What pricing should I expect for a bathtub replacement in Boston?

Submitted by lesbrarians t3_yb493x in boston

Not sure if this is an appropriate post for this subreddit, but eh, worth a shot. So I'm a condo owner in Boston, renoed most of the place myself, and I'm finally onto my last item. Replacing the old gross tub from the 1980s. Which I absolutely need a contractor for. Thought I knew what kind of ballpark figure I was looking at, then I got a quote from a contractor... who told me it'd be $15k (if I signed that night, otherwise it would be $20k, so of course I ran for the hills at that), which was significantly higher than I had budgeted for.

So -- what is a reasonable estimate when I get my next quote? And does anyone have any recommendations for contractors to look into around here?

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khroloxen t1_itelcbt wrote

Seems crazy high, anything complicated about your unit (i.e. 5th floor up tight stairs?). One of the problems is that if they need to open up walls, they will need to bring it up to code which could get very expensive. What’s the issue with the current tub? Does it just look worn or are you looking to upgrade? If it’s just worn, you could look into reglazing it which would be much cheaper (either DIY or professionally).

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Ok-Apricot-749 t1_iteliij wrote

Is this also a shower that needs to be retiled?

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a_swarm_of_nuns t1_itemmjn wrote

Nope nope nope. Those contractors get you on the hook and basically put you on a backlog since they have so many jobs going on. Not quality work, quantity for them.

Assuming you don’t have to move any plumbing, it shouldn’t be 15K. It would be whatever the cost of the bathtub is, plus labor. Say 6 hrs labor tops at $150/hr tops.

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RogueInteger t1_itemzjc wrote

Bathtub removal and replacing should be 1k and not much more than that.

A bathroom renovation would be 15k with change.

You need a plumber not a contractor.

You can also do this yourself, but plumbing the drain is frustrating if you haven't done it before.

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SeekingAir t1_ites1fw wrote

That's a stupid high estimate. Is there access to disconnect the drain? Setting a tub sucks but if you're planning on new tile or whatever, beat that tub out. Put some earplugs in then put some earmuffs over and beat that old beast of a tub out with a sledgehammer into pieces. The new tub will be fibreglass, which sucks, but it'll be new

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willzyx01 t1_itesf8s wrote

$15k? The f man. That’s enough to re-do the whole bathroom.

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lesbrarians OP t1_iteuj9q wrote

Replying to khroloxen (#184,282)

It’s a second floor, somewhat tight stairs, but tbh, he came in the back entrance and not the entrance that would be taken, so I can’t imagine that factored into his estimate! He also didn’t mention opening the walls, but I would understand that being more expensive. The tub’s worn, had 35 years of stains in it that don’t clean easily, and missing a drain cover (I bought one that rests in it but it doesn’t work as well as I’d like — I asked a plumber about it and he said that the whole tub would have to be replaced in order to replace the drain, ugh). It’s fiberglass so I didn’t think reglazing an option, hmm… I can look into that. Thanks for the response!

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lesbrarians OP t1_iteuv9i wrote

Replying to RogueInteger (#184,425)

Thank you so much, that sounds much more reasonable and more along the lines of what I was expecting! I’ll search for some plumbers. I’ve never worked with plumbing before which has been my biggest reservation against giving it a shot myself tbh

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lesbrarians OP t1_itev6pz wrote

Replying to a_swarm_of_nuns (#184,403)

Yeahh, that was the impression I was starting to get after the dude gave me his hour long spiel, it was some real skeevy vibes — glad to know my gut instinct was correct. Thank you for the numbers, that gives me a much better perspective as to what I should be anticipating

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-CalicoKitty- t1_itf69ru wrote

Replying to lesbrarians (#184,829)

As someone who just purchased one: the prices have gone up a ton the last year, but just the tub could range from about $1000 - $5000. I would just buy the tub yourself and hire someone to install it. Shouldn't cost anywhere near $15k.

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khroloxen t1_itfeaw7 wrote

Replying to lesbrarians (#184,936)

Sounds like he’s giving you a “I don’t want to do your small job” quote. Like others said, go straight to a plumber, shouldn’t be more then a day worth of labor, probably less than $1000 + materials.

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RockHockey t1_itfzkxn wrote

Not sure if this works For you…but when we retired our bathroom we just had the tub reglazed. Couple hundred bucks I think to Was. Just linking to a random company so you see what I mean.

https://www.bostonbathtub.com

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LonelyAccountantCPA t1_ithbbg3 wrote

A lot of contractors quote a ridiculous price if they don’t really want to do the work without outright saying no.

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Namgodtoh t1_ithf2nx wrote

Likely it will be higher than you think but 15k is excessive. I would say tub cost + 1 day labor for 2 people + disposal. Depending on the tub 5-8k total? You'll likely pay for a full day on the labor even if it takes less just because it's inefficient to pull people between jobs in the same day.

Never work with someone who is pressuring you to sign that day. They should give you a quote and a number of days that it's good for. Either they didn't want the job or they prey on ingnorance.

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