Boston, MA
BATH REMODEL ESTIMATING.

## Bath Remodel Estimating in Boston Is Not Simple Math Boston's housing stock tells the story before you even open a wall. Triple-deckers in Dorchester, brick row houses in the South End, Victorian walk-ups in Jamaica Plain — these buildings carry 100-plus years of deferred decisions. Lead pipe, knob-and-tube, tile set in hot mud, subfloors sistered three times over. You don't know what you're actually bidding until you're standing in the room. That's why a spreadsheet built in a parking lot doesn't cut it here. You need a scope document and a priced estimate that travel with you — built while you're still on site, before the homeowner's memory of the walkthrough goes soft. ## What Bath Remodel Estimating Looks Like in This Market Boston labor rates for tile and bath finish work run higher than national benchmarks. Journeyman tile setters in the metro average $75–$95 per hour. Licensed plumbers — required for any fixture relocation in Massachusetts — bill $110–$140 per hour. That gap between what you estimated and what the sub actually costs you is where margin dies. Permit fees add another layer. The City of Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD) charges for plumbing and building permits separately. A mid-range bath remodel involving fixture moves typically triggers both a building permit and a plumbing permit, with combined fees often landing in the $400–$700 range depending on declared project value. Factor that into the estimate before you send the number, not after the contract is signed. Massachusetts also requires that plumbing work be performed by a licensed Master Plumber or under one's direct supervision, per 248 CMR (the State Plumbing Code). Any fixture rough-in change — moving a toilet, adding a second sink — needs a licensed pull. Your estimate needs to price that reality, not the DIY version. ## The 8-Minute Target Is Realistic Here Estimate.Pro is built around a single flow: walk the job, capture it, get a sendable bid. The median time from walkthrough start to sendable estimate is 8 minutes. For a Boston bath remodel that means: - **AR measurements** on supported devices for floor area, wall tile coverage, and ceiling height — captured in the room, not guessed at a desk. Camera and photo measurements are flagged as estimates so you know exactly where your numbers are firm. - **AI scope-of-work generation** that converts what you observed into line items: demo, waterproofing membrane, CBU substrate, tile labor, grout, fixture rough-in, finish plumbing, exhaust fan, paint. - **Saved material cost workspace** where your Boston supplier pricing for Schluter trim, Wedi board, or Kohler fixtures lives — not national averages that don't match your receipts. You adjust what needs adjusting, apply your margin, and send. The homeowner gets a professional document while they still remember why they called you. ## Pricing That Doesn't Punish Small Crews Estimate.Pro has a free tier — no credit card, no time limit. When you're ready to move up, Pro is $39 per seat per month. Elite is $79 per seat per month and adds Stripe Connect with 0% platform fee on payments and invoice exports that work with your accounting setup. Crew is $399 flat per month for the whole team. On the Free plan, Stripe Connect carries a 3% platform fee. On Pro+ it drops to zero. No one is charging you a percentage of every job you win. That model doesn't make sense for a bath remodeler running $25,000–$80,000 projects in the Boston market. ## Built for the Conditions You're Actually Working In Boston bath remodelers deal with conditions that inflate scope fast: no access panels, single-stack plumbing in 1920s framing, bathrooms that weren't designed for the fixtures now in them. The scope-of-work AI is trained across 25 trades, including bath remodel, so when you flag a wet wall condition or a floor that needs leveling before tile, those line items show up in the estimate — not as afterthoughts on a change order. Get on site, run the walkthrough, send the number. That's the job.