A Colorado Springs bathroom remodel goes in one correct order: scope, design and measure, budget, permits if needed, demo, rough-in plumbing and electrical, rough-in inspection, waterproofing, tile and flooring, vanity, fixtures, mirrors and accessories, then final caulk and grout sealing. I’ve watched more remodels go sideways from skipping that order than from anything else (tile picked before confirming the shower size from demo, a vanity installed before the floor tile is down, a drain moved after the waterproofing layer is already on), and in a bathroom, where several trades stack on top of each other in a small space, one mistake out of sequence means tearing out finished work. (If you’d rather hand it off, here’s how I handle bathroom remodeling in Colorado Springs start to finish.)
Phase 1: Define the Scope Before Anything Else
Bathroom remodels split into three types, and the type you choose drives everything that follows.
Cosmetic refresh: Same layout, same plumbing locations, same electrical. New tile over the existing backer board (the cement board behind the tile) or concrete, a new vanity in the same spot, new fixtures, paint. No permit required. Can start within days of the estimate.
Mid-range renovation: New tile shower with a proper waterproofing layer, a new vanity, new flooring, updated lighting. A permit is required only if you add electrical circuits or move plumbing. Most mid-range bathrooms don’t move plumbing. Timeline: 2–4 weeks.
Full renovation: Tub-to-shower conversion (the drain has to move in most Colorado Springs slab homes), layout changes, heated floors, structural changes. Permit required. Timeline: 4–6 weeks plus permit processing.
Decide the scope before you take a single measurement. It sets who you need to hire, what permits to pull, and how long materials will take to arrive. Adding to the job partway through is expensive in a bathroom. You are working in a tight space, so one change affects everything next to it.
Phase 2: Design and Measure From the Real Space
Bathroom design is almost all about size and spacing. The room has fixed rules the code sets: at least 21 inches of clear floor space in front of the toilet, sink, or bidet; the toilet centered at least 15 inches from any wall or object (18 inches is better); and a shower at least 900 square inches inside, with no side shorter than 30 inches (a 30 × 30 inch box is the code floor). Plan on 36 × 36 inches for a shower that actually feels usable.
What to measure and write down before ordering anything:
- Floor-to-ceiling height at several spots. Older Colorado Springs homes have floors and ceilings that are not level, so the height changes across the room.
- The size of the rough opening for any window (this affects tile layout and how much you have to waterproof)
- The existing drain location (in a slab home this is fixed unless you cut the concrete)
- Where the water supply lines come in
- How close the electrical panel is and how much spare circuit capacity it has
- Where the vent fan is now and the path its duct takes
The Colorado Springs design point to watch: Many older homes here still have their original 1950s to 1970s tile, and the glue or grout under it can contain asbestos. If your home was built before 1980, test before demo (I test every pre-1980 bathroom before I put a hammer to it, it’s not a step worth skipping). Disturbing material that contains asbestos without the right safety steps is both a health risk and a legal problem.
Custom vanities and specialty tile take 4 to 8 weeks to arrive. Order nothing until you have confirmed the measurements from the real space, not from a drawing.
Phase 3: Budget and Material Selection
A complete bathroom remodel budget includes both the parts you can see and the parts you can’t.
What you see: Tile (field tile, which is the plain tile that covers most of the area, plus accent tile and floor tile), vanity and countertop, mirror, fixtures (faucet, showerhead, tub spout if you have one), toilet, lighting, and accessories (towel bars, toilet paper holder, robe hooks).
What you don’t see: Demo labor, the waterproofing layer, cement backer board, mortar and grout, plumbing rough-in if you move any lines, electrical rough-in for new circuits or a heated floor, PPRBD permit fees, drywall repair anywhere the wall was opened, and a new exhaust fan if you replace it.
