Bathroom remodels · Fort Worth
Bathroom remodel steps in order, in Fort Worth
Ten steps, from the first walk-through to the day the room is yours again. The layout and the plumbing are settled before any tile comes off.
The order
The steps of a bathroom remodel in Fort Worth, in order
Plan it, permit it, build it. The first five steps happen before anything comes out of your bathroom, and when the work needs a permit, the City checks it before the walls close.
Plan it
Steps 01–04
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Step 01: Walk the bathroom with us
A designer and a builder walk your bathroom with you and give you an honest estimate. No charge, no obligation.
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Step 02: Settle the layout and the plumbing
Decide what stays where it is and what moves: the tub, the shower, the toilet and the sink.
Leaving the tub, toilet and sink where the last plumber put them is one number; moving a drain is a floor-structure job.
Our own drafting team draws the new layout.
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Step 03: Choose your finishes
The order matters because each decision narrows the next. The layout is locked first, then the tub, shower, toilet and vanity, then the tile, the faucets and the lights.
When the design is done, you get a detailed budget.
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Step 04: Order what takes longest
Every finish you choose has to be ordered before it can be installed, and some take longer to arrive than others.
How long your tile, vanity and glass take to arrive, permit timing and what turns up behind the walls can all move your finish date.
Permit it
Step 05
Step 05: Get the permit, if your bathroom needs one
Moving a drain, a new shower pan, new wiring or a new exhaust fan takes a City permit. New tile, a new vanity, or a new toilet or faucet in the same spot doesn’t. When yours needs one, we draw the plans and take them to the City, and its standard is 7 business days to first review comments on a complete application.
The City’s plumbing permit covers
Changing, installing, moving or repairing pipes, water heaters and shower pans, and new sprinkler systems.
Build it
Steps 06–10
Each step says whether you can use the room while it happens.
- Room is out
- Room comes back
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Step 06: Demolition
Room is out
The old bathroom comes out down to the studs: tile, tub or shower, vanity and fixtures.
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Step 07: Rough-in, then inspections
Room is out
Plumbing and electrical, inspected before anything closes up.
City of Fort Worth
The City requires permitted work to stay exposed until it’s inspected and approved, so each trade is checked before it’s covered up.
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Step 08: Close-up: board and waterproofing
Room comes back
Board and waterproofing. A working toilet can usually come back at the end of this stage.
Ask how the floor will be sloped and waterproofed before the tile goes down.
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Step 09: Tile and glass
Room is out
The longest stage, and the one that decides the finish date.
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Step 10: Fixtures, final inspections, then your bathroom
Room comes back
Vanity, lights, mirror, hardware. The room is yours again as each piece lands.
City of Fort Worth
If your bathroom has permits, the City’s finals come last: electrical (200), mechanical (300) and plumbing (400) finals, then the building final (100), once every related permit is final.
Why the order matters
What goes wrong when bathroom steps happen out of order
A step taken out of order costs you time or money later. It happens in three places.
Tile before the layout
It’s hard to choose a faucet finish before you know the cabinet color, or tile before you know the vanity finish. And none of it can be chosen well until you know where the drain goes.
New fixtures on old trouble
New fixtures change how it looks. They do not fix the layout or the waterproofing behind the tile, and if the trouble is there, more of the room has to come out.
Trouble found too late
A problem found during design costs less to deal with than the same problem found during construction.
City of Fort Worth
Which bathroom jobs need a permit in Fort Worth
It depends on what moves. A bathroom that keeps its pipes, wiring and walls where they are may need no permit at all.
| The bathroom job | The permit | The City’s rule |
|---|---|---|
| New floor or wall tile, a new vanity or counter | The permit: No permit | The City calls these cosmetic remodels and doesn’t require a permit for them. |
| A new toilet, sink or faucet in the same spot | The permit: No permit | Swapping out a fixture doesn’t need a permit. |
| Moving a drain, or a new shower pan | The permit: Plumbing permit | Changing, installing, moving or repairing plumbing needs a plumbing permit. |
| New circuits, or moving lights and outlets | The permit: Electrical permit | Changing, moving or repairing electrical equipment, the electrical service included, needs an electrical permit. |
| An exhaust fan or its duct | The permit: Mechanical permit | Changing, moving or repairing a central heating and air system, ductwork or exhaust fans needs a mechanical permit. |
| Taking out a wall, like a closet into the bath | The permit: Building permit | Demolishing interior walls needs a permit. |
| Replacing drywall, 16 square feet or more in a wall or ceiling | The permit: Building permit | Moving, changing or repairing walls, floors or ceilings needs a building permit. That includes replacing drywall when it adds up to 16 square feet or more in any wall or ceiling. |
Each permit is separate. In the City’s words:
“Aside from your building permit, you still must obtain all trade permits that are needed separately and schedule inspections as required for each permit type.”
On our remodels, the permits are ours to handle.
The City’s pages, read November 5, 2026.
Which bathroom you have
A powder room skips the two most expensive trades
No bathing fixture means no shower pan and no glass, so it skips the two most expensive trades. A bathroom with a walk-in shower needs both.
A hall, guest, kids’ or powder bath taken down to the studs and rebuilt runs $20,000 to $55,000 with us and takes 1 to 2 months. A primary bath runs $63,000 to $120,000 and takes 8 to 10 weeks. Both ranges are construction plus our fee, before permits and contingency. On a primary bath, permits run $1,200 to $4,000, and plan on a contingency of 10 to 15 percent of the budget.
If it’s your only full bath, we work in stages so you can use the bathroom between them, and we tell you up front which days it is out of service.
Who runs the steps
One company runs every step of your bathroom remodel
Our designers, our drafting team and our construction crew are one company, Fort Worth’s only one-stop shop. Our drafting team works alongside the crew that builds your bathroom.
Drawn by our team, built by our crew, on the same Cost Plus billing as a project ten times the size.
Under these ten steps, our process is Meet Up (the free walk-through in step 01), Team Up, Glasses Up, for hall and guest baths and primary baths.
What is the first step in a bathroom remodel?
Walking the bathroom with a designer and a builder. That is where you decide what stays and what moves, starting with the drain, and it comes before you choose a tile. With us, that walk-through is free, with no obligation, and you leave with an honest estimate.
Does the tile or the vanity go in first?
Tile goes in first, along with the glass. Then the vanity, lights, mirror and hardware.
When does the waterproofing go in?
After the rough-in plumbing and electrical are done, and inspected where your bathroom needs permits. Then the walls are boarded and waterproofed, and the tile goes on over the waterproofing.
How long does each step of a bathroom remodel take?
Demolition takes two or three days. Tile and glass is the longest stage, and the one that decides the finish date. How long the rest takes depends on what moves. How long every kind of remodel takes
Which steps take the bathroom out of use?
Demolition, rough-in, and tile and glass. A working toilet can usually come back at the end of close-up, and the room is yours again as each fixture lands. If it’s your only full bath, we work in stages so you can use it between them.
What gets inspected during a bathroom remodel in Fort Worth?
It depends on which permits your bathroom needs. New plumbing and wiring are inspected before the walls close, because the City inspects work before it’s covered up. Then come the electrical, mechanical and plumbing finals, and the building final last.
Other projects: kitchen remodel steps, home addition steps and custom home building steps.
Best Home Builder & Remodeler
Fort Worth MagazineFort Worth Chamber Small Business of the Year4.7 stars from 91 Google reviews as of September 2026
Your bathroom
Start with step one
A designer and a builder walk your bathroom with you. You leave with an honest estimate, knowing what moves and whether yours needs a permit.
There is no reason to keep putting off the room you start every morning in.