How Much Does a Wet Room Cost?
Installing a wet room averages $13,000, and most projects total between $6,000 and $20,000, depending on the size of the room, the quality of the finishes, and a few other factors.
Wet rooms are open concept and include the same fixtures as those in a standard bathroom, but some have a large built-in shower space.
Hiring a general contractor costs about 10% and 20% of the total project cost.
If converting a bathroom into a wet room, you’ll need to pull up the flooring to install drainage.
You can save by not changing the room's layout or moving the electrical and plumbing.
Wet room installation costs an average of $13,000, but costs go as low as $5,000 and as high as $35,000. However, the final price depends heavily on how big of a space you want to convert—expect to pay $225 per square foot—the existing space you’re changing over, and how complex the plumbing job will be.
If you’re ready to make a splash, consider how each of the following factors affects your budget.
Cost by Room Size
Installing a wet room costs an average of $225 per square foot, which means larger spaces will naturally cost more. The cost per square foot can also range from $175 to $600, depending on fit and finish, so your price can also vary widely based on the quality of the materials you use and the extent of the changes you’re looking to make.
General Contractor Costs
Most homeowners hire a general contractor to install a wet room, which means you can avoid having to hire individual professionals, like plumbers, electricians, tile workers, drywall specialists, painters, and more. A general contractor can account for between 10% and 20% of your project total, which puts the average cost between $1,200 and $4,000 for installing a wet room.
Plumber Costs
If you avoid hiring a general contractor, one of the primary specialists you’ll need to vet and hire is a plumber. Plumbers charge between $45 and $200 per hour. You’ll pay an average of $1,500 for a plumber’s services when installing a wetroom, which can include rerouting some plumbing, replacing fixtures, and installing a drainage system in the floor to waterproof your space.
Electrician Costs
An electrician charges $50 to $100 per hour, and you can expect to pay between $300 and $800 for all of the electrical work that goes into installing a wet room. This normally includes replacing light fixtures, upgrading to GFCI outlets, and installing a vent fan to remove humidity.
Additional Pros to Consider Hiring
Hiring a general contractor comes with the major benefit of being able to vet a single pro for your entire job. Otherwise, you’ll need to find a few other specialists aside from plumbers and electricians to bring your project together.
Drywall installer cost: $1–$2.10 per sq. ft.
Interior painter cost: $2–$6 per sq. ft.
Tile installer cost: $5–$45 per sq. ft.
Cost by Location
Most projects will include 50% to 60% of the total going toward labor, and labor charges can vary widely by location. You can expect to pay more for labor in states and cities with a high cost of living as professionals scale their hourly cost based on the cost of living.
| State | Average Wet Room Cost |
|---|---|
| California | $18,800 |
| Florida | $13,300 |
| Georgia | $11,900 |
| Illinois | $12,400 |
| Michigan | $12,000 |
| New York | $16,000 |
| North Carolina | $12,700 |
| Ohio | $12,300 |
| Pennsylvania | $12,300 |
| Texas | $12,000 |
Additional Cost Factors
There are several other important cost factors to think about if you want to get the most accurate estimate possible.
Fixtures
Wet rooms normally include all of the fixtures you’d find in a standard bathroom, including a toilet and a sink. Some will have a large section of the room dedicated to the built-in shower space, although you won’t need to pay for a shower enclosure in many cases, given the open concept. Some wet rooms feature a standalone tub in the showering area, too, which will add $2,000 to $3,000 to your total.
The quality of the fixtures you choose will play a crucial role in your total wet room installation costs. You could pay as little as $200 for a pedestal sink, $200 for a toilet, and $600 for a standalone tub for materials only, bringing your total to $2,000, including installation. Opting for high-quality or luxury fixtures can easily bring the total up to $5,000 or more.
Finishes
Much like with fixtures, you can keep things affordable when choosing other materials and finishes, or you can splurge on luxury materials at the expense of a higher installation cost.
Choosing finishes like glazed ceramic tile for the floor and walls, affordable lighting fixtures, shower, tub, and sink faucets made out of stainless steel over copper, and other money-saving options can keep the cost of finishes as low as $1,000. Choosing high-quality materials that scream luxury and opulence could push that number to $5,000 or more. Your total could climb up to $35,000 if you choose things like a marble floor, a custom or more expensive type of tile for your walls, and custom copper plumbing fixtures.
A local bathroom designer can help you plan the fixtures, finishes, and materials needed to create the wet room of your dreams.
Demolition and Prep
If you’re installing your wet room where you currently have an existing bathroom, you’ll have to pay a professional to rip out what’s in the room and prepare the space for the remodel before you can start on any build-back. Expect to pay between $1,000 and $5,000 for the demolition and prep work or an average of $3,500 for a standard-sized bathroom.
Permits
A project like remodeling a bathroom or building a home addition to house your new wet room almost always requires a building permit. Permits will cost between $150 and $1,000 for this type of project, with your exact total depending on the size of the job and the fee schedule of your local building department. Before beginning your project, check with your contractor or building department to confirm permit costs.
DIY Wet Room Installation vs. Hiring a Pro
DIYing a wet room installation is technically possible, especially if you don’t plan on relocating plumbing or electric fixtures. Doing the work yourself would save you an average of $6,500, making the DIY route appealing.
