A full bathroom remodel is the most trade-dense project in a home. Demolition, rough plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, tile setting, drywall, paint, and finish carpentry all happen inside one small room, and every trade has to land in the right order or the whole job suffers. That is why it pays to hire a company that remodels bathrooms every single day. Alpine Development Groups LLC is a custom bathroom remodeling company headquartered in Austell, Georgia, and full bathroom remodels are the heart of what we build for homeowners across Cobb County and Metro Atlanta.
What a Full Bathroom Remodel Includes
When we say full remodel, we mean the whole room. The tub or shower comes out. The vanity, the toilet, the flooring, and the wall surfaces come out. And then we look at what is behind them, because in Georgia homes that is often where the real story is. The ranch houses and two-story homes built across Austell, Mableton, Smyrna, and Marietta from the 1960s through the early 2000s frequently hide old galvanized supply lines, cast iron drain assemblies, a soft subfloor around the tub flange, or framing that was never quite square. A full remodel is the one chance you get to correct all of it at once, and we treat that opportunity seriously.
Every project starts with a free in-home consultation. We walk the space with you, take real measurements, and talk about how the bathroom actually gets used — who showers when, whether the tub ever gets filled, where the clutter piles up. Then we develop the layout and the material selections together: tile, stone, fixtures, vanity, lighting, and finishes. Nothing is ordered until the plan is one you are excited about, because change orders mid-project are where budgets go to die.
Layout decisions deserve honest conversation. Moving a toilet or a shower drain across the room means opening the floor and rerouting plumbing, which is real money. Sometimes it is worth every penny — a better layout can transform how the room works. Sometimes a smarter vanity or a rethought shower footprint gets you ninety percent of the improvement for a fraction of the cost. We will show you both paths and give you our straight opinion.
Our Remodel Process, Start to Finish
Demolition is surgical, not reckless. We remove fixtures and surfaces while protecting the framing, the subfloor, and the rooms next door. Dust control matters in an occupied home, so we seal off the work area, protect floors along the path in and out, and keep a clean jobsite. You still have to live in your house while we rebuild the bathroom, and we never forget that.
With the room open, we rebuild the bones. Rough plumbing is brought up to current standards: supply lines, drain assemblies, shower valves, and toilet flanges. If your home still has galvanized pipe or a failing cast iron drain, this is the moment to replace it. Opening finished walls again in five years costs many times what it costs during the remodel. The same goes for the shower valve — we install quality pressure-balancing or thermostatic valves from manufacturers with parts that will still exist a decade from now, because a cheap valve buried behind new tile is a future emergency.
Electrical gets the same attention. Dedicated GFCI-protected circuits, proper vanity lighting, and an exhaust fan that is actually sized for the room and vented to the exterior — never into the attic. Georgia humidity is relentless, and a bathroom without real ventilation will grow mold behind beautiful new tile within a couple of years. If you want heated floors, this is the stage where the wiring or matting goes in. Warm tile underfoot on a January morning in Cobb County is one of those luxuries people assume is extravagant until they live with it.
Tile, Stone, and Material Options
Then comes the part of the job you will never see again, and the part we are most serious about: waterproofing. Showers and tub surrounds get a complete waterproofing system — waterproof backer, sealed seams and inside corners, a sloped and waterproofed pan tied into the drain — before a single tile is set. Here is the truth most homeowners never hear: tile and grout are not waterproof. Water moves through grout every time you shower. The membrane underneath is what keeps it out of your framing and subfloor for the next twenty years. This is the step where cheap remodels fail, and it is the step we never rush and never skip.
The wet area is also where the biggest design decisions live. Walk-in shower or keep a tub. Curbless entry or a low curb. A bench for comfort, a niche for shampoo, a handheld on a slide bar for cleaning and for kids and dogs. We build the shower around how you live, not around a catalog photo. A curbless shower with a linear drain looks striking and makes the room feel twice as large, and it is also the most accessible option if anyone in the home has mobility concerns.
For the visible surfaces, tile and stone are where a bathroom gets its character — and where budgets flex the most. Large-format porcelain is the workhorse of the modern full remodel: fewer grout lines, easy to keep clean, and convincingly close to natural stone at a friendlier price per square foot. If the design calls for the real thing, we set marble, travertine, or quartzite with the same care, including sealing natural stone properly so it lives well in a wet room. Mosaic tile on the shower floor gives you slip resistance and lets us shape the slope to the drain the way it should be shaped. Accent walls, niches, and borders are where personality enters — a handmade-look subway tile, a herringbone pattern, a framed mosaic panel. We will show you options at every price point, from the tile aisle at Floor & Decor or Home Depot to natural stone from a local yard, and we will tell you straight which ones are worth the money and which ones are paying for a label.
What Affects the Cost of a Bathroom Remodel
Grout matters more than most people expect. We will talk through sanded versus unsanded versus epoxy grout, and we will be honest about maintenance. Epoxy grout costs more up front and stains far less over time, which makes it a smart choice for shower floors. Grout color is a design decision too — a contrasting grout makes the tile pattern pop, while a matching grout makes the surface read as one calm plane.
