Bathroom Remodeling in Reisterstown, MD

Rebuilding the bath in a 1960s or ’70s Reisterstown house

U.S. Census estimates show about 36% of Reisterstown homes were built in the 1960s and 1970s. If the bathroom in one of them hasn’t been fully redone, it’s been in service for close to 50 years or more, and the hidden parts are as tired as the visible ones. Supply lines, drain connections, the tub’s waterproofing and the subfloor under the toilet all wear out, and patches over the years tend to hide rather than fix the problem.

A full remodel starts by removing everything to the studs. Then:

• Framing and subfloor repairs where water has done damage.
• New supply and drain lines to the fixtures, under a plumbing permit.
• New wiring for lights, outlets and an exhaust fan sized for the room, under an electrical permit.
• Cement board and a waterproofing membrane in the wet areas.
• Tile, tub or shower, vanity, toilet, glass and trim.

For a family bath, a tub with sliding glass doors keeps bathing kids easy. One bath we finished pairs a long vanity and sliding glass tub doors with a slate-look stone floor. Another uses leaf-pattern accent tile on the tub wall.

Aging-in-place bathroom changes

If you plan to stay in your house for good, the bathroom is where that plan gets tested first. A step-over tub becomes a hazard long before a stair does. Swapping it for a low-curb shower with a fold-down seat, a handheld shower head and blocking for grab bars is simple while the walls are open and much harder to add later.

Doors are worth a look too. A wider door and a vanity with open space underneath make the room usable from a walker or wheelchair.

Townhouse baths from the 1990s and 2000s

By Census estimates, about 23% of Reisterstown homes are townhouses, and roughly 37% of the housing went up in the 1990s and 2000s. Bathrooms in those homes are younger and usually structurally sound, so the work is mostly surfaces and fixtures. Fiberglass tub units give way to tile, and a single small vanity becomes a wider one with storage. Lighting gets better too. The exception is a slow leak. If the floor near the toilet or tub feels soft, we open it up and repair the subfloor before anything new goes down.

Bathrooms in Main Street and Glyndon buildings

The Main Street historic district includes log, frame, stone and brick buildings, some dating to the late 1700s, often with commercial uses mixed in. Glyndon’s frame cottages date from the 1870s onward. In buildings that old, any bathroom came later, and it may be squeezed into a former closet or bedroom.

The constraints are physical more than regulatory. Old floors may be out of level, stone walls can’t take a recessed niche, and running a vent pipe takes planning. Interior work isn’t reviewed by Baltimore County’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, even in Glyndon, but a new exterior vent or window there is exterior work that is. On Main Street, a National Register district, the county’s historic tax credit doesn’t cover bathroom remodeling.

The Carroll County part of 21136

Our permit notes on this page describe Baltimore County. If your property sits in the Carroll County section of the ZIP code, we look up Carroll’s requirements for your project before scheduling work.

See also Reisterstown kitchen remodeling, Reisterstown decks, and our bathroom remodeling service page.