The water hardness choice: Colorado Springs city water is soft to moderately hard, about 1.3 to 2.8 grains per gallon, so most homes on city water do not need to plan around mineral buildup. If your home is on a private well instead, which is common in Black Forest, Falcon, and Monument, the water can be genuinely hard, and the fixtures you pick matter more. A faucet with a ceramic disc cartridge (two hard ceramic plates that control the water) resists mineral buildup far better than an older rubber-seat valve. Brushed nickel and matte black finishes hide water spots better than polished chrome. For well-water homes, these choices cut down on maintenance.
Contingency: 15 percent minimum. Colorado Springs bathrooms built before 1985 often hide galvanized supply lines (old steel water pipes) behind the walls, missing or failed waterproofing on the shower walls, or a rotted subfloor at the base of the toilet. You find these at demo, not before. Budget for them.
Phase 4: Permits
If your job moves plumbing or adds electrical circuits, apply for a PPRBD permit before you schedule demo. Permit processing runs 1 to 2 weeks for a standard home bathroom project.
Requires a permit:
- Moving the toilet, sink, or shower drain
- Adding a new dedicated circuit
- Installing a heated floor system (which needs its own dedicated circuit)
- Running exhaust fan ductwork through a new hole in the wall or roof
Does not require a permit:
- New tile over the existing surface underneath
- Replacing the vanity in the same spot
- Swapping fixtures (toilet, faucet, showerhead) without moving the drain or supply lines
- Painting
Phase 5: Demo
The order you tear things out matters in a bathroom because the space is small and every part is connected.
Remove in this order: Accessories and mirrors first (they are usually just screwed to the wall). Then the toilet (shut off the supply, flush to empty it, disconnect the supply line, unbolt it from the floor). Then the vanity and sink (shut off the supplies, disconnect the drain, cut any caulk at the wall). Then the tub or shower unit if it is coming out. Then the wall tile. Then the floor tile. Then the backer board or drywall if you are replacing it.
What demo turns up in Colorado Springs homes:
- Galvanized supply lines: Common in homes built before 1970. These old steel pipes rust from the inside and choke off water flow. Replace them while the walls are open. It costs a small fraction of what it costs once the walls are closed back up.
- Missing or failed waterproofing: Most bathroom tile put in before 2000 in Colorado Springs has no waterproofing layer behind it, just tile over drywall or green board. Green board is drywall treated to resist a little moisture, but it is not waterproof. Water that gets behind it rots the subfloor, and that damage is what you find at demo. This is not a surprise. Expect it.
- Rotted subfloor at the toilet flange: The flange is the pipe fitting in the floor that the toilet bolts down to, and a wax ring seals the toilet to it. When that seal slowly fails, a little water seeps out with every flush and soaks the subfloor. This is very common and has to be fixed before the new toilet goes in.
Phase 6: Rough-In (Plumbing and Electrical)
Rough-in is all the pipe and wiring work that goes inside the walls and floor. It happens now, before any surface goes back up.
Plumbing rough-in: New supply lines, the moved drain if your job needs it, and new shut-off valves at every supply point. This is also when the shower valve goes in. Use a pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve, which keeps the water from turning scalding hot when someone flushes elsewhere in the house. The valve body goes in now, and the handle and trim go on at the end.
For slab homes in Colorado Springs doing a tub-to-shower conversion, moving the drain means cutting the concrete. This usually adds $500–$1,500, but I’d rather cut the slab and do it right than build a shower around a drain that’s sitting in the wrong spot.
Electrical rough-in: Every outlet in a bathroom must be GFCI protected (a GFCI is the shock-protection outlet required near water, with the test and reset buttons on it). This is the whole room, not just outlets near the sink. Add a dedicated circuit for the heated floor thermostat if you have one, rough-in for recessed lights if the ceiling layout is changing, and wiring for the exhaust fan if you are replacing it.
Inspection: After rough-in and before the walls close, schedule the rough-in inspection with PPRBD. The inspector has to see the work inside the walls. Do not close up the walls or floor until this passes.
