Bathroom remodeling in an older Roanoke house

Most bathrooms remodeled here are in houses built before 1970: Old Southwest, Grandin, Wasena, Raleigh Court, older Salem. That one fact drives most of what follows. A bathroom in a 1948 bungalow and a bathroom in a 2005 Cave Spring subdivision are the same room and a different job.

What it costs

Rough 2026 ranges for the Roanoke Valley, drawn from local market pricing and cross-referenced against reported industry data (Houzz, HomeAdvisor, NARI regional):

• Powder room / half-bath refresh: $8,500 to $18,000
• Standard full hall bath remodel: $18,000 to $32,000
• Walk-in shower conversion (standalone): $9,500 to $18,000
• Tub-to-shower conversion: $8,500 to $14,000
• Primary suite remodel (moderate): $32,000 to $46,000
• Primary suite remodel (spa-scale): $46,000 to $70,000
• Aging-in-place conversion: $22,000 to $45,000

The spread inside each range is mostly scope rather than margin. Moving a drain, replacing a waste stack, reinforcing a floor, choosing natural stone over porcelain: each of those lives inside one of those bands and can move a quote several thousand dollars. For the scope-by-scope breakdown, see the 2026 Roanoke cost guide or the cost calculator.

Waterproofing is the decision that outlives the rest

Everything else about a shower is visible. Waterproofing is not, which is why it is worth understanding before anyone quotes. Three systems are in normal residential use.

• Schluter Kerdi. A fabric sheet membrane, thinset-adhered over foam or cement board, with tile set directly onto it. Well documented, and forgiving of ordinary variation in how it goes on.
• RedGard. A liquid membrane rolled onto cement board. Effective, but the film thickness has to be right, so it depends on the installer more than a sheet membrane does.
• Kerdi-Board. Foam board that arrives already waterproof, so substrate and membrane are one product rather than two steps.

Which system matters less than whether the pan was water tested before tile went on. Filling it and leaving it overnight is the whole test. A leak found then is an afternoon. The same leak found after tile is a rebuild.

A quote that names the system, "Schluter Kerdi" rather than "waterproofing", is describing something specific. The full comparison of the three goes into where each one fits.

What the walls hide

Demo is when a pre-1970 house says what it has been hiding. Four things turn up often enough in this stock to be worth expecting.

• Cast-iron waste stacks. They last a long time and then they don't. Whether one is near the end is a judgement made looking at it, not before.
• Galvanized or polybutylene supply. Both were normal in their day and neither is now. If the walls are open anyway, this is the cheapest hour it will ever be.
• Floor structure. A freestanding tub full of water is a concentrated load in a room framed for a 1950s steel tub. Whether the joists need help belongs to the design stage rather than to demo day.
• Original tile worth keeping. Some Old Southwest and Wasena bungalows have hex floors and wainscot better than anything that would replace them. Old Southwest houses in particular are worth walking before deciding what comes out.

Blocking, while the wall is open

Solid backing behind the finished surface, for a grab bar, a shower bench or a floating vanity, costs almost nothing while the studs are exposed and a great deal afterwards. It is worth putting in for fittings nobody has decided on yet. It is the one item on the whole job where doing something you may never use is the cheap option.

The two moments that are one-way

The work runs demo, rough plumbing and electrical, framing and blocking, waterproofing, tile, fixtures, then paint and walkthrough. Two of those close behind you.

The rough stage is when the layout stops being a drawing. Moving a drain after it is set means opening the floor again. The water test is the last time the pan is visible. Everything after tile is finish work, and finish work is visible, so problems there are easy to see and straightforward to put right.

The order also explains the calendar, since the stages cannot overlap and several of them are mostly waiting. That is covered in what sets the timeline.

Small footprints

The 1940s and 1950s hall baths in Wasena, Grandin and Old Southwest are tight enough that layout does more for them than finish does. The single change with the largest effect is swapping the swing door for a pocket door: a swing door reserves a quarter-circle of floor that nothing else can occupy, and a pocket door hands that floor back. In a room this size that is the difference between a vanity you edge around and one you stand at. The small bathroom layout guide covers what else is worth doing in a room that size.