Bathroom Remodeling in the Triangle
A full bathroom remodel, including tiled walk-in showers, built waterproof from the substrate up rather than sealed afterwards.

Is this an emergency?
No. Bathroom Remodeling is scheduled work and is not covered by our emergency service, which runs 24 hours, 7 days, including holidays. We will book you into an ordinary dispatch window rather than charge an emergency rate for a job that can wait for one.
About Bathroom Remodeling
How long it takes
Six to nine weeks from signature to a finished bathroom: two to four weeks of design and permitting, then three to five weeks on site.
The on-site number surprises people, because a bathroom is a small room. It is small and it contains more trades per square foot than anywhere else in the house: demolition, structure, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, tiling, glazing, painting. Each has to finish before the next starts, and several involve curing times that cannot be rushed.
If it is your only full bathroom, tell us at the survey. We schedule those differently and we can usually keep the toilet live for most of the programme.
What it costs
Most Triangle bathroom remodels land between $12,000 and $42,000.
The bottom of that range is a same-layout hall bathroom: new vanity, new toilet, a tub-shower replaced in the same footprint, new tile, new fixtures.
The top is a primary bathroom reconfigured: the toilet moved, the tub removed for a large tiled walk-in shower with a bench and a niche, heated floor, thermostatic valve, frameless glass, and double vanity.
Bathroom remodels are financing eligible and clear the financing minimum. Both lender options are on our financing page.
Waterproofing is the whole job
Everything else in a bathroom is cosmetic. The waterproofing is what decides whether you are doing this again in eight years.
Here is the thing worth understanding: tile and grout are not waterproof. Grout is porous, and water passes through it routinely. A correctly built wet area has a bonded waterproof membrane on the substrate, behind the tile, with every corner, seam and penetration detailed. The tile is the wearing surface; the membrane is the barrier.
What we find in failed Triangle bathrooms, over and over: green board or plain drywall behind shower tile with no membrane at all. It works while the grout holds, then the wall cavity gets wet, and the first sign is usually a soft spot in the floor outside the shower or a stain on a ceiling below.
We build wet areas on a bonded membrane system, we flood test shower pans before tiling, and we warrant that waterproofing for five years rather than the two our general workmanship carries. It is the part of the job we are most willing to be judged on.
The five phases
Phase one: design and selection, one to two weeks
Measurement, drawings, and the decisions: layout, whether the tub goes, tile, fixtures, vanity, glass. Shorter than a kitchen because there are fewer decisions, but the same rule applies. Arrive with a rough idea of style and you will move quickly.
You get a fixed written quote with stated allowances for tile, fixtures and vanity.
Phase two: permit, one to two weeks
Any bathroom that moves plumbing or alters electrical needs one. We pull it, book the inspections and meet the inspector.
Phase three: demolition and rough-in, one week
Everything out, down to studs and subfloor in the wet areas. This is where we find what the last bathroom was hiding, and in a bathroom the usual find is rotten subfloor, typically around the toilet flange or under the tub apron, from a wax ring or a tub surround that has been leaking slowly for years.
We quote a subfloor allowance for exactly this reason and itemise anything beyond it at cost.
Then plumbing rough-in, electrical rough-in with GFCI protection and an extract fan ducted to outside, not into the loft, which is where a remarkable number of existing fans terminate. Rough-in inspection closes the phase.
Phase four: waterproofing, tile and finishes, one to two weeks
Waterproofing first, flood tested. Then tile, which is the long pole: large format tile and herringbone patterns both take substantially longer to set than a straight stack, and the difference is days rather than hours.
Then grout, vanity, toilet, fixtures, paint.
Glass is measured after tiling, not before. A frameless enclosure is templated to the tiled opening and fabrication takes one to two weeks. That gap is real, it is in your programme, and it is why the shower is usable a little before it is finished.
Phase five: inspection and handover
Final inspection, walkthrough, snag list. We fix the snags before asking for the final payment.
Tub or walk-in shower
The most common question at the survey, so here is the honest version.
Removing a tub for a large tiled walk-in shower is the single most popular change we make, and it is almost always the right one in a primary bathroom. It costs more: the waterproofing area grows, the drain usually moves, and the floor structure sometimes has to change to accommodate a linear drain or a curbless entry.
