How long does a bathroom renovation take?
A simple three-piece — toilet, vanity and shower staying where they are — can be finished in as little as five business days. A powder room or a tub-to-shower conversion is about two days; a four-piece ensuite or an accessible build about seven. Custom shower glass follows about a week later, because it is measured after the tile is on and then made to size; the room is finished and in use in the meantime. Whatever the room turns out to need, we finish within 7 business days of starting, in writing.
- Simple three-piece
- As little as 5 business days
- Four-piece or accessible
- About 7 days on site
- Custom shower glass
- About a week more
- On-time promise
- 7 business days, in writing
Day 1
Demolition, back to the studs
The room is sealed off and protected, and everything comes out down to the subfloor. This is the day the surprises show up — mould behind the tile, a second floor laid over the first, plaster instead of drywall, a cast-iron tub that has to be broken up to leave — and the one day of the five that cannot be promised to the hour.
Day 2
Rough-in, while the walls are open
Plumbing and electrical are roughed in — the shower valve, the fan and its duct to the outside, the GFCI receptacle — and inspected before anything closes them in. If the layout is changing, this is where the extra days go.
Day 3
Waterproofing, built and tested
The shower is built as a sealed assembly to Schluter standards — membrane, seams, corners and drain — and tested for leaks before a single tile goes on. Tiling starts only when the test passes.
Day 4
Tile
Floor and walls. Large-format porcelain and mosaic both take longer to set than a standard 12×24, which is why the tile you chose at the showroom decides more of this day than the size of the room does.
Day 5
Fixtures, door and handover
Vanity, toilet, faucet, lighting, the shower door, silicone, and a clean. On a simple three-piece with a sliding door this is the last day, and the bathroom is yours that evening.
Week 2
Custom glass, if you chose it
A frameless enclosure is measured after the tile is on the wall — never from a drawing — then made to size and installed. That is about a week, and the room is finished in the meantime; the glass is the last thing in.
What adds days
- Demolition, when the last renovation left something behind: mould on the drywall or the framing, a second floor laid over the first, plaster walls, or an old cast-iron tub that has to be broken up in place.
- A layout change. Moving the toilet, tub or vanity to another wall means opening the floor and often the ceiling below, and usually a permit — the decision that costs most in days as well as dollars.
- Custom shower glass: about a week for production and installation after the room is finished, because it is measured after tiling.
- A four-piece or an accessible build: about seven days on site rather than five, before any of the above.
- None of it moves the promise. Whatever is found on day one, the bathroom is finished within 7 business days of starting, in writing.
Living with it
- The work stays sealed inside the one room, and we clean up at the end of each day.
- The bathroom itself is out of use from the first morning until handover — if it is your only full bathroom, plan around those days.
- Materials are all in before we start, which is why selections are finished at the quote stage rather than while the room is in pieces.
Bathroom renovations · What a bathroom costs · Questions to ask any bathroom contractor
The days are the shape of a typical simple three-piece, from our own bathrooms across the GTA; the promise is the 7 business days.
