Bathroom Remodeling in PA & NJ

Bathrooms are small rooms with a lot of trades in them, and water finds every shortcut. Underhill Lions LLC remodels bathrooms with our own tile, carpentry and finish crew and licensed partners for the plumbing and electrical work, so one contractor is responsible for the whole room, from the framing to the last bead of caulk.

Showers that stay dry

Tile is not the waterproofing. What is behind it is. A tile shower is only as good as the pan and membrane under the tile, and that is the part of the job we refuse to rush. Where the old walls are damaged we demolish to the studs. Then we set a sloped shower pan, cover the walls and pan with a waterproofing membrane, and test it before any tile goes on. Only after it passes do we set the tile: large-format porcelain, subway or mosaic, set straight and level with tight grout lines, then grouted and sealed. A niche, a bench or a curbless entry gets built into that same waterproofed assembly, not added on top of it.

What drives bathroom remodel cost

The biggest factors are whether plumbing moves, the type of shower, and the tile.

• Plumbing layout. Keeping the toilet, vanity and drain where they are is the simplest path. Moving a drain, or converting a tub to a curbless shower, means floor and framing work as well as new plumbing.
• Shower type. A custom tile shower with a niche, bench or glass door is more work than a tub surround.
• Tile. Large-format and mosaic tile take more labor than standard tile, and patterns and borders add cutting time.
• Electrical and ventilation. A new exhaust fan vented outdoors, lighting on its own circuit or a heated floor each add electrical work.
• What is behind the old tile. Water damage or rotted subfloor only shows once the room is open.

We price the known work up front in writing, and if we find something behind the walls we show it to you the same day, before we fix it.

Bathroom renovations in older homes

Small bathrooms in older rowhomes, twins and postwar houses often hide surprises. Common ones are old supply lines, cast-iron drains, soft subfloor around the toilet and exhaust fans that vent into the attic instead of outdoors. When the walls are open we tell you what we see and give you the option to replace it while it is exposed, which costs less than opening the walls again later. Our write-up on a bathroom remodel in Northeast Philadelphia shows what that looks like on a real job.

Tub to shower conversions and walk-in showers

Swapping a tub for a walk-in shower is the most requested bathroom job we do. We pull the tub, reframe the opening, waterproof the pan and walls, tile, and set a glass door or a curtain rod. A conversion or a cosmetic refresh with a new vanity, floor and fixtures takes about a week. A full remodel of a standard bathroom takes two to three weeks.

Everything else in the room

Vanities and sinks, toilets, tile floors with heat if you want it, exhaust fans and lighting brought up to code, doors, trim and paint. A new bathroom in a basement or on another floor means new plumbing runs and venting, which our licensed plumbing partner handles under permit, and we will tell you at the walk-through where a new bathroom is practical and where it is not. If the bathroom is one room in a bigger project, it can be part of a whole-home renovation on one schedule.

Permits and licensing

Underhill Lions LLC is a licensed and insured contractor, PA HIC #PA203239. We pull the permits the work needs under our license, with the City of Philadelphia or the township in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, and schedule the inspections, so the rough plumbing and electrical are inspected before the walls close.

See finished bathrooms and other jobs in our recent projects. We remodel bathrooms across Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery Counties and South Jersey. Request a free estimate; a photo of the current room is enough to start.