Bathroom Remodeling in Lakewood, CO

The biggest cost lever in a bathroom is whether the fixtures stay where they are. Keep the toilet, tub, and sink in place and the money goes into what you see: tile, vanity, lighting, glass, hardware. Move them and you're into real plumbing and usually a permit — which is fine, and sometimes exactly right, but it should be a decision you make knowingly. As a licensed general contractor I can take the job either way, so I'll price both versions when it's genuinely a coin flip.

What's behind the tile matters more than the tile. Denver's housing stock is full of bathrooms tiled straight over drywall or old mud beds, and by the time a surround has soft spots or grout lines that never dry, there's water where it shouldn't be. Every shower I build goes over proper waterproofing — modern membrane systems, not just cement board — because the difference between a ten-year shower and a thirty-year shower is invisible on day one.

Small bathrooms are their own craft. Most of the metro's pre-1980 houses have five-by-eight bathrooms, and the answer to a cramped room is rarely making it bigger — it's a right-sized vanity, a glass panel instead of a curtain, wall-mounted storage, better lighting, and tile choices that stretch the space visually. I've done enough of these rooms to know what actually works at that scale, and it costs a fraction of an addition.