Phase 7: Waterproofing
Waterproofing is the most important phase in a Colorado Springs bathroom remodel, and it is the one most often rushed or skipped.
A shower is a wet space by definition. Grout looks solid, but it is porous, so water slowly seeps through it. In a tight wall cavity that water has nowhere to go. It soaks the surface behind the tile and eventually the wood framing, and that leads to rot, mold, and tile that pops loose (tile popping loose behind the shower wall is one of the most common callbacks I get on other contractors’ bathrooms). This is slow, hidden water damage, and it happens year-round inside a heated house. It has nothing to do with freezing. The fix is a waterproof layer that stops the water before it ever reaches the wall.
The correct waterproofing approach:
Use cement backer board (Hardiebacker or Durock) on all wet walls, not drywall and not green board. Cement board is not waterproof by itself, but it does not fall apart when it gets wet. The waterproof layer, called the membrane, goes over it.
Membrane options:
- Sheet membrane (Schluter Kerdi or equivalent): A waterproof sheet bonded to the backer board with thinset (the cement-based glue that bonds tile). It covers the whole shower floor and runs up the walls to at least 6 inches above the showerhead. This is the most reliable system for Colorado Springs because it makes one continuous, unbroken barrier.
- Liquid membrane (Redgard or equivalent): A paint-on coating rolled onto the backer board in two coats. It is faster to apply and works well at the right thickness (aim for a combined 60 mils wet, where a mil is one-thousandth of an inch, so it cures to about 30 mils). It is easier to leave thin spots or pinholes than with a sheet membrane.
Do not tile over regular drywall in any wet area. This is the single most common building mistake in Colorado Springs bathroom remodels, and it is the source of most of the water damage found at demo.
Phase 8: Tile and Flooring
Tile goes on after the waterproofing is finished and fully cured, not before and not at the same time.
Plan the layout before you cut any tile: Lay the tile out dry on the floor and on the shower wall before you set a single piece. Find the visual center of the wall people notice most (usually the back wall of the shower, facing the door). The cut tiles at the two ends should be equal, and as wide as you can make them. A half tile on one side and a thin sliver on the other is what you get when you skip this step.
Shower floor: The shower floor has to slope toward the drain at least 1/4 inch per foot. That slope is built into the mortar bed or a pre-sloped foam panel before the tile goes down. If the floor does not drain fully, standing water wears out grout and caulk faster, and on a private well with hard water, that standing water stains the grout quickly on top of it.
Grout choice: Epoxy grout is the toughest option for shower floors and the joint where the tub meets the wall. It is non-porous, so it never needs sealing. Cement-based grout is fine for walls and large floor tile as long as you seal it. On a private well with hard water, unsealed cement grout in a shower shows stains within months.
Floor tile: The bathroom floor tile goes down after the shower is tiled. Run the floor under the toe kick (the recessed notch at the bottom front of the vanity) if you can. Continuous flooring means no visible line if the vanity is ever replaced.
The caulk vs. grout rule: Anywhere two surfaces meet at an angle (floor to wall, wall to shower curb, inside corners), use caulk, not grout. Those two surfaces move a tiny bit on their own, in different directions, as the house settles and shifts. Grout is hard and brittle, so it cracks at those seams. Flexible silicone caulk stretches with the movement and stays sealed.
Phase 9: Vanity and Cabinet Installation
The vanity goes in after the floor tile is down, not before and not at the same time.
Floating vanities (wall-mounted, with no legs) go in after tile because they screw into the wall framing and the tile runs underneath them. Floor-standing vanities also go in after tile, with the toe kick sitting on the finished floor.
Shimming: Colorado Springs slab floors are rarely perfectly flat. Set a level across the full width of the vanity before you fasten it. Slide thin shims (tapered wood or plastic wedges) underneath to bring it level first. A vanity that is not level makes doors and drawers hang crooked and opens a gap at the wall.
