Full Bathroom Remodels in Lexington, KY

What does a full bathroom remodel cost in Lexington?

This Old House data puts the average Lexington-Fayette bathroom remodel at about $17,000 to $32,000. Kentucky as a whole tends to run a bit under the national average, but labor and material prices here have climbed like everywhere else.

Where the money goes:

• Layout. Leaving the toilet, sink and shower where they are is the single biggest way to control cost. Moving a drain means cutting into the floor and rerunning waste lines.
• The shower or tub. A tile shower with a niche and bench costs more in labor than an acrylic or solid-surface wall system. We lay out both in acrylic vs. tile showers.
• What's behind the walls. Rotted subfloor at the toilet flange or a cracked drain line can't be priced until it's seen, so our quote lists those as separate line items.

Our Lexington bathroom remodel cost guide goes deeper on each line.

What does a full remodel include?

Everything visible gets replaced, and the parts you never see get brought up to date:

• Tear-out of fixtures, tile, drywall or plaster, with plastic barriers and floor runners from the door to the bathroom.
• Plumbing: new supply lines, a new pressure-balancing shower valve, and drain repairs or replacement where the old pipe is failing.
• Electrical and ventilation: new lighting, GFCI-protected outlets and an exhaust fan ducted to the outside, not into the attic.
• Framing and subfloor repair, plus solid blocking in the walls for grab bars now or later.
• Waterproofing at every wet wall and the shower floor, using cement board and a membrane rather than drywall.
• Finishes: tile or wall panels, flooring, vanity and top, toilet, mirror, lights, paint and accessories.

Your written quote shows each of these, with allowances for the pieces you'll choose yourself, such as tile and the vanity.

What do older Lexington homes hide behind the walls?

The answer depends a lot on the neighborhood.

Chevy Chase, Ashland Park, Bell Court and Kenwick. Many of these 1920s to 1940s houses still have their original small bathroom, often the only full bath in the home. Opening the walls usually means plaster on lath, galvanized supply lines that have rusted down to a trickle, and cast-iron drains. We replace galvanized pipe while the walls are open, since doing it later costs far more. Cast iron that is still sound can stay; cracked or badly scaled sections come out. Because it's often the only bathroom, we plan the schedule to keep a working toilet as long as we can.

Southland, Gardenside, Cardinal Valley and Tates Creek. Postwar ranches and split-levels here tend to have a tub-shower combo with 1960s to 1980s tile or a fiberglass unit. The plumbing is usually easier to reach from a crawlspace or basement, and many owners use the remodel to swap the tub for a walk-in shower.

Hamburg, Masterson Station, Beaumont, Palomar and Andover Forest. These 1990s to 2010s primary baths often have a builder-grade fiberglass shower and a big garden tub that nobody uses. Pulling the garden tub frees up room for a larger shower or a second vanity.

How does Lexington's hard water affect your finish choices?

Central Kentucky sits on limestone, so the water is hard and leaves white mineral spots on glass, chrome and grout. A few choices make the bathroom easier to keep clean:

• Glass with a factory-applied protective coating, which sheds water and mineral film better than plain glass.
• Brushed or matte fixture finishes, which hide spotting better than polished chrome.
• Larger tile with fewer grout lines, or a stain-resistant grout, in the shower.
• Solid-surface or acrylic walls if you want almost no grout at all.

Do you need a permit to remodel a bathroom in Lexington?

It depends on the scope, and a full remodel usually needs at least one. Kentucky handles plumbing permits at the state level, through the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (Division of Plumbing). Under state rules, moving or adding a fixture, drain or waste opening needs a plumbing permit, and the plumber on the job pulls it. Fixing a leak or a valve doesn't.

Structural changes, like moving a wall or adding a window or door, need a building permit from the LFUCG Division of Building Inspection (101 E. Vine St., (859) 258-3770), applied for through the LFUCG Citizen Portal. A like-for-like swap in the same spot usually needs neither. We confirm the permit path for your job and pull what's needed. More in our Lexington permit guide.

How long will the remodel take, and in what order?

Most full remodels take two to four weeks on site after materials arrive. The usual order is tear-out, framing and plumbing, electrical and fan, waterproofing and wallboard, tile, then vanity, toilet, trim and paint. Working in that order means nothing finished gets damaged by the next trade. We order tile, vanities and glass before tear-out because some of them take weeks to arrive. See how long a bathroom remodel takes for a day-by-day look.

If only the shower is failing, a shower replacement or tub-to-shower conversion costs less and wraps up in days. We'll tell you which one your bathroom actually needs.