But keep a tub somewhere in the house. If you have small children, or you may sell within a decade, a house with no bathtub at all is a narrower market. In a two-bathroom house the usual answer is a walk-in shower in the primary and the tub retained in the hall bathroom.
What we will not do
Mould remediation. If demolition reveals significant growth, we stop and bring in a remediation contractor. Tiling over a mould problem is how you get a worse one.
Asbestos and lead. Both are common in Triangle bathrooms built before 1980, in floor tile, adhesive and painted trim. We hold the EPA Lead-Safe certification and will use it; asbestos goes to an abatement contractor.
Main soil stack replacement and whole-house repiping are plumbing services. If the survey shows you need one, we will say so, because doing a bathroom on top of a failing stack is money spent twice.
Building it for later
A bathroom lasts twenty years or more, and it is far cheaper to accommodate the future during the rough-in than to retrofit it afterwards.
Blocking for grab rails costs almost nothing at framing stage: plywood backing in the wall behind the shower and beside the toilet, so a rail can be fitted properly into structure at any point later. Retrofitting that into a tiled wall means removing tile.
A curbless shower is the single most useful accessibility decision, and it is much easier on a crawlspace than on a slab, because the floor structure has to drop to accommodate the drain. If you intend to stay in the house long-term and you are on a crawlspace, it is worth doing now.
A wider door. Going from a 28 inch to a 32 inch door during a remodel is trivial. Doing it later means reframing.
None of this makes the bathroom look like a hospital, which is the objection we usually hear. A tiled curbless shower with a linear drain is the most requested feature we install, and nobody asks for it on accessibility grounds.
Ventilation, which is not optional here
Triangle humidity means a bathroom extract fan is doing real work, and the two things that decide whether it works are size and where it terminates.
Sized to the room, not to whatever was there before. And ducted to outside, through the roof or a gable wall, with insulated duct and a backdraft damper. A fan that terminates in the loft is pumping the moisture from every shower into your roof space, and the result is condensation on the underside of the deck that looks exactly like a roof leak. We find it constantly, and we replace it as part of any bathroom we touch.
What is included
- Included
- Design consultation, measured drawings and a fixed written quote
- Permit application, inspection scheduling and meeting the inspector on site
- Demolition and disposal of the existing bathroom
- Subfloor repair and replacement where rot is found
- Plumbing rough-in, including relocating supply and waste where the layout changes
- Electrical rough-in, GFCI protection, and an extract fan ducted to outside
- Full waterproofing of wet areas, bonded membrane on the substrate
- Shower pan construction, tiled or pre-formed
- Wall and floor tiling
- Vanity, toilet, tub and shower installation
- Glass shower enclosure, measured after tiling
- Painting, trim and accessory fitting
- Not included
- Mould remediation, which requires a specialist contractor
- Asbestos and lead paint work, which requires an abatement contractor
- Structural engineering stamps, which come from a licensed engineer
- Main soil stack replacement, which is a plumbing service
- Window replacement
- Whole-house repiping, which is a plumbing service
- Brands serviced
- Kohler, Delta, Moen, Schluter, Wedi, American Standard, Toto
- Certifications
- NC General Contractor licence 78341, EPA Lead-Safe certified firm, Schluter certified installer
- Permit required
- Yes. We pull the permit, book the inspection and meet the inspector.
- Typical timeline
- Three to five weeks on site, after a two to four week design and permit phase. Six to nine weeks from signature to a finished bathroom.
What it costs
This is quoted rather than booked. An estimate visit is free and carries no diagnostic fee, and you get a fixed written quote at the end of it. The range below is what work of this kind usually costs, not a quote.$12,000 to $42,000
- After hours
- $150 between and , and on Sundays
- Financing
- Available from $3,000This work clears the minimum. See financing options.
