When homeowners in Louisville ask us how long a bathroom takes, the honest answer is that it depends less on the size of the room than on how much has to be corrected once the walls are open. A bathroom is the most complicated small room in a house — plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, tile, and finish carpentry all stacked into eighty square feet.
It starts with demolition. Old tile, tub surrounds, flooring, and often the drywall behind them come out. This is the point where we find what the previous work hid: rotted studs behind a leaking shower, a subfloor soft from years of a running toilet, or plumbing that was never vented correctly. Finding these on day two is good news. Finding them after the tile is on is expensive.
Next comes rough-in. Plumbing gets moved or replaced, the shower valve is set at the right depth for the finished wall thickness, and any electrical for lighting, fans, or a heated mirror is run. If the layout is changing, this is where it happens. Everything here gets inspected while it's still open and reachable.
Then waterproofing, which is the step that separates a shower that lasts twenty years from one that fails in three. Cement board goes up in place of drywall, seams get sealed, and a waterproofing membrane goes over the whole wet area before any tile. Tile and grout are not waterproof — water passes through grout steadily, every shower, for the life of the bathroom. The membrane behind the tile is what actually keeps water out of your framing, and it is the step cheap jobs skip because nobody can see it afterward.
If you are getting quotes, this is the thing to ask about. A properly prepared shower is unmistakable before tile goes on: cement board on the walls, a continuous membrane over it, sealed corners, and a set pan. If a crew is ready to tile over drywall or greenboard, that tells you what you need to know.
Tile comes next, and it is slow work done well. The pan is set and sloped correctly to the drain, wall tile is laid out so the cuts land in sensible places, and leveling clips keep the face of the tile flat so you don't get lippage between pieces. Accent columns and niches get planned into the layout rather than squeezed in afterward.
Finally the finish work: vanity, mirror and lighting, glass enclosure, flooring, baseboard, doors, and paint. This is the part everyone pictures when they imagine a remodel, and it's also the fastest part. The three weeks before it are what makes it hold up.
If you're thinking about a bathroom project, call Aldana Construcción at (502) 436-3628 for a free written estimate.