Bathroom Remodeling in Severna Park, MD

What bathrooms do Severna Park houses usually have?

Mostly primary baths that are too small or built around a tub nobody uses, plus original hall baths. In houses from the 1950s through the 1980s, the primary bath was usually built smaller than owners want today. Making it larger, or easier to use, is the usual goal.

Hall baths in mid-century houses are the other big group. They tend to be original, or redone once with materials that are now worn.

Making a primary bath bigger without building out

The easiest square footage is already inside the house. A walk-in closet beside the bathroom, a linen closet in the hall, or a small bedroom that’s become storage can often be absorbed into a larger bath. The work involves:

• Checking the shared wall for loads, ducts and wiring before it comes down
• Reframing the new layout and patching floors where walls used to be
• Running new supply and drain lines to the added fixtures
• Building the shower, tiling, and setting a double vanity and toilet

Keeping the project inside the walls has a second advantage on waterfront lots. An addition would count toward Critical Area lot coverage and might push toward the Buffer, while an interior expansion does neither.

One-level living in a rancher

Owners who plan to stay in a one-story rancher for the long haul often want a bathroom that will still work as they age. The usual answer is a walk-in shower with a low or no threshold, a bench, a handheld shower head and solid blocking inside the walls so grab bars can be added any time. Wider doorways and a comfort-height toilet often go with it.

A low-threshold shower depends on the floor. In a rancher over a crawlspace or basement, there’s often room to recess the shower floor between the joists. On a slab, the options are narrower. We check before designing around it.

Replacing the 1980s soaking tub

The 1980s were Severna Park’s biggest building decade, and primary baths from then often have a large drop-in tub set in a tiled deck. A generous walk-in shower can take its place, or a smaller tub can stay in a tighter footprint. We’ve set large marble-look tile around a drop-in soaking tub with leveling clips, and tiled full tub surrounds with a window inside the wet area, which needs careful flashing and sealing.

Hall baths in mid-century houses

A hall bath from the 1950s or ’60s usually comes out completely, including the old mortar-bed tile and anything soft beneath it. The rebuild uses cement board and a waterproofing membrane on every wet wall before new tile goes on.

The permit side

Interior bathroom work is a Residential Alteration in Anne Arundel County, filed through the online Land Use Navigator. We prepare the written scope and drawings the application needs, and plumbing and electrical trade permits are filed by the licensed trades.

Also see kitchen remodeling in Severna Park, Severna Park decks and our full bathroom remodeling page.