Licensed, Bonded & Insured · Serving North Center and the surrounding area
A full bathroom remodel in North Center typically runs $26,000 to $41,000 and a primary suite $46,000 to $80,000, taking four to seven weeks on site. Permits come from the Chicago Department of Buildings. The commonest finding in the newer houses is a shower pan formed without proper fall, which is why we open the floor even when the project began as a change of finish.
Two bathrooms exist side by side in this neighbourhood. In an original cottage or bungalow it is the Chicago standard: five by seven, tile in a mortar bed, a cast-iron tub in an alcove and galvanised supply behind the wall.
In a house from the rebuild boom it is a generous primary bath with a double vanity and a glassed shower — and, very often, a shower pan formed without enough fall and a fan that recirculates into a ceiling void.
Only one of those is a rescue job, and it is usually the newer one. A hundred-year-old bathroom is honest about its age. A fifteen-year-old one that looks fine can be moving water through the substrate, and that is the failure worth finding early.
In North Center a fifteen-year-old bathroom is more often the rescue job than a hundred-year-old one.
| Era and building type | What we find on site | What the project becomes | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890–1915 — frame cottages, often raised | A bath carved from leftover space, services spliced across eras, floor levels that step, galvanised supply. | Gut with the services traced and replaced and the floor rebuilt level before anything is waterproofed. | $30k – $41k |
| 1915–1930 — bungalows and two-flats | The 5×7 bath, tile in a mortar bed, cast-iron tub in an alcove, one window. | Gut with the build-up rebuilt and a real vanity and shower won back in the same footprint. | $26k – $36k |
| 1998–2010 — the rebuild boom | A generous primary bath, modern services, and a shower pan or membrane that was never done properly. | Strip back to a sound substrate and rebuild the wet area properly. Often the whole project. | $28k – $41k |
| 2010–present — recent construction | Sound framing and services, bathrooms already sized, finishes that have dated. | Finish-level replacement with the floor still opened to confirm the waterproofing. | $26k – $40k |
These are the conditions that decide the schedule and the contingency on a job in North Center. We price around them rather than discovering them.
The most common finding in a 2000s house. Formed without enough fall to the drain, or with a membrane that was never tested, so water tracks into the substrate. It is why we open the floor even on a finish-level project.
A cottage or bungalow never re-piped is on galvanised steel, which closes from the inside so pressure fails before the pipe looks bad.
Services spliced across eras and floor levels that step, both corrected before anything is tiled.
Common in both eras. The fan moves the moisture a few feet rather than removing it. A proper duct to outside air is planned in, not found later.
In the taller newer houses a bathroom often sits over unheated space. Insulation and pipe routing are dealt with while the floor is open rather than after the first cold snap.
Cottages and bungalows here predate 1978, so containment, HEPA filtration and a certified firm are legal requirements and sit in the schedule.
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 every service staying put — viable only where the waterproofing is sound, which we check first.
To the studs and subfloor, supply replaced where needed, a rebuilt floor with a tested membrane and extraction ducted outside.
Space taken from an adjoining room, a double vanity, a separate tub and glassed shower, and a heated floor.
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 $33,000 full remodel, the midpoint of what we actually build here. Waterproofing takes a larger share here than the percentage suggests, because in this neighbourhood it is most often the reason the project exists at all.
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 main bathroom rebuilt to the studs generally lands between $26,000 and $41,000, and a primary suite starts around $46,000. A refresh that keeps the services in place runs $15,000 to $24,000 — but only where the existing waterproofing is sound.
Very common here, and almost always the pan or the membrane. Showers from the rebuild boom were frequently formed without enough fall to the drain or with a membrane that was never tested, so water moves through the substrate instead of out. It has to be stripped back and rebuilt rather than re-tiled.
Because in this neighbourhood the floor is where the problem usually is. A fifteen-year-old bathroom that looks fine can be moving water into the structure. Opening it adds a day and it is the difference between a cosmetic job and a repair that lasts.
The house was almost certainly raised over a new basement at some point, which left the floors out of one plane. It is built back level before anything is waterproofed, and that build-up has to be allowed for in the fall to a new shower drain.
Usually yes. The limits are the floor build-up needed for a proper fall and whether the drain can move within the joist bay. Both are confirmed with the floor open before a design is committed to.
Frequently not, in both the old houses and the new ones. Fans get terminated into a ceiling void or an attic, which relocates the moisture rather than removing it. We check what the existing one does and run a proper duct.
Yes, in the original cottages and bungalows, which predate 1978. Containment, HEPA filtration, a certified firm and documented cleanup are legal requirements and are priced and scheduled in.
North Center sits beside Roscoe Village, Lincoln Square, Irving Park and Lakeview, all regular ground for the same crews.
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Office: (773) 345-6358