Why does one company for the whole bathroom help?
Because a bathroom is three trades in eight feet. Move the vanity a foot and a half and the drain moves, the supply lines move, the vanity light over the mirror moves and the GFCI outlet beside it moves. With separate trades, each one waits on the last. Here it’s one company and one schedule, and the estimate lists the plumbing, the electrical and the finish work as separate lines in one document.
Our photos show where that leads: a tiled walk-in shower behind a glass door (the photo at the top), vanities, a freestanding tub, and shower niches built from Schluter-Kerdi board.
What’s behind the tile?
The part nobody sees decides how long a shower lasts. Schluter-Kerdi board is a foam building panel with a waterproof facing, and the niches in our gallery are built from it, so each niche is part of the waterproofed wall. The seams are sealed and the tile goes on over all of it.
The shower floor gets the same care: the pan slopes to the drain, the membrane laps up the walls, and every inside corner is sealed before any tile is set.
Does a bathroom remodel need a permit in Nashville?
Usually. Metro Codes requires a permit for a new shower or tub enclosure, for new or relocated plumbing fixtures, and for moving a switch, outlet or fixture, which covers most real remodels. Replacing more than 100 square feet of drywall needs one too. Tile on its own, paint, and a vanity swapped with no plumbing or electrical work need none. The inspections come at rough-in, before the walls close, so the schedule allows for them. Outside Metro, the city or county that issues permits keeps its own list, and the estimate is written to whichever one covers your address.
Lighting and ventilation
A remodel is the easiest time to fix a bathroom’s lighting, since the walls are already open. Lights at face height on both sides of the mirror work better for shaving and makeup than one fixture above it. A recessed light over the shower needs a fixture rated for a wet location, and the exhaust fan should vent outdoors, never into the attic. All of it is our own electrical work.
What moves the price of a bathroom remodel?
Whether fixtures stay where they are or move; a tub-to-shower conversion; the size of the shower and the tile you choose; the vanity and fixtures; any rot found under the old toilet or tub; new circuits, lighting and an exhaust fan; and the permit. In a house built before 1978, demolition that disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted wall in a room falls under the EPA’s lead-safe work rule, which adds containment and cleanup to the job. The estimate lists each item with its own cost, along with a timeline.