By Tiffany Slowinski
Garden State Circle is supported by the businesses that partner with us, and Magnolia Home Remodeling Group, Union is an authority partner. We interviewed Vic Fiore, who leads the company, about the bathroom remodeling questions homeowners here actually ask. The partnership pays for the reporting; it does not decide the answers. Most of the numbers below are not published anywhere else.
Bathrooms are small rooms with a lot hiding behind the walls.
That is why two bathrooms with almost the same square footage can end up with very different remodeling costs.
Vic Fiore, owner of Magnolia Home Remodeling Group in Union, says the starting point is the type of bathroom and how much work is actually involved.
A full-strip, three-fixture, 8-by-5 hall bathroom runs $25,000–$30,000 on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
That includes plumbing, electrical, insulation, drywall, paint, trim, tile, fixtures, permits, cleanup, project management and inspections.
Move into a larger four- or five-fixture bathroom and the range changes.
A four- or five-fixture bathroom runs $35,000–$45,000 on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
A custom primary suite with a larger shower, an oversized two-sink vanity, a freestanding tub and more custom selections starts at $50,000+ on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
Selections can push that number higher.
The tile is not usually the scary part
The biggest surprises are often what gets uncovered once the room is stripped.
“Older houses have a lot of surprises,” Fiore says.
In an older home, demolition can reveal joists that were cut years ago to make room for plumbing.
It can reveal rotted or galvanized plumbing. Framing may need repair. Subflooring may need to be pulled and replaced.
A house that has been renovated several times over 100 or 150 years can also contain layer after layer of previous work.
That means more demolition, framing, plumbing and electrical.
Why age changes the project
A 20-year-old house is generally easier to work in than a much older home that has never been fully gutted.
That does not mean every old house becomes a nightmare.
It means the contractor has to price and plan around the possibility that the visible bathroom is only part of the job.
Fiore previously used the example of working in an older Victorian with custom paneling up multiple flights of stairs.
The bathroom itself may be one room. Getting materials in and debris out is part of the project too.
Hall bath vs. primary suite
A standard hall bath can still be a complete remodel.
The room gets stripped. Plumbing and electrical are addressed. Insulation and drywall go back in. Tile, fixtures, trim and paint finish the space.
That full-strip, three-fixture, 8-by-5 hall bathroom runs $25,000–$30,000 on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
The price rises as the bathroom gets larger, has more fixtures and gets more complicated.
A standard four- or five-fixture bathroom runs $35,000–$45,000 on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
A custom primary suite with a larger shower, an oversized two-sink vanity, a freestanding tub and more custom selections starts at $50,000+ on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
The important part is not to compare those three numbers as if they describe the same job. They do not.
Why a simple bathroom can stop being simple
A homeowner may think the job is tile, vanity, toilet, shower and paint.
That is the finished room.
The contractor has to deal with everything underneath it.
If the subfloor is damaged, it has to be replaced. If old plumbing is deteriorated, it has to be addressed. If framing is compromised, that becomes part of the scope.
That is especially true in houses that have been renovated piecemeal over decades.
The room may look fine before demolition. Then the walls open. When Magnolia finds something unexpected, the crew documents it with photos, shows the homeowner what was found, and gets approval before any additional work is added to the scope.
How to read the estimate
Do not start with the prettiest tile.
Start with the scope.
Is this a full strip? How many fixtures are in the room? Is the layout changing? Is this an older home where hidden framing, plumbing or subfloor issues are more likely to show up? Are you building a straightforward hall bath or a custom primary suite?
Once those questions are answered, the pricing makes more sense.
A full-strip, three-fixture, 8-by-5 hall bathroom runs $25,000–$30,000 on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
A larger four- or five-fixture bathroom runs $35,000–$45,000 on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
A custom primary suite starts at $50,000+ on Magnolia’s jobs in 2026.
Then the selections and whatever the house is hiding determine where the final proposal lands.
What the price is actually buying
The number on a bathroom proposal is not just the visible finishes.
On Magnolia’s full-strip hall bath, the scope Fiore described includes plumbing, electrical, insulation, drywall, paint, trim, tile, fixtures, permits, cleanup, project management and inspections. That is a complete rebuild of the room, not a cosmetic refresh, and the price includes the permits, inspections and project management that keep the job on track.
That matters when homeowners compare one bathroom number with another. A price that includes a full strip and rebuild is describing a different project than a cosmetic refresh.
The same thing happens with a primary suite. Adding fixtures, a custom shower, a larger vanity and a freestanding tub changes both the product cost and the amount of work in the room.
The cleanest comparison is scope to scope, not just square foot to square foot.
And in an older house, the proposal still has to account for what cannot be confirmed until demolition exposes the framing, plumbing and subfloor.
Pricing ranges in this article are Magnolia Home Remodeling Group’s 2026 estimates for its own jobs. Actual pricing depends on the scope, products, site conditions and selections. A written proposal governs the final scope and price.
About This Article
This article is produced by Garden State Circle and is part of our local guide to kitchen and bath professionals serving the Somerset Hills.
Written by Tiffany Slowinski, Co-Owner, Garden State Circle. Figures were provided by Magnolia Home Remodeling Group · Profile, Union and reflect this market in October 2026.
Also from this reporting: What a Kitchen Remodel Actually Costs in Somerset County in 2026, Does a Leak Mean You Need a New Roof? What to Check First, What Happens After You Sign With a Remodeler: A Magnolia Job, Step by Step, Replacement Windows: How the Order Actually Works, and What Andersen 200 Costs Installed in 2026 and A Ground-Up Deck: Why There’s an Architect at Your Kitchen Table, and What It Costs in 2026.
Earlier reporting on Magnolia Home Remodeling Group: What Should Be in a Roofing or Siding Contract in Montgomery Township in 2026?, How Much Does a Roof Replacement Cost in Warren in 2026?, What Can Be Hiding Under Old Siding in Somerville in 2026?, What Do Replacement Windows Cost in Bridgewater in 2026?, What Does a Composite Deck Cost in Basking Ridge in 2026? and How Much Does New Siding Cost in Basking Ridge in 2026?. Further reading: Built to Gather, City Lifestyle’s October 2026 feature on Magnolia Home Remodeling Group.
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