wall work.

• ✓Demolition and disposal, including floor protection along the route out.
• ✓Shower waterproofing as a named product or method, with the slope to the drain built under it rather than assumed.
• ✓Exhaust fan sized and ducted to the outdoors, not into the attic or a soffit cavity.
• ✓Electrical rough-in: GFCI-protected receptacles, a dedicated circuit for a heated floor if you want one, and switching for the fan, vanity light and any shower light.
• ✓Blocking in the walls for grab bars, a floating vanity, a towel warmer or a heavy mirror, installed while the studs are open.
• ✓Subfloor and drain allowance for what demolition reveals, stated as a dollar figure or a unit rate.
• ✓Permit fees and inspections, and who schedules them.

Ventilation is a small line that protects a big one

A fan costs little next to a tiled shower, yet it decides how long that shower stays clean and dry. The Home Ventilating Institute recommends at least 50 CFM for a bath of 50 square feet or less and 1 CFM per square foot up to 100 square feet; larger rooms are sized fixture by fixture, with a jetted tub counted at 100 CFM. The NKBA planning guidelines set a 60 CFM floor for a bath and recommend ducting to the exterior with a timer control. A primary suite with a separate toilet room may need two fans and two duct runs, which is better seen on the drawings than on a change order.

Permits and licensing for a bathroom remodel near Ann Arbor and Brighton

Permits are a small share of the budget but affect the schedule. The City of Ann Arbor runs its own building permit office, while many Livingston County communities go through the county building department in Howell; confirm with your city or township before demolition. Under Michigan’s Occupational Code (MCL 339.2403), anyone contracting home improvement work worth $600 or more needs a state license, so ask each bidder for theirs. For reference, #2101209269 is the residential builder license Nick holds with the state.