A full bathroom remodel is two to four weeks and starts around twelve thousand dollars. A fixture and vanity replacement is one to three days, costs a fraction of that, and changes every surface you actually touch and look at. If your tile is sound and your layout works, this is almost always the better financial decision - and we will tell you so even though the remodel is the bigger invoice for us.
The vanity and countertop, including undermount or vessel sinks and integrated tops. The faucet, drain assembly and pop-up. Angle stops and supply lines, which are twenty years old in most houses and are the actual thing that floods a bathroom. The toilet, including comfort height and bidet-ready models, with a new wax or waxless seal, new bolts and a new supply line. The mirror or medicine cabinet. Vanity and ceiling lighting. The exhaust fan, sized correctly and ducted to the exterior. Towel bars, robe hooks, paper holders and shower hardware. Shower and tub trim - handle, escutcheon and shower head - which can usually be updated without opening the wall if the valve body is a common brand.
We check the drain and supply rough-in heights before you buy a vanity, because a floating vanity over a stub-out at the wrong height means opening tile. We shim and scribe the vanity to a wall that is not plumb, and anchor it into framing rather than leaning it against drywall. We seal the backsplash junction and the vanity-to-wall joint properly. We reset the toilet on a clean, sound flange - and if the flange is broken or below finished floor level, which is very common in Los Angeles, we repair it rather than stacking wax rings. We patch and paint the wall behind the removed mirror and vanity. We replace the angle stops even when they are working, because that is what stops the next flood.
Buy your own vanity and fixtures and we will install them, or send us your budget and style and we will give you a specific shopping list with model numbers - not a catalogue. We will also flag the ones that look good online and are a maintenance problem in reality: unlacquered brass that patinas, vessel sinks that splash, wall-mount faucets that need the wall opened, and matte black finishes that show every water spot in hard-water areas, which is all of Los Angeles.
Yes, in most cases. The risk is that the new vanity has a smaller footprint than the old one and exposes unfinished or unfinished-colour floor underneath. We measure both and tell you before you buy. Where there is a gap we can use a filler, a slightly wider vanity, or a tile patch.
A vanity, faucet, toilet, mirror and lighting package is typically one to two days. Add a day if there is flange repair, drain relocation, tile patching or an exhaust fan and duct run.
Often yes. If the valve body is a common current brand we can fit a new trim kit to it. If it is an obsolete or off-brand valve, or if the valve itself is leaking, the wall has to be opened - and if we have to open it we will recommend fitting a modern pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve while it is accessible.
Either way works. If you buy it, send us the spec sheet first so we can check the drain and supply locations against your rough-in - that one check prevents the most common and most expensive surprise on this job.
If the tile is sound, the layout works and there is no water damage, yes - it delivers most of the visual change for roughly a fifth of the cost. If the shower is leaking, the floor is soft, or you want to change the layout, a refresh just puts new fixtures on top of a problem and we will tell you that.
