Master Bathroom Remodel – Yardley, PA
This 90-square-foot master bathroom remodel in Yardley involved a full layout reconfiguration: the floor plan was redesigned, the toilet was relocated, a walk-in shower was built, and a freestanding bathtub was installed alongside a new vanity. Three separate plumbing moves — toilet relocation, shower rough-in, freestanding tub connections — were coordinated in a single rough-in phase. The project ran 16 days from demolition to completion.
Scope of Work
- Full demolition
- Floor plan redesigned
- Toilet relocated to new position
- Walk-in shower built and tiled
- Freestanding bathtub installed with dedicated supply lines and drain
- New vanity installed
- Plumbing fixtures updated throughout
- New lighting fixtures installed
Redesigning the Floor Plan: The Decision That Drives the Rest
Redesigning a bathroom floor plan means changing where the fixtures sit in the room — not just replacing them in their existing positions. In a 90-square-foot master bathroom, the fixture positions determine how the room feels to use: whether there is adequate clearance around the toilet, whether the shower has enough room to feel like a proper enclosure rather than a tight stall, whether the freestanding tub has space to read as a centerpiece rather than an obstacle.
Every fixture repositioning in this project — the toilet move, the walk-in shower build in a new footprint, the freestanding tub in a chosen position — required new plumbing connections at the new location. That work happens during the rough-in phase, before any cement board or tile goes in. The floor plan is set at that phase, and once the tile is down, the fixture positions are permanent. Getting the layout right in planning, before the rough-in begins, is what makes the finished bathroom work without compromises.
Toilet Relocation
Moving the toilet to a new position requires capping the original drain connection, cutting into the floor at the new location, running a new drain line to the main stack at the correct slope, and setting a new closet flange at the right elevation for the finished floor thickness. It also requires extending or rerouting the supply line to the new position.
Toilet relocations during a full bathroom remodel are handled most efficiently during the demolition and rough-in phase — the floor is already open, the walls are already stripped, and the plumber has full access to the drain and supply lines without cutting through finished surfaces. Doing a toilet relocation as a standalone project afterward would require removing finished flooring to access the drain, which adds significant cost and disruption. Here it was handled alongside the shower and tub rough-in as one coordinated phase.
Walk-In Shower
The walk-in shower was built from scratch in the reconfigured floor plan. Building a walk-in shower requires framing or reframing the enclosure walls to define the footprint, installing cement board as the tile substrate in the wet zone, building the shower base at the correct slope and height, setting the drain, and then tiling the walls and floor. In a 90-square-foot bathroom, the shower footprint has to be sized so the enclosure is comfortable to use while leaving adequate clearance around the toilet and vanity.
The shower rough-in — the supply lines and drain position — was set during the same phase as the toilet relocation and the freestanding tub connections, so all three plumbing moves were coordinated before any finish work began.
Freestanding Bathtub
A freestanding bathtub was installed as part of the redesigned floor plan. A freestanding tub sits away from the wall and is visible from multiple angles, which means its position in the room has to be chosen deliberately — it affects the visual balance of the space and the flow of movement around it. New dedicated supply lines were run for the tub’s faucet, and a new drain connection was made at the floor beneath it.
A freestanding tub in a master bathroom changes how the room reads as much as how it is used. It is a different daily experience from a built-in tub — it is a distinct fixture in its own right rather than a surface integrated into the room’s architecture. Positioning it correctly in the redesigned floor plan, with enough clearance around it and a supply connection that reaches the freestanding faucet cleanly, is a planning decision that has to be made before the rough-in sets the drain location in the floor.
Sixteen Days for Three Plumbing Moves and a Full Layout Change
Sixteen working days for a 90-square-foot bathroom that involved three separate plumbing relocations, a new walk-in shower build, a freestanding tub installation, and a full tile and fixture package is an appropriately scoped timeline for this level of work. The extended schedule compared to a straightforward bathroom update reflects the additional complexity of the floor plan redesign: each plumbing move requires its own rough-in work, inspection, and coordination with the tile phase that follows.
The approximate sequencing on a project like this: demolition and floor plan layout on day one and two; all three plumbing rough-ins (toilet, shower, tub) on days three and four; cement board and shower base on days five and six; tile on shower walls and floor, bathroom floor on days seven through twelve; vanity, fixtures, and freestanding tub on days thirteen through fifteen; punch list and final connections on day sixteen. That schedule has no margin for rework at the plumbing or substrate phase.
Bathroom Remodeling in Yardley
Yardley is a Bucks County borough along the Delaware River with a mix of older properties and newer residential development. Master bathrooms in homes across the area frequently have layouts that reflect original construction — fixture positions and room configurations that made sense at the time but that no longer serve how the household uses the space. A full layout reconfiguration that moves fixtures, adds a walk-in shower, and installs a freestanding tub is the kind of remodel that produces a fundamentally different room, not just a refreshed version of the same one. Belmax Remodeling works throughout Yardley and the broader Bucks County area. For more on our bathroom work, see our bathroom remodeling service page. Homeowners in Yardley can also visit our Yardley bathroom remodeling page for more completed local projects.
Considering a Similar Project?
Master bathroom remodels in the 90-square-foot range with a full layout reconfiguration, toilet relocation, walk-in shower build, freestanding tub, and complete fixture package typically fall in the $13,000–$17,000 range in Bucks County. This Yardley project came in at $13,500, completed in 16 days in April 2022. To discuss what your bathroom would involve, request a free estimate.