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Everything out to the studs so the framing, supply lines, drain and subfloor can be seen and corrected. This is the only point where a rotted subfloor at the toilet flange or a leaking galvanized line gets fixed instead of tiled over.
Pulling a cast iron or steel tub and building a shower in the same footprint, usually 30 by 60 inches. That means a new pan, a waterproofing membrane, and often moving the drain a few inches.
Sheet or liquid-applied membrane over cement board or foam panels, with sealed corners, a sealed niche, and a 24-hour flood test on the pan before tile. Large-format porcelain and mosaic floors both need the substrate flat first.
Small footprints where the vanity, toilet and lighting carry the whole room. Usually the quickest project in the house, though older homes often need the supply lines and shutoffs replaced while the wall is open.
Larger layouts with a double vanity, separate shower and tub, heated floor and better exhaust. Usually involves moving drain lines, which means opening the ceiling below and coordinating framing with the plumber.
Curbless or low-curb entries, blocking in the walls for grab bars that hold real weight, comfort-height toilets, a handheld on a slide bar, and lever handles. Cheapest to do during a gut, while the framing is already open.
Bathroom cost in North Jersey comes down to three things: how far the plumbing moves, what is behind the walls in a house this old, and tile labor. Fixtures are the part homeowners shop hardest and usually the smallest line on the invoice.
| Job | Typical range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Powder room refresh | Typical range: $3,500 - $8,500 | What moves the number: Vanity, toilet, floor tile, paint. Higher if galvanized supply lines get replaced while the wall is open. |
| Tub-to-shower conversion | Typical range: $9,000 - $18,000 | What moves the number: Same footprint, new pan and waterproofing, tiled walls. A frameless glass door adds roughly $1,500 to $4,000. |
| Full gut, standard 5x8 hall bath | Typical range: $20,000 - $35,000 | What moves the number: Out to the studs, fixtures stay where they are, mid-grade tile and fittings. |
| Full gut with layout change | Typical range: $30,000 - $55,000 | What moves the number: Moving the toilet or shower means opening the floor and rerouting drain lines, often through a finished ceiling below. |
| Primary bath suite | Typical range: $45,000 - $95,000 | What moves the number: Larger footprint, double vanity, curbless or large-format tile shower, heated floor, separate tub. |
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This one detail decides whether the shower lasts or leaks. Get it in writing on the proposal: which membrane system goes on, whether the curb and the niche are included, and whether the pan gets a flood test before tile. Cement board by itself is not waterproofing.
In a Bergen County bath from the 1920s through the 1950s there is a real chance of a cast iron stack, galvanized supply lines, a rotted subfloor at the toilet flange, or old cloth-wrapped wiring in an untouched ceiling. A proposal should name a unit or hourly rate for that work before demo, not after. Ask what the contractor hit on the last few baths this age and what the fix ran.
Bergen County towns permit through their own construction offices, and plumbing and electrical are separate subcodes from the building permit. The contractor should pull them under their own NJ HIC registration rather than ask you to file as a homeowner. Rough inspection happens before anything gets covered, so a schedule that skips it is a schedule that gets torn back open.
Most older Bergen homes have one full bath, sometimes a half bath downstairs. Ask for a day-by-day sequence and where the two long waits fall: fixture lead times and tile cure time. Ask which days there will be no water, so you can plan around it instead of finding out that morning.
Always verify before you pay a deposit. In New Jersey, home improvement contractors must be registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs and carry at least $500,000 in commercial general liability insurance. Ask for the HIC registration number and a certificate of insurance, and check the registration at njconsumeraffairs.gov. Any job over $500 must be in a written, signed contract.
Three steps, no cost to you, and no obligation to hire anyone.
Fill in the form or call. We ask what the work is, which town you are in, and roughly when you want it done.
We pass your details to contractors in our network who cover your town and do that specific type of work.
They contact you directly, walk the job and price it themselves. Compare the quotes and hire whoever you want, or nobody at all.
Not always. Cast iron waste stacks in Bergen County homes often still have service life left, and a new PVC branch can be tied into sound cast iron with a proper coupling. What forces replacement is scale that has closed the pipe down, or rust flaking at the joints when it gets cut. Nobody knows until the wall is open, so ask for a stated price for stack replacement in the proposal instead of taking it as a mid-job surprise.
A full gut in the same footprint usually runs three to four weeks from demo to final inspection, and the toilet is out for most of that. A tub-to-shower conversion is closer to one to two weeks. The two delays that actually hurt are fixture lead times, which is why everything should be on site before demo day, and tile work, since thinset and grout need cure time before water touches them.
Tile and grout are not waterproof. Water passes through grout, and what stops it is the membrane behind the tile. Failures come from skipping that membrane, from cement board with unsealed seams, or from a curb and niche that got tiled before they were sealed. Ask for a sheet or liquid-applied membrane system, ask that the pan be flood tested for 24 hours before tile, and ask to see the test.
Often yes, but the joists decide it. A curbless pan needs the drain and slope recessed into the floor structure, which means either sistering and notching within code limits or building the whole bathroom floor up an inch or two and transitioning at the door. In older homes with 2x8 joists and a finished ceiling below, building up is usually the cleaner path. While the walls are open, blocking for future grab bars costs a couple hundred dollars in framing and saves cutting tile later.
If plumbing or electrical is moved or replaced, yes, and each town issues its own. In practice that means a building permit plus plumbing and electrical subcodes, a rough inspection before walls close, and a final at the end. Cosmetic work like a vanity top or paint generally does not need one. Fees and submission requirements differ by town, so a Ridgewood job and a Lodi job are not the same paperwork.
Expect that ceiling to be opened, at least in sections. A drain reroute, the tub or shower trap, and the toilet flange are often only reachable from underneath. Settle up front whether patching and painting that ceiling is in the contract or on you. Expect the contractor to look for old stain rings while it is open, because a bath that has been leaking slowly for years shows there first.
Tell us about the job and we will put you in front of local contractors who do this work. Free, and there is no obligation to hire.
