← Walk-in shower bid calculator
Owners call with a weekday number: “Can you start Saturday? Same $45 a square foot — we only have one shower.” That sounds like the same wet area. It is not the same crew day. After-hours is time-and-a-half. You cannot leave mud overnight in the only bath they still use, so it is a second evening trip. Working around a shower on a weekday is the same wage on a slower set.
Open the free walk-in shower bid calculatorAn empty weekday curbless walk-in still carries the wage you already timed. After-hours raises that wage to time-and-a-half and adds a starting second trip. On a typical 5x5 curbless walk-in — $38 wage, 32% burden, 16% overhead, 28% target margin, linear drain, valve relocate, two niches, masonry bench, frameless glass — the empty-weekday bid is $12,821.25. After-hours is $15,363.84. The walk-away jumps from $9,231.30 to $11,061.97. Taking $5,175 ($45 / SF) to “just do Saturday” still loses money — even on the weekday.
| Weekday, they leave | Only bath still in use | After-hours / weekend | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wage | Weekday | Weekday | Time-and-a-half |
| Set hours | Same | Slower set + punch-list | Same set, plus a second trip |
| Your bid | $12,821.25 | $13,300.07 | $15,363.84 |
| Walk-away | $9,231.30 | $9,576.05 | $11,061.97 |
| At $5,175 Saturday special | Loses | Loses more | Loses more |
The Saturday special is more tempting on a 5x3 alcove tub-to-shower. The empty-weekday bid is $7,418.51. Only-bath-still-in-use adds $406.09. After-hours adds $1,475.85 and the walk-away is $6,403.94. A $5,500 “same as weekday” Saturday number covers the empty weekday and loses $903.94 after hours.
Customer-supplied tile is their boxes and a labor-only number — see should I install customer-supplied tile. Matching the brochure alcove’s price per tile square foot on a curbless walk-in is a different special — see should I match an alcove price on a curbless walk-in. After-hours is when you can stand in the only bath. A kitchen backsplash is a dry wall. A toilet is a commode swap. This prices a wet-area system.
Open the walk-in shower bid calculator, pick the curbless walk-in preset, and put their Saturday number in “price you’re considering.” The access table scores that number against a weekday they leave, only-bath-still-in-use, and after-hours / weekend. Nothing is uploaded.
This is the same arithmetic as how much to charge to install a walk-in shower. It is not a labor-law determination, a union scale, or a reason to refuse a customer — it is the walk-away number on each access window.
Only after you price time-and-a-half plus a second evening trip. You cannot leave mud overnight in the only bath they still use. A $45 / SF Saturday special on a 5x5 curbless walk-in often sits under that walk-away number even on an empty weekday.
Yes. Same wage, slower set and punch-list. On a typical 5x3 alcove tub-to-shower the only-bath-still-in-use bid is $7,824.60 versus $7,418.51 when they leave.
Usually not on the job they actually want. On a 5x3 alcove the after-hours walk-away is $6,403.94. $5,500 covers an empty weekday and loses $903.94 after hours. On a 5x5 curbless walk-in, $5,175 ($45 / SF) still loses money — even on the weekday.