Bathroom renovation in Toronto and the GTA
Bathroom renovation in Toronto
Waterproofing done properly, tile set straight, and a fixed price agreed before demolition starts. One in-house team handles the design, the permits, the plumbing and the finish work.
Award winning bathroom renovations in the GTA
Licensed and insured, WSIB covered, and rated 4.9 out of 5 by more than 115 Google reviewers.
The part of a bathroom you cannot see is the part that matters
A bathroom is the smallest room in the house and the easiest one to get wrong. Water goes where it wants. If the waterproofing membrane, the slope to the drain and the vapour control are not done properly, the tile looks fine for two years and then you are paying for it twice.
That is the part of the job we will not rush. Every Senso bathroom gets a full waterproofing system behind the tile, proper backer board, and a shower floor sloped to drain before a single tile goes down. It is invisible when we are finished, and it is the reason our bathrooms are still watertight a decade later.
We have completed more than 900 projects across Toronto and the GTA since 2004, and bathrooms are the work we are asked to fix most often after somebody else has done them.
Bathroom renovation cost in Toronto
These are 2026 figures from our own completed GTA bathrooms, not national averages. All numbers are before 13% HST. The wider method sits in our Toronto home renovation cost guide.
The short answer: a standard full bathroom renovation in Toronto costs $9,000 to $14,000 in 2026. A powder room runs $3,500 to $6,000, and a primary ensuite runs $14,000 to $25,000. Waterproofing, tile, glass and plumbing pack a lot of cost into a small footprint, which is why bathrooms cost more per square foot than almost any other room.
Powder room
Toilet, vanity, mirror, lighting, flooring and paint. No waterproofing needed beyond the floor, which keeps it the cheapest room in the house to update.
Standard full bathroom
Tub or shower, new tile, vanity, toilet, fixtures and lighting. Full waterproofing behind the wet walls, with the layout usually staying where it is.
Primary ensuite
Double vanity, glass shower enclosure, often a freestanding tub, heated floors and better tile. More square footage and more fixtures in every direction.
What the individual pieces cost
| Item | Budget | Mid range | High end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wall and floor tile, per sq ft | $9 to $13 | $14 to $19 | $20+ |
| Vanity | $600 to $1,200 | $1,200 to $2,500 | $2,500 to $6,000 |
| Shower glass enclosure | $900 to $1,500 | $1,500 to $3,000 | $3,000 to $6,000 |
| Toilet | $300 to $600 | $600 to $1,200 | $1,200 to $3,000 |
| Adding a drain where none exists | $8,000 to $15,000 in a basement, because it means breaking concrete | ||
Where a bathroom budget usually breaks: moving the toilet. The drain has a fixed location and a required slope, so relocating it means opening the floor and reworking the stack. Keep the toilet, tub and sink roughly where they are and you save thousands before you have chosen a single tile.
Put a ballpark on your bathroom
Pick the type of bathroom and whether a drain already exists where you want it. It uses the same 2026 ranges as the tables above, then adds the 13% HST, because that is the number that actually leaves your account.
Ranges come from completed Senso Design bathrooms across Toronto and the GTA. Adding a drain where none exists means breaking and repouring concrete, which is why that option adds $8,000 to $15,000.
A starting point, not a quote. For a real figure we walk your bathroom, free and with no obligation.
What actually goes on behind the tile
Most bathroom failures are not tile failures. They are waterproofing failures that took two or three years to show up as a stain on the ceiling below. Here is the sequence we follow on every bathroom, and the questions worth asking any contractor you are considering.
- Cement backer board, never drywall, in the wet zone. Regular drywall behind tile in a shower is the single most common shortcut we find when we open a wall.
- A continuous waterproofing membrane. Over the backer board, up the walls, across the shower floor, and lapped properly at every corner and change of plane.
- A shower floor sloped to the drain. Built before tiling, at a consistent fall, so water leaves rather than sitting in the grout.
- A proper exhaust fan, vented outside. Not into the attic. Ontario’s building code requires it and it is what keeps mould out of the ceiling.
- Sealed penetrations. Every screw, valve and mixer opening in the wet zone gets sealed rather than left for the grout to cover.
Our tile installation service covers the finish side of the same job.
