← Walk-in shower bid calculator
The number a homeowner wants is a price per square foot of tile. That number is not a takeoff. A 5x3 alcove tub-to-shower with the existing valve is not the same job as a 5x5 curbless walk-in with a linear drain and frameless glass. The tile count is close. The hours are not.
Open the free bid calculatorFlooring calculators price LVP, hardwood, and floor tile with a waste factor. Cabinet and countertop calculators price kitchens. Drywall prices hang-and-finish. A walk-in shower is a wet-area system: tear-out, a valve that may move, waterproofing, wall and floor tile, niches, a bench, and glass. Quoting all of that from a published per-square-foot number is how the first linear drain eats the field margin.
Each curbless floor is extra slope and extra waterproofing that never appears in the wall count. A linear drain is billed as its own hours and its own kit. A valve relocate and a masonry bench are adders that get forgotten on a brochure special. On the sample rates a 5x5 curbless walk-in with a linear drain, valve relocate, two niches, a masonry bench, and frameless glass prices about $12,821 ($111 per tile sq ft, 55.4 crew-hours). The same shop’s 5x3 alcove tub-to-shower with a framed door prices about $7,419 ($78 per tile sq ft, 29.0 hours, walk-away $5,341). Matching the brochure job’s per-square-foot number on the walk-in is how that job becomes a loss. See should I match an alcove price on a curbless walk-in.
A steam shower is not an alcove plus 20%. On the sample rates a 4x6 steam job with a masonry bench, two niches, and a steam-rated enclosure prices about $15,441 ($115 per tile sq ft, 51.0 crew-hours) — more money than the walk-in, not because there is more tile but because the generator and the sealed glass do not live in a published per-SF number. A tile-only alcove with the demo already done and no glass prices about $5,637 (25.0 hours). Treating either as a blended add-on is how the special that looked fine turns into a loss after the first steam leak path.
A $38/h setter loaded at 32% payroll burden is $50.16. Margin is a share of the price you send, not a markup on cost. The walk-away price is total cost — below that the job makes nothing before you take a dollar home. Replace every rate with your invoices before you send either number.
Owners also shop a second special: “I already bought the tile — just set it for $45 / SF.” Zeroing the tile invoice drops the bid. The set hours stay. Leftover boxes they want back are still hours. A short order or a dye-lot mismatch is a second trip. See should I install customer-supplied tile for the three-way comparison on the same shower.
Owners also call with a weekday number and ask you to start Saturday so they can keep the only shower. After-hours is time-and-a-half plus a second evening trip — you cannot leave mud overnight. On the sample rates a 5x3 alcove prices about $7,418.51 when they leave and $8,894.37 after hours. A $5,500 Saturday number covers the weekday and loses $903.94. See should I tile a walk-in shower after hours.
This is not a plumbing specification, a waterproofing warranty, a building-code determination, a permit, or a recommended market price. It is arithmetic on the numbers you type. Slope, drain type, membrane, and whether the valve must move are yours to confirm.
Charge from wall and floor tile, waterproofing, tub tear-out, valve relocate, linear drain, curbless slope, niches, bench, glass, loaded labor, overhead, and a margin that is a share of price. A default 5x3 alcove tub-to-shower at the sample rates in this calculator prices around $7,419 — about $78 per square foot of tile.
Homeowners count tile. Linear drains, curbless slope, a valve relocate, niches, a masonry bench, and frameless glass do not scale with that count. Matching a cheaper per-SF quote written for a brochure alcove is how a curbless walk-in becomes a week-long loss.
Not in proportion. On the sample rates a 5x5 curbless walk-in with a linear drain, valve relocate, two niches, a masonry bench, and frameless glass prices around $12,821 ($111 per tile sq ft), while a 5x3 alcove tub-to-shower with similar tile prices around $7,419 ($78 per tile sq ft).