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Tile and Shower Cost Calculator Ontario (2026): Floor Tile, Shower Pan, Waterproofing, Walls, Niches, Heated Floor and HST
Flooring & TileFree Calculator
What Should a Tiled Bathroom Cost? The Floor, the Shower Pan, the Waterproofing and the Walls as Separate Numbers, Because That Is How It Gets Built.
Floor tile, shower floor, shower walls, the waterproofing nobody sees, niches, bench, heated floor, backsplash, tearout, HST. No email address required to see the number.
Tile is priced by the square foot and a shower is not a square-foot job. Forty square feet of bathroom floor is a morning. A 36×60 shower with a sloped pan, a membrane, a drain, two niches and ninety square feet of wall is a week, and the part that keeps it from leaking into the kitchen ceiling is the part that costs the most and shows the least. This calculator prices the shower the way a tile setter prices it, so a $2,000 quote and a $9,000 quote for “the ensuite” can be compared line by line.
Step-by-step
Tile and Shower Cost Calculator (Ontario)
1
The floor
Bathroom, foyer, laundry, kitchen floor. Leave 0 if no floor tile.
Tile on bare plywood cracks. Why.
Heats about 70% of the floor area; nothing under the vanity or toilet. Heated floors.
2
The shower
The pan is the sloped floor, membrane, drain and curb, flood-tested, ready for tile. What is in it.
8 ft is usual now; 7 ft on an older tub surround. Three walls tiled; the fourth is glass.
$250 each, framed, waterproofed, tiled, sloped so it drains.
3
Anything else
$20 labour plus tile. A typical kitchen is 30 to 45 sq ft.
Three walls over a tub, usually 60 to 75 sq ft. Priced like shower walls with waterproofing; no pan.
4
Where is the house?
Material costs the same everywhere; labour does not, and labour is about half of a flooring price.
Used only to tell you whether the house is in our direct service area. Not stored.
Enter a postal code to see service coverage.
BuildersOntario.com
Your Tile and Shower Budget
Illustrative Ontario estimate
| Item | Estimate |
|---|
Estimated total with HST$0
Example only, using BuildersOntario budgeting rates checked October 2026 for tile set to the TCNA Handbook method for the substrate, a bonded waterproof membrane system (Schluter Kerdi or equal) on the shower floor and walls, flood-tested 24 hours before tile, 1/4 in. per foot slope to the drain, movement joints at changes of plane, and grout sealed. It does not include the plumber (valve, drain rough-in, fixtures), the glass, the vanity, drywall or paint outside the wet area, or the electrician beyond the heated floor line. The tile setter’s site measure governs the contract, not this page.
Request a Real Quotation
Your shower dimensions, tile choices and waterproofing spec become a written scope a tile setter can price without guessing, so three of them price the same shower. It goes straight to our inbox, and a copy comes back to you; reply to that copy with photos of the bathroom as it is now, the tile you have picked if you have, and a sketch with the drain location.
What this calculator does, and what it will not do!
It prices a tiled bathroom the way it gets built: the floor as square feet of tile over a substrate that is either ready or not, and the shower as a pan, a waterproofing system, walls, a floor and the extras, each with its own line. The pan comes first because the pan is where showers fail, and it is priced as a finished, flood-tested thing, not as square feet of anything.
It does not know your drain is six inches from where the new shower wants it, that the joists under the old tub were notched by a plumber in 1998, or that the wall behind the tile is wet drywall that has to come out to the studs. The plumber is not in here at all, and neither is the glass, which on a custom shower is $1,500 to $3,000 of its own. Those come out when the old tub comes out, which is why this is a budget and the contract is a quote.
A rule of thumb: in Ontario in 2026 a standard 36×60 tiled shower with a proper waterproofed pan, mid-grade porcelain walls to 7 ft, a mosaic floor and one niche is about $3,800 before HST, tile and labour, no glass and no plumber. Large-format or patterned walls push it past $5,000; curbless with a linear drain adds about $1,200 more. A whole tiled ensuite floor and shower with heated floor is $6,000 to $9,000 before the plumber and the glass.
