Tile

Bathroom remodels are where budgets go to die.

Not because bathrooms are big. Because they’re dense: water, drains, electric, humidity, and finishes you stare at from 18 inches away.

Also because everyone starts with the same lie:

“We’re just going to update it.”

And then you pull one thing off the wall and… yeah.

My real-world checklist before you even talk money:

• Are we keeping the layout (toilet/shower/vanity stay put)?
• Are we touching plumbing behind the wall (valves/drains/vents)?
• Are we doing actual waterproofing + a fan that vents outside?

If you can answer those three, 80% of the price stops feeling random.

I have a note on my phone titled “FLOORS” and it reads like someone slowly learning that “install new flooring” is not one thing.

It’s a bunch of separate purchases wearing a trench coat:

• demo + disposal (maybe)
• prep (always… even when the quote pretends it’s free)
• install labor
• transitions and trim
• stairs (if you have them)

And flooring quotes love to hide the important stuff inside one line like: