Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable Bathroom Remodeling Across Lakewood
Bathroom remodeling in Lakewood, CA typically costs between $9,000 and $28,000 for a full project, with smaller jobs like a tub-to-shower conversion running $3,500 to $10,000. Most Lakewood homes were built between 1950 and 1965, which means the work almost always involves more than swapping tile and fixtures. It means checking for galvanized pipes, undersized electrical panels, and framing that hasn’t been touched in six decades. Our crews know these houses because we’ve opened up dozens of them across Lakewood, from the streets around Mayfair Park to the neighborhoods west of the 605. Call (562) 512-7086 and we’ll walk you through what your specific home will need.
We’re Elmstead Remodeling Long Beach, a Bathroom Remodeling company led by Graham Stein. We serve Lakewood with the same written-price promise, the same background-checked crews, and the same 365-Day Done Right Promise we bring to every project. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from our Los Angeles office, but the crews you’ll see at your door are local, and they know Lakewood’s housing stock block by block.
Why Elmstead Remodeling Long Beach Is Lakewood’s Preferred Bathroom Remodeling Company
Lakewood families don’t hire us because we’re the cheapest. They hire us because we name the price before we start, we show up in uniforms, and we leave the house cleaner than we found it. That’s not a slogan. It’s a set of behaviors: shoe covers at the door, drop cloths on the floors, a photo of the clean-up before the crew leaves. Every job, every time.
Graham Stein set the standard for how this company works, and it hasn’t moved since. The Cedarwell Care Promise governs everything, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise means if something isn’t right after the project is complete, we make it right. No argument, no fine print. For a family with kids and a dog, that’s the difference between a remodel that disrupts the house and one that improves it.
We answer our phones with a live person, 24/7. Not a voicemail box, not an automated system. When you call Lakewood at 6:30 a.m. to ask when the crew will arrive, a person answers and tells you. That matters when you’re coordinating school drop-off and a bathroom that’s out of commission.
Styles & brands we work with
Shower Remodel in Lakewood
A shower remodel in Lakewood runs between $3,000 and $8,500 for a replacement, and $4,500 to $12,000 if you’re installing a walk-in shower where a tub used to be. The first thing we check before pricing is the shower pan and the drain. In homes built on concrete slabs, the original drain was set in the 1950s or 60s, and if it wasn’t properly flashed or the pan has failed, water has been moving under the slab for years.
We also check the walls. Post-and-beam framing from that era means studs are often spaced differently than modern code expects. What looks like a simple tile-and-fixture job can turn into reframing, waterproofing, and a new Schluter membrane before we close anything up. We’d rather tell you that in the written price than surprise you mid-demolition.
Walk-In Showers and Frameless Glass
Walk-in showers work well in Lakewood homes because the bathrooms are often compact, and removing a tub opens floor space without changing the footprint. We install frameless glass enclosures, and we use named-brand fixtures from Delta, American Standard, and Toto so you can research the products and know exactly what you’re getting.
Waterproofing That’s Built for Slab Foundations
Waterproofing on a slab is different. There’s no crawlspace to inspect from below, so the membrane has to be right the first time. We tie the new pan into the existing drain properly, test it before tile goes down, and document the whole thing with photos before and after.
Tub to Shower Conversion in Lakewood
A tub to shower conversion in Lakewood runs $3,500 to $10,000, depending on whether the original tub drain can be reused and whether the surrounding walls need reframing. Most of the tubs we remove from Lakewood homes are cast iron, set in mortar, and original to the house. Getting them out without damaging the slab is a skill, and our crews have done enough of them to know where the problems hide.
The conversion usually triggers a permit in Lakewood, which means the inspector will look at the drain, the venting, and the waterproofing. If the original vent is undersized or the P-trap is corroded, we address it before close-up. That’s the right time to fix it, not after tile is up.
When You Should Convert Instead of Repair
If the tub is chipped, stained, or you’re tired of stepping over the side every morning, conversion makes sense. For aging-in-place or mobility needs, a low-threshold or zero-entry shower is often the safer choice, and we can build the pan and slope to code the first time.
What the Conversion Actually Involves
We remove the tub, inspect the subfloor and drain, repair any rot around the flange, reframe as needed, set the new pan, and install waterproofing before tile. On a 1958 home near Candlewood, our crew opened up the original hall bath and found the 60-year-old galvanized pipes had reduced water pressure to a trickle. During the rough-in, we discovered the subfloor had rotted around the toilet flange from a slow leak that had been hidden under vinyl. We wrote a change order with a fixed price for slab-level repair and new copper supply lines, got written approval, and kept the draw schedule moving. No surprises, inspection sign-off in three weeks.
Trusted Brands We Service in Lakewood
We stock replacement parts for the brands most common in Lakewood homes: Delta, American Standard, and Toto. If you have a 1960s American Standard tub that’s still perfectly serviceable, we’ll tell you. If it’s time to move to a new Delta valve and trim kit, we’ll show you your options and give you the price in writing before we order anything. Cabinets come from KraftMaid and Wellborn, countertops from Cambria and Silestone, and fixtures from Kohler, Moen, and Grohe. You can research every product by name, and the manufacturer warranties travel with the finished project.
Common Bathroom Remodeling Problems We See in Lakewood Homes
- Galvanized water supply lines. Homes on streets like Hardwick and Candlewood often still have the original galvanized supply lines. By now they’re corroded from the inside, cutting water pressure and adding rust to the water. We check them before we price the job, because replacing them once walls are open is far cheaper than doing it later.
- Original 100-amp electrical panels. Adding a heated floor or a dedicated GFCI circuit to a bathroom that’s still on a 100-amp panel can overload capacity and fail inspection. We check the panel load before we finalize the plan, and we build any needed upgrade into the written price.
- Hidden subfloor rot around toilet flanges. Slow leaks from old wax rings sit under vinyl flooring for years before anyone notices. On slab foundations, that rot is often right at the slab surface, and the repair is a concrete patch and new flange, but it has to be found and priced honestly before tile goes down.
- Non-vented drains and knob-and-tube wiring. Opening a 1950s bathroom wall in Lakewood can reveal wiring that hasn’t been legal in decades. If a permit is open, the inspector will require it to be addressed. We plan for this in the allowance and write any change order in plain English with a fixed price before we touch it.
See the difference
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AfterPricing for Bathroom Remodeling in Lakewood, CA
These are the real numbers for Lakewood, based on the homes we’ve remodeled here:
| Project | Lakewood Price Range |
|---|---|
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Small Bathroom Remodel | $5,000 – $12,000 |
| Tub-to-Shower Conversion | $3,500 – $10,000 |
| Shower Replacement | $3,000 – $8,500 |
| Walk-In Shower Installation | $4,500 – $12,000 |
What moves a Lakewood project from the low end to the high end is usually what’s behind the walls: the condition of the supply lines, the panel capacity, the state of the drain and venting, and whether the slab needs repair around the flange. We don’t hide those in the fine print. The written price you get before we start includes an allowance for the things we expect to find, and any change order is priced and approved in writing before we do the work. Call (562) 512-7086 for a free estimate, and we’ll tell you exactly what your bathroom needs and what it will cost.
We Also Serve Cities Near Lakewood
Our Lakewood crews also work in San Pedro, Long Beach, Compton, and Paramount. If you’re near the Lakewood borders, we can schedule around your timeline, and the same written-price and clean-up standards apply. For more about our work across the region, see Bathroom Remodeling in Lakewood and the surrounding communities we serve.
Serving Lakewood, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re a General Contractor in Lakewood and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Bathroom Remodeling in Lakewood
Most of the time, yes. Galvanized pipes from that era are usually corroded on the inside, which means low water pressure and rust in the water. If we’re opening the walls anyway, that’s the most cost-effective time to replace the supply lines. We build that replacement into the written price whenever we expect to find galvanized, and we show you photos of what we found before you approve the change. Call (562) 512-7086 and we can walk through your home’s specific situation.
You won’t know for certain without opening the ceiling or checking the framing plan. In post-and-beam homes, walls that look like partitions sometimes carry beam loads, and removing one without proper support can cause ceiling sag or worse. We check the framing direction, the beam locations, and the foundation points before we include any wall removal in the plan. If it’s load-bearing, we design the proper header or post and price it in the written estimate.
Usually, yes. Lakewood requires permits for plumbing changes, drain work, and any waterproofing modifications. A tub-to-shower conversion touches all three. We pull the permit, schedule the inspection, and make sure the work passes before we close up the walls. The inspection adds time to the schedule, but it protects you if anything goes wrong later, and it’s the only way the work is done legally.
We stop work and write a change order. The change order names the problem, describes the repair, and gives you a fixed price before we touch it. You approve it in writing, and only then do we proceed. We build an allowance into every written estimate for the issues we commonly find in Lakewood homes, so you’re not hearing about a rotten subfloor for the first time at $15,000 over budget. That’s the process, and we don’t deviate from it.
Most full bathroom remodels on a slab in Lakewood take three to five weeks, depending on the permit timeline, the extent of the slab repair, and whether we’re moving walls or plumbing. A tub-to-shower conversion without major slab work can run two to three weeks. We’ll give you a schedule in writing before we start, and we’ll tell you what we’re doing each week so you can plan around the noise and the dust.
Contact Us for Your Lakewood Bathroom Remodel
The bathroom you live with every day should be built for the way your family actually uses it. Whether it’s a kids’ bath that needs a shower instead of a tub, or a primary bath that needs to come out of the 1960s, we’ll give you a written price, a named-brand material list, and a clean house at the end of every workday. Call (562) 512-7086 today to schedule your free estimate. We answer the phone with a live person, and we’ll start with a conversation about your home, your timeline, and what the project will really cost.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner at Elmstead Remodeling Long Beach.
