Monroe, NC · since 2000
Bathroom Remodeling in Charlotte, NC
Bathroom remodeling across the Charlotte area. Showers rebuilt and waterproofed from the framing out, and whatever the old one was hiding fixed before any tile goes back on.
- 4stages, in this order
- 25years in one county
- 1crew, start to finish
The order that matters
Waterproofing is the job. Tile is the finish.
A tiled shower does not keep water out because it is tiled. Tile and grout are porous. What keeps the water out is the membrane underneath, and whether it was lapped, sealed and pressure-tested before anybody picked up a trowel.
Demolition, and what it finds
The old shower comes out completely. This is where the rot, the failed pan and the leak nobody knew about turn up, and we show you rather than describe it.
Rebuild and waterproof
Framing repaired, blocking set for niches, bench and fixtures, then cement board and a waterproofing membrane with every seam and corner sealed. It cures before anything goes on top of it.
Tile, then grout, then seal
Tile set, spacers out, grout floated and cured, then sealed. Each of those has a waiting time that cannot be shortened without buying yourself a failure later.
Glass, fixtures and paint last
Glass is measured against the finished tile, not the drawing. Fixtures go on, then the room is painted in a satin, last of all.
Our own bathroom, in four photographs
Demolition to finished glass.
One job, in order. The pink you can see in the second frame is the waterproofing membrane going on over cement board. It is the frame nobody puts on a website, and it is the one that decides the other three.
What goes in a bathroom
Five decisions framed before the board goes on.
These are the choices that have to be made early because they are built into the wall. Everything else — tile, paint, hardware — can wait.
| Decision | Why it is early | What happens if it is late |
|---|---|---|
| Niche position and size | Blocking is framed between studs before cement board | The wall comes back open, and the membrane is cut and re-sealed |
| Bench or no bench | It is framed, sloped and waterproofed as part of the structure | It cannot be added once the wall is tiled |
| Glass panel or door | Decides whether a curb, a half wall or a full return is built | The framing is wrong for the glass you wanted |
| Fixture and valve height | Plumbing is set before the wall closes | Opening a finished tiled wall to move a valve |
| Curb or low threshold | Changes the floor framing and the drain | A rebuild of the floor, not an adjustment |
Converting a tub? The drain position usually decides how straightforward the job is, and it is the first thing we look at.
More of our own work
Slate, glass and tiled half walls.
Photographs of our own finished bathrooms. The rest are on the gallery page.
Where we do this
Charlotte, and about fifty miles around it.
The shop is in Monroe. The crew works across Charlotte and the towns around it, on both sides of the state line. Each area has its own page, because the houses are not the same.
On the record
What you can check for yourself.
We would rather publish four facts you can verify than a page of adjectives. Everything below links to the source that holds it.
What do you usually find when you take out an old shower?
Water where water should not be. A pan that was never properly sealed, a rotten sill plate, a subfloor gone soft at the door, or mold behind cement board that was installed without a membrane. It is not bad luck; it is what happens to a shower built before waterproofing membranes became standard practice.
How long does a bathroom take?
Usually two to three weeks of working days for a full shower rebuild, and the tile is not the slow part. Waterproofing has to cure, thinset has to set and grout has to cure before anything gets sealed or glass gets measured. Rushing any one of those is exactly how a shower fails again in five years.
Can you convert a tub to a walk-in shower?
Yes, and it is one of the most common calls we get. The tub comes out, the framing and the drain are checked and adjusted, the alcove is rebuilt and waterproofed, and you get a curbed or low-threshold walk-in with tile and glass. The drain position is the thing that decides how straightforward it is.
Do I have to pick the tile before you start?
Before the tile stage, not before demolition. What we do need early is the layout decision — niche positions, bench, glass panel or door, fixture heights — because those are framed and blocked before the cement board goes on, and moving them afterwards means opening the wall again.
Is the bathroom usable while you work?
That one is not, for the stretch between demolition and the finished floor. If it is your only bathroom, say so at the estimate: it changes how we phase the job and it is not a conversation anybody enjoys having on day four.
Who paints it at the end?
We do, in a satin that will cope with the humidity, and we do it last so nothing lands on new tile or new glass. The order of work is the reason to have one crew rather than four contractors.
Get a free estimate
Every shower we open up has a story.
Ours usually starts with a customer saying the tile looks fine. Let us take a look before it becomes a subfloor problem.