Licensed, Bonded & Insured · Serving Lincoln Square and the surrounding area
A full bathroom remodel in Lincoln Square typically runs $26,000 to $40,000 for a main bathroom and $44,000 to $76,000 for a primary suite, and takes four to seven weeks on site. Permits are issued by the Chicago Department of Buildings. Lincoln Square and Ravenswood hold more single-family housing than the neighbourhoods south of them, which matters: in a bungalow there is no association to approve the work and no shared riser fixing the toilet, so more is possible and the ranges sit below Lakeview and Lincoln Park.
Lincoln Square and Ravenswood were built out between about 1910 and 1930, and the dominant building is the Chicago brick bungalow: single family, one and a half storeys, a full basement, and one original bathroom on the main floor. Alongside it there are two-flats on the side streets and courtyard buildings along the main roads.
The bungalow bathroom is close to a standard product. Roughly five by seven, tiled to a chair rail in hexagon and subway set into a mortar bed, one window on the side elevation, a cast-iron tub in an alcove and a pedestal basin where storage should be.
The advantage here over Lakeview is ownership. In a single-family bungalow there is no board to approve the scope and no stack shared with a neighbour, so a drain can move where the joists allow rather than where four other units dictate. That is why the same room costs less to rebuild on this side of Irving Park Road.
Lincoln Square is more single-family than the neighbourhoods south of it, and that is why the ranges are lower.
| Era and building type | What we find on site | What the project becomes | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910–1930 — Chicago brick bungalows | One original bath on the main floor, 5×7, tiled in a mortar bed, cast-iron tub in an alcove, pedestal basin, galvanised supply. | Full gut with new supply and waste, the floor build-up rebuilt, and real storage won back in the same footprint. | $28k – $40k |
| 1910–1930 — two-flats on the side streets | A bath off a rear hall, a stack shared with the flat above, plaster on lath, and shallow joists. | Gut in place. The toilet stays on the branch and the room is won back with a proper vanity and a walk-in shower. | $26k – $37k |
| 1920s courtyard buildings, now condos | A narrow bath, very little floor depth, a stack shared by several units, and a board that approves the work. | Gut in place, with the waterproofing done properly and extraction finally ducted outside. | $24k – $34k |
| Attic and dormer conversions | Often done years ago without a permit, with minimal insulation, a long drain run and a fan going nowhere useful. | Rebuild with the drain fall corrected, proper insulation and ventilation, and the work brought onto a permit. | $34k – $52k |
These are the conditions that decide the schedule and the contingency on a job in Lincoln Square. We price around them rather than discovering them.
A 1920s bungalow that has never been re-piped is on galvanised steel. It closes from the inside, so pressure drops long before anything looks wrong. We price replacement back to the nearest accessible branch as standard.
The hexagon floor and the wall tile are bedded in mortar rather than stuck to a board. Demolition is heavier and dustier than in a modern bathroom, and the floor build-up has to be rebuilt rather than tiled over.
In most bungalows here the stack runs in the wall between the bathroom and the basement stair. Usually sound and we keep it. Where it is not, the replacement runs down through a finished wall, and that is what moves a budget after demolition.
The bungalow belt is entirely pre-1978, so the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies: containment, HEPA filtration, a certified firm and documented cleanup, built into the schedule.
A bungalow has very little roof space over the bathroom and no obvious route out, so fans get terminated into the attic where the moisture simply stays. We run a proper duct to outside air and check what the existing one actually does.
Replacing fixtures and finishes in place can often go through Chicago’s Easy Permit Process. Moving plumbing or electrical, or taking out a wall, needs a full permit with drawings. We tell you which route applies before you commit.
Ranges, not a single number. Where a project lands depends on the scope, and we say which band we think you are in before you commit to anything.
Fixtures, tile, vanity, lighting and paint with the services staying put. A good option where the original tile has already been lost.
To the studs and subfloor, new supply and waste, a tub-to-shower conversion or a vanity that finally fits, a rebuilt floor and a tested membrane.
Usually an attic or dormer conversion, or space taken from a rear bedroom, with a double vanity, a glassed shower and a structural opening.
Most of a bathroom budget is not the things you can see in a showroom. This is how a full remodel here divides up.
Based on a $32,000 full remodel, the midpoint of what we actually build here. Tile and waterproofing take a larger share here than in a newer building, because a bungalow floor set in a mortar bed has to be demolished and rebuilt rather than re-covered.
We walk the room, look at the basement ceiling below it and at the stack, and tell you what we can see and what we cannot.
A written scope with allowances you can actually shop against, not a single number.
Submitted to the Chicago Department of Buildings. We prepare and lodge it; you will not be at the counter.
Plumbing, electrical and framing inspected before anything is closed. This is where surprises surface, and where we come back to you if the price has to move.
A tested waterproofing membrane before a single tile goes down. This is the step that decides whether the room lasts twenty years or five.
Fixtures, glass, paint and a walk-through list that we close out before the final invoice.
Tell us about the property and what you want to change. We will walk the space, look at what is behind the walls, and come back with a written scope, a schedule and a price.
A bungalow bathroom taken to the studs and rebuilt generally lands between $26,000 and $40,000. A primary suite, usually an attic or dormer project, starts around $44,000. A refresh that keeps every service in place runs $15,000 to $24,000. Lincoln Square sits below Lakeview and Lincoln Park mainly because more of it is single family.
Usually yes, and it is the most valuable thing you can do to one of these houses. The two candidates are the basement, where the drain is below the slab and may need an ejector pump, and the attic under a dormer. Both need a drain route and a vent, which is why we look at the basement ceiling on the first visit.
Yes. The Chicago Department of Buildings issues it. Replacing fixtures and finishes in place can often go through the Easy Permit Process; moving plumbing or electrical, or removing a wall, needs a full permit with drawings. We identify the route at the consultation and handle the filing.
Occasionally, if it is sound and complete. More often the build-up beneath has to come out to get a proper fall to a new shower drain, and the tile does not survive being lifted. Where the look matters we source a close modern match rather than pretending it can be relaid.
Yes, and in a bungalow it is straightforward because there is no shared stack dictating where the drain sits. The limit is the floor build-up needed for a fall to the drain, which we confirm with the floor open.
In a bungalow, frequently not. The shallow attic over the bathroom makes a duct run awkward, so fans get terminated into the roof space where the moisture stays in the house. We check on the first visit and duct it properly as part of the work.
Yes. The bungalow belt is entirely pre-1978, so the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies: containment, HEPA filtration, a certified firm and documented cleanup, scheduled and priced in.
Lincoln Square and Ravenswood sit alongside Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Roscoe Village in our Chicago service area, and we also work north into Evanston and Skokie.
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Office: (773) 345-6358