What moves the price
- Whether the layout changes. Moving a toilet means moving a soil pipe, which is the largest single jump available
- Whether a tub is being replaced with a tiled walk-in shower, which changes the waterproofing and often the floor structure
- Tile size and pattern. Large format and herringbone both take considerably longer to set than a straight stack
- How much of the subfloor has rotted, which is only known once the old floor is up
- Fixture specification, from builder grade through to thermostatic valves and body jets
- Whether the room is on a slab or over a crawlspace, which decides how hard drain relocation is
What affects any Cedarline price
- How old the equipment is, and whether replacement parts are still manufactured
- How accessible the work area is: a crawlspace or a second-storey roof takes longer than a garage
- Whether a permit and an inspection are required
- Material grade, which on a roof or a deck moves the total more than labour does
- Whether the visit falls outside dispatch hours
Before we arrive
- Clear the vanity and the shower so surfaces and drain positions can be seen
- Note any soft spots in the floor, particularly around the toilet and the tub
- Say whether this is the only full bathroom in the house, because it changes how we schedule
- Gather photographs of tile and fixture styles you like
Typical timeline
Three to five weeks on site, after a two to four week design and permit phase. Six to nine weeks from signature to a finished bathroom.
Warranty
- Labour
- 24 months
- Parts
- 12 months
Two years on our workmanship, and five years on the waterproofing of any wet area we build. Fixtures carry their manufacturer warranties separately.
Questions
Remodeling and construction questions
How long does a kitchen remodel take?
Ten to twelve weeks from signature to a finished kitchen: three to five weeks of design and permitting, then four to seven weeks on site. Anyone quoting four weeks in total is either not pulling a permit or has not counted the design phase. You are without a kitchen for the on-site portion, so plan a temporary setup with a microwave and a kettle somewhere else in the house.
Why can I not get a price over the phone?
Because a remodel price depends on what is behind your walls, what the county will permit, what you choose to put back, and how much of the existing structure is worth keeping. Two identical-looking 1990s kitchens in Cary can differ by tens of thousands once the cabinets come off. Every project starts with a free design and survey visit that produces a fixed written quote with every allowance stated.
What is an allowance in a quote?
An allowance is the sum we have budgeted for something you have not chosen yet, such as tile, fixtures or cabinetry. Every quote states its allowances plainly. Choose above one and the difference is itemised; choose below it and you get the difference back. Quotes without stated allowances are how a fixed price turns into a moving one.
What makes one remodel cost more than another?
Whether the layout changes, more than anything else. Moving a sink means moving a drain, and a drain needs fall, which on a slab-on-grade house can mean cutting concrete. Keeping the wet wall where it is saves more money than any other decision available to you. After that it is cabinetry level, whether a wall is load bearing, and whether your electrical panel can carry a modern kitchen.
Can you start before the permit comes through?
No. A contractor who offers to start before the permit is issued is offering to do unpermitted work, which becomes your problem when you sell the house. Wake and Durham counties both run one to two weeks for a residential kitchen at present, longer after a storm event when the permit desk is loaded with roof work. We pull the permit, book the inspections, and meet the inspector on site.
Can I live in the house during the work?
For most projects yes, and most clients do. On an addition the majority of the work happens outside your walls, with two disruptive phases: excavation week, when you lose the driveway, and the tie-in, when we open the existing exterior wall. On a kitchen or bathroom you lose that room for the on-site phase. Water and power stay on throughout, with brief planned interruptions we tell you about the day before.
Can I build an addition anywhere on my lot?
No, and three site constraints decide what is buildable. Setbacks are required distances from every boundary, and in much of Wake and Durham County the side setback is the binding one, which frequently pushes an addition to the back rather than the side you wanted. Lot coverage caps the proportion of the lot under roof and hard standing, and an existing patio counts toward it. Utility and drainage easements cannot be built over at all. All three are on your plot survey.
Do I need HOA approval?
In most Triangle subdivisions, yes, for anything visible from the street or from a neighbour. The architectural review committee meets on its own schedule and it is frequently the single longest wait in an addition project, so start it early. We prepare and submit the package, but we cannot make the committee meet sooner.
Can you just finish my basement without dealing with the damp?
No. Framing over a moisture problem is the most expensive mistake in basement finishing, because drywall and insulation in a below-grade room that takes water is not a room that needs repair later, it is a room that has to be demolished and rebuilt. We assess moisture first and put the findings in writing before anything is designed. Sometimes the answer is nothing at all, because plenty of Triangle basements are genuinely dry.
Can I put a bedroom in my basement?
