When renovating a home, bathrooms (perhaps next to kitchens) represent by far the largest part of the budget. Even for small bathrooms you can get easily quoted $20K and more from builders and professionals. They charge a lot for labour and probably even more for managing the whole thing. With that said, the more you can do and organise yourself, the more you save. The more you know, the less you get ripped off. You control not only the expenses but the quality too.
Often the shower needs to be designed in a way that will make a better use of space because it is just what you don't have. We talk about small bathrooms. If it is a typical rectangle, you might have a problem to move around the toilet and vanity. It doesn't have to be a rectangle. It might have a non-typical shape. The tradesman who will lay tiles would ask you anyway and you need to be able to draw the layout on the floor.
