How long does a bathroom remodel take?

The three stages of a bathroom remodel

A bathroom remodel has the same shape as a kitchen remodel: a design stage, an ordering stage and a construction stage. The room is smaller, so each stage is shorter, but none of them disappears. The construction stage is the one homeowners notice, because it is the only time the bathroom cannot be used.

1. Design and decisions: typically three to six weeks

From the in-home consultation to a signed proposal. The layout question comes first: whether the toilet, vanity and shower or tub stay where they are or move. Then the shower or tub decision, the vanity, tile, fixtures, glass, lighting and whether the floor is heated. A bathroom has fewer decisions than a kitchen but each one touches the waterproofing or the plumbing, so they are made in order and once.

2. Ordering and approvals: typically four to ten weeks

Vanities, tile, plumbing fixtures and shower glass are ordered and permits are filed. Semi-custom vanities are commonly quoted at four to eight weeks and custom vanities at eight to twelve. Specialty tile and freestanding tubs can carry lead times of their own. Plumbing and electrical permits in Chicago are usually Express Permit worktypes, issued in days; a condominium association approval adds two to six weeks depending on when the board meets.

3. Construction: typically three to five weeks

Demolition to the final walkthrough. For a bathroom that keeps its layout, three to five weeks is usual. Moving the toilet or the shower, or converting a tub to a curbless shower, adds rough plumbing in the floor and a second inspection, and runs five to eight weeks. In a slab high-rise, cutting into concrete for a new drain adds time and needs the building's engineer.

A typical bathroom remodel calendar

Why a small room still takes months

• Waterproofing has to cure and be flood-tested before tile goes on. The test itself takes a day; skipping it is how showers leak into the room below a year later.
• Tile is set, then grouted, then sealed, with drying time between each step. A fully tiled shower is several days of work spread across more than a week.
• Shower glass is measured only after the tile is finished, then fabricated. Plan on two to three weeks between the template and the installation.
• Rough plumbing and electrical are inspected before the walls close. The inspection lands on the City's calendar, not the contractor's.
• Vanities, tubs and specialty tile arrive on their own lead times, and demolition should wait until they are confirmed.

The order the work follows

• Demolition and protection of the rest of the home
• Rough plumbing and electrical, including any new drain, circuit or duct route
• Rough inspection, then subfloor and backer board
• Shower pan, membrane and the flood test, photographed before tile
• Floor and wall tile, grout and sealing
• Vanity, toilet, fixtures, lighting and the exhaust fan
• Glass template, then glass installation two to three weeks later
• Paint, accessories, final inspection and the walkthrough

What a condominium adds

In a Chicago condominium the building sets part of the calendar. Water shutoffs for supply lines are scheduled with building engineering, sometimes only on certain days. Restricted work hours shorten every construction day. Tile, vanities and debris move through a reserved freight elevator. A bathroom on a shared stack follows the same rule as a condo kitchen sink: fixtures can usually shift along the wall, and moving them across the room depends on the drain slope and what sits in the ceiling below.

• Condo bathroom remodelingShared stacks, concrete floors, ventilation limits and association approvals.
• Chicago condo remodel checklistThe ten building-side items, equally true for a bathroom.

Living without the bathroom

For three to eight weeks the room is a construction site. In a home with a second bathroom, the plan is to keep it usable for the whole build and to sequence a kitchen remodel on the same schedule so the house is never without both rooms at once. In a one-bathroom home or condominium, the schedule is compressed as far as the sequence allows and the days without a working toilet or shower are named in advance.

How this maps to our process

The in-home visit establishes the drain and vent route, the floor structure under the shower, the exhaust path and, in a building, the shutoffs and the elevator. The proposal names the permits and the lead times, and construction starts only when the vanity, tile and fixtures are confirmed and permits are in hand. Waterproofing is flood-tested and photographed before tile on every project.

• How our process worksThe four stages, the same for a kitchen and a bathroom.
• What a bathroom remodel costsThe planning range and the fifteen factors that set the number.
• How long a kitchen remodel takesThe same three stages in the larger room.