The plumbing under a bathroom remodel
Arvada bathrooms, opened up and plumbed by a master plumber.
Most of a bathroom remodel is the part you never see again once the tile is on. Drain lines, vents, the valve body, the subfloor under the old tub. That is the half we own, and it is the half that decides whether the finished room holds up.
What demo day turns up
What is actually behind an Arvada bathroom wall.
Arvada grew fast through the middle of the last century and the housing stock still shows it. A lot of the bathrooms we open here were framed and plumbed decades ago, and nobody has looked behind that wall since.
What we find is fairly consistent. Cast iron waste that has scaled down to a fraction of its original bore. Galvanized supply lines rusting shut from the inside, which is where the weak shower pressure and the rusty first pull of water in the morning come from. A vent that was legal when it went in and has since been buried behind a later addition. Once in a while, a drain line running the wrong direction with barely any fall on it, working only because gravity is patient.
None of that is a disaster. It is just information, and it is a lot cheaper to have it on the first morning than on the day the tile setter is scheduled. We pull what needs pulling, take a look at the whole run, and tell you plainly what is worth replacing while the wall is open and what can honestly stay. Then you decide with the real picture in front of you instead of a guess.
Call (303) 883-9075 or contact us for a straight quote. See recent work in the gallery, and read more about our bathroom plumbing remodeling work across the metro.
- Cast iron and galvanized assessment
- Drain fall and tie-in check
- Vent correction where required
- Subfloor condition at the tub
- Shower valve and mixing valve
- Full gut to finish trim-out
Layout decisions that cost money
Moving a drain versus living with the one you have.
Here is the single choice that swings an Arvada bathroom budget more than any tile or fixture selection: whether the toilet, tub and sink stay where they are. Keeping the existing rough-in means we tie into what is already in the floor, and the work stays inside the room. Moving any of the three means opening the floor, running new pipe with real fall on it, and picking the vent back up on the other end.
Whether that is a small job or a big one depends on what is under you. Plenty of Arvada houses sit over a basement or a crawlspace, and that is the friendly case. We work from below, the joists are in plain sight, and nothing upstairs gets torn up beyond the bathroom itself. A slab is the other case. There the drain lives in concrete, and relocating it means saw cutting, digging out the new run, setting the slope, and pouring back.
We would rather tell you which situation you are in before you settle on a floor plan than after. Sometimes shifting a vanity two feet costs almost nothing. Sometimes swapping the tub and toilet positions doubles the scope. You should know which one you are asking for.
- Keep or move the existing rough-in
- Basement and crawlspace access
- Slab cut, dig, slope and pour back
- Fall on every new drain run
- Vent picked back up correctly
- Scope explained before you commit
Venting and the valve
The two things that get corrected when a fixture moves.
Venting is the quiet one. Every fixture needs air behind the water or the trap gets siphoned, and a dry trap is a sewer smell in the room you just spent months on. In older Arvada bathrooms the venting was worked out for a layout that no longer exists, so the moment a fixture shifts, the vent has to be brought along with it. That is not an upsell, it is what makes the drain work.
The other correction is the shower valve. An old two handle valve has no pressure balancing in it, which is why the water spikes hot when a toilet flushes down the hall. If you are opening that wall anyway, this is the moment to set a pressure balanced or thermostatic valve and be done with it. It also matters that whoever sets the valve knows the exact trim you picked, because the rough-in depth is set for that trim and a valve buried too deep behind the tile is a problem with no easy answer.
Call (303) 883-9075 or contact us and we will walk the room with you.
One bathroom in the house
Sequencing so the house stays livable.
A single bathroom household changes how a remodel gets planned. The goal stops being speed for its own sake and becomes keeping the room out of service for the shortest honest stretch. That means having the fixtures, the valve and the trim on hand before demo instead of ordering them after, so nothing sits open waiting on a delivery. It means getting the rough-in ready for inspection in one push rather than in pieces. And it means being straight with you up front about the days the toilet genuinely cannot be used, so you can make arrangements instead of finding out that morning. Because Wes holds both the master plumber license and the general contractor license, the rough-in, the inspection and the trim-out are not three different companies coordinating calendars. That is most of where the lost days go on a remodel. Call (303) 883-9075.
Permits and the rest of the house
Inspected work, and the lines you should look at while we are here.
Changing a drain layout is permitted, inspected work, and it should be. An inspection on the rough-in is a second set of eyes on the part of the job that gets covered up forever a week later. We pull the permit, get the rough-in ready, and schedule the inspection rather than leaving that on you. Swapping a faucet in the same spot is a different animal and usually does not need one. While a wall is open in an older Arvada house it is also worth looking at what runs past the bathroom, because the branch you can reach today is behind finished tile tomorrow. If you are already dealing with slow drains or a line that has been giving trouble, that work is far easier now than later.
Slow Drains
If the bathroom has been draining slow for a while, the cause is often further down the line than the room itself. Drain cleaning in Arvada answers that before the remodel starts.
The Main Line
Older neighborhoods, older laterals. If the main has been backing up, sort it before new fixtures start using it. See sewer services in Arvada.
Open Walls
Failing supply or waste pipe is cheapest to deal with while the wall is already off. That is pipe repair in Arvada, and the timing matters.
Hot Water
A new shower valve is only as good as what feeds it. If the tank is near the end, water heater installation in Arvada pairs with the remodel.
Straight answers
What Arvada homeowners ask before a remodel.
Do I need a permit to remodel my bathroom in Arvada?
If the drain layout changes, yes, and the work gets inspected. Swapping a fixture in the same location usually does not. We pull the permit and schedule the inspection ourselves rather than handing that off to you. Call (303) 883-9075.
What usually gets found once the wall comes off?
In this housing stock, most often cast iron waste that has scaled down or galvanized supply rusting shut from the inside. Sometimes a vent that no longer serves the layout. We show you what is there before anything gets decided. Call (303) 883-9075.
Is it cheaper to keep the toilet and tub where they are?
Almost always, because the existing rough-in stays put and the floor stays closed. Moving a fixture means new pipe with proper fall and the vent brought along. Over a basement that is straightforward. On a slab it means concrete work.
Should I replace the old pipe while the wall is open?
If it is galvanized or badly scaled cast iron, that is the moment. The same work behind finished tile later costs many times what it costs today. We look at the actual condition and tell you honestly whether it is worth doing now.
How long is my only bathroom out of service?
Depends on scope, but the way to shorten it is having every fixture and the valve trim on hand before demo starts. We tell you up front which days the toilet genuinely cannot be used so you can plan around it. Call (303) 883-9075.
Planning a bathroom remodel in Arvada?
Have us look at what is behind the wall before the tile gets picked out. You will get a straight answer about the drain, the vent and the pipe, and a scope that reflects the house you actually own instead of a guess. Rough-in set for the trim you chose, inspection handled, and the same outfit back to finish it out. Do it right the first time and it outlasts you.