How I price it
| Line | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tile, material | $2.50 to $14.00 per sq ft | Ceramic $2.50, mid porcelain $4.50, premium $7.50, mid stone $14, plus 12% waste (18% for patterns) and $1.25 setting materials. |
| Floor tile labour | $10.00 per sq ft | 12×24 straight. Large format +$3, pattern +$4, mosaic +$5. A setter lays 100 to 150 sq ft a day and comes back to grout. |
| Uncoupling membrane | $3.50 per sq ft | Ditra or equal over plywood. Not optional if you want the grout to stay in one piece. |
| Shower pan, complete | $900 | Sloped, membrane, drain, curb, flood-tested, ready for tile, up to 36×60. $1,200 larger or odd. What I pay on my own houses. |
| Curbless with linear drain | +$1,200 | Recessing the floor, the drain itself, and a very patient setter. Curbless. |
| Wall waterproofing | $6.00 per sq ft of wall | Foam board or sheet membrane, seams and corners banded. Grout is not waterproof; this is. The guide. |
| Shower wall labour | $15.00 per sq ft | Plumb, level, cut around the valve, layout planned so the cuts hide. +$3 large, +$4 pattern. |
| Niche, bench | $250, $450 | Framed, waterproofed as part of the system, sloped to drain, tiled with mitred or bullnosed edges. |
| Electric heated floor | $14 per sq ft heated | Mat, sensor, thermostat and the electrician’s connection; minimum $900. About 70% of the floor area is heated. Details. |
| Backsplash | $20.00 per sq ft labour | Outlets, window returns, under-cabinet lines: all cuts, no straight runs. |
| Demolition | $1.25 to $3.50 per sq ft, $650 a tub | Old tile and mortar bed is the slow one. Pre-1980 sheet vinyl and black adhesive get tested first. Removal. |
| Minimum job | $900 | A powder room floor still takes two visits. |
The pan price is mine; the rest is checked against Ontario tile setters each month. The custom shower cost guide has the $3,800 shower itemized and three ways it becomes $8,000.
Where homeowners go wrong
- Buying the tile before the waterproofing is decided. The tile is the paint. The membrane is the roof. Decide the system (Kerdi, foam board, liquid) and get it named on the quote; then pick tile. Systems compared.
- Not asking to see the flood test. A pan that holds water for 24 hours with the drain plugged is a pan that works. Ask to see it full, and photograph it. The checklist.
- Comparing a shower quote to a floor quote. $15 a sq ft for a floor is fine. $15 a sq ft for shower walls is labour only, before the waterproofing and the pan. Make every quote list the same lines. How.
- Grout in the corners. Corners and the tile-to-tub joint move. Grout cracks; colour-matched sealant does not. A setter who grouts the corners is telling you something about the rest of the job. Lippage and grout.
- Large-format tile on a floor that is not flat. 24×48 tile needs 1/8 in. in 10 ft. Most old bathroom floors are not that, and the lippage shows in the morning light forever. Large format.
Questions people ask
How much does a custom tiled shower cost in Ontario?
$3,500 to $5,500 before HST in 2026 for a standard 36×60 with a proper waterproofed pan, mid-grade porcelain walls and a mosaic floor, tile and labour only. Curbless, large-format, stone, benches and two niches take it to $6,000 to $9,000. Glass is $1,500 to $3,000 on top, and the plumber is separate.
Are tile and grout waterproof?
No. Porcelain tile is close to it; grout and the joints are not, and water gets behind the tile in every shower. The waterproofing is a membrane system under the tile that is designed for that water and sends it to the drain. A shower without one is a slow leak with a nice finish.
Can I use drywall behind shower tile?
Not regular or moisture-resistant drywall. Cement board, foam board or a bonded membrane over an approved backer, with the seams treated as part of the system. Green board is for the rest of the bathroom, not inside the shower.
Is a heated bathroom floor worth it?
At $900 to $1,200 for a typical ensuite, most people who have one say yes. It costs a few dollars a month to run on a timer. If the house has a hydronic system, extend that instead; see the hydronic cost guide.
How long does a tiled bathroom take?
A floor and shower, with the pan built and flood-tested properly: six to nine working days for the tile setter alone, with drying time between the pan, the membrane, the tile and the grout. Anyone promising three days is skipping a step you will not see.
Doing the rest of the floors too?
The Flooring Cost Calculator prices hardwood, vinyl, tile and carpet for the whole house room by room, with removal, subfloor work and stairs. If you already have shower quotes, the $99 quote review puts them on one grid and tells you which one named a waterproofing system.
