Bathroom Remodeling in Kensington, MD

What a bathroom remodel in Kensington actually involves

A Kensington Victorian is balloon-framed in places, has plaster on lath, and often carries several generations of wiring in the same wall cavity. Interior work here is discovery work, and the way to control it is to open and inspect before pricing, not after.

• Demolition down to framing. Tile, tub or shower base, vanity and flooring out, and the walls opened to studs where the wet wall is. On an older house this is where you find corroded supply lines, a rotted subfloor around the toilet flange, or a joist somebody notched to run a drain.
• Electrical and ventilation. GFCI protection, correct fixture clearances around the tub and shower, and an exhaust fan ducted to the outside with adequate capacity. A fan that terminates in the attic is a mold problem with a switch on the wall.
• Waterproofing the wet area. This is the part that matters most and is the least visible when it is done. A tiled shower needs a continuous waterproof assembly behind the tile, correctly detailed at the curb, the corners, the niche and the drain, with a sloped substrate. Cement board alone is not waterproofing.
• Tile, stone and layout. Full-height walls, floor layout set from a center line so the cuts land symmetrically, and a shower floor pitched correctly to the drain in every direction.

Lead paint: the rule that applies to most of Kensington

There is a federal rule most homeowners have never heard of and most bids never mention. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers pre-1978 housing and requires a certified firm, contained work areas and a specific cleanup protocol any time painted surfaces are disturbed. Most of Kensington's housing stock predates 1978, so assume this applies to your house unless someone has established otherwise. We hold that certification and we set up for it from day one instead of discovering it halfway through. It is a fair question to put to every contractor bidding your job, along with a request to see the certificate.

What drives the cost on a Kensington bathroom remodel

There is no honest price on a web page for work like this, and a contractor who publishes one is either guessing or fishing. What is useful is knowing what actually drives the number, so that when three bids come back at three different prices you can tell which one understood the job.

• Whether the fixtures stay in place. Moving a toilet or shower drain is the single biggest cost step in a bathroom, because it means new drain and vent work and often opening the ceiling below.
• Tub-to-shower conversion versus a straight replacement. A conversion changes the drain, the waterproofing and usually the framing at the curb.
• Whether it is an upper-floor bathroom over finished space, which raises both the protection requirements and the consequences of getting waterproofing wrong.
• Deep, narrow town lots with the houses set close to the street and most of the usable yard behind. That is a Kensington-specific factor and it belongs in the conversation early.

The mistakes we get called in to fix

• Tiling directly over unmodified cement board and calling it waterproof. It is not a waterproof membrane, and the shower will eventually wet the framing behind it.
• A shower floor that does not slope consistently to the drain. Water sitting in a corner is a grout and mold problem forever.
• An exhaust fan ducted into the attic or soffit instead of through a proper exterior termination.

One licensed team, one contract, one point of contact

A bathroom involves a plumber, an electrician, a tile setter, a drywall finisher and a carpenter working in a space that fits one of them at a time. Sequencing is everything, and a single contract means one schedule and one person answering for the waterproofing rather than a tile setter and a plumber pointing at each other.

We would rather over-disclose than be asked. Maryland: MHIC #111971, issued by the Home Improvement Commission and searchable in the state licensing database. General liability and workers' compensation in force, with certificates sent by our carrier on request and before signing, not after. The licensed trades on your project hold their own licenses and their own policies and pull their own trade permits, which is the legal requirement rather than a preference. Your contract is with us, and so is the responsibility.

Where we work in Kensington

• 20895
• Old Town Kensington
• Rock Creek Hills
• Ken-Gar
• Kensington View
• Parkwood
• Chevy Chase View

How a Kensington project runs

1. A free visit that produces a document, not a pitch. No presentation, no same-day discount, no financing conversation before anyone has looked at the house. We measure, we photograph, we ask what is not working, and we leave you with something written you can compare against every other bid.
2. Feasibility against Kensington rules, before design. We establish what the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services, with town review will require for bathroom remodel at your address, and what your lot, your zoning and your existing house will allow.
3. Everything priced and agreed before a permit is filed. You see the scope broken into line items, the allowances stated as real numbers rather than vague placeholders, and the process for handling anything discovered mid-project. Only then does the permit package get assembled and submitted, with us answering the reviewer rather than forwarding comments to you.
4. One crew, one schedule, one closeout. MHIC #111971, Our own supervision on site, inspections met by us, and a documented punch walk with the permits closed out at the end.

Bathroom Remodeling across Kensington and Montgomery County

Old Town Kensington, Rock Creek Hills, Ken-Gar, Kensington View, Parkwood and Chevy Chase View are all inside our regular working area, along with 20895. Kensington's Victorian core is the reason people pay to live there, and work that damages the exterior character damages the value. That constraint is real and it should shape the design from day one.

Homeowners here usually reach us for more than one thing at a time. Related work in Kensington: kitchen remodeling in Kensington, basement finishing in Kensington, whole-home renovation in Kensington, interior painting in Kensington.

We came to general contracting from the outside of the house in, which is the part most remodelers subcontract and hope for the best on. That means the same company handling your interior can also handle roof replacement, siding, aluminum siding, gutters, soffit and fascia and window replacement — under one contract, with one warranty conversation instead of three companies pointing at each other about where the water came from.

Kensington bathroom remodeling questions