Five things that decide your bathroom renovation price
01
Whether the plumbing moves
Keeping the toilet, tub and sink in place is the biggest saver available to you. Relocating the toilet means opening the floor and reworking the drain to the right slope.
02
Tub out, shower in
Converting a tub to a curbless walk in shower means rebuilding the floor structure to drop the drain and get the slope right. It looks simple and it is not.
03
Tile size and pattern
Large format tile needs a dead flat wall, so the prep costs more. Herringbone and mosaic take far longer to set than a straight lay in the same square footage.
04
Glass, and how custom it is
A stock sliding door is a fraction of the cost of a custom frameless enclosure measured after the tile is set. Frameless glass is often the single biggest line after tile.
05
What is behind the wall
Older Toronto homes hide galvanized supply lines, lead bends under the toilet and no venting to speak of. You do not find out until demolition day, so hold 10% to 15% back.
Do you need a permit? Swapping a vanity, toilet, tub and tile in the same layout usually does not need one. You do need a City of Toronto building permit for moving plumbing, adding or altering circuits, changing venting, or removing a wall. We pull permits in our own name, so you are never the legal contact for an inspection.
What is included in a Senso Design bathroom renovation
- Design and material selection. Layout drawings and finishes chosen from our design catalogues before anything is ordered.
- Demolition and disposal. Including the bin, which is a line some quotes quietly leave out.
- Licensed plumbing and electrical. Our own trades, not a rotating cast of subcontractors.
- Full waterproofing system. Backer board, membrane, sloped shower base and sealed penetrations.
- Tile, vanity, glass and fixtures. Supplied and installed on one schedule so trades are not waiting on each other.
- Permits where the scope needs them. Pulled in our name, inspections handled by us.
- A line itemized fixed price. Real allowances for tile, vanity and glass rather than placeholder numbers.
- Workmanship warranty. A joint walkthrough, a deficiency list, and a written warranty on every bathroom.
The price you agree on before we start is the price you pay.
Bathrooms are the easiest room to underquote, because so much of the cost is hidden behind a wall nobody has opened yet. A low bid usually means thin allowances on tile, vanity and glass, and a change order once you have chosen something you actually like.
We design and plan first
Layout, selections and permits are settled before demolition day.
Allowances are real numbers
Tile, vanity and glass are priced at what you actually chose.
Changes are approved by you
Nothing moves the price unless you sign off on it in writing.
One team to the finish
The crew that starts your bathroom is the crew that finishes it.
“The other quote was half the price.“
Ask what the tile allowance is per square foot, whether the glass is stock or custom, whether the bin and permits are in, and what waterproofing system goes behind the tile. Most of the gap between two bathroom quotes lives in those four answers.
We also offer renovation financing up to $100,000, with an online application and a quick credit decision.
Our bathroom renovation process
How long a bathroom renovation takes in Toronto
| Scope | Construction time | What extends it |
|---|---|---|
| Powder room | 4 to 7 days | Vanity and fixture lead time |
| Standard bathroom, same layout | 2 to 3 weeks | Custom glass measured after tiling |
| Ensuite or moved plumbing | 3 to 5 weeks | Permits, inspections, structural work |
Custom shower glass is the quiet delay in most bathroom projects. It cannot be measured until the tile is finished, then it takes one to two weeks to fabricate. We order it the day tiling wraps so it is not sitting idle.
If this is your only full bathroom, plan for it. Most clients keep a powder room in service, or arrange a few days elsewhere during the rough in and tiling stretch. We seal the work area and protect the route in and out so the rest of the house stays liveable.
Recent bathroom renovation projects
Each figure is the typical range for that project type rather than the exact cost of the job.
Project walkthroughs and client videos
Real Senso projects, filmed after handover. Click any video to play it here on the page.
Richmond Hill
Springbrook Dr bathroom renovation
Stouffville
Cedar Ridge Rd renovation
What clients say
Senso Design holds a 4.9 star rating across 115+ Google reviews, plus Best of HomeStars five years running and Best of Houzz in 2025 and 2026.
We did a major renovation, kitchen, multiple baths, family room, and still love the work they did. From incorporating new ideas to sticking to budget and timelines, they were on point. Their after care has also been superb.
Mark patiently explained everything to us, from planning, design, choices of materials and timeline. Everything went extremely well, from a great design and layout to the hardworking, efficient, well mannered construction crew.
