In most bathrooms, the part that has actually failed is the wet area. Grout is crumbling in the shower, the tub surround is a glued-on panel that has come away at the seam, or there is a soft spot in the wall that says water has been getting behind the tile for a while. The vanity, the floor and the toilet are usually fine.
This job rebuilds the part that failed and leaves the rest alone. One to two weeks, a smaller budget, and the problem actually fixed rather than covered.
What gets rebuilt
- Tile, backer board and anything behind them that is wet or soft
- A properly sloped shower pan, or a new tub set level and supported
- Full waterproofing — membrane at the pan, corners and curb, and up the walls
- New valve trim and shower fittings while the wall is open
- Niches and a bench where the framing allows them
- Tile to the ceiling or to a chosen line, grouted, with a flexible joint at every change of plane
- Glass: a frameless panel, a sliding door, or a curtain rod if that is your preference
Why waterproofing is the whole job
Tile is not waterproof and grout is not a seal. What keeps water out of the framing is the membrane behind the tile and the way it is lapped at the corners, the curb and the drain flange. That work is invisible in the finished bathroom, which is exactly why it is the first thing skipped on a cheap job — and why a five-year-old shower ends up back at the studs.
We open the wet wall, look at what the last installation actually did, and tell you what we find before we close it up.
What stays
The vanity, the mirror, the toilet, the floor outside the wet area and the lighting all stay where they are. If the floor tile continues into the shower and cannot be matched, we will say so at the estimate — that is the one place this scope sometimes has to grow.
Where it sits on the ladder
Above a vanity and top swap and below a full bathroom remodel. If you want the tub gone entirely, that is a tub-to-shower conversion; if you want the finished result to be a large open shower, see walk-in showers.
Every version starts the same way: we look at the bathroom, price the scope in writing, and name what is behind the tile as far as we can see it before work starts.
