Licensed, Bonded & Insured · Serving Northbrook and the surrounding area
A full bathroom remodel in Northbrook typically runs $27,000 to $42,000 for a hall bath and $46,000 to $80,000 for a primary suite, and takes four to seven weeks on site. Permits are issued by the Village of Northbrook at 1225 Cedar Lane. The village is mostly 1960s and 1970s Colonials and split-levels with a layer of larger 1990s rebuilds, so bathrooms here start bigger than in most of our area — which means a primary suite is usually achievable without taking space from anywhere else.
Northbrook is a little later than its neighbours. Most of the village went up between 1960 and 1980 in two-storey Colonials, split-levels and ranches on generous plots, with a significant layer of larger rebuilds added from the 1990s onward and condominium and townhome developments around the edges.
That later date shows up in the bathrooms. A 1970s Colonial here typically already has a separate primary bathroom as well as a hall bath, both of them a reasonable size, with copper supply and a usable ceiling below. None of that is true in a pre-war village.
So the projects here are ambitious rather than remedial. A double vanity, a separate tub and a glassed walk-in shower will usually fit inside the existing walls, which means the budget goes almost entirely into the specification. The two things that still need attention are the waterproofing, which was rarely done to modern standards, and the extraction, which frequently goes into the roof.
Northbrook is later than its neighbours, so the bathrooms start bigger and the projects are more ambitious.
| Era and style | What we find on site | What the project becomes | Typical range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960–1980 — two-storey Colonials | A hall bath and a separate primary bath, both a reasonable size, copper supply, deeper joists and a usable ceiling below. | Both bathrooms often taken as one project, with a proper primary suite built inside the existing walls. | $28k – $42k |
| 1960–1978 — split-levels | Staggered floors that limit the drain route, a bathroom sometimes over a garage, and a period panel. | Replan within what the floor allows, with insulation and pipe routing sorted where the room sits over unheated space. | $26k – $38k |
| 1960–1975 — ranches | A single-level plan, a crawl or slab below with limited fall, roomy bathrooms and eight-foot ceilings. | Layout usually stays. A double vanity and a level-access shower fit without structural work. | $24k – $36k |
| 1990–present — larger rebuilds and townhomes | Generous primary suites already in place, modern services, an association in the townhome developments, and finishes that have dated. | Finish-level replacement with the waterproofing renewed, and the association scope filed where it applies. | $30k – $52k |
These are the conditions that decide the schedule and the contingency on a job in Northbrook. We price around them rather than discovering them.
The defining Northbrook advantage. A 1970s primary bathroom will usually take a double vanity, a separate tub and a walk-in shower without borrowing space, so the money goes into the specification rather than into construction.
A shower built in the 1970s or 1980s rarely has a tested membrane behind the tile. It is the most common thing we find failing here, and it is the reason a finish-level project should still open the floor.
Fans in this housing were routinely terminated into the attic rather than ducted to outside air, which relocates the moisture rather than removing it. We check what the existing one does and run a proper duct.
There is rarely galvanised steel in Northbrook. Supply is copper and generally in good condition, which keeps the plumbing share of the budget low and the programme short.
Where the house is a split, half-levels mean a bathroom can sit over a garage or a landing rather than a heated room, which limits where a drain can go and needs insulation dealt with while the floor is open.
Interior work inside the footprint is a straightforward village permit. Exterior changes go through zoning review, and in the townhome and condominium developments an association approval applies as well.
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 existing waterproofing is sound, which we check before recommending it.
To the studs and subfloor, a tub-to-shower conversion or a double vanity, a rebuilt floor, a tested membrane and extraction properly ducted.
A double vanity, a separate tub and a glassed walk-in shower, heated floor and better storage — usually inside the existing walls, which is why it is achievable here.
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 $34,000 full remodel, the midpoint of what we actually build here. The plumbing share sits below the pre-war figure because the supply is copper and stays, so tile, stone and glass take a noticeably larger share here than anywhere on the North Shore.
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 Village of Northbrook at 1225 Cedar Lane. 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 hall bathroom rebuilt to the studs generally lands between $27,000 and $42,000, and a primary suite usually starts around $46,000. A refresh that keeps the services in place runs $16,000 to $25,000. Because the rooms start bigger here, more of the budget goes into specification than into construction.
Yes. The Village of Northbrook requires a building permit for bathroom work altering plumbing, electrical or structure. Applications go to the village hall at 1225 Cedar Lane and the work is inspected at rough-in and at completion. We prepare and lodge it.
In most Northbrook houses, yes. A 1970s primary bathroom is usually large enough to take a double vanity, a separate tub and a glassed walk-in shower inside its existing walls. That is unusual in our area and it is the main reason projects here feel like better value than the price band suggests.
Common in this housing and almost always the waterproofing. Showers built in the 1970s and 1980s rarely have a tested membrane behind the tile, so water tracks through the substrate. It has to be stripped back and rebuilt properly rather than re-tiled, which is why we open the floor even on a finish-level project.
Frequently not. Fans in this housing were routinely terminated into the attic, which simply moves the moisture into the roof. We check what the existing one does on the first visit and run a proper duct to outside air.
Yes, in the townhome and condominium developments. The board will want a written scope, working hours and a certificate of insurance naming the association. We supply all three and it is worth filing as soon as the scope is settled.
Four to seven weeks for a full remodel, two to three for a refresh. Where both bathrooms are being done we sequence them so one stays in service.
Northbrook sits beside Deerfield, Glenview, Glencoe and Highland Park, all regular ground for the same crews.
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