Full Bathroom Remodeling in Melrose Park, FL: What It Costs and How Long It Takes
A full bathroom remodeling in Melrose Park strips the room to the studs, replaces all fixtures, finishes, and systems, and typically takes 3 to 5 weeks from permit approval to final walkthrough. Most projects in this market run between $9,000 and $28,000 depending on whether you’re keeping the existing layout or moving walls and plumbing. Call (844) 665-0162 and we’ll walk through your space, talk through what’s worth changing, and give you a written estimate with no obligation.
How We Handle a Full Bathroom Remodel From Start to Finish
We’ve learned that homeowners in Melrose Park want to know what week they’ll be brushing their teeth in the hallway. Here’s exactly how the timeline breaks down.
Week 1: Demo and discovery. We remove everything down to the studs, pull the old tub or shower pan, and expose the plumbing and electrical. This is where we find what the walls have been hiding: cast iron drain lines with belly sags, ungrounded outlets, or the occasional termite damage in the wall framing. We document everything with photos and meet you on-site to confirm any changes before we order materials. This stage usually takes 2 to 3 days.
Week 1-2: Rough-in and inspection. Our plumber and electrician relocate any lines you’ve asked for, install new supply and drain lines, and run dedicated circuits for heated floors or towel warmers if you’ve chosen them. Because Melrose Park falls under Broward County’s jurisdiction, we schedule the rough inspection through the county portal, not a city office. Inspectors here are thorough, especially on GFCI placement and wet-location ratings. We build a 2-day buffer into this stage because county inspection slots can run tight during peak season.
Week 2-3: Close-in and prep. Drywall or cement board goes up, followed by waterproofing in the wet areas. We use liquid-applied membrane systems on shower walls and pans, not sheet plastic, because they perform better long-term in South Florida’s humidity. Floor prep happens here too, including self-leveling if your slab has settled unevenly, which we see often in 1960s CBS homes in this area.
Week 3-4: Finishes and fixture set. Tile crews work floor to ceiling, followed by grout, paint, trim carpentry, and finally the plumber setting toilets, vanities, and faucets. This is the stage where material lead times can bite you. We pre-order everything before demo starts, so your chosen vanity or specialty tile isn’t holding up the job.
Week 4-5: Final inspection and punch list. Broward County does a final inspection on permitted bathroom work, checking that all fixtures match the approved plans and that exhaust fans vent properly. We walk the space with you, test every valve and switch, and fix anything that isn’t right before we call it done.
You’ll make your biggest decisions, layout and material selection, before we pull the permit. Mid-project changes add weeks and cost. That’s why our first meeting runs 90 minutes, minimum.
The Material and Layout Choices That Drive Your Full Bathroom Remodeling Project
Every full bathroom remodeling project in Melrose Park involves trade-offs between upfront cost, daily usability, and how well materials survive decades of humidity and salt air. Here are the decisions we walk through with homeowners:
- Shower vs. tub vs. both: Removing a tub for a large walk-in shower opens the room visually and suits aging-in-place plans, but it can reduce resale value in family-oriented neighborhoods. Keeping both requires careful space planning in the 5×8-foot bathrooms common in 1960s Broward homes.
- Tile vs. solid surface: Large-format porcelain or ceramic tile runs $8-$25 per square foot installed and offers unlimited design flexibility. Solid surface panels, like Swanstone or Corian shower systems, cost more upfront but eliminate grout maintenance, which matters in a climate where mold finds every crack.
- Vanity construction: Furniture-style vanities with legs look elegant but reduce storage and complicate cleaning. Wall-mounted vanities free floor space and make tile installation cleaner, though they require blocking in the wall for support. We typically recommend 36-inch height for comfort, versus the 30-32 inch standard in older homes.
- Exhaust and moisture control: Code in Broward County requires exhaust fans rated for the calculated cubic footage of the room. We spec humidity-sensing fans that run automatically, not just when someone remembers the switch. In homes with original flat roofs, venting through the roof versus the soffit affects both cost and long-term performance.
- Plumbing fixture grade: Builder-grade faucets from big-box stores use plastic cartridges that fail in 3-5 years in hard water conditions. We stock Delta, Moen, and Kohler lines with brass valve bodies and ceramic disc cartridges, which cost 40% more but last the life of the bathroom.
Our Bathroom Remodeling crew brings samples to your home so you can see how colors read in your actual light, not a showroom’s.
What Full Bathroom Remodeling Costs in Melrose Park, FL
| Project Element | Typical Range |
|---|---|
| Full bathroom remodeling, Melrose Park | $9,000 - $28,000 |
| Keeping existing layout, mid-grade finishes | $9,000 - $15,000 |
| Relocating plumbing, premium materials | $18,000 - $28,000 |
| Structural changes or expansion | Add $4,000 - $12,000 |
Five factors push your number up or down:
1. Bathroom size and layout changes. A 5×8-foot hall bath with the toilet, vanity, and tub in the same locations stays at the lower end. Moving the toilet drain across the slab, which requires cutting concrete in these slab-on-grade homes, adds $1,500-$3,500.
