Bathroom remodeling in Plano, TX

A lot of Plano homes went up in the 1980s and 1990s, and the builders of that era used a pretty standard bathroom kit. If you open the door to the hall bath, there's a good chance you'll see a one-piece fiberglass tub and shower unit, a vanity with a cultured marble top and a molded-in sink, and a mirror glued straight to the wall.

Cultured marble wears in a predictable way. The glossy coating dulls, small cracks show up around the drain, and the color near the faucet goes a little yellow. Fiberglass tubs pick up scratches that hold soap scum no matter how hard you scrub. None of it is broken. It just never looks clean.

The primary bath is a different story. Many from this period have a large garden tub set in a tiled deck, often under a window, with a small separate shower beside it. The shower tends to be the cramped part of the room, and it's the one you use every day.

Then there's what you can't see. Some homes built from the late 1970s into the mid 1990s were plumbed with gray plastic polybutylene supply lines, which have a reputation for failing at the fittings. Plenty of Plano homes never had it or have already been repiped. If a wall is open anyway, it's a good time to look.

For the hall bath, the most common plan keeps everything where it is. The fiberglass unit comes out, the walls get cement board and a waterproofing layer, and a new tub or shower goes back in the same spot with tile around it. The vanity, top, mirror and light get replaced at the same time, so the room is finished in one pass.

For the primary bath, the big question is the garden tub. Taking out the tub deck often frees up enough floor to build a roomy walk-in shower where the old tub and shower were. Since these houses sit on a concrete slab, moving a drain means cutting into the concrete, so we try to land the new shower drain close to an existing one.

Ventilation is worth checking in both rooms. Some older fans were ducted only into the attic, or are so weak they barely move air. A properly sized fan that vents outside helps a new tiled shower dry out between uses.

We visit, measure and look under the sink and around the tub before pricing anything. You get a written, itemized estimate, and our independent trade partners handle the plumbing, tile and electrical while we schedule and coordinate them.