Guest Bathroom Remodel – Churchville, PA
This Churchville guest bathroom remodel focused on giving a bathtub-centered bathroom a clean, durable finish with well-thought-out storage built directly into the design. The tub surround was tiled up to the center of the window. A recessed niche was built into the tub wall. Two corner shelves were also installed inside the tub area. A separate recessed ceiling light serves the tub zone on its own switch. The result is a guest bathroom where the storage, lighting, and tile work were planned together rather than figured out after the fact.
What This Project Included
- Moisture-resistant green board on walls
- Cement board on floor and tub/shower walls
- Homeowner-supplied bathtub installation
- Tile flooring (homeowner-selected)
- Tile on the tub and shower walls to the center of the window
- Tile between the tub and the vanity
- Recessed niche in the tub wall
- Two corner shelves in the tub area
- Polished engineered marble threshold at door jamb
- Wall-mounted shower curtain rod
- Homeowner-supplied shower faucet
- Homeowner-supplied vanity and sink installation
- Two vanity faucets
- Mirror and light fixture above vanity
- Additional electrical outlet above vanity
- Recessed ceiling light in the tub area on a separate switch
- New exhaust fan
- Homeowner-supplied toilet installation
- Towel ring, two towel bars, toilet paper holder
- Full interior paint
Substrate and Structural Preparation
Moisture-resistant green board was installed on the walls where needed, and cement board was installed on the floor and throughout the tub and shower wall areas before any tile or fixture work began. In a bathroom with a tub surround, the cement board installation covers the critical wet zone around the tub where daily water exposure is highest. This is the layer that determines whether the tile installation holds up over years of use or starts to fail at the grout joints as moisture works its way behind inadequate backing.
Tiling the Tub Surround and Beyond
The homeowner-selected tile was installed on the tub surround walls up to the center of the window — a practical stopping point that allows the window to remain operational while still providing full moisture protection across the wet zone below it. An additional tile was installed between the tub and the vanity, extending the tile work beyond just the immediate tub area and creating a more continuous finished surface across the wall.
Tile on the bathroom floor was also installed as part of the project. A polished engineered marble threshold at the door jamb finishes the entry transition cleanly.
Storage Built Into the Tub Area
The storage decisions in this project were made during the planning and framing phase, not at the end. A recessed niche was built into the tub wall — framed out before the cement board went up, waterproofed correctly as part of the tile installation, and finished flush with the surrounding tile. This is the right way to build a recessed niche. A niche added into an already-tiled wall requires cutting through finished tile and waterproofing, which is both more disruptive and more difficult to do correctly.
Two corner shelves were also installed in the tub area. Corner shelves in a tub surround need to be properly embedded in the tile work — not surface-mounted after the fact — to prevent water from getting behind the mounting points. Together, the niche and the corner shelves give the tub area functional storage in three separate locations without any of them interrupting the visual flow of the tile.
Lighting: Separate Switch for the Tub Zone
A recessed ceiling light was installed specifically in the tub area, wired on its own switch separate from the main bathroom lighting. This is a practical feature that gets overlooked in many bathroom remodels. Having the ability to turn on the tub area light independently — for a bath at night, for cleaning, or simply for better light over the tub during use — is more useful than it sounds. Running the switch during the electrical rough-in phase adds minimal cost compared to rewiring after the ceiling is finished.
A standard vanity light fixture was installed above the mirror. A new exhaust fan was also installed to handle ventilation.
Vanity and Fixtures
The homeowner supplied the vanity, toilet, shower faucet, and bathtub — all of which were installed and connected on-site. Two vanity faucets were installed. A mirror was mounted above the vanity. An additional electrical outlet was installed above the vanity for everyday use. A wall-mounted shower curtain rod completes the tub enclosure.
Four accessory pieces were installed in total: a towel ring, two towel bars, and a toilet paper holder. In a guest bathroom that multiple people use, two towel bars allow for a reasonable amount of towel storage without crowding the wall space.
What the Remodel Achieved
This guest bathroom now has durable tile throughout the wet zone, storage built into the tub surround in three locations, dedicated lighting over the tub on a separate switch, and a fixture package that was installed properly from the substrate up. At $8,300 for 50 square feet with the homeowner supplying the major fixtures, this is a mid-range guest bathroom remodel that focused the budget on the structural and finish work rather than on fixture upgrades.
The tile stops at the center of the window — not at an arbitrary height — because that decision was made deliberately. The niche and corner shelves are set into the tile rather than mounted on top of it because that decision was also made at the right stage. Those are the kinds of choices that reflect a project that was planned before it was built.
Bathroom Remodeling in Churchville and Bucks County
Churchville is a Bucks County community in Northampton Township with a mix of single-family homes where guest bathrooms often have not been updated since original construction. When a guest bathroom has a functional tub but dated tile, worn surfaces, and storage that was never planned into the design, a full remodel is typically more effective than trying to update around what is already there.
Belmax Remodeling works throughout Bucks County, including Churchville and surrounding communities. For more on our bathroom remodeling work, see our bathroom remodeling service page. Homeowners in the Churchville area can also visit our Newtown bathroom remodeling page for nearby completed project examples.
Considering a Similar Project?
Guest bathroom remodels in the 50-square-foot range with tile throughout, a tub surround, built-in storage, and updated electrical typically fall in the $7,500 to $11,000 range, depending on tile selection and how many fixtures the homeowner supplies. This Churchville project came in at $8,300, completed in December 2025, with the homeowner supplying the bathtub, vanity, toilet, and shower faucet. To discuss what a similar scope would involve for your guest bathroom, request a free estimate.