Bathroom Remodeling in Orlando, Designed Around How You Actually Use It

What goes into an Orlando bathroom remodel

Bathrooms in Central Florida housing stock fall into a few archetypes: the converted-closet en-suite in a Lake Nona estate, the original 1920s tile bath in a Winter Park craftsman, the dated 1980s primary in a Windermere two-story. Each comes with its own challenges — sloped slabs, cast-iron drain stacks, aluminum branch wiring, lath-and-plaster walls. Sixteen years here means we know what we'll find behind the wall before we open it.

Waterproofing: the part nobody sees

The single biggest variable in whether a bathroom lasts is what you can't see — the waterproofing membrane behind the tile. We don't use cement board with a vapor barrier; that's the 1995 method and it leaks. Every shower we build uses a Schluter Kerdi or Wedi system: a fully bonded waterproof membrane on top of the substrate, with sealed corners, pre-formed drains, and pressure-tested seams. Niches are built with foam blocks and tiled directly. We never caulk a niche corner — water will find it.

Curbless showers: harder, better, more accessible

A curbless shower (sometimes called a wet room or zero-threshold shower) eliminates the curb between shower and bath floor. They're more accessible, easier to clean, and make small bathrooms feel dramatically larger. They're also harder to build — the subfloor has to be lowered or a linear drain has to be designed in, and the slope to drain has to be engineered into the substrate. We build curbless showers whenever the floor structure allows; in older homes with shallow joists, we sometimes need to sister joists or use a recessed floor pan.

Layout: tubs, showers, and the great either/or

Most primary bathrooms in older Orlando homes were built around a single 60-inch alcove tub. That tub is rarely used. Our most common layout move is to remove the tub, expand the shower, and either add a freestanding soaker tub if there's room or skip the tub entirely. Real-estate wisdom says you need a tub for resale; we've found, after hundreds of projects, that buyers care far more about a great primary shower than about having a tub somewhere in the house. (Keep one tub in a kids' or hall bath if you have one.)

Vanities: custom vs. ready-made

For a primary bathroom, we recommend custom or semi-custom vanities. Off-the-shelf vanities almost never fit a real bathroom's dimensions, and the construction quality is poor. Custom vanities cost $4,000–$12,000 depending on size and finish — meaningful but worth it. For powder rooms we sometimes use a vintage furniture piece converted into a vanity, which can be both beautiful and budget-friendly.

Heated floors: cheap luxury

Electric radiant floor heat (Schluter Ditra-Heat or Warmup) is the single best dollar-to-luxury upgrade in any bathroom remodel. Materials run $4–$8 per square foot, the install adds about a day to the schedule, and the result is a floor that's warm under bare feet on a cool February morning. We include it in roughly 80% of bathrooms. The thermostat is programmable and tied to a humidity sensor — when the bathroom gets steamy, the floor warms up and dries it out faster.

Ventilation: the most underbuilt system in residential construction

Code requires 50 CFM of exhaust ventilation in a bathroom. That's not enough. We spec 80–110 CFM Panasonic WhisperGreen fans, ducted with smooth (not flex) duct to the exterior — never to the attic, never to the soffit. We add humidity-sensing controls so the fan runs whenever the air is wet and shuts off when it's dry. This single decision is the difference between a bathroom that grows mold in three years and one that doesn't.

Permits and inspections

Every bathroom remodel that touches plumbing, electrical, or ventilation requires a building permit. We pull all permits in our name as a Florida-licensed general contractor (CGC1532107) and coordinate inspections with the City of Orlando, Orange County, or your municipal building department. You don't deal with the city.

Living through it

Most clients have a second bathroom and stay home. For single-bath homes, we phase the work — keeping the toilet and a working sink available for as much of the project as possible, and giving notice for the 3–5 days when the bathroom is fully out of commission. We dust-protect adjacent rooms, run HEPA scrubbers, and clean down to broom-clean every Friday.