The eleven steps, in order
| Step | What happens | It waits for | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Choose and order | Vanity, tub, shower valve, toilet, tile and trim, fan, lights, permit | Nothing; this is the step that gets skipped | 2 to 8 weeks before demo |
| 2. Demo | Down to studs and subfloor; old tile, board, tub out | The long-lead items ordered; a dumpster | 1 to 2 days |
| 3. Framing and blocking | Fix rot, move walls, build the niche, add blocking for grab bars, towel bars, glass and the vanity | Final fixture choices and their spec sheets | 1 to 3 days |
| 4. Rough plumbing and electrical | Drain, supplies, valve body, vent; GFCI circuits, fan duct to the outside, light boxes, heated-floor circuit | The vanity, tub and valve chosen; the valve body on site | 2 to 4 days |
| 5. Rough inspection | Inspector sees pipes and wires before anything covers them | A booked slot, often 2 to 5 days out | 1 visit |
| 6. Set the tub, insulate | Alcove or drop-in tub set and leveled; exterior walls insulated | A passed rough inspection | 1 day |
| 7. Wall board and waterproofing | Cement or foam board in the wet zone, moisture-resistant drywall elsewhere; shower pan and membrane; flood test | The tub in place; the board lips over its flange | 3 to 5 days, including the 24-hour flood test |
| 8. Tile | Shower walls and floor, then the bathroom floor; grout | Waterproofing passed; all tile, trim and setting materials on site | 3 to 6 days |
| 9. Paint | Ceiling and walls, primer and two coats | Tile and grout done | 1 to 2 days |
| 10. Fixtures | Vanity and top, toilet, faucet and shower trim, lights, fan grille, mirror, accessories | Paint dry; every fixture on site | 2 to 3 days |
| 11. Glass, caulk, final | Shower glass measured and installed, final caulk, final inspection, punch list | Finished tile (glass is measured off it) | 2 to 4 weeks of wait for the glass, half a day to install |
The working days add up to roughly three to five weeks; the waits between them stretch it to six to nine. Where that calendar time goes, week by week, is in how long a bathroom remodel takes. This guide is about the order, and why it cannot be shuffled.
Rough plumbing is where a late decision becomes a change order. The plumber sets the shower valve at a depth that matches your finished wall thickness, puts the vanity drain at the height your vanity needs, and positions the toilet flange for its rough-in (12 inches from the finished wall is standard; 10 and 14 inch toilets exist). Every one of those numbers comes from a product you have chosen. Changing the vanity after the walls are closed means opening them again.
What has to be decided before the walls open
- The shower valve, by brand. The valve body goes in the wall at rough-in, and the trim you see later must come from the same maker and the same valve family. Pick the faucet look first, then buy its matching valve body.
- The vanity, with its spec sheet. Width, drain height and supply positions set the rough plumbing. A wall-hung vanity also needs blocking in step 3. Lead times run from days to two months; the breakdown is in bathroom vanity lead times.
- The tub, physically on site. An alcove tub is set before the wall board, because the board laps over the tub’s flange. Measure the doorways too; a 60 inch tub fits through most, a cast iron one needs three people.
- Anything recessed or wall-mounted. A recessed medicine cabinet, a niche, grab bars, a heated towel bar and the glass door hinges all need framing or blocking that only exists in step 3.
- The light layout. Sconce boxes beside a mirror are placed from the mirror width and the vanity height, so the mirror is a step-1 decision even though it goes up in step 10.
The four questions people get backward
| Question | Usual answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Floor tile or vanity first? | Floor tile first, under the vanity footprint | The vanity can be replaced later without a tile patch; tiling around it locks you into that exact size |
| Paint or tile first? | Tile first, then paint | Tile work scuffs walls and the grout haze lands everywhere; paint covers the board edges and the transitions |
| Paint or vanity first? | Paint first, then vanity | Painting behind a vanity is the hardest wall in the house to reach; touch-ups come after |
| Toilet before or after the floor? | After | The toilet sits on the finished floor, and the flange should sit on top of it; set the flange height for the tile thickness |
The paint step is short, and the choice inside it matters more than the timing: bathrooms need a finish that tolerates steam, usually satin or semi-gloss with a mildew-resistant formula. If you want low odor in a small, closed room, a zero-VOC bathroom paint is worth the look; what the labels actually promise is in low-VOC paint: what matters.
What waits, and how long
| Item | Waits for | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Shower glass | Finished, grouted tile; it is measured off the real walls | 2 to 4 weeks of fabrication after the measure |
| Using the shower | Grout and caulk cure | About 72 hours for cement grout, 24 hours for most silicone |
| Sealing the grout | Grout cure, per the grout maker | Typically 48 to 72 hours after grouting |
| Mirror and accessories | Vanity, lights and paint | Last day of fixtures |
| Final inspection | Every fixture working, fan venting outside | Book it when the glass date is known |
The buying order is not the work order
Fixtures go in at step 10 but are bought at step 1, because their dimensions are needed at step 4. The rule is the same one that runs a kitchen (the kitchen renovation order has the long version): order by the step that needs the item’s numbers, not by the step that installs it.
| Item | Its numbers are needed at | On site by | Typical lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shower valve body | Rough plumbing | Rough plumbing | In stock to 2 weeks; matte black and brass finishes longer |
| Tub | Rough plumbing | Before wall board | 1 to 3 weeks; freestanding and cast iron 4 to 8 |
| Vanity | Rough plumbing | Fixtures | Stock days to 2 weeks; semi-custom 4 to 8 |
| Toilet | Before demo (measure the rough-in) | Fixtures | In stock to 2 weeks |
| Exhaust fan | Rough electrical | Rough electrical | In stock |
| Heated-floor mat and thermostat | Rough electrical | Before tile | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Tile, trim and setting materials | Framing (niche size, tile layout) | Before tile | Stocked 1 to 2 weeks; special order 2 to 6 |
| Shower glass | After tile | Step 11 | 2 to 4 weeks after the measure |
The tile order is two numbers, not one: the tile itself, and the grout, thinset and trim that go with it. The tile count for the wet zone is in how much tile for a shower, and the bags and buckets underneath it are in how much grout and thinset do I need. Whether the job needs a permit at all, which decides step 5, is in do you need a permit to remodel.
Three habits that keep the order intact
- Hand the plumber spec sheets, not product names. A printed sheet with the drain height and valve depth is what sets the pipes; a model number read over the phone is how a drain ends up two inches low.
- Photograph every wall before it closes. Pipes, wires, blocking, with a tape measure in the frame. The photo is how you hang a towel bar in five years without finding a pipe.
- Nothing is installed until it is all on site. A missing shower trim kit stalls step 10; a missing trim piece of tile stalls step 8. Check every box when it arrives, not on the morning it is needed.
Choose first, rough in to the choices, close the walls, finish from the floor up, and let the glass come last. The sequence is the schedule.