Bathroom remodeling on the North Carolina coast
We remodel bathrooms in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender Counties, from one shower to the whole room. On this humid coast, damp air tests every bathroom. So we seal the shower behind the tile and send the fan's air outside. We also handle the permits most bathroom work needs.
What you get with a new bathroom.
Sealed behind the tile.
A waterproof layer goes behind the tile and under the shower floor. Before any tile goes on, the floor is filled with water and checked for leaks.
The damp goes outside.
The code marks our three counties warm and humid. Your fan is ducted to the outdoors, and a timer can keep it running after a shower.
We handle the permits.
Moving a drain, adding wiring or adding a fan each takes a permit, whatever the job costs. We take care of them, and your pipes are inspected before the walls close.
One bathroom is a whole job to us.
A bathroom is often a smaller job, and we take those on. One shower or one hall bath gets the permits its work needs, and the same waterproofing and written record as a larger remodel.
We start with an assessment, which writes down the house as it stands before anything is priced. Your private online workspace then holds each decision and the reason for it.
Send the address. We'll look up the permit path for a bathroom remodel there.
Down to the studs
The old tile, tub and wallboard come out. We check the framing and subfloor behind them.
Repair the frame
Rotted wood is replaced. Backing for grab bars and a niche go in while the wall is open, if you want them.
Pipes and wires, inspected
The drain, vent, supply lines, valve, wiring and fan duct go in. The plumbing is tested and inspected before the walls close.
Waterproof and test
Backer board and the waterproof layer go on. A tiled shower floor is filled with water and checked.
Tile
Tile goes on over the waterproofing, on the floor and the walls.
Fixtures, glass and fan
Fixtures, glass, fan and lights are set, and the job gets its final inspection.
Rot behind the old shower is priced as an allowance.
Some damage only shows once the old shower is out, such as a soft subfloor or rotted framing. That damage is carried as an allowance in the price. If the rot runs into an outside wall, siding and envelope replacement covers the wall from the outside.
You make the choices.
- A tub, a shower, or both
- A tiled shower, or a prefab base or one-piece surround
- A curb at the shower, or a curbless floor
- The glass, the tile and the fixtures
- The fan controls, such as a timer
- Backing for grab bars, set while the walls are open
Grab bars and curbless showers are options.
Grab-bar backing and a curbless shower are options you can add. A curbless floor still has to slope to the drain, so it gets planned with the floor framing. Joists can only be notched so far, and reworked joists take a permit.
Moving the toilet, or adding a bathroom
A toilet or vanity can move, within limits. The drain needs its slope, and each fixture needs a vent. For a sink, tub or shower, that vent sits close to the trap. Joists limit how pipes cross them. An air admittance valve, a one-way vent valve, fitted to a fixture or branch drain can only serve fixtures on that floor. We work those limits out on paper first.
On a septic system, the state sizes the system by bedrooms. A new bathroom that comes with a new bedroom goes to Environmental Health first, as in Boiling Spring Lakes and Maple Hill. A bathroom alone leaves the bedroom count as it was.
If it's your only bathroom
We settle before work starts how long your bathroom will be out of use. Staging is planned for each house, around the scope and the house. Living through a renovation covers the rest.
Planning a kitchen too? Kitchen remodeling covers it. A bathroom can also be one room of a whole-house renovation.
Most bathroom remodels need a permit.
State law lets some smaller jobs skip a permit. Most bathroom work falls outside that rule. What your job needs depends on what moves, what gets added and where the house sits.
- Code in force
- 2018 North Carolina Residential Code. New work meets the rules for a new structure (Section R102.7.1).
- Permit
- Needed at any cost to change the plumbing design, to add or replace wiring or electrical equipment, or for load-bearing work. Like-kind swaps in a single-family house, done to code for $40,000 or less, can skip it (General Statute 160D-1110).
- County practice
- New Hanover County's permit chart lists a bathroom remodel under building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits. Brunswick County exempts fixture swaps that leave the water supply, drain and vent undisturbed.
- Inspection
- Plumbing is tested, inspected and approved before it is covered or used (Section P2503.2).
- Smoke alarms
- A job that needs a building permit brings smoke alarms placed as in a new house. Plumbing or mechanical work alone is exempt (Section R314.2.2).
A bathroom is mostly plumbing and wiring, and state law keeps a close eye on both. Move a drain, add a circuit or add a fan, and the job needs a permit at any price. A refresh with paint and like-kind fixtures can skip one, if it costs $40,000 or less. That exemption covers a single-family house, and the work still has to meet the code.
Under a raised house in a flood zone, the enclosed space below the flood height is limited to parking, access and storage. So a new bathroom goes on the raised floor, and the job's cost counts toward your town's 50 percent rule.
County permit pages spell it out.
New Hanover County's permit chart lists a bathroom remodel under four permits: building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing. Brunswick County lets a plumbing fixture be swapped without a permit when the water supply, drain and vent stay undisturbed. A tub-to-shower conversion changes the drain, so we run it through a plumbing permit.
A building permit brings one more check. When the work needs one, the house gets smoke alarms where the code places them in a new house. Work on the plumbing or mechanical systems alone is exempt.
An older house adds two checks.
A house built before 1978 falls under North Carolina's lead-safe renovation rules. In older houses, suspect materials are tested by an NC-accredited inspector before demolition. Those include old flooring and its glue, joint compound and ceiling texture. Older houses covers what else the year a house was built can change.