Only if it has a compliant egress window: minimum opening size, maximum sill height, and a window well big enough to climb out of. In a poured or block foundation that means cutting and shoring the wall and excavating outside, and it is one of the larger single line items on a basement quote. Without it the room can be an office or a den, but it cannot be called a bedroom, and calling it one anyway causes problems at sale.
Am I allowed to convert my garage?
Not always, and it is worth checking before you pay for drawings. Some Triangle subdivisions restrict garage conversions outright through HOA covenants, and some counties require a minimum number of off-street or covered parking spaces per dwelling, which losing your garage can put you below. If the plan involves its own entrance, kitchen and bathroom, that is an accessory dwelling unit rather than a conversion, with different rules that in much of the Triangle do not permit it.
When do I need a structural engineer?
Whenever a project removes or alters a load-bearing element, and for most structural repair work. The engineer writes the specification and we build to it, which matters because a contractor who diagnoses a structural problem and then sells you the repair has an obvious conflict of interest. We coordinate the engineer, their fee is separate and paid to them directly so nobody is marking it up, and you get both documents.
I have a crack in my foundation. Is it urgent?
Usually not, but the way to find out is to measure it rather than guess. Draw a pencil line across each end of the crack, write the date beside it, and photograph it with a coin for scale. A crack that has not moved in three months is very different from one that has moved in three weeks. Most Triangle cracking is historic, because clay soils swell and shrink seasonally and a great many cracks opened years ago and stopped. What does need attention is horizontal cracking, stair-step cracking in block, and anything actively widening.
Common questions
How long is the arrival window?
Most visits carry a two hour arrival window, and roofing and construction visits carry three. We quote a window rather than an exact time because a trades crew genuinely cannot promise a minute, and we would rather be accurate than optimistic. We text you when the crew is on the way.
Is the diagnostic fee waived if I go ahead with the repair?
Yes. The diagnostic fee covers the technician's time and a written fault report, and it is waived when you approve the repair. Installation and replacement quotes carry no diagnostic fee at all, because nothing is being diagnosed on an estimate visit.
Is a slot confirmed as soon as I request it?
Not quite. A request is not a held slot. We confirm within 30 minutes during dispatch hours, and first thing the next dispatch day if you request outside them. The availability shown on the site reflects how full a day usually is rather than a live view of the dispatch board.
How can I pay?
We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, ACH bank transfer, and financing on qualifying projects. Payment is due on completion for service work, and on a staged schedule set out in the quote for larger projects. There are two payment methods we cannot take, which are covered in our billing questions.
What happens if I need to cancel?
Give us 24 hours notice and there is no charge. One call or one text is enough to reschedule, and we would much rather move you than charge you. Cancelling inside that window, or nobody being home when the crew arrives, carries a no-show fee.
What happens if nobody is home when the crew arrives?
There is a no-show fee, and it is the same figure as the late cancellation fee. It covers the slot another customer could have used and the crew's drive. If you are running late rather than absent, call us and we will usually wait or come back later the same day at no charge.
What actually happens on a service call?
A technician arrives inside the arrival window, diagnoses the fault, tells you the repair price before touching anything, and completes the work if you approve it. You get a written report either way. Nothing is added to the invoice without your approval first, and we do not carry out extra work while you are out of the room.
What are your hours?
The office is open Monday to Friday from 07:30, and Saturday mornings. Crews dispatch on a wider window, from 07:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and 08:00 to 16:00 on Saturday. There is no scheduled dispatch on Sunday. Emergency coverage runs 24 hours a day, every day, including holidays.
Do you cover my area?
We cover Raleigh, Durham, Cary and the wider Triangle, with coverage recorded city by city because it is not uniform. Most cities have every trade and no travel fee, two have a limited set of trades and a travel fee, one is emergency coverage only, and some adjacent zip codes are outside the service radius entirely. Enter your zip code on our service areas page for a definitive answer.
Do you work on commercial buildings?
No. We are residential only, including multifamily buildings up to four units. A four-unit building is the ceiling and it is a real one rather than a preference: our crews, our insurance and our licences are all sized for residential work. For anything larger, or for any commercial or industrial property, you need a commercial general contractor.
