Fast, Reliable Bathroom Remodeling Across Montclair
A full bathroom remodel in Montclair typically runs between $18,000 and $45,000 depending on the age of your plumbing, whether you move any walls, and what the permit inspection uncovers once we open things up. Most Montclair projects take three to six weeks, with the widest variable being what’s hiding behind the original 1950s – 1970s tile and drywall. We’re Cottage ADU Builders, and we’ve worked on enough mid-century tract homes across Montclair’s 91763 to know exactly what to expect before the first hammer swings. Call (866) 808-7312 and we’ll walk your bathroom with you, then hand you a written, line-item estimate that accounts for what we can actually see.
Why Cottage ADU Builders Is Montclair’s Preferred Bathroom Remodeling Company
Montclair homeowners keep calling us back because we treat a 1962 ranch off Monte Vista Avenue the same way we treat an 800-square-foot rear-yard ADU: inspection first, honest numbers, and a permit pulled before any structural work begins. Neil Stratton, our owner, has spent years working the Inland Empire and eastern San Gabriel Valley, and he knows that Montclair’s housing stock, from the neighborhoods west of Central Avenue to the streets running up toward the 10 freeway, presents a very specific set of challenges. Aluminum branch wiring. Cast-iron drains that have been doing too much work for too long. Mud-set shower pans that were never waterproofed the way code requires today.
What does that mean for you? It means our quotes don’t balloon mid-project because we already know what to look for during the initial walkthrough. We’re not a general contractor who splits time between commercial build-outs and residential remodels. We specialize in residential square-footage work, including our Bathroom Remodeling team, which means the crew that shows up at your Montclair home does bathrooms and ADUs and kitchens every single week, not once a quarter. That depth of repetition is what lets us spot a failing vent stack or a rotted subfloor in minutes, and it’s why our customers in Montclair tell us the quote they got on day one matched the final invoice.
Our Bathroom Remodeling Services in Montclair
Full Bathroom Remodel
A full remodel in Montclair usually means tearing out everything down to the studs and subfloor, then rebuilding with new waterproofing, new supply lines, new drain runs, and new fixtures. Given the age of most Montclair homes, we plan for code upgrades from the start. That means GFCI protection, proper venting, and a shower pan that actually keeps water where it belongs. This is the service where our inspection-first approach pays off most. We’ll open walls with you standing there if you want, show you what we found, and get your signature on any change order before we spend another dollar.
Shower and Tub Replacement
Swapping a tub for a walk-in shower or replacing a cracked fiberglass unit is one of the most common requests we get from Montclair homeowners, especially in the three-bedroom, one-bath tract homes where every bathroom works hard. Here’s the thing: the original mud-set shower pans in these 1950s – 1970s builds were packed directly against unsealed framing. By now, many of them have been leaking slowly for years. We don’t just drop in a new pan and call it done. We check the framing, repair any rot, replace damaged subfloor, and then install a properly waterproofed system that will outlast the next remodel.
Vanity and Fixture Upgrades
Sometimes you don’t need a gut remodel. You need a new vanity, a modern faucet, and a toilet that doesn’t run all night. In Montclair’s older homes, even these smaller jobs require care. We’ve opened walls on Monte Vista Avenue to relocate a shower valve and found galvanized supply lines so corroded the water pressure had dropped by half. When we do a vanity swap, we check the shutoff valves, the supply lines, and the condition of the drain before we set the new cabinet. If something’s deteriorating, we tell you, show you, and price the fix in writing. No surprises after the fact.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees — you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Montclair
Montclair homeowners doing their research have usually seen the same names we work with: Mighty Buildings for prefab structures, Boxabl for compact modular units, and Tuff Shed for accessory structures. We specify those systems on ADU projects, and that familiarity carries into our bathroom work too. The same disciplined approach to factory tolerances and utility sequencing that makes a prefab ADU work is what we bring to setting a shower valve or leveling a vanity. It’s not about the brand on the box. It’s about knowing how the pieces fit together before they’re on your floor.
Common Bathroom Remodeling Problems We See in Montclair Homes
- Failed waterproofing at the original mud-set shower pan. These pans were packed against raw framing with no moisture barrier. In Montclair’s 60- to 70-year-old homes, that almost always means rot in the adjacent wall cavity by now. We strip it back, replace the damaged wood, and rebuild with modern waterproofing.
