The Hiram Bathroom Where the Real Job Was Behind the Tile
The homeowners wanted a cosmetic tile update. A soft spot at the base of the shower told us the tile was the least of it — the subfloor under the pan had been wet for years.
- Scope
- Primary bath gut, subfloor and joist repair, curbless tile shower, double vanity
- Timeline
- 4 weeks
- Investment
- $31,400
The request was simple: swap dated tile and a builder-grade vanity for something that felt like a hotel bath.
During the walkthrough the floor flexed near the shower threshold and the baseboard had cupped — two signs that never come from cosmetics.
We pulled a small section of tile at the threshold with the homeowners standing there. The mortar bed was damp and the plywood beneath it was black.
The shower had been built on a mud pan with no waterproofing membrane. A hairline grout crack had been feeding water into the substrate for an estimated six-plus years.
Moisture had reached the top of one floor joist. Damage was contained to about 14 square feet — bad, but not structural failure, and far cheaper to fix now than after the next winter.
- Full gut rather than an overlay. Tiling over a wet substrate would have looked finished and failed inside two years.
- Cut out and sister the affected joist, replace subfloor, then build the new shower on a bonded waterproofing system with a flood test before any tile went down.
- Because the floor was already open, we recommended running a dedicated circuit and moving the vanity plumbing to allow a double sink — the cheapest time to do it was right then.
Week 1 — Demo and structural repair
Tile, pan and subfloor out. Joist sistered with treated lumber, new subfloor glued and screwed.
Week 2 — Waterproofing and rough-in
Curbless pan pitched to a linear drain, bonded membrane, then a 24-hour flood test documented with photos before tile.
Week 3 — Tile and vanity
Large-format wall tile, niche set at the homeowners' reach height, double vanity plumbed and set.
Week 4 — Finish and punch list
Glass panel, fixtures, paint, and a joint-by-joint caulk inspection.
- The rot source is gone and the new shower assembly is documented waterproof, not assumed waterproof.
- Base scope was quoted at $27,800. The structural repair added $3,600 as an approved written change order, landing at $31,400.
- The homeowners got the hotel bath they asked for — and avoided a joist replacement that would have cost several times the repair.
A flexing floor or a cupped baseboard means water. Any contractor willing to tile over it without opening the substrate is selling you a two-year finish.
Want this kind of diagnosis on your own project? We'll walk it with you and tell you honestly whether it's a repair or a rebuild.
Call 404 · 922 · 9209Drag each photo to see exactly what changed.
Every project is photographed at the decision points that matter — the connection, the pan, the base, the grade — not just the finished room.
BeforeAfter
Where the water was getting in
The failed fiberglass pan was the source. The replacement is a bonded, flood-tested pan pitched to a linear drain — documented before a single tile went down.
BeforeAfter
Vanity wall: storage, light and height
Same footprint. Comfort-height double vanity, dedicated circuits for sconces, and drawers instead of a single blocked cabinet bay.
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