🛁 Bathroom Renovation: what it costs in the GTA (2026)

Labour and waterproofing, not the pretty stuff. A full gut runs roughly a third demolition-plumbing-electrical, a third tile and waterproofing, a third fixtures and finishes. The invisible layer decides whether the room lasts: a proper shower is membraned (Schluter or equivalent) behind the tile, sloped to drain, and vented so moisture leaves the room. Tile over bare drywall in a wet zone is how you buy the same bathroom twice.

Moving a toilet means moving a 3-inch drain stack; moving a shower means rerouting supply and drain through joists. Every metre of relocation is real money and permit territory. If the current layout works, a full refresh in the same footprint (new tub or shower, tile, vanity, floor) delivers 90% of the wow for a lot less. Save layout changes for when the room genuinely doesn't function.

A family of four puts litres of water vapour into that little room daily. Without a properly sized fan vented outside (not into the attic, we keep finding this), that vapour condenses in walls and windows, and you get peeling paint, black grout lines, and eventually mould remediation. The fan should run during and 20 minutes after showers; a humidity-sensing switch is a cheap upgrade that removes the human error.

A properly run bathroom goes: demo (days 1–2), rough plumbing and electrical plus inspection (3–5), board and waterproofing (6–8), tile (9–12), fixtures, glass, and paint (13–18). The killer of every timeline is materials arriving late, so a good contractor won't start demo until your tile, tub, and vanity are physically in the garage. If someone offers to start tomorrow with nothing ordered, that's a red flag with a paintbrush.