Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Fast, Reliable Bathroom Remodeling Across Wells Branch
A full bathroom remodel in Wells Branch typically runs $9,000 to $28,000, and the work takes two to five weeks depending on whether you’re moving plumbing, replacing a tub with a walk-in shower, or gutting everything to the studs. Most Wells Branch homeowners we meet are living in something built between 1985 and 1995, which means original cast-iron drains, tile over plywood that’s seen better days, and framing that was never designed for a glass shower enclosure. We know this housing stock, we know the Travis County ETJ permit path, and we know the Wells Branch MUD sign-off your plumber has to get before anything gets buried behind a wall. Call (325) 225-5429 and we’ll give you a written price before a single tile comes up.
Why Penhallow Remodeling Austin Is Wells Branch’s Preferred Bathroom Remodeling Company
Wells Branch homeowners call us because we don’t start a job on a handshake and a vague number. Every project here gets a written price up front, a written guarantee, and our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if something fails inside the first year, we come back and fix it at no charge, no service call fee. That promise is in writing on every contract we sign, including for work in Wells Branch.
We’ve remodeled bathrooms in the neighborhoods off Wells Port Drive, around the rec center, and along Shoreline Drive, and we understand what these 1980s and 1990s homes throw at you. Original subfloors with moisture damage. Cast-iron drain lines that have corroded in the alkaline clay. Walls that were never load-bearing until someone cut a 60-inch opening for a walk-in shower. Trevor Nash leads our crews, and he has walked more of these houses than most local inspectors. When you call, a real person answers. When we schedule, we show up in the window we gave you. Background-checked, uniformed technicians on every job.
Styles & brands we work with
Bathroom Remodeling Contractor in Wells Branch
A bathroom remodeling contractor in Wells Branch is the person responsible for the permit, the rough-in plumbing, the framing changes, the waterproofing, and the finish work. That’s us. When a Wells Branch homeowner calls about a full remodel, the job usually starts with a water damage question: is the subfloor still sound, has the cast-iron drain given out, and what’s behind the tile we can’t see yet.
Tub-to-Shower Conversions on 1980s Slabs
We do a lot of tub-to-shower conversions in Wells Branch because the original fiberglass tub-and-surround combos from the 1980s are cracking, staining, and leaking at the drain. The slab-on-grade construction here means we almost always cut back the existing drain and convert it to a 2-inch PVC shower drain with a proper P-trap. Wells Branch MUD requires sign-off on that plumbing change before it gets covered, so we pull the Travis County permit, get the MUD approval, and schedule the rough-in inspection before any tile goes down.
Subfloor Replacement Before Tile
In Wells Branch, the biggest hidden cost in a bathroom remodel is the subfloor. Decades of slab leaks and Texas humidity mean the plywood under old vinyl or tile is often soft or delaminated. If we set tile over that, you’ll get cracked grout and shifting tile within a year. Our written quote includes subfloor replacement when the moisture reading says it’s needed, so you’re not surprised by a change order after demo.
Walk In Shower in Wells Branch
A walk in shower installation in Wells Branch typically runs $4,500 to $12,000, and the biggest variables are whether you’re converting a tub, whether we need to reframe the opening, and whether the existing subfloor can carry the new pan. Many 1980s Wells Branch homes have 2×4 interior walls that were never meant to hold a frameless glass enclosure, so a load-bearing assessment is part of the quote.
Frameless Glass and Load-Bearing Walls
If you want a 60-inch-wide walk-in shower where your tub used to be, the wall that gets opened up often needs reinforcement. That’s not a code technicality. It’s the difference between a shower door that operates cleanly for 20 years and one that binds after eight months because the header sagged. We use a Kohler or Moen-compatible pan rated for the joist spacing in your home, and we document the framing change in the permit package.
Moisture Management Behind the Tile
Wells Branch sits on expansive clay, and while the slab moves, the shower walls should not. We set tile over cement board substrate (the moisture-resistant layer behind your tile) with a waterproofing membrane at every seam. That’s what prevents the grout from wicking water into the wall cavity, which is the slow failure we see when a remodel was done cheap with green board and hope.
Trusted Brands We Service in Wells Branch
We install Cambria and Silestone quartz for vanity tops, Kohler and Moen fixtures for showers and tubs, and KraftMaid or Wellborn cabinetry for vanities. These aren’t luxury upsells. They’re the brands that carry manufacturer warranties long enough to back up our own 365-Day Done Right Promise. We also regularly work with Unilock and Techo-Bloc when a Wells Branch bathroom remodel opens into an exterior wall and we’re resetting a threshold or a small patio transition. The materials come from recognized trade suppliers, and we order locally so we’re not waiting on a freight truck from another state when your vanity arrives damaged.
