Remodeling · Santa Monica, CA
Bathroom Remodeling in Santa Monica, CA
Bathroom remodeling is the most-booked project in the trade nationally — rated common to very common by 73% of professional remodelers in NAHB's 2025 survey — and on the Santa Monica Westside it is the room that most often shows a home's age first. Santa Monica Kitchen Remodel And Bath Co rebuilds Westside baths, and the starting points repeat: a cramped 1920s Spanish bathroom with a single small window, a Craftsman bath north of Montana still wearing its original tub and tile, a mid-century primary bath that the current owners want turned into a spa. The job each time is turning those tight, dated rooms into the calm, walk-in, well-lit baths a high-value Westside home deserves.
The spa bathroom drives most of what we design here. On homes worth several times the national median, the request is rarely a like-for-like swap; it is a curbless or walk-in shower with a frameless glass panel, a freestanding soaking tub where the room allows, a double vanity and warm, layered lighting. Turning that vision into a room that lasts is a waterproofing and tile-setting discipline as much as a design one: the wet area is built up with a proper membrane system and the tile is set to ANSI and TCNA standards so the finish holds for decades rather than years.
Then the constraints particular to Santa Monica's stock. Remodeling permits and inspections for a Santa Monica address run through the City of Santa Monica under the California Building Standards Code (Title 24), and a bath that relocates fixtures, changes a window or upgrades ventilation pulls the current code in with it. Older homes in the period core and the Third Street Neighborhood Historic District can carry landmark considerations on street-facing changes, and parcels west of Lincoln sit in the Coastal Zone. We check a property's status during the consultation and raise anything sensitive before a number is put to it.
Every bath begins with a free in-home consultation, measured drawings and a fixed written estimate before demolition, so the figure reflects your actual room, your chosen fixtures and how much of the wet area is being rebuilt. Call (424) 384-1771 to book the consultation and find out what your bathroom actually needs.
What We Do
The Bathroom Work Santa Monica Books Most
Every bathroom opens with a survey of the real walls, the real floor and how the wet area is built today, so the design and the estimate reflect your room rather than a showroom average.
Walk-In and Curbless Showers
The open, glass-panel shower is the centerpiece of most Westside bath remodels, and building one that lasts starts behind the tile. We build up the wet area with a full waterproofing membrane system, grade the floor to fall correctly toward the channel, and set porcelain or natural-stone tile to ANSI and TCNA specifications. A curbless, step-free entry is detailed where the floor build-up allows, giving the seamless look and the easy access owners want.
Frameless glass, niche shelving and a bench are drawn into the design from the start so the finished shower is one considered piece rather than parts added late.
Tub-to-Shower Conversions
Plenty of Santa Monica homes still have the original tub in a bathroom nobody bathes in, and converting it to a large walk-in shower reclaims real space and daily usefulness. The old tub and surround come out, the wet area is rebuilt and waterproofed to current standards, and the new shower is tiled and glazed to suit the room. It is one of the faster, higher-impact projects we do, often turning around in days to a couple of weeks depending on the wet-area rebuild.
Where aging in place is the goal, we detail a curbless entry, a bench and grab-bar blocking so the room works for the long term.
Vanities, Countertops and Tile
The vanity and the tile carry the look of the finished bath, so we scope them to the house and to how the room is used. Single or double vanities are built or specified to the wall run, topped with quartz, granite or natural stone, and paired with the fixtures and lighting that suit the space. Floor and wall tile in porcelain, ceramic or natural stone ties the room together and is set on properly prepared, waterproofed surfaces.
We coordinate the bath tile with your flooring selections elsewhere in the home so the finishes read as one design across the house.
The Benefits
What Is Settled Before Demolition Starts
A bathroom priced over the phone, before anyone has seen the walls or how the wet area is built, is a guess with a dollar sign on it. Ours works the other way round — the design and the survey set the figure.
The Estimate Is Locked at Design, Not at the Finish
The written estimate is built after the in-home consultation and measured drawings — the scope, the fixtures, the tile and how much of the wet area is being rebuilt — and that figure is what you pay at the end. The only thing that moves it is something genuinely unforeseen once a wall is open, shown to you and agreed in writing before any added work goes ahead. Design-build folds the drawings and the build into one contract, so nothing slips between a separate designer and a separate contractor.
A Wet Area Built to Last, Not to Look Good Briefly
A beautiful bath over failed waterproofing is a callback waiting to happen, so the part you never see gets the most attention. The wet area is built up with a continuous waterproofing membrane and the tile is set to ANSI and TCNA standards on a properly prepared substrate. That discipline is why a shower we build reads as new for decades rather than showing trouble at the grout lines in a few years.
Permits and Historic Status Handled Up Front
A bath that relocates fixtures, changes a window or upgrades ventilation triggers plan check with the City of Santa Monica, and homes in the period core can carry landmark considerations on street-facing changes. We identify what your project needs during the consultation and carry the permit paperwork as part of the job. You are told plainly which side of any historic or coastal line your bathroom sits on before a price is agreed.
Why Us
What a Period Westside Bath Hides Behind the Tile
Santa Monica's Craftsman, Spanish and mid-century baths rarely hide the same things twice, so the work starts by working out what a period bath is likely to be hiding behind the tile before the first tile comes off.
We Build the Waterproofing Others Skip
The difference between a bath that lasts and one that fails early is almost entirely in the wet-area build-up, and it is the part a rushed job cuts. We build every shower on a continuous waterproofing membrane, graded and prepared for tile to ANSI and TCNA specs, because on a high-value Westside home a leak behind new tile is an expensive thing to have to open back up.
