Overview: Bathroom Remodeling Contractors
A bathroom is a small room with water in it, and almost everything that fails later is water going somewhere nobody meant it to go. Tile is not waterproof. Grout is not waterproof. The waterproofing is the layer underneath: a membrane over the shower walls, a sloped pan under the floor of the shower, and a continuous seal where the two meet at the curb.
The work is a queue in a room where two people cannot stand side by side. Tear-out, then the plumber moves the drain and sets the valve in the wall, then the electrician, then the inspector looks at the rough-in, then backer board, waterproofing, tile, and the fixtures last. Every step waits for the one before it, which is why a lost day early is a lost week at the end.
Ask how the shower will be waterproofed, and ask to look at it before tile hides it for good. Ask where the exhaust fan discharges: outside, through a wall or the roof, never into the attic. Ask for an access panel behind the valve. If a grab bar is even a possibility later, ask for blocking in the wall now, while the studs are open and it costs almost nothing.
The state and city lists below narrow this down to crews that work on bathrooms near you. Everything in a listing is what that company publishes about itself; ratings and quotes come from public reviews.
Frequently asked questions
What actually keeps the water out of a shower?
The layer you never see. Cement backer board instead of drywall, then a waterproof membrane bonded over it, a pan or a sloped mortar bed with a proper drain, and the corners and the curb sealed so the membrane is continuous. Tile and grout shed most water but they pass some, every day, forever. If the membrane is right, that water finds the drain and leaves.
Can the toilet or the shower drain be moved?
Usually, and the floor decides the price. Over a crawl space or a basement the plumber works between the joists from below, which is straightforward until a drain has to cross a joist it cannot cut. On a slab it means cutting concrete, rerouting the line, then patching. Waste pipe needs fall to run, so moving a toilet far from the stack is the expensive version of this job.
Does the bathroom exhaust fan have to vent outside?
Yes. A fan that dumps into the attic just moves the moisture somewhere colder, where it condenses on the underside of the roof and eventually shows up as a stain on the ceiling below. The duct should run in a straight line to a wall or roof cap, in rigid pipe if possible. Size the fan to the room, and put it on a timer or a humidity switch so it runs after the shower stops.
How long will the bathroom be out of use?
Longer than the work itself, because the room is a queue. Waterproofing has to cure before tile, thinset has to set before grout, and a single missing part stops everything since nothing can happen alongside it. Ask for a schedule that names the rough-in day and the tile day, and ask what happens if a fixture is on backorder. If it is the only bathroom, plan where you will shower.
Should I plan for grab bars while the wall is open?
Yes, even if nobody needs one now. Blocking is a piece of lumber screwed between the studs behind the finished wall, and it costs a few dollars while the wall is open and a demolition job afterwards. Put it beside the toilet and along both walls of the shower. A bar anchored to blocking holds a falling adult; one anchored to tile and hollow wall does not.
