Master Bathroom Remodel – Churchville, PA
This 90-square-foot master bathroom in Churchville was expanded by moving the hallway wall two feet into the corridor — the most structurally direct way to gain square footage in a bathroom whose size is fixed by its walls. Full new plumbing rough-in followed: new supply pipes and new drain lines for the shower, vanity, and toilet, all set to match the updated fixture positions. A heated floor was installed under 12″ × 24″ floor tile. Small-format tile in the shower. Four recessed lights added. New vanity, medicine cabinet, exhaust fan, and HVAC outlet completed the scope.
Scope of Work
- The hallway wall was relocated 2 feet to expand the bathroom
- New water supply pipes to the shower, vanity, and toilet
- New shower drain and toilet drain installed
- Small-format tile in the shower area
- 12″ × 24″ tile on bathroom floor
- Electric radiant heated floor under floor tile
- 4 new recessed lights
- New modern vanity
- New medicine cabinet
- New exhaust fan
- New HVAC outlet
Moving the Wall: The Enabling Step
The two-foot wall relocation is the project’s most significant change, not because it is the most visible, but because it determines what everything else in the bathroom is able to be. Moving the wall into the hallway gains two feet of depth across the full width of the bathroom. In a room of modest original size, two feet of additional depth changes what fixtures can be placed, how much clearance exists around each fixture, and how the room feels to use. Without this change, the upgraded fixtures, the heated floor, and the additional lighting would be going into the same constrained footprint as before.
Relocating a non-load-bearing wall involves removing the drywall on both sides, taking down the framing, reframing the new position two feet over, installing new drywall on both sides, and patching the flooring and ceiling where the old wall stood. The hallway corridor narrowed by two feet as a result — an acceptable trade given the bathroom gain, and code-compliant in terms of minimum corridor width. This work is the rough-in phase before any tile or fixture work begins.
New Plumbing Rough-In
Because the bathroom’s layout changed substantially — new wall position, new fixture positions — the plumbing connections were set fresh rather than adapted from the original rough-in. New water supply pipes were run to the shower, vanity, and toilet positions. A new shower drain and a new toilet drain were installed to match where the fixtures would sit in the expanded footprint. This rough-in work happens during the same phase as the wall framing: before any tile or finished surface goes in, every supply and drain position is established and confirmed.
Correct rough-in means the finished fixtures sit at the right heights, the drains are at the correct floor plane, and the supply connections reach their fixtures without extensions or workarounds. All of that is set at the rough-in phase — correcting it afterward requires opening walls or floors that are already finished.
Heated Floor Under 12″ × 24″ Tile
An electric radiant heating mat was installed under the bathroom floor tile — the 12″ × 24″ format used in the main bathroom area. The heating mat goes down on the substrate before the tile is set; the tile is installed over the mat using standard thinset. The floor surface warms from below when the system is on, reaching comfortable barefoot temperature quickly — one of the most noticeable quality-of-life improvements available in a bathroom remodel, particularly in a room used first thing in the morning.
Installing a heated floor during a remodel is substantially more efficient than adding it later. The mat is placed during the tile-setting phase; adding it after the tile is in requires removing the tile entirely to access the substrate. The remodel creates the right moment to include it.
Small-Format Shower Tile and 12″ × 24″ Floor Tile
Two tile formats were used in this bathroom. Small-format tile in the shower provides the grout-line density that improves grip on wet shower surfaces and accommodates the shower floor slope without the lippage risk that large tiles present at a slope. The 12″ × 24″ format on the main bathroom floor covers the expanded footprint efficiently with fewer grout lines and a contemporary rectangular look. The contrast between the two formats defines the shower zone as distinct from the main bathroom floor without a threshold or a color change between them.
Four Recessed Lights
Four recessed lights were added to the ceiling. The expanded bathroom footprint — now 90 square feet — benefits from multiple light sources positioned to cover the room evenly. Four fixtures in a 90-square-foot room provide adequate coverage without over-concentrating light in one area or leaving the shower or vanity in relative shadow. Recessed bathroom fixtures are rated for damp or wet locations depending on their proximity to the shower, and are specified accordingly.
Bathroom Remodeling in Churchville
Churchville is a community in Northampton Township, Bucks County, with residential development primarily from the 1960s through the 1980s. Master bathrooms from that era were frequently built smaller than current standards expect — often 50 to 70 square feet — and moving a non-load-bearing wall to gain depth is a practical solution when the adjacent hallway has the width to spare. The investment in the wall relocation is justified when the additional square footage is the difference between a bathroom that works well and one that remains constrained despite upgraded fixtures. Belmax Remodeling works throughout Churchville and the broader Bucks County area. For more on our bathroom work, see our bathroom remodeling service page. Homeowners in Churchville can also visit our Churchville bathroom remodeling page for more completed local projects.
Considering a Similar Project?
Master bathroom remodels in the 90-square-foot range with a wall relocation, full plumbing rough-in, heated floor, four recessed lights, and full fixture replacement typically fall in the $13,000–$17,000 range in Bucks County. This Churchville project came in at $13,600, completed May 2024. To discuss what your bathroom would involve, request a free estimate.