Common Bathroom Remodeling Problems We See in Wells Branch Homes
- Corroded cast-iron drains under the slab. The alkaline clay in Wells Branch eats through original cast-iron lines. By the time a tub drain is gurgling, the section under the slab is often paper-thin. We dig it out or reroute it in PVC above grade, and we get MUD sign-off before covering it.
- Moisture-damaged subfloors from old slab leaks. A shower that leaked for two years before you noticed has likely delaminated the plywood under the tile. If the subfloor isn’t replaced, the new tile fails inside a year. We moisture-test and quote the replacement up front.
- Framing not designed for large shower openings. A 1980s 2×4 wall with a standard tub opening was never meant to hold a 60-inch glass panel. We reframe with a proper header and document the load-bearing change so it passes Travis County inspection the first time.
- MUD approval skipped on plumbing relocations. This one’s specific to Wells Branch. Moving a toilet or shower drain even a few feet requires Wells Branch Municipal Utility District sign-off. Contractors who skip it get flagged at final inspection, which means walls get opened back up. We pull the approval before rough-in.
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AfterPricing for Bathroom Remodeling in Wells Branch, TX
Here are the real numbers for this market, as of now. A full bathroom remodel in Wells Branch runs $9,000 to $28,000. A small bathroom under 50 square feet runs $5,000 to $12,000 if you keep the plumbing where it is. A walk-in shower installation, with pan, tile, glass, and a plumbing upgrade to 2-inch PVC, runs $4,500 to $12,000.
| Project | Typical Range in Wells Branch |
|---|---|
| Bathroom Remodel | $9,000 – $28,000 |
| Walk-In Shower Installation | $4,500 – $12,000 |
| Small Bathroom Remodel | $5,000 – $12,000 |
What moves the price up: a subfloor that has to be replaced, a cast-iron drain that has to be rerouted, a MUD requirement that triggers a second inspection, or a glass enclosure that requires custom sizing. What keeps it down: keeping the toilet and drain locations untouched, using a standard 60-inch fiberglass pan instead of a custom tile pan, and not moving any walls. Every quote from Penhallow Remodeling Austin includes the written price before work starts, so the number you approve is the number you pay. Call (325) 225-5429 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Wells Branch
We regularly work in Austin, Cedar Park, Georgetown, and Elgin. If you’re in one of those communities and comparing bathroom remodel quotes, you’ll get the same written price, the same 365-Day Done Right Promise, and the same live person on the phone. See our Bathroom Remodeling in Wells Branch page for specifics on this area’s permit path, or visit our Bathroom Remodeling hub for the full service breakdown.
Serving Wells Branch, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Wells Branch area 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 Wells Branch
Yes. Any change to water or wastewater piping in Wells Branch requires sign-off from the Wells Branch Municipal Utility District, even if you’re only shifting a toilet six inches and the Travis County permit already covers the work. The MUD reviews the plumbing plan for water and sewer line compliance, and covering the work before approval means it gets flagged at final inspection. We handle the MUD filing and the county permit as part of the job, and both are listed in your written quote. Call (325) 225-5429 and we’ll tell you exactly which approvals your specific remodel needs.
A tub-to-shower conversion without moving any walls in Wells Branch typically runs $4,500 to $12,000. The range depends on whether the subfloor needs replacement, what type of pan and glass you choose, and whether the existing 1980s plumbing is in good enough shape to reuse. If the cast-iron tub drain has corroded, expect the quote to include a PVC reroute and a MUD sign-off. We’ll give you a written number before demo day. Call (325) 225-5429 for a free estimate.
Because many 1980s and 1990s Wells Branch homes were framed with 2×4 interior walls that were never designed to hold the weight of a glass shower enclosure or a wide header opening. Cutting a 60-inch opening for a walk-in shower changes the load path, even on an interior wall. If the framing isn’t reinforced, the wall sags and the glass binds. A load-bearing assessment tells us what needs to be added before we cut anything, and it’s part of the Travis County permit documentation. Call (325) 225-5429 if you want a quote that includes the assessment rather than skipping it.
Yes. If a water leak, structural issue, or tile failure ever leads to an insurance claim, a documented permit history and passed inspections from Travis County plus MUD sign-off show the work was done to current code. That documentation makes a claim easier to process and protects you from a denial based on unpermitted work. We provide a written permit record and inspection history with every completed remodel in Wells Branch. Call (325) 225-5429 for a free estimate on a remodel that’s documented properly from day one.
Your contract should list every allowance in dollars, not percentages: tile allowance, fixture allowance, vanity allowance, and a separate line for plumbing changes triggered by hidden damage. It should state that no change order happens without your written approval, and that the price for any change is quoted before work proceeds. Penhallow Remodeling Austin writes all of this into the contract up front, so there’s no open-ended allowance that shows up as a surprise invoice. Call (325) 225-5429 and we’ll talk through what a clean contract should contain.
How the