A historic district reviews the outside.
State law keeps a historic commission out of interior layout, except in a landmark whose owner has agreed to interior review. So the bathroom itself is yours to plan, in the historic districts of Southport and Wilmington alike. A new vent or window on the outside of the house can still need a certificate of appropriateness first.
Water stays inside the shower.
The tile is the part you see. The waterproof layer behind it is what keeps water out of the walls and floor. The code sets how the shower floor is lined, sloped and tested, and where the damp air goes.
What goes behind the tile
- Backer board from the code's list, such as cement board
- A waterproof liner or bonded membrane under the shower floor, sloped to the drain
- A drain with a flange the waterproofing seals into
- A water test of the lined floor before any tile goes on
- A waterproof layer on the shower walls, under the tile
- Tile and grout, with a water-shedding surface at least 6 feet up the shower walls
- A shower valve with a stop set at 120°F or below, to guard against scalding
The water test is the check we would least want to skip. The drain is plugged, and the lined floor is filled at least 2 inches deep at the entry. The water sits for at least 15 minutes. Any leak shows up while it is still easy to fix, before tile covers it.
Turning a tub into a shower
A tub-to-shower conversion changes the plumbing, so it goes through a plumbing permit. The code has a drain rule written for this exact swap, and the drain size is settled under that permit. The inspector checks the drain, the trap and the valve before the wall closes. Then the floor gets its liner and its water test.
Tile, or a one-piece shower
We lead with tiled showers over a waterproof layer, because you choose the size, the tile and the layout. A prefab base or a one-piece surround is an option too. A prefab base is made to a standard the code lists, so it needs no liner built on site.
Glass near water is safety glass.
The code treats glass near a tub or shower as a hazard spot. That covers a shower door, a glass panel and a window over the tub. Glass within 60 inches of the water, with its bottom edge less than 60 inches up, has to be safety glass.
Your fan sends the damp outdoors.
The code marks Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender as warm-humid, and a shower adds a lot of water to that air. The code sends bath fan air straight outdoors. The attic and the crawlspace count as inside the house, so the duct runs all the way out. The U.S. Department of Energy's Building America guide recommends running the fan for an hour after a shower. A timer switch does that for you. Indoor air covers how we plan fresh air and exhaust.
A big mirror needs air behind it.
In a warm, humid climate, damp from outside can condense behind a finish that blocks vapor on the inside of an outside wall. With no way to dry to the room, the water builds up in the wall. So a large mirror on an outside wall hangs on clips or spacers that let air move behind it. A Department of Energy guide for warm, humid climates gives that advice, and it allows tile at the tub and shower.
When the work opens an outside wall, an empty cavity gets filled with insulation, as the energy code asks. How a coastal wall drains and dries and planning for moisture before it appears go deeper on damp in walls.
Questions about remodeling a bathroom
- Do I need a permit to remodel a bathroom in North Carolina?
- Usually. State law lets a single-family job of $40,000 or less skip a permit when it meets the code. That exemption leaves out changes to the plumbing design, added or replaced wiring and equipment, and load-bearing work, at any price. So moving a drain or adding a fan takes a permit. A refresh with paint and like-kind fixtures can skip one.
- Can you turn my tub into a walk-in shower?
- Yes, and it goes through a plumbing permit. The code has a drain rule written for this swap, and the inspector checks the drain and valve before the wall closes. A tiled floor is lined and water-tested before tile. Glass within 60 inches of the shower, with its bottom edge less than 60 inches up, has to be safety glass.
- What makes a tiled shower waterproof?
- The layer behind the tile. The shower floor gets a liner or a bonded membrane, sloped to a drain that seals to it. Before any tile, the floor is filled with water and left at least 15 minutes to check for leaks. The walls get backer board from the code's list, and a water-shedding surface at least 6 feet up.
- What bathroom fan do I need, and where does it vent?
- A bathroom needs at least 3 square feet of window, half of it able to open, or a light and an exhaust fan. The fan has to move at least 50 cubic feet a minute when switched on, or 20 if it runs all the time. Its air goes straight outdoors, since the code counts the attic and crawlspace as inside the house. A timer can keep it running for an hour after a shower.
- Can I move the toilet or add a bathroom?
- Yes, with permits and within limits. The drain needs its slope, and each fixture needs a vent, close to the trap for a sink, tub or shower. Joists can only be notched or drilled so far. On a septic system, the state sizes the system by bedrooms. So a bathroom alone leaves the count as it was, and a bath that comes with a new bedroom goes to Environmental Health first.
- Do you take on a single bathroom?
- Yes. A bathroom is often a smaller job, and we take those on. One shower or one hall bath gets the permits its work needs, and the same waterproofing and written record as a larger remodel. Damage that only shows once the old shower is out is carried as an allowance in the price. How long the bathroom will be out of use is settled before work starts.
- Can you add grab bars or a curbless shower?
- Yes, as options. Backing for grab bars goes into the wall while it is open, so bars can go up now or later. A curbless floor still has to slope to the drain, so it gets planned with the floor framing. Joists can only be notched so far, and reworked joists take a permit.
More renovation projects.
Regulatory figures on this page summarize the town and county codes each linked city page cites, and the public sources below. Ordinances change; the parcel and the current adopted code decide, and the site analysis confirms both for your lot.
A bathroom that dries out between showers.
Tell us where the house is and which bathroom you want redone. We'll check its permit path before anything else.
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