Built to Last: Bathroom Remodeling in Raleigh, NC
We do bathrooms and nothing else. One crew stays on your bathroom from demolition to the last bead of caulk, the permit is pulled before the first tile comes off, and the finish date goes in the contract. Most jobs run three to five weeks.
(919) 555-0148What We Do
Bathrooms only. If you want the kitchen done too, we'll tell you who we'd use.
The One-Day Bathroom Is a Liner Glued Over Your Old Tub
It gets advertised as a remodel. It isn't one, and knowing the difference before you take a sales appointment will save you a long evening.
An acrylic liner goes OVER what's already there
Your old tub and old tile stay in the wall. A moulded acrylic shell is glued on top. Nothing behind it is inspected, repaired or waterproofed — including whatever caused the leak you noticed.
One day is accurate — that's the point of it
There's no demolition, so there's no drying time, no inspection and no tile. If your bathroom is sound and you just want it to look newer quickly, that is a legitimate product and we'll say so.
It's the wrong call if anything is actually wrong
Soft floor, musty smell, cracked grout at the corners, a stain on the ceiling below — these are subfloor and waterproofing problems. Sealing a liner over them hides the evidence and keeps the leak.
It cannot change the layout
Liners fit the footprint that's there. If you want the tub gone, the shower bigger, or a door where a window is, it has to come out.
The price gap is smaller than the pitch suggests
A liner job in Raleigh commonly lands $9,000-$16,000. Our full tear-out-and-tile bathrooms start at $14,500. Get both numbers before you decide — sometimes the liner genuinely wins.
We don't install them
Not a moral position — we're just not set up for it, and we'd be the expensive way to buy one. If that's the right answer for your bathroom we'll tell you on the phone and not send anyone out.
Raleigh Bathrooms, Before and After
Every one of these is a full tear-out to the studs. The before photos are the ones most companies don't put up.
The Hardest Small Room in the House
A bathroom is roughly forty square feet containing plumbing, waterproofing, ventilation, electrical, tile and a door that has to close — every trade in the house, stacked into the smallest room. General remodelers do a handful a year between kitchens and additions. We've done more than six hundred.
That's the whole argument. The tile setter who is in a bathroom every week knows what the corner detail does in year three. The one who does four a year is still finding out — on your bathroom.
- ✓Same two-person crew on your bathroom from start to finish
- ✓We don't run three jobs at once and rotate men between them
- ✓Waterproofing photographed before tile goes on — you get the photos
- ✓18 years, 610+ bathrooms, one town
What a Raleigh Bathroom Actually Costs
Published because you'll ask anyway, and because a contractor who won't give you a band until he's in your house is managing you. These are 2026 all-in prices — labour, materials, permit, dumpster.
$14,500 - $19,000 · Hall or guest bath, same layout
Full tear-out, new waterproofing, porcelain floor and tub surround, new tub, vanity, toilet, lighting and fan. Nothing moves. This is the majority of what we do.
$19,000 - $28,000 · Tub-to-shower conversion
The above, plus removing the tub, re-framing the opening, a proper sloped shower pan, a glass panel and a relocated drain. The drain move is what triggers the permit.
$28,000 - $45,000 · Primary bath, layout changed
Walls move, plumbing moves, usually a double vanity, a separate shower and often heated floor. Add $3,000-$6,000 if the stack is in a wall you want gone — we'll know within ten minutes.
$45,000+ · Full primary suite
Bathroom plus closet, structural changes, freestanding tub, stone slab, custom glass. Fewer than one in ten of our jobs. If this is you, ask us for three addresses you can go and look at.
What pushes a job to the top of its band
Cast-iron waste line, 1950s galvanised supply, an unvented fan dumping into the attic, a soft subfloor, or tile you fell in love with at $22 a square foot. We flag all five at the quote, not after demolition.
How the Three to Five Weeks Actually Go
You get this same schedule on paper before anyone starts.
In-home quote
About 45 minutes. We measure, look under the vanity, find the stack and tell you the band that day. Written quote within three days.
Selections & permit
Two to three weeks before we start. You pick tile and fixtures with us; we pull the City of Raleigh permit and order everything so no one is waiting on a vanity mid-job.
Demolition & rough-in
Week one. Down to the studs, plumbing and electrical roughed, inspection booked. This is the week you find out what the house was hiding, and we call you the day we find it.
Waterproof & tile
Weeks two and three. Waterproofing goes on and gets photographed before it's covered. Tile, grout, then a genuine cure — the one part nobody can compress.
Fixtures & final
Final week. Vanity, glass, trim, paint, final inspection, and a walkthrough where you write the punch list, not us.
If a Drain Moves, Raleigh Requires a Permit
Wake County requires a plumbing permit the moment a drain or supply line relocates, and an inspection before tile covers the work. It costs a few hundred dollars and adds a couple of days to the schedule.
It is also the easiest thing to leave off a quote, which is why a bid can come in three or four thousand under everyone else's. The bill for skipping it arrives later — at resale, when an inspector opens the wall, or when a claim gets denied because unpermitted work isn't covered.
- ✓We pull it on every job that needs one, and the fee is a visible line on your quote
- ✓Ask any bidder directly: is the permit in this number?
- ✓Rough-in inspection happens before waterproofing, never after tile
Questions We Get Every Week
Can I use the bathroom while you're working?
Not that one — it's gutted. If it's your only bathroom we'll say so at the quote and talk about timing, because three to five weeks with no bathroom is a real problem and it's better raised in advance than in week two.
Do you do kitchens too?
No. Bathrooms only. It's the whole reason we're good at them, and we'd rather send you to someone who does kitchens every week than be mediocre at yours.
Why is your quote higher than the one-day company's?
Because they're not doing the same job. Theirs bonds a liner over your existing tub and tile in a day; ours removes everything, waterproofs the wall properly and tiles it. Different products. If the liner is right for your bathroom we'll tell you.
What if you open the wall and find something?
We call you the day we find it, with a photo and a price, before we touch it. Rot, cast-iron waste and old galvanised supply are the common three. Nothing gets added to your bill without you saying yes first — in writing.
Do you charge for the quote?
No. The in-home visit and the written quote are both free, and there's no deposit until you've signed a contract with a start and a finish date on it.
How far out are you booking?
Usually four to eight weeks to start, longer in spring. We'd rather give you a real date than squeeze you in and then split the crew across two jobs.
Tell Us What's Wrong With Your Bathroom
Forty-five minutes in your house and you'll have a band the same day, in writing within three.
Get Your Bathroom Quote
We'll call within one business day to book a look. We won't quote a bathroom off photos — measuring it is the only honest way.
- Visit us418 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27603
- Call us(919) 555-0148
- Email ushello@marlstonebath.com