DIY vs Hire Shower Installation: Save or Hire a Pro?

Is DIY shower installation cheaper than hiring a pro?

On the defaults — a $450 shower, $120 of supplies and 8 hours at $45 an hour — installing the shower yourself costs $930.00 against a $1,100.00 pro quote, so DIY wins by $170.00. The DIY cost is the shower plus the supplies plus your hours at your hourly value; the win is the pro quote minus the DIY cost. If the win is positive, DIY wins; if it is negative, hiring wins; if it is zero, it is an exact tie.

Three things about the model are worth stating plainly.

First, the DIY cost is $450 + $120 + 8 × $45 = $930.00. Second, the pro cost is the quote you were given, $1,100.00. And third, the win is $1,100.00 − $930.00 = $170.00 in DIY’s favour — all listed in Accuracy & limitations.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: shower $450, supplies $120, hours 8, hourly value $45, pro quote $1,100.

Line 1 — the shower. The shower is $450.00.

Line 2 — the supplies. The supplies are $120.00.

Line 3 — your time. 8 hours at $45 an hour is $360.00.

Line 4 — the DIY cost. $450.00 + $120.00 + $360.00 = $930.00.

Line 5 — the pro cost. The pro quote is $1,100.00.

Line 6 — the win. $1,100.00 − $930.00 = $170.00, DIY wins.

Line 7 — the check. At $67 an hour the DIY cost is $1,106.00 and hiring wins by $6.00; and at $620 the shower gives a DIY cost of $1,100.00 — an exact tie.

Every branch, checked

Hours 4: DIY $750.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $350.00 — With 4 hours the DIY cost falls to $750.00 and DIY wins by $350.00.

Hours 12: DIY $1,110.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $10.00 — With 12 hours the DIY cost rises to $1,110.00 and hiring wins by $10.00.

Shower $700: DIY $1,180.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $80.00 — With a $700 shower the DIY cost rises to $1,180.00 and hiring wins by $80.00.

Shower $300: DIY $780.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $320.00 — With a $300 shower the DIY cost falls to $780.00 and DIY wins by $320.00.

Supplies $200: DIY $1,010.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $90.00 — With $200 of supplies the DIY cost rises to $1,010.00 and DIY wins by $90.00.

Hourly $60: DIY $1,050.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $50.00 — With an hourly value of $60 the DIY cost rises to $1,050.00 and DIY wins by $50.00.

The reverses, worked backwards

Smallest hourly value where hiring WINS: At the displayed $67 the figures are DIY $1,106.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $6.00. At $67 the DIY cost is $1,106.00 and hiring wins by $6.00. At $66 the DIY cost is $1,098.00 and DIY wins by $2.00 — so $67 is the smallest hourly value where hiring wins. There is no tie: $66.25 an hour is not a whole dollar, so the flip happens between $66 and $67 with no exact tie in between.

Largest hourly value where DIY still wins by at least $100.00: At the displayed $53 the figures are DIY $994.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $106.00. At $53 the DIY cost is $994.00 and DIY wins by $106.00. At $54 the DIY cost is $1,002.00 and DIY wins by $98.00 — so $53 is the largest hourly value where DIY still wins by at least $100.00.

Smallest shower price where hiring WINS: At the displayed $621 the figures are DIY $1,101.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $1.00. At $621 the DIY cost is $1,101.00 and hiring wins by $1.00. At $620 the DIY cost is $1,100.00 — an exact tie with the pro quote — so $621 is the smallest shower price where hiring wins.

Smallest hours where hiring WINS: At the displayed 12 hours the figures are DIY $1,110.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $10.00. At 12 hours the DIY cost is $1,110.00 and hiring wins by $10.00. At 11 hours the DIY cost is $1,065.00 and DIY wins by $35.00 — so 12 hours is the smallest hours where hiring wins. There is no tie: 11.78 hours is not a whole hour, so the flip happens between 11 and 12 hours with no exact tie in between.

Smallest supplies where hiring WINS: At the displayed $291 the figures are DIY $1,101.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $1.00. At $291 the DIY cost is $1,101.00 and hiring wins by $1.00. At $290 the DIY cost is $1,100.00 — an exact tie with the pro quote — so $291 is the smallest supplies where hiring wins.

