Renovation Cost Estimator for Europe
Search what a bathroom renovation costs and you will get American figures, or a single national range from a company that would like to sell you the tiles.
This estimates the cost for 30 European countries by separating the two things that actually drive it: hours of trade labour, priced with official Eurostat rates, and the materials that go in.
Likely cost in Germany
€8,700 – €15,000
most likely around €11,600 · roughly 160 hours of trade labour
Labour
€6,300
at €39.60/hour
Materials & fittings
€5,200
45% of the total
In Germany most of this bill is labour, so doing part of the work yourself — stripping out, painting, tiling — changes the total significantly. Getting several quotes matters more than shopping around for materials.
The same job would cost roughly €4,400 in Türkiye, where construction labour is cheapest in this list.
How solid are these numbers?
Worth being straight about, because it differs from our other calculators. The country differences are official: hourly construction labour costs come from Eurostat, as does the price level used to adjust materials. If this tool says Romania is roughly a third of Denmark, that part is solid.
The base quantities are our estimates— how many hours a bathroom takes, what fittings cost — drawn from published trade guides rather than a statistical source. No official body publishes per-room renovation prices across Europe. So use the ranges to sanity-check a builder's quote, not to replace one.
Labour is the whole story
Eurostat puts hourly construction labour cost at €47.90 in Denmark and €10.50 in Bulgaria. Germany is €39.60, France €39.90, Spain €24.00, Poland €15.60, Romania €11.90. That is a four-fold spread for the same trade.
Materials do not behave that way. Tiles, taps, cement and kitchen units are traded across borders, so their prices converge — the same pattern that makes clothing cost nearly the same everywhere while housing does not.
The consequence is that renovation bills have a completely different shape depending on where you are. In Denmark a bathroom is about 56% labour; in Romania it is about 33%. Same job, opposite composition.
Which changes what you should do
Most renovation advice is written as if one answer fits everyone. It doesn't.
Where labour dominates — Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Ireland — your leverage is in the hours. Doing demolition, painting or tiling yourself removes a real share of the total, and getting three quotes is worth more than any amount of material shopping.
Where materials dominate — Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Portugal — the reverse holds. A weekend of your own labour saves comparatively little, while stepping down one tier of tiles or fittings moves the number substantially.
Budgeting for it properly
Renovation is the classic lumpy expense: nothing for years, then five figures at once. That is exactly what sinking funds exist for — setting aside a monthly amount against a known future cost, so the bill is an event rather than a crisis.
Add a contingency of 10–20% to whatever figure you land on. The most common reason renovations run over is not bad estimating — it is what turns up once the walls are open.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to renovate a bathroom in Europe?
It depends far more on where you live than on the bathroom. A standard full bathroom renovation works out around €11,600 in Germany, €8,600 in Spain and €5,800 in Romania on our estimates, because construction labour costs €39.60 an hour in Germany against €11.90 in Romania. Published German guides quote €10,000–30,000 and Spanish ones €6,000–12,000, which brackets those figures.
Why is renovation so much cheaper in Eastern Europe?
Almost entirely because of labour. Eurostat puts hourly construction labour cost at €47.90 in Denmark and €10.50 in Bulgaria — a four-fold gap. Materials and fittings are traded goods, so they vary far less between countries. That is why a renovation bill in Denmark is more than half labour, while in Romania it is roughly two-thirds materials.
Should I do renovation work myself to save money?
It depends on your country, and the answer is close to opposite at the two ends of Europe. In Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands, labour is over half the cost, so doing the demolition, painting or tiling yourself removes a large share of the bill. In Romania, Bulgaria or Poland, materials dominate, so your effort saves proportionally much less than choosing cheaper fittings would.
How accurate is this estimate?
The country-to-country differences are grounded in official Eurostat labour cost and price level statistics, so the relative picture is reliable. The base quantities — how many hours a bathroom takes and what the fittings cost — are our own estimates from published trade guides, not official figures. Real quotes vary widely with the condition of the property, whether plumbing or electrics move, and local demand. Treat the range as a sanity check on a builder's quote, not a substitute for one.
What is not included in these figures?
Structural work, permits, architect or designer fees, VAT differences between countries, and anything discovered once walls come down — which is the single most common reason renovations exceed budget. Set aside a contingency of 10 to 20% on top of any quote, and more in an older property.
Sources
- Eurostat — labour cost levels by NACE activity (lc_lci_lev, 2025, construction, hourly, EUR)
- Eurostat — comparative price levels (prc_ppp_ind, 2024, EU27 = 100) — used to adjust material prices only
- Base labour hours and material costs per room are our own estimates from published trade guides, not official statistics.
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