Fitting the vanity to the wall: The back of the vanity usually has to be trimmed to follow a wall that is not perfectly straight up and down. Trim it to match the wall, then caulk the seam. Do not leave an open gap between the vanity and the wall in a bathroom.
Countertop: Prefab vanity tops (cultured marble or one-piece ceramic) go on at this phase. Custom tops (quartz, granite) are measured from the installed vanity and take 10 to 14 days to make. Do not have them measured until the vanity is fully set.
Phase 10: Fixtures
Fixtures go in after the tile and vanity are done.
Toilet: Set the wax ring, lower the toilet onto it, and bolt it to the floor. Do not overtighten the floor bolts, or the porcelain will crack. Connect the supply line. Check that the toilet does not rock. A toilet that rocks will eventually break the wax ring seal and leak.
Shower valve trim: The rough-in valve went in back in Phase 6. Now the trim kit goes on over it: the handle, the showerhead arm, and the escutcheon (the trim plate that covers the hole in the tile). Make sure the escutcheon covers that hole cleanly before you make the final connection.
Sink faucet: For an undermount sink, attach the faucet through the top before the top is set. For a drop-in top, attach the faucet after the top is set on the vanity. Connect the supply lines and the drain.
Exhaust fan: Wire and mount it if you are replacing it. Match the fan’s CFM rating (cubic feet per minute, which is how much air it moves) to the size of the bathroom. A fan that is too small leaves moisture in the air, and that leads to mold on painted surfaces.
Heated floor thermostat: Wire and program it. Check that the floor sensor wire was set into the mortar bed before the tile went down. It cannot be added after the tile is set.
Phase 11: Mirrors, Lighting, and Accessories
The finish phase, everything that completes the look.
Mirror: Mount it after the vanity light is in, so the light’s electrical box tells you where the mirror should sit. If you are installing a recessed medicine cabinet, its rough-in should have been done back in Phase 6.
Lighting: A vanity light over the mirror, plus recessed lights if you are adding them. Make sure every fixture is rated for a damp or wet location, depending on where it goes.
Accessories: Towel bars, robe hooks, toilet paper holder, and grab bars if you want them. Towel bars and grab bars have to anchor into studs or into blocking (short pieces of wood added between the studs to give screws something solid to bite into), not just drywall. That blocking should have gone in during rough-in if the bars were not in the plan then.
Phase 12: Final Caulk and Grout Sealing
The last two steps, the ones most contractors skip or rush.
Final caulk: Run a bead of caulk (color-matched to the grout) where the tub or shower floor meets the wall, at all inside corners, along the vanity-to-wall line, and at the base of any tile that meets an untiled surface. These are all spots where two surfaces meet and move independently, so grout would crack there. Flexible caulk stays sealed. Skip it and these seams open up within months.
Grout sealing: Brush a penetrating sealer onto all cement-based grout before anyone uses the bathroom. Colorado Springs city water is soft to moderately hard, but if your home runs on a private well, common in Black Forest, Falcon, and Monument, that hard water can stain unsealed grout within weeks of first use. Apply the sealer, let it soak in for the time the manufacturer lists, then wipe off the excess. After 24 hours, test it: a drop of water should bead up right away on the grout instead of soaking in.
Do not use the shower for 24 to 48 hours after you caulk and seal.
The Sequence in Summary
- Define scope
- Design and measure from real space
- Budget and order long-lead materials
- Apply for permits if required
- Demo, and document what’s found
- Rough-in plumbing and electrical
- Rough-in inspection
- Waterproofing membrane
- Tile and flooring
- Vanity installation and countertop
- Fixtures
- Mirrors, lighting, accessories
- Final caulk and grout sealing
Do it in this order and the remodel moves fast and produces work that holds up. I’ve never once seen it go the other way. Done out of order, each phase creates rework for the next one, and in a 50-square-foot space there is no room to absorb that cost.
For a free written estimate on your Colorado Springs bathroom remodel, call (719) 243-9718 or visit thecoloradohandyman.com.
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