Smallest pro price where DIY WINS at all: At the displayed $931 the figures are DIY $930.00; pro $931.00 — DIY wins by $1.00. At $931 the DIY cost is $930.00 and DIY wins by $1.00. At $930 the pro quote is $930.00 — an exact tie with the DIY cost — so $931 is the smallest pro price where DIY wins at all.

A note on the ties: three of the reverses flip through an exact tie — a $620 shower, $290 of supplies and a $930 pro quote each give a DIY cost of exactly $1,100.00 against the $1,100.00 pro quote — or, for the pro quote, $930.00 against $930.00 — and the smallest value where hiring wins is one dollar past the tie. The hourly and hours reverses have no tie, because the exact flip points are $66.25 an hour and 11.78 hours, which are not whole dollars or whole hours.

What the defaults assume

The defaults are shower $450, supplies $120, hours 8, hourly value $45 and pro quote $1,100 — DIY $930.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $170.00. With Hours 4, DIY $750.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $350.00. With Hours 12, DIY $1,110.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $10.00 — hiring wins. With Shower $700, DIY $1,180.00; pro $1,100.00 — Hiring wins by $80.00 — hiring wins. With Shower $300, DIY $780.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $320.00. With Supplies $200, DIY $1,010.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $90.00. With Hourly $60, DIY $1,050.00; pro $1,100.00 — DIY wins by $50.00. With All zero, DIY $0.00; pro $0.00 — exact tie — a dead heat. With Shower $350, supplies $80, 6 hours, hourly value $40, pro $900, DIY $670.00; pro $900.00 — DIY wins by $230.00. With Fractional inputs, DIY $889.98 (unrounded 889.975); pro $1,089.60 — DIY wins by $199.63 (unrounded 199.625) — the DIY cost is 889.975 unrounded and the win is 199.625 unrounded. With Shower $900, supplies $300, 16 hours, hourly value $75, pro $2,000, DIY $2,400.00; pro $2,000.00 — Hiring wins by $400.00 — hiring wins. With Pro $930, DIY $930.00; pro $930.00 — exact tie — a dead heat. With Shower $0, supplies $60, 4 hours, hourly value $30, pro $500, DIY $180.00; pro $500.00 — DIY wins by $320.00.

A note on the rounding: the DIY cost and the win are displayed to two decimals. With the fractional inputs the DIY cost is 889.975 unrounded and displays as $889.98, and the win is 199.625 unrounded and displays as $199.63. The page prints the unrounded figures so the rounding does not mislead you.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The homeowner pricing a bathroom job: they learn a $450 shower, $120 of supplies and 8 hours at $45 an hour cost $930.00 DIY against a $1,100.00 pro quote — and they check the $67 reverse to see the hourly value where hiring wins.
• The renter weighing a landlord’s handyman: they learn DIY wins by $170.00 on the defaults — and they check the $621 reverse to see the shower price where hiring wins.
• The bargain hunter comparing shower units: they learn a $700 shower still leaves hiring winning by $80.00 — and they check the 12-hour reverse to see the hours where hiring wins.
• The first-time DIYer: they learn the win is the pro quote minus the DIY cost — and they check the $931 reverse to see the pro price where DIY wins at all.

Accuracy & limitations

The math is first-principles: the DIY cost is the shower price plus the supplies plus the hours times the hourly value, the pro cost is the quote you were given, and the win is the pro cost minus the DIY cost — all in dollars, displayed to two decimals. At $0 for everything the DIY cost is $0.00 and the pro cost is $0.00 — a dead heat, an exact tie. At $620 the shower the DIY cost is $1,100.00 — an exact tie with the pro quote. At 12 hours the DIY cost is $1,110.00 — hiring wins by $10.00. At $290 of supplies the DIY cost is $1,100.00 — an exact tie with the pro quote. At a $930 pro quote the DIY cost is $930.00 — an exact tie. What the model cannot do is price the risk: a pro carries insurance, guarantees the waterproofing holds, and takes the risk of a leak behind the tiles, and none of that is in the $1,100.00 quote’s arithmetic — it is in the quote itself. The model also cannot price the plumbing: a shower that needs new pipe runs, a new drain or a moved valve costs more in time than a straight swap, and a bad waterproofing job costs far more to fix than the $170.00 it saves. The model assumes the pro quote and the DIY cost cover the same job — check whether the quote includes the shower unit before you compare, or the comparison is wrong before it starts. Use it to see which way the money points — then price the risk yourself before you rip the old shower out.

Frequently asked questions