What we walk into in Silver Lake
In the 1920s Spanish houses: one bathroom, hex tile on the floor, four-inch wall tile with a bullnose cap, a cast iron tub, a wall-hung sink and galvanized pipe behind the plaster. In the mid-century houses on the slopes: a compact bathroom with a tiled countertop, a single-pane window, a tub that was never meant to be a shower and a layout that works but feels forty years old. In both, the room is the oldest unimproved part of the house and the one that fails first.
Fix Brothers is a licensed, insured company that the two founding brothers run themselves, based in Chatsworth. The same people who quote your bathroom build it.
Original tile: keep it or lose it, decided before demolition
A sound 1920s hex floor or an original tiled wall is part of why these houses are worth what they are worth. Where the tile is solid and the plumbing can be reached another way, we work around it: new vanity, new toilet, grout repair, refinished tub, character intact. Where the mortar bed has let go, or where the pipe we must replace runs behind that wall, it comes off and we say so in the estimate. We do not promise to save tile and then break it on day two.
The pipe behind the wall is the real scope
Fixtures are the cheap part of a bathroom in a house this age. The supply lines are galvanized and scaled, the waste is cast iron with rust at the closet bend, and the vent often predates half the fixtures tied into it. A new valve behind ninety-year-old pipe buys a year. We open the wall, look, and quote replacement from the fixtures back to a sound connection point so it is done once. The permit is what makes that inspectable rather than optional.
Hillside houses: look under the floor while it is open
- Subfloor and joist rot where the tub apron met a failed grout line decades ago.
- Soft sill plates, unbolted mudsills and termite damage in the crawlspace below.
- Drain runs re-sloped the wrong way by a past repair.
- On downhill lots, a crawlspace tight enough that the drain route decides the layout.
- Posts and piers under the bathroom worth attention while access exists.
We get into the crawlspace where access allows before quoting, carry a stated repair allowance, and tell you when something we find is worth fixing now because it will cost three times as much later.
Waterproofing, and why it matters more upstairs
Showers get a properly sloped base, a bonded sheet or liquid membrane up the walls and over the curb, reinforced inside corners, the drain assembly tied into the membrane and an overnight flood test before any tile. In a stepped hillside house a second-floor or upper-level bathroom sits above living space, and in a post and beam house it may sit above an exposed ceiling that cannot be opened up and patched invisibly. That is the real argument for doing the waterproofing properly the first time.
Ventilation in a house with no attic
Mid-century bathrooms often have a fan that was never adequate, and in a house with exposed ceilings there is nowhere easy to run a new duct. We solve it with a wall termination, a short routed run through a chase or a properly insulated run where the framing allows, rather than installing a fan that discharges into a cavity. An unvented bathroom in a plaster house ruins the plaster slowly and the framing after that.
Access, as always on these streets
Steep driveways, long stairs from the curb, narrow streets and nowhere legal for a dumpster. That decides whether a cast iron tub leaves whole or in pieces, how debris goes out and how much of each day is carrying rather than building. We measure the route at the first visit and put it in the estimate, and we arrange a street-use permit when a dumpster needs one.
Permits
The permit comes from LADBS, since Silver Lake is part of the City of Los Angeles. A vanity, toilet and tile swapped in their existing positions is normally maintenance. Relocating a drain, converting a tub to a shower, adding circuits, changing a window or opening a wall needs a permit, usually issued without a full plan check. The permit goes in under our license, and we meet the inspector both times.
How the job runs, and how long
- Walkthrough with exploratory openings, a crawlspace look where possible and the access route measured.
- A line-by-line scope with tile, fixture and glass allowances, and a repair allowance stated openly.
- LADBS permit and inspections.
- Containment, then demolition, framing and whatever the subfloor needs.
- New supply lines, corrected waste and venting, new circuits and a properly ducted fan, then rough inspection.
- Membrane, curb and flood test overnight, then tile, glass, fixtures and paint.
- Final inspection, then we walk the punch list with you on site.
A single bathroom runs three to five weeks of construction once permitted, longer where pipe replacement reaches beyond the room. Custom glass is measured after the tile is set and takes another week or two, which is the step most schedules forget.
Work you can look at
See a bathroom rebuilt from the studs and a compact walk-in shower. For what a leak does to a plaster ceiling and how it gets put back, see whole ceiling restoration after a penetration.
Worth reading before you call
Our bathroom remodeling page has the full scope, shower and tub replacement covers the conversion and bathroom refresh is the shorter route when the layout stays. For permits read bathroom remodel permits in Los Angeles, and to choose between scopes, remodel or refresh.
For repairs afterward, the same crew covers the area as described on the Silver Lake service area page. Request your free written estimate and we will get under the house and look.
What is included in this service
- Walkthrough with exploratory openings and crawlspace check
- Access and staging review, with street-use permits arranged
- Line-item scope with tile, fixture and repair allowances
- LADBS permits and all staged inspections
- Subfloor, joist and sill plate repairs where found
- Replacement supply lines and corrected waste venting
- Sheet or liquid waterproofing with an overnight flood test
- Exhaust fan with a routed termination fully outside
- Tile, custom glass, vanity, fixtures and lighting
- Final inspection and punch-list walkthrough
Frequently asked questions
Can you keep the original tile in my 1920s bathroom?
Sometimes, and the decision belongs before demolition rather than during it. Where a hex floor or original wall tile is sound and the plumbing can be reached another way, we replace the vanity and toilet, repair grout, refinish the tub and leave the character alone. Where the mortar bed has failed or the pipe runs behind that wall, the tile comes off and we say so in writing.
Do the galvanized pipes have to go?
For the bathroom run, almost always. Scale narrows the line until pressure suffers, and fitting a new valve onto old pipe is a short-term fix that leaves you with the same problem. We open the wall, look at what is there and quote replacement from the fixtures back to a sound connection so the work is done once and inspected.
My bathroom is on the upper level of a hillside house. Does that change anything?
It raises the stakes on waterproofing, because a leak lands in the living space below, and in a post and beam house that ceiling cannot be opened and patched invisibly. We build the shower on a sloped base with a bonded membrane carried over the curb and flood test it overnight before tile. It also affects how we get material in, which we measure first.
Where does a new exhaust fan vent if there is no attic?
Through a wall, or through a short routed run in a chase where the framing allows it. What we will not do is fit a fan that discharges into a cavity, which is how plaster and framing get damaged over years. In a house with exposed ceilings the termination point is decided at the planning stage, not on installation day.
How long will my only bathroom be out of use?
Three to five weeks of construction after the permit for a single bathroom, longer if pipe replacement reaches past the room. Custom shower glass is measured once the tile is set and takes another week or two, so a bathroom can look finished before it is usable. We put dated phases in the estimate so you can plan where to shower.
Other services our Los Angeles crews handle
