Bathrooms are one of the most popular DIY remodel projects — and one of the easiest to get expensively wrong. Before you rip out that old tub, here are five things worth checking first.
Older Central Iowa homes — especially anything built before the 1990s — can have galvanized plumbing, outdated wiring, or subfloor damage hiding behind a perfectly normal-looking wall. You won’t know until you open it up, which is exactly why it’s smart to have a contractor take a look before you commit to a full tile order.
Most municipalities in Central Iowa require permits for plumbing and electrical work, even in a bathroom remodel that looks purely cosmetic. Skipping this isn’t just a legal risk — it can also come back to bite you at resale, when an inspector or buyer’s agent asks for permit history that doesn’t exist.
A beautiful tile job over improperly waterproofed substrate will fail — sometimes in months, sometimes in a couple of years. Waterproofing membrane, proper slope to the drain, and correct fastener choice matter more than the tile pattern itself. This is the step most DIYers underestimate.
An underpowered or poorly vented exhaust fan is one of the most common causes of mold and peeling paint in Iowa bathrooms, given our humidity swings between seasons. If you’re already opening up the ceiling, it’s the cheapest time to fix this.
DIY bathroom remodels reliably take longer than planned — often 2 to 3x the initial estimate once you factor in one bathroom being unusable the whole time. If you only have one bathroom in the house, this is worth thinking through before demo day.
You don’t have to choose between “fully DIY and hope for the best” and “hire it all out.” Our DIY Coaching program pairs you with a licensed contractor for the planning stage, permit paperwork, and the trickiest steps — waterproofing, plumbing rough-in, tile layout — while you do the rest yourself. Most homeowners save 30–50% off full-service pricing this way.
If a walkthrough reveals more going on behind the walls than expected, our Hire a Pro crew can also step in for all or part of the project — no hard sell, just an honest read on what’s actually needed.
No obligation, no pressure — just a straight answer on scope, timeline, and cost.
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