The twelve items, and what each one protects you from
1. Demolition and disposal. Including where the debris goes and who pays for the container. It shows up as a surprise more often than you would expect.
2. Subfloor and framing repair, with a unit rate. Not "as needed", not "if required" — a price per sheet and per linear foot of framing. Bathrooms have usually been leaking somewhere for years, and this line turns a mid-job discovery into arithmetic instead of an argument.
3. Plumbing, by fixture, stating what moves. Rough and trim listed separately, and a clear statement of whether the toilet, sink or bathing fixture changes position. Any move should be named, because that is where the money goes.
4. Electrical and ventilation to current code. GFCI protection, any dedicated circuit, and an exhaust fan sized for the room and ducted outside rather than into the attic. The most commonly omitted group, and its absence is a real reason one quote is lower.
5. Waterproofing, by method and product name. A sheet or liquid membrane, and how the corners and the threshold are detailed. "Cement board" is a substrate, not waterproofing. A quote that will not name this is not comparable to one that does.
6. The shower floor build. Pre-formed pan or a packed bed, drain type, and the slope. Tile laid on a flat surface with optimism is a leak with a schedule.
7. Tile: area, format and layout. Square footage of floor and wall, the format, and the pattern. Tile is labour, and a herringbone mosaic and a large-format straight lay in the same room are very different amounts of it.
8. Fixtures and fittings, by model number. Toilet, sink, vanity, faucet, shower valve, shower head, hand shower. "Allowance: fixtures" is not a specification, and an allowance should state its amount and what happens above and below it.
9. The enclosure, by model. Glass thickness, framed or frameless, hinge type, and who measures it — enclosures are measured after tile, which is part of the schedule.
10. Paint, trim and the door. Including patching from plumbing or electrical work in adjacent rooms, which is real and routinely forgotten.
11. Protection and cleanup. Floor protection on the route in, dust control, daily tidy. The difference between a professional job and a bad month.
12. Permit, schedule, payment stages and both warranties. Who pulls the permit and the number on your contract; a schedule with a start and a duration; payments tied to stages rather than dates; manufacturer warranties on products, and a written workmanship warranty with a term and a company name behind it.
The four omissions that make a cheap quote cheap
No waterproofing named. The most consequential omission, and invisible until it is not.
No electrical or ventilation. Common in older bathrooms that need both, and not optional.
No unit rate for what is found on opening up. The change order is being deferred, not avoided.
A single number with no line items. Nothing to compare and nothing to hold anyone to.
Two questions worth asking out loud
"Are the people doing the work your employees or subcontractors?" Either answer is fine; you are entitled to know who will be in your house and who you call in year three.
"Who honours the workmanship warranty, and for how long?" Get a company name and a term in writing. Nearly every real-world bathroom complaint is installation, which no manufacturer warranty touches.
Why we publish this
Because it is the document we produce anyway, and a homeowner holding it can compare us against anyone. A contractor who does not want you holding this list is telling you something.
Free walkthrough across Maryland and Northern Virginia and a written line-item scope covering all twelve. We do not publish a bathroom price, because the largest variable is not visible until demolition — but the scope is, and the scope is what makes a number mean anything. MHIC #111971, Virginia Class A #2705183185.
Get it looked at, free
We inspect across Maryland — Montgomery, Prince George's, Howard, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Carroll and Baltimore counties. Free inspection, photo report within 24 hours, and the report is yours to keep whether or not you hire us.