Bathroom Renovation
Full Bathroom Renovation in Renton
A full renovation takes the room back far enough to waterproof it properly, which is the part that decides whether a bathroom lasts. Everything after that is finish work.
What a Full Renovation Covers
A full bathroom renovation strips the room back to a surface that new waterproofing can bond to. The fittings come out, the tile comes off, and in most cases the backer board behind it comes off too. What is underneath gets inspected, because this is the only point at which anyone will see it for the next twenty years.
From there the room is rebuilt in order: any framing repairs, then plumbing and electrical rough-in if the layout is changing, then waterproofing, then tile, then flooring, then the vanity and fixtures. The sequence is not flexible. Waterproofing cannot go in after tile, and tile cannot go on before the substrate is sound.
Scope is set at the consultation, in the room. A bathroom where the shower has been leaking is a different job from one that simply looks dated, even when the finished result looks the same.
The Part Nobody Sees
A shower is a box that has water thrown at it several times a day for decades. What keeps that water out of the framing is a waterproofing membrane behind the tile, a shower floor sloped evenly to the drain, and correct detailing where the floor meets the walls and where the walls meet the curb.
Tile and grout are not waterproof. Grout is porous and tile is only as good as what is behind it, so a shower tiled straight onto standard drywall will fail. Not immediately, which is the problem. It fails slowly and invisibly, and by the time a stain appears on a ceiling below, the framing has been wet for a long time.
This is the single biggest difference between a bathroom that was built properly and one that was made to look finished, and it is invisible on completion. It is also why the owner being on site matters more in a bathroom than anywhere else: the waterproofing gets checked before it is covered, by the person who is accountable for the room.
Renton Bathrooms Specifically
Older Renton housing tends to have small bathrooms built around a tub, often the only bathroom in the house. Those are the projects where layout questions come up: whether the tub is worth keeping when nobody uses it, whether a wall can move to make the room workable, and whether there is anywhere to put a second bathroom.
They are also the projects most likely to turn up damage. A fifty-year-old bathroom that has never been renovated has had fifty years for a grout line to let water through. Cast iron waste pipes, galvanised supply lines and wiring that predates current code all appear in houses of that age, and all are easier to deal with while the room is open.
Newer construction nearer the lake is usually sound structurally, and those renovations are more about replacing builder-grade fittings and a fibreglass shower pan with tile and a proper membrane.
One Quote, and the Walkthrough at the End
A renovation is quoted as one project after the consultation. The quote covers labour and construction materials, which in a bathroom means framing repairs, waterproofing, backer board, thinset, grout, wiring inside the wall, mudding and paint. The tile, vanity, fixtures and any glass are yours to choose and supply.
What cannot be fully quoted in advance is what is behind the tile, because nobody can see it yet. The honest way to handle that is to say so up front and to raise anything found rather than absorbing it quietly or presenting it as a surprise at the end.
The job finishes with a walkthrough of the room together and a punch list worked through before it is called done. There is a one-year written warranty on our labour, written into the contract before you sign it.
Ventilation Is the Other Half of Keeping a Bathroom Dry
Waterproofing stops liquid water reaching the structure. Ventilation deals with the water that is in the air, and in a bathroom that is a large amount every day. A room that is sealed well and ventilated badly gets mould on the ceiling and in the grout, and that is a ventilation problem rather than a cleaning one.
A lot of older bathrooms either have no extract fan at all or have one that was undersized when it was fitted and has since filled with dust. Some have a fan that was never ducted to the outside and simply discharges into the roof space, which moves the moisture problem rather than solving it.
A renovation is the right time to fix that, because the ceiling and the wall are already open. That means a fan sized for the room, ducted the shortest sensible route to an outside vent, and ideally on a timer or a humidity sensor so it runs after the shower rather than only while someone remembers to switch it on.
It is a small line on a renovation quote and it is the difference between a bathroom that still looks new in five years and one with black grout lines along the ceiling.
The Walkthrough, and What Happens After
A renovation finishes with a walkthrough of the room together. That is a real stage rather than a formality: going through the finished bathroom, checking what was agreed at the consultation actually made it in, and writing down anything that needs attention.
Those punch-list items get worked through before the job is called done, not after the final payment and not on a return visit scheduled vaguely. A bathroom has a lot of small finishing details, silicone lines, a door that needs easing over a new floor, a fan that needs its timer setting, and the walkthrough is where they get caught.
The warranty is one year on our labour, written into the contract before you sign it rather than handed over at the end. What it covers is our work. The tile, vanity and fixtures you chose and supplied carry whatever warranty their manufacturers give them, which is worth keeping the paperwork for.
One of Five Bathroom Services
A full renovation is the largest of five ways to work with Hunnu Construction on a bathroom. The others run on their own: vanity installation, tile installation, floor replacement and tub-to-shower conversion. For the complete picture of bathroom remodeling in Renton, including how a project is sequenced and where the waterproofing sits in it, see the main bathroom remodeling page.
Bathroom Renovation Questions
- How long does a full bathroom renovation take?
- Three to four weeks for a single bathroom. A bathroom alongside a kitchen runs as one project of about a month and a half to two months. Only one job runs at a time here, which is why those figures hold.
- What does back to substrate mean?
- Tile, fittings and usually the old backer board come off, down to the framing or to a sound surface that new waterproofing can bond to. You cannot waterproof over a finished surface, so a renovation that keeps the old tile is not a renovation.
- Why is waterproofing such a big part of the price?
- Because it is the thing that fails. A shower is a water containment problem with a decorative finish on it, and the membrane, the slope to the drain and the detailing at corners and the curb are what stop water reaching the framing. None of it is visible afterwards, which is exactly why it gets skipped by people working to a number.
- What if there is already water damage?
- There often is, and it usually only becomes visible once the tile comes off. The two usual places are the shower and behind the toilet. Rotten framing or subfloor gets repaired before new waterproofing goes in, and it gets raised with you when it is found.
- Can I use the bathroom during the work?
- Not the one being renovated. In a single-bathroom house that needs planning before the job starts, and it is part of what the consultation covers rather than something to work out in week one.
- Can the layout change?
- Yes, and a renovation is when it is possible. Moving a toilet, a shower or the drain means plumbing rough-in, which is already part of the job at this scope. Changing the layout in a vanity-only project is not.
- Who supplies the tile, vanity and fixtures?
- You do. The quote covers labour and construction materials: framing, waterproofing, backer board, thinset, grout, the wiring inside the wall, mudding and paint.
- Do you do the plumbing and electrical?
- Those are subcontracted to licensed trades, because those licences are not ours to hold. They are scheduled and coordinated as part of the same project.
- Do you deal with the extract fan?
- Yes, and a renovation is the right time. Older bathrooms often have an undersized fan, a blocked one, or one that was never ducted outside and discharges into the roof space. Sizing it for the room and ducting it properly is a small line on the quote and it is what stops mould appearing in the grout later.
Start a Bathroom Renovation in Renton
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