Hillcrest bathroom remodeling

Most Hillcrest bathrooms fall into a few patterns. The detached and attached houses off the side streets tend to have a single full bath upstairs plus a half bath on the main floor, often with original cast-iron tubs and tight 5-by-8 footprints. The co-op buildings in the area lean toward windowless interior baths where ventilation and waterproofing matter even more. Knowing which configuration you have shapes everything from the layout to how we sequence demolition.

Approval realities differ sharply between the two. In an owner-occupied house, a like-for-like remodel that keeps fixtures in place is straightforward, while moving plumbing or adding a bathroom triggers DOB plumbing and electrical permits. In a co-op, the building board and its alteration agreement come first: most boards require licensed plumbers, proof of insurance, and sign-off on any work that touches wet walls or risers, so we build that review time into the schedule before any tile comes down.

The work itself follows a clear path. We open the wet areas, confirm the condition of the subfloor and risers, then rebuild from the substrate up with a proper waterproof membrane before a single tile is set. Vanity, plumbing fixtures, and electrical for lighting and exhaust go in once the waterproofing passes, so you are not chasing leaks behind finished walls a year later.