However, installing a wet room is an extremely involved process that would likely take even an avid DIYer several weeks to complete, and it’s often not realistic to go that long without the use of your bathroom. Even if you could, it’s easy to make mistakes and errors when waterproofing a wet room, which can quickly lead to severe property damage and water damage.
It’s best to leave the work to a bathroom remodeler near you to ensure a safe remodeling process that leaves you without property damage and with a fully functional wet room in a matter of days rather than weeks.
Wet Room Remodel vs. Renovate
When it comes time to install a wet room, you can choose between a remodel and a renovation. In all cases, a renovation will be the more affordable option, but it’s only possible if you already have a wet room and just want an aesthetic overhaul.
A renovation, which can include replacing plumbing fixtures, updating tiling, and installing new lighting fixtures, will cost an average of $12,000. Remodeling a bathroom to turn it into a wet room, which can include installing whole-room drainage, moving plumbing fixtures, and adding or relocating electrical fixtures, will cost $13,000, on average, and your costs can climb as high as $35,000.
How to Save Money on Wet Room Installation
Installing a wet room can cost tens of thousands of dollars, but there are some things you can do to keep remodeling and renovation costs to a minimum.
Keep things as simple as possible: If you’re upgrading from a bathroom to a wet room, you’ll almost certainly need to rip up flooring to install drainage. However, you can keep costs down by avoiding expensive plumbing and electrical fixture relocation and maintaining the existing room’s size.
Choose more affordable materials: Splurging on luxury materials can quickly drive your total from an average of $13,000 up to $35,000. Save money by skipping the marble tiling and copper plumbing fixtures and go for mid-tier finishes instead.
Hire a bathroom remodeler: Hiring a professional to complete your bathroom remodel over DIYing will effectively double your project cost, but it also means a lower risk of water damage if you make a mistake, which can cost significantly more than you’d save DIYing. You’re also more likely to end up with a high-quality, professional appearance in your wet room.
Consider doing some of the work yourself: You don’t have to leave all the work to a pro, though. Consider saving on some of the finish work that’s less risky to take on yourself, like installing wall tile, connecting plumbing fixtures, and installing trim and other finishes.
Does Installing a Wet Room Increase Home Value?
Installing a wet room will often increase home value, mostly because it involves a bathroom renovation. You can expect to see a 60% to 70% return on investment (ROI) on the project.
As far as the value of upgrading from a bathroom to a wet room, the added value will depend on your particular buyer. Some buyers see wet rooms as a luxury home feature and one that makes your bathroom look bigger, so they will gladly pay more for a house that includes one. Others may be indifferent or even dislike the idea of a wet room, so the project may not have any impact on home value.
Pros and Cons of Adding a Wet Room
Consider the benefits and disadvantages of installing a wet room before deciding whether it’s right for your home.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Makes your bathroom look bigger | Higher installation costs |
| Easier to clean with fewer nooks and crannies | Risk of mold and mildew |
| Luxury appeal (wet rooms are seen as a high-end feature) | Less privacy |
| Better accessibility | Everything gets wet |
| May increase home value | Requires special slip-resistance flooring and proper drainage |
| Modern, spa-like feel | Potential for water damage |
The up-front costs of a wet room are often higher than a standard bathroom remodel, but many homeowners find that the luxury feel and increased home value that come with the investment are worth it.
How Angi Gets Its Cost Data
Home is the most important place on earth, which is why Angi has helped more than 150 million homeowners transform their houses into homes they adore. To help homeowners with their next project, Angi provides readers with the most accurate cost data and upholds strict editorial standards. We extensively research project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We rely on reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.
Want to help us improve our cost data? Send us a recent project quote to [email protected]. Quotes and personal information will not be shared publicly.
There are a few downsides to a wet room, the most important of which is the risk of mold growth from the moisture and humidity. Standard bathrooms can have the same issue, but wet rooms are more likely to experience problems because water is less carefully contained. You also have less privacy since the entire bathroom is open, and the room must include waterproofing, which makes wet rooms more expensive to install than regular bathrooms.
In a wet room, you need a floor that won’t sustain damage with constant exposure to water, but your options are normally the same as with a bathroom. Ceramic and porcelain tile are suitable options, as are natural stone like granite and marble, much like in a standard bathroom. Since a wet room’s floor is more likely to be wet, you should choose a flooring option with some texture to reduce how slippery the material gets.
It’s possible to convert a bathroom into a wet room, but it often requires extensive renovations. You’d likely need to remove the floors to install drainage and a new floor over that, remove drywall outside the shower area, and replace it with cement backer board covered in a waterproofing material. You’d also need to remove the existing shower, waterproof the walls, and install fixtures to create a more open, curbless shower space.
- Bathroom Remodeling
- Kitchen Remodeling
- Shower Installation
- Stair Installers
- Bathtub Installation
- Shower Door Installers
- Kitchen Design
- Bathroom Design Companies
- Storm Shelter Builders
- Pre-Made Cabinets
- Kitchen Refacing
- Bathtub Replacement
- Ceiling Tile Installation
- Suspended Ceiling Companies
- Residential Designers
- Stair Builders
- Remodel Designers
- Shower Enclosures
- Home Renovations
- Kitchen Renovations
- Garage Remodeling
- Grab Bar Installation
- Walk-In Tub Installers
- Tub to Shower Conversion
- Balcony Contractors
Get our Angi-powered app
