There's a big difference between what a professional must charge (or should, if he's going to do a good job) to complete a shower verses what a DIY'er would spend. First, while there are some DIY'ers that can and will opt for improvements above the basic shower (niche, lighting, nice custom glass work, multiple shower heads or body sprays, bench, etc.), the vast majority of homes wishing to improve their builder class fiberglass enclosure, may not want or be willing to spend the money to build a complex, highly customized shower. While people are staying in their homes maybe longer than some periods in the past, just how much money do you really want to pump into a tract house that may get sold next year? And, the homeowner doesn't have to pay for liability insurance, unemployment insurance, retirement funding, maybe an accountant, a truck, quality tools he can count on for repeated, heavy use, etc., just to keep a business running. A professional has a huge investment in tools and infrastructure to make his job go faster and easier - the right tool for the job can produce a better job, or at least accomplish it faster - a
requirement for a successful business.
If the exercise is to demonstrate what a pro must charge to build a shower, this is enlightening, but, since this is a DIY'er forum, it goes to show why a DIY'er, just having to buy materials (he may or may not have some of the tools required) CAN save a bunch of money building his own shower. If he wishes to include some or all of the special features, it will certainly take him MUCH longer than a pro who has done it before and does not have the (sometimes steep) learning curve to overcome, and the possibility he has to do it over again.
A pro may end up paying less for his materials since he has an established business, buys in bulk, and may use that as part of his profit margin when providing things to the customer...all viable and justified...it costs him time to procure them, possibly warehouse some of it to get that bulk price. Need a small section of a profile...the pro gets to charge full price for the piece, then may be able to do it a couple more times with the next customer. Same with the rest of the roll of the liner or waterproofing. A DIY'er would buy the piece, and have 3/4 of it sitting around in the garage for 20-years before it gets thrown away.
There are certainly people who should never pick up a screwdriver, or can't replace a light bulb, but there are a lot of talented people who can achieve and aspire to build nice things, and can complete them. The people at
www.johnbridge.com understand that, and have set themselves up to aid people that are in that category. That isn't always the case here.
So, the cost to build a typical shower by a DIY'er verses that same shower done by a pro will almost always skew the bottom line for total outlay to achieve the end result. A DIY'er will not have the pro to go back to to fix a problem down the road, and that can be priceless. But, a DIY'er that has decent skills can produce a reliable, long-lasting, good-looking shower, and can do it for less outlay than what would be charged by a pro.
Sometimes, the methods and materials chosen for a big remodeling project where there will be lots of other tradesmen on the jobsite may not lend themselves to certain products that may work just as well in a DIY'er environment. What may be deemed 'overkill' in a DIY'er environment may end up being good insurance in a pro install when he cannot be present during the entire build. Each situation is different.