The teams were well coordinated, small issues were resolved quickly, and the final cost matched the original quote. That last part is rarer than it should be.
Bathroom renovations across Toronto and the GTA
Based in Markham, we renovate bathrooms across the city and the surrounding regions. If you are searching closer to home, start with your area page:
Markham · Vaughan · Richmond Hill · Mississauga · Oakville · Etobicoke · Scarborough · North York · Thornhill · All service areas
Planning more than one room? See our kitchen renovation, basement renovation and condo renovation pages.
Bathroom renovation questions, answered
How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Toronto?
In 2026, a standard full bathroom renovation in Toronto costs $9,000 to $14,000 before HST, based on our completed GTA projects. A powder room of around 50 square feet runs $3,500 to $6,000, and a primary ensuite runs $14,000 to $25,000. Bathrooms cost more per square foot than almost any other room because waterproofing, tile, glass and plumbing are all packed into a small footprint.
Can I renovate a bathroom for $5,000 in Toronto?
For a powder room, yes. $5,000 covers a new toilet, vanity, mirror, lighting, flooring and paint in a room with no shower. For a full bathroom with a tub or shower it is not realistic once you include demolition, waterproofing, tile, glass and licensed plumbing. If your budget is near that figure, the honest options are refinishing rather than replacing the tub, keeping the tile and replacing only the vanity and fixtures, or doing the powder room now and the main bathroom later.
Do I need a permit to renovate a bathroom in Toronto?
Not for a like for like update. Replacing a vanity, toilet, tub and tile in the same layout usually needs no permit. You do need a City of Toronto building permit if you are moving plumbing, adding or altering electrical circuits, changing venting, or removing a wall. We pull permits in our own name and handle the inspections, so you are never the legal contact.
How long does a bathroom renovation take?
A powder room takes 4 to 7 days. A standard bathroom keeping the same layout takes 2 to 3 weeks. An ensuite, or any bathroom where plumbing moves, takes 3 to 5 weeks. The most common delay is custom shower glass, which cannot be measured until the tile is finished and then takes one to two weeks to fabricate.
Why is moving the toilet so expensive?
Because the drain has to fall at a fixed slope to reach the stack. Moving a toilet means opening the floor, rerouting the drain, sometimes cutting into joists, and often adding venting. On a concrete floor it means breaking and repouring. A sink is comparatively easy to move, a shower is harder, and a toilet is the hardest of the three.
What does it cost to add a bathroom in a basement?
Add $8,000 to $15,000 to the normal cost of the bathroom if there is no drain rough in already, because installing one means breaking concrete, trenching to the stack and repouring the floor. If your basement was built with a rough in, which many newer Toronto homes were, that cost mostly disappears and you are back to standard bathroom pricing.
Is a walk in shower better than a tub?
It depends who lives there and how many bathrooms you have. A curbless walk in shower is easier to use as you get older and makes a small bathroom feel bigger. That said, most buyers still want at least one tub in the house, so if this is your only bathroom, removing the last tub can work against you at resale. In a second bathroom or an ensuite, the shower usually wins.
What return does a bathroom renovation add at resale?
A well planned bathroom typically returns roughly 60 to 75 percent of its cost at resale, a little behind a kitchen but ahead of most other rooms, per guidance from the Appraisal Institute of Canada. Dated bathrooms also stall sales more than almost any other room, so the value often shows up in how quickly a house sells rather than only in the price.
How do I know the waterproofing was done properly?
Ask before the tile goes on, because afterwards you cannot see any of it. Ask which membrane system is being used, whether the wet zone is on cement backer board rather than drywall, how the shower floor is being sloped, and whether the exhaust fan vents outside rather than into the attic. A contractor doing it properly will answer all four without hesitating, and will usually be happy to show you the wall before it is covered.
Does Senso Design offer fixed price bathroom quotes?
Yes. You get a line itemized fixed price before any contract is signed, with real allowances for tile, vanity and glass rather than placeholder numbers, and that is the price you pay on completion day. If a scope change comes up we issue a written change order and wait for your approval. We also offer renovation financing up to $100,000.
Get a fixed price for your bathroom renovation
Book a free consultation. We will look at the room, tell you what is likely hiding behind the walls, and put together a line itemized fixed price. No obligation either way.