Do you install pool heaters, septic systems, or solar?
No to all three, and we will point you at the right trade for each. Pool and spa equipment sits under a separate licence, so you need a pool service company. Septic systems need a licensed septic contractor, and Wake County keeps a list of permitted installers. Solar needs a solar installer, though we will happily reroof around an existing array. We publish the full list of work we do not take on rather than making you ask.
Do you have Spanish-speaking technicians?
Yes, Monday through Friday. We do not staff Spanish-speaking crews at weekends. If you need one, ask when you book and we will schedule you on a weekday rather than send someone who cannot explain the work to you.
Are you licensed and insured?
Yes. We hold five North Carolina licences covering HVAC, general contracting, roofing, plumbing and electrical, and every licence number is published on our site rather than available on request. We carry general liability cover and workers compensation cover, and we are bonded. Certificates go to your adjuster or your HOA the same day you ask.
What warranty do you give?
Twelve months on labour and parts is the standard, and several services carry considerably longer. Roof replacements carry ten years on workmanship, repiping ten years, structural repair five years, and cabinetry five years. Manufacturer warranties on equipment run separately and are often longer still, and we register them in your name before we leave.
What if I am not happy with the work?
We come back and put it right at no charge. There is no time limit on a workmanship complaint about a repair we performed. Call the office rather than the crew directly, so it gets logged and scheduled rather than depending on one person remembering.
What should I do with my pets?
Secure them away from the work area before we arrive. This is genuinely for their safety rather than ours: crews prop doors open, carry sharp and heavy things through the house, and use tools that frighten animals. Tell us when you book if you have a dog that needs handling carefully, and we will note it on the job.
Do I need to be home?
For most visits, no, provided we can get in and reach the work. Inspections, maintenance visits and outdoor work frequently happen with nobody home. You do need to be there for anything where we will be quoting work, making decisions with you, or entering occupied rooms. We will tell you which yours is when you book.
What access do you need?
A clear path to the work area, clear parking for a van near the house, and unlocked side gates where the job is round the back. Roofing and outdoor work need the driveway, sometimes for a skip. If parking is difficult where you are, tell us when you book, because a crew circling for twenty minutes is time on your job.
What is the difference between emergency and scheduled work?
Two separate operations with separate rules. Scheduled work runs inside published dispatch hours, is booked into an arrival window, and carries the ordinary diagnostic fee. Emergency work runs around the clock on a fixed shortlist of eight services, targets a 90 minute response, and carries a call-out fee on top. Ringing the emergency line about something outside that shortlist does not upgrade it; you get booked into the next ordinary window instead. Our emergency questions list exactly which eight services qualify and set out what to do while you wait.
How long is a written quote valid?
Thirty days from the date on it. Beyond that we will re-price rather than honour a figure that no longer covers the materials, and material prices on roofing and lumber in particular move enough that a quarter-old quote is not meaningful. Re-pricing an expired quote is quick, because the survey work is already done.
Is a maintenance plan worth it?
It depends on how much work you expect to need. The plans bundle seasonal visits with priority dispatch and a standing discount on repairs, billed monthly, and the discount alone pays for the cheapest tier if you have one significant repair a year. If you rarely call anyone out, paying per visit is the better arithmetic and we will say so.
Is Cedarline Home Services a real company?
No. Cedarline Home Services is a fictional company used for demos. Every price, policy, licence number and phone number on this site is invented for that purpose, and none of it should be relied on as a real quotation or a real business record.
Related services
- Kitchen RemodelingA full kitchen remodel, from layout and cabinetry through to the final inspection, quoted fixed after a design and survey visit.
- Basement FinishingWe finish basements, starting with moisture and egress rather than with drywall, because a finished basement that gets wet is finished twice.
- Home AdditionsRoom additions, primary suites and second storeys, from foundation through to final inspection.
- Structural RepairFraming, joist, beam and foundation repair, carried out to a licensed engineer's specification rather than to a guess.
How to get a price
A bathroom remodel is designed before it is priced. Whether the layout moves, whether a tub becomes a tiled shower, and how much subfloor has rotted under the old one all move the total substantially, and none of it is visible from an address. Book a free design and survey visit and you will have a fixed written quote with every allowance stated.