- Undersized or unvented cast-iron drain lines. Your original 1.5-inch cast-iron drain was sized for a low-flow 1960s shower head. Install a new high-flow valve and the line backs up. We check venting and drain capacity during the estimate, not after the tile is set.
- Aluminum branch wiring or ungrounded circuits. Montclair homes built before the mid-1970s often have aluminum wiring. The moment your permit triggers a GFCI requirement, the electrical scope changes. We flag this during the walkthrough and write it into the original estimate as a known allowance, not a mid-demo discovery.
- Rotted subfloor from decades of slow leaks. A toilet that’s wax ring failed in 1987 and was never properly fixed can quietly destroy the subfloor beneath it. In Montclair’s slab-on-grade and raised-floor homes alike, we probe for soft spots before we quote, so the number we give you is the number you pay.
Pricing for Bathroom Remodeling in Montclair, CA
Here’s what Montclair homeowners can expect to budget, based on the projects we’ve completed across 91763:
- Vanity and fixture upgrade: $3,500 – $8,000, depending on vanity size, countertop material, and whether existing drains and supply lines need repair.
- Shower or tub replacement: $7,000 – $14,000, with the range driven by framing rot repair, waterproofing system choice, and whether we’re converting a tub to a walk-in shower.
- Full bathroom remodel: $18,000 – $45,000, covering full demo, new plumbing and electrical brought to code, waterproofing, tile or surround, vanity, fixtures, and finish work. Homes with aluminum wiring, failed drains, or foundation issues near the foothills tend toward the upper end.
What moves the number isn’t mystery, it’s condition. A 1958 bathroom with original galvanized pipes and a leaking shower pan costs more to remodel than a 1975 bathroom that was partially updated in the 1990s. That’s why we inspect before we quote, and why we write allowances for the known unknowns, like the condition of the subfloor under the toilet, directly into the contract. Call (866) 808-7312 for a free estimate, and you’ll get a written breakdown that shows exactly where your money goes.
We Also Serve Cities Near Montclair
Our crews work throughout the eastern San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire. In addition to Bathroom Remodeling in Montclair, we regularly complete projects in Claremont, Ontario, Upland, and La Verne. The same inspection-first pricing and written change-order process applies no matter which city your home is in.
Serving Montclair, CA — Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Montclair area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage — if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs – Bathroom Remodeling in Montclair
Yes, a permit will almost certainly require GFCI protection in the bathroom, and if your home has original aluminum branch wiring or ungrounded circuits, the electrical scope expands. That’s why we check the panel and accessible wiring during the estimate walkthrough, so the cost is in your initial quote rather than appearing as a change order mid-demo. Call (866) 808-7312 and we’ll tell you exactly what your home’s wiring will support.
The most likely culprit is the original mud-set shower pan, which was packed against unsealed framing and has probably been leaking slowly for decades. The drain assembly may have also separated from the pan. We’ll open the ceiling below, trace the leak, and replace the pan, drain, and any damaged framing and subfloor as part of the repair. Estimates are free, and we write every repair step into a line item you approve before we start.
Montclair’s hot, dry summers in the eastern San Gabriel Valley mean we schedule interior work without weather delays, but the heat does influence material choices. We recommend exhaust fans sized appropriately for the square footage, and we avoid materials that expand significantly in temperature swings. Call (866) 808-7312 for a consultation that accounts for how your specific home handles the heat.
Plan for the possibility of corroded galvanized supply lines, cast-iron drain runs with hairline cracks, and subfloor rot around the toilet and tub. In Montclair’s tract homes, we budget for these as named allowances in the original contract, which means you see the line item before demo starts, not after. If we find something we didn’t anticipate, we stop work, show you photos, and get your written sign-off on the change order before we proceed.
Sometimes. The older homes along the northern edge of Montclair, near the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, occasionally have garages with shallow footings or slab sections that have shifted over the years. For a bathroom remodel, this typically only matters if you’re moving plumbing or adding a heavy fixture like a freestanding tub on an exterior wall. We’ll check during the estimate and tell you if your project needs any structural attention. Call (866) 808-7312 to schedule a free walkthrough.
Written by Neil Stratton, Owner at Cottage ADU Builders, serving Montclair and the surrounding Inland Empire.