We Read the Room From the Age of the House
A 1920s Spanish bath with plaster and a single small window is a different project from a mid-century primary bath with a clean structural grid, and the layout, ventilation and tile setting are handled to suit whichever you have. Knowing what a given era of Santa Monica house tends to hide before anything opens up is most of what keeps an estimate honest.
One Team, Across the Whole Westside
We run each bath from the first consultation through the final walkthrough, coordinating the same trades from Santa Monica out to Venice, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades — see our full range of services for everything else we cover.
A bathroom is often the first room in a longer plan — a spa primary bath alongside a kitchen remodel, new floors carried through the house, or a full renovation of an older home. If your project is heading that way, our flooring and whole-home remodeling pages cover the rest, our full list of services has everything we do, and the same design-build, fixed-estimate approach reaches out to Venice, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a bathroom remodel cost in Santa Monica?
Bathroom remodels range widely depending on whether you are refreshing finishes in the existing layout or rebuilding the wet area, relocating fixtures and upgrading to a curbless shower, and coastal Southern California runs above national averages on both labor and finish level. A mid-range bath keeps the footprint and updates the vanity, tile and shower, while a full primary-bath remodel with a large walk-in shower and double vanity sits materially higher. We give you a fixed written estimate against your real room and your chosen fixtures at the consultation rather than a phone number.
Do I need a permit to remodel a bathroom here?
A like-for-like finish refresh in the same layout may not, but relocating fixtures, changing a window, altering ventilation or reworking the wet area does require a permit through the City of Santa Monica. Parcels west of Lincoln Boulevard sit in the Coastal Zone and can also need a Coastal Development Permit. We determine exactly what your project requires during the consultation and prepare and carry the permit paperwork as part of the job.
What does a walk-in or curbless shower actually require?
A durable walk-in shower is built from the substrate up: a full waterproofing membrane system across the wet area, a floor graded to fall correctly toward the channel, and tile set to ANSI and TCNA standards on a properly prepared surface. A curbless, step-free entry additionally requires the floor build-up to be detailed so the water is contained without a curb, which is a matter of getting the falls and the membrane right. Done properly it looks seamless and lasts for decades; done quickly it is the classic source of an early leak.
How long does a bathroom remodel take?
A mid-range bathroom remodel is typically two to four weeks on site, while a full primary bath with a rebuilt wet area, new tile and a double vanity runs three to six weeks. A straightforward tub-to-shower conversion can be faster, often a few days to a couple of weeks depending on the wet-area rebuild. Before the on-site work there is a design and permitting phase, and we confirm the full timeline alongside the fixed estimate.
Can you convert my tub to a walk-in shower?
Yes, tub-to-shower conversions are one of the most common and highest-impact projects we do, especially in Santa Monica homes with an original tub in a bathroom nobody bathes in. The tub and surround come out, the wet area is rebuilt and waterproofed to current standards, and the new shower is tiled and glazed to suit the room. Where aging in place is a goal, we detail a curbless entry, a bench and grab-bar blocking so the room works for the long term.
Can you design a bathroom for aging in place?
Yes, universal-design bathrooms are a growing part of our work, and the elements are straightforward to build in when they are planned from the start. A curbless step-free shower, a bench, wider clearances, comfort-height fixtures and solid blocking in the walls for grab bars all get detailed during design rather than added awkwardly later. Building these in during a remodel you are doing anyway is far cheaper and cleaner than retrofitting them piecemeal down the line.
What vanity and countertop options do you offer?
We build or specify single and double vanities sized to the wall run and the way the room is used, topped with engineered quartz, granite or natural stone to suit the design. Quartz is popular for its hardness and near-zero maintenance, while natural stone is chosen where the homeowner wants a distinctive slab. We review the options with you at the consultation and coordinate the vanity top with the tile and fixtures so the finished room reads as one design.
Will a bathroom remodel disrupt the rest of my house?
A single-bathroom remodel takes that room out of service for the on-site weeks, so households with a second bath usually stay put, while a sole-bathroom project needs more planning around the outage. We protect the floors and the path to the work area, contain dust, and sequence the job to keep the room's downtime as short as the scope allows. We talk the disruption through honestly at the consultation so you can plan around it.
Do you work on bathrooms in historic or period homes?
Yes, much of our work is in Santa Monica's older Craftsman, bungalow and Spanish Colonial Revival stock, including homes in and around the Third Street Neighborhood Historic District. Internal bath work generally proceeds normally, but where a project touches street-facing fabric in a designated area, that can bring landmark review, which we flag at the consultation. We detail tile, ventilation and fixtures to suit the plaster walls and tight windows these older baths come with.
What does the free consultation include?
The in-home consultation is where we walk your bathroom with you, measures the space, discusses how you want it to function and reviews shower, vanity, tile and fixture options. From that visit we produce measured drawings and a fixed written estimate scoped to your real room and your selections. There is no charge and no obligation, so it is the right first step whether you are building now or planning ahead.
Do you remodel bathrooms outside Santa Monica?
Yes, we rebuild bathrooms across the Westside, including Venice, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Mar Vista and Marina del Rey, on the same design-build, fixed-estimate basis. The permitting authority changes across the city line — Venice, Brentwood and the Palisades are City of Los Angeles neighborhoods permitted through LADBS rather than the City of Santa Monica. Wherever your home sits, the process and the standards the work is built to stay the same, and the number to call is (424) 384-1771.
Turn Your Bathroom Into the Spa It Should Be
The free consultation and fixed written estimate come before any demolition. Call (424) 384-1771 today.
(424) 384-1771