Bathroom remodeling in Framingham, MA

The houses this is written for

The stock here is the widest range in Ring 2 — dense multi-family and triple-decker housing in the centre, streetcar-era single-families, a large post-war body, and newer development at the edges.

Where the bathrooms sit in each kind of building

In the triple-deckers the bathroom is usually at the back, near the kitchen, because both were hung off the same run of pipe when the building went up. It is one room, often windowless or with a small sash onto a light well, and it serves the whole unit. That single-bathroom arrangement is the thing tenants and owners most want changed, and it is the hardest thing to change without touching the stack.

The streetcar-era single-families normally have one full bathroom upstairs, carved out of what was bedroom space. The post-war body across the city has the standard one-and-a-half arrangement, with a half bath tucked near the back door. Newer houses at the edges come with more bathrooms already, and the work there is usually replacing a tired one rather than finding room for another.

Adding a second bathroom without chasing pipe across the building

The cheap place for a new bathroom is close to an existing waste stack, on any floor. Drainage needs fall, venting needs a path upward, and both get difficult the further you travel from the line that already works. We look at the basement first, because where the main run leaves the building tells us more about what is possible upstairs than any floor plan does.

Where an owner wants a bathroom on the far side of the building, it can be done, but it means opening floors and walls along the route and it may mean a new vent line. That is a bigger job and it deserves an honest number rather than an optimistic one. Municipal sewer at least removes any question about whether the ground outside can take the extra fixture.

Multi-family rules that a single-family job never meets

Adding or moving a bathroom in a two-family or three-family building means cutting through floors and walls that are doing more than holding up plaster. Those assemblies separate one home from another, and anything we penetrate has to be put back so it still performs that job. Pipe, duct and wire all get detailed for that from the start rather than patched afterwards.

Sound is the practical version of the same issue. A new bathroom over somebody's bedroom will be heard unless the floor and the supply lines are treated. Cast-iron waste, insulated cavities and isolated framing all help. We would rather have that conversation during design, when it costs framing decisions, than after the tenant below has spent a month listening to a new shower.

Behind the tile, and the fan

Tile is a finish, not a waterproof layer. What keeps water out of the framing is the membrane behind it, the way the corners and the curb are detailed, and a pan that drains the way it should. In a building where a bathroom sits above another unit, that detail stops being about the owner's own ceiling and becomes everybody's problem, so we do not cut corners on it.

The exhaust fan gets ducted outside through an exterior wall, running in insulated duct with as few bends as the route allows. Blowing steam into a floor cavity or an attic just moves the damage somewhere you cannot see it. In the older buildings we often find exactly that, and correcting it is a small line item compared with what it prevents.

Older materials and older layouts

Anything built before the late seventies can hold materials from that era that need testing before demolition starts. That covers paint layers, old floor tile and the mastic under it, and pipe insulation in basements. We do not guess at it and we do not diagnose it ourselves. Testing happens first and the result decides how demolition is handled, which is a scheduling matter rather than a drama.

Layout is the other decision to make early. Staying inside the existing footprint keeps the plumbing where it is and keeps the job short. Moving the toilet, or turning a cramped back bathroom into something with a walk-in shower, usually means new drainage and new venting under the floor. Both are legitimate choices. They are just different jobs with different numbers attached.

How we run a bathroom here

Scope and drawings first, with the fixtures chosen before demolition so rough-in dimensions are right the first time. Then strip-out, framing changes, rough plumbing and electrical, inspection, then waterproofing, tile, fixtures and trim. In a one-bathroom household we plan around the days the room is out of service and we say up front how many those will be. Fixtures are on site before the old ones come out.

Access is the last piece and it drives the calendar downtown. A container needs somewhere legal to sit, tile and fixtures need somewhere to land, and in a building with no driveway that takes arranging. In the suburban neighbourhoods none of this applies and the truck simply parks. We sort out which situation we are in before a start date is agreed.

Questions we get asked about Framingham