2. Existing condition. Homes with original galvanized supply lines or cast iron drains need full replacement, not just the visible fixtures. We see this regularly in Melrose Park’s 1950s-1970s stock. Budget an extra $2,000-$5,000 if the walls reveal aged plumbing.
3. Material grade and brand selection. A porcelain tile from a boutique Italian line runs 3x the cost of a quality domestic equivalent. We carry multiple tiers so you choose where to invest and where to save.
4. Permit scope and HVHZ compliance. Because Melrose Park sits in Florida’s High Velocity Hurricane Zone, any window replacement or exterior wall modification triggered by your bathroom work must meet impact-rated standards. This doesn’t affect every bathroom job, but when it does, the hardware and installation cost jumps significantly.
5. Electrical panel capacity. Adding heated floors, a steam shower, or multiple GFCI circuits can overload a 100-amp panel common in older homes. Panel upgrades run $2,000-$4,000 and require their own permit.
Our written estimates itemize labor, materials, permits, and a line for probable contingencies based on what we find during demo. Call (844) 665-0162 for an exact quote on your full bathroom remodeling project in Melrose Park, estimates are free.
Why Melrose Park Homes Make Full Bathroom Remodeling Different
Melrose Park isn’t incorporated, and that single fact changes how your project runs from day one. Every permit, every inspection, every code interpretation flows through the Broward County Building Division in Lauderhill, not a local city office. Contractors accustomed to Oakland Park’s or Lauderdale Lakes’s municipal inspectors often stumble on the county’s online portal, its inspection scheduling cadence, and the stricter documentation requirements. We’ve worked this system long enough to know which plans examiners flag bathroom exhaust venting details and which inspectors want to see flood zone elevation certificates before they’ll sign off on ground-floor work.
The housing stock here is almost entirely concrete block construction from the 1950s through 1970s, slab-on-grade, with no basements and no crawl space. That means your plumbing runs through the attic or through the slab itself. When we relocate a toilet or shower drain, we’re cutting concrete, not accessing a joist bay below. The water table sits just a few feet down, so any excavation for drainage improvements or foundation repair floods immediately, we plan around that reality rather than discover it mid-project.
Then there’s the HVHZ designation. Broward County enforces some of the strictest wind-resistance codes in the nation. A full bathroom remodeling project that touches an exterior wall, replaces a window, or modifies the roofline for a vent stack must comply with impact-rated standards that don’t apply thirty miles north. We’ve seen out-of-area crews specify standard windows for a bathroom bump-out, only to fail inspection and eat a three-week delay. We don’t.
Many homeowners here also own properties in Melrose Park as rentals or future retirement homes. If you’re planning to expand the footprint later, perhaps with an ADU using one of our prefab partners like Mighty Buildings or Boxabl, we design your bathroom layout and utility rough-ins to accommodate that future phase without starting over.
Homeowners often pair a full bathroom remodeling with exterior work, and we handle both. You might consider Roof Repair in Melrose Park if your flat roof is original to the home, or Roof Replacement & Installation in Melrose Park if the bathroom work reveals decking damage where vents penetrate. One contractor, every phase, means one schedule and one accountable team.
Serving Melrose Park, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Melrose Park area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked - Full Bathroom Remodeling in Melrose Park
Most projects finish in 3 to 5 weeks from permit approval, assuming no structural changes or material delays. Broward County’s inspection schedule adds 2 to 5 business days between rough-in and close-in stages, which we build into our timeline upfront. Call (844) 665-0162 and we’ll give you a realistic schedule based on your specific scope.
Yes, because Melrose Park is unincorporated Broward County, all permits run through the county Building Division, not a city office. Any work involving plumbing, electrical, or structural changes requires permits, and the county enforces Florida HVHZ standards on affected exterior components. We handle the application, plans, and scheduling as part of our project management.
Absolutely, and it’s the most common approach in Melrose Park’s 5×8 and 6×9-foot bathrooms. Keeping the toilet, vanity, and tub or shower in their existing locations saves $1,500-$4,000 and shortens the timeline by about a week. We focus the budget on better materials and finishes instead.
$9,000 covers a complete gut with new mid-grade fixtures, porcelain tile, and a standard vanity in an existing layout. Below that, you’re looking at partial renovations or cosmetic refreshes, not a full bathroom remodeling that includes new plumbing, electrical, and waterproofing. We don’t recommend cutting corners on waterproofing in this humidity.
Our workmanship warranty covers installation and waterproofing for one year, and the manufacturer warranties on your fixtures, tile, and exhaust fan run independently, typically 5 years to lifetime depending on the brand. We register all warranties in your name and provide the documentation at final walkthrough. For warranty service, you call us directly, not a third party.
Ready to Start Your Full Bathroom Remodeling Project?
Call (844) 665-0162 to schedule a free on-site estimate for full bathroom remodeling in Melrose Park. We’ll walk your space, talk through what’s worth keeping and what’s worth changing, and email you a detailed written estimate within 48 hours. No deposit required to get started, and no pressure to decide on the spot.
Written by Raymond Estevez, Owner at Groundwork Construction Co., serving Bathroom Remodeling in Melrose Park and across South Florida.