Vanities, toilets, and fixtures are the daily-touch decisions, and they determine whether you love the room or just like the photos of it. A well-built vanity with a stone or quartz top and soft-close drawers. A comfort-height toilet from a manufacturer with a real warranty. Solid fixtures in a finish that will not flake or spot in two years — brushed nickel, matte black, and classic chrome have all proven themselves, while some trendier finishes have not. We install what we would put in our own homes, and we will talk you out of a finish that will not age well.
Lighting design is part of every full remodel we do, because bad lighting ruins good tile. Overhead cans for general light, sconces or a well-placed vanity light at face height for grooming, and a dimmer so the room can shift from morning routine to evening soak. Mirrors get sized to the vanity and the wall, not whatever was on clearance. These details are inexpensive relative to the tile and plumbing, and they change how the room feels more than almost anything else.
How Long a Full Remodel Takes
Storage is the unglamorous hero of a bathroom that works. Recessed niches in the shower for bottles. A vanity with drawers instead of a dark cabinet cave. A linen tower or recessed medicine cabinet where the layout allows. During the consultation we ask where things pile up now, and we design specifically against that.
What affects the cost of a full bathroom remodel? Four things, mostly. First, the size of the room and the scope of layout changes — moving plumbing across the room is the single biggest cost driver. Second, the condition of what is behind the walls — replacing galvanized supply lines or correcting old framing adds cost, but it is cost that protects the investment. Third, material selections — tile alone ranges from a few dollars a square foot to the price of a used car, and we work honestly within whatever number you give us. Fourth, the considered luxuries: heated floors, curbless entries, steam capability, custom glass. None of them are required. All of them are wonderful. When you request your free in-home consultation, you get a detailed line-item quote, not a vague range, so you know exactly where every dollar goes.
A typical full bathroom remodel takes three to five weeks from demolition to final walkthrough, depending on the size of the room and the complexity of the plumbing and tile work. Custom glass and special-order tile or vanities can extend that, which is why we order long-lead materials before demolition starts whenever the schedule allows. You will always know the plan for the week and where the project stands.
Why Hire a Bathroom Remodeling Specialist
A word about living through it. If this is your only bathroom, we sequence the work so you are never without a functioning toilet longer than necessary, and we will tell you up front which days will be the disruptive ones. Cleanliness is a discipline on our jobsites — drop cloths, dust barriers, and a broom at the end of every day.
Why hire a bathroom specialist instead of a general handyman or a big-box install crew? Because bathrooms fail in specific ways, and the failures are expensive. A shower pan that is not sloped to the drain. A niche that was never waterproofed. A toilet flange set at the wrong height. A fan vented into the attic. These are the callbacks that cost homeowners thousands, and they come from installers who do not build bathrooms every day. We do. Tile setting, waterproofing, and wet-area plumbing are our core craft, not a side offering.
Serving Austell, Cobb County, and Metro Atlanta
We are headquartered right here in Austell, in Cobb County, and most of our work is within an easy drive — Marietta, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Mableton, Powder Springs, Acworth, Vinings, and across Metro Atlanta into Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Forsyth, and Clayton counties. We know the housing stock: the brick ranches, the 1980s and 90s two-stories, the bungalows closer to Atlanta. We know what is behind those walls because we have opened hundreds of them. And when you hire a local company, you get accountability — we are here, we answer, and we stand behind the work after the final walkthrough.
If your bathroom is tired, leaking, or simply not built for how you live, let us look at it. Request your free in-home consultation. We will walk the space with you, talk through options at your budget, and give you a detailed quote with no pressure and no obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a full bathroom remodel take in Austell, GA?
Most full bathroom remodels we build take three to five weeks from demolition to final walkthrough. The timeline depends on the size of the room, how much plumbing is being moved, and the complexity of the tile work. Special-order tile, vanities, or custom glass can add time, which is why we order long-lead materials before demolition starts whenever possible. When you request your free in-home consultation, we will give you a realistic schedule for your specific project — not a guess.
How much does a full bathroom remodel cost in Cobb County?
It depends on four things: the size of the room, whether plumbing is being relocated, the condition of what is behind the walls, and your material selections. Moving a toilet or shower drain across the room and choosing natural stone over porcelain are the two biggest cost drivers. What we can promise is a detailed, line-item quote after a free in-home consultation — so you see exactly where every dollar goes before any work begins.
Do I need a permit for a bathroom remodel in Austell, GA?
It depends on the scope. Cosmetic updates like replacing a vanity or retiling usually do not require a permit, but moving plumbing or electrical, changing the layout, or altering framing typically does in Cobb County and surrounding jurisdictions. We handle the permit process for you when one is required, and we build to code either way. If a contractor tells you permits never matter for a full remodel, that is a red flag.
Can I stay in my home during a full bathroom remodel?
Yes. Most of our clients live in the home throughout the project. We seal off the work area for dust control, protect your floors along our path in and out, and keep a clean jobsite. If it is your only bathroom, we sequence the work so you are never without a functioning toilet longer than necessary, and we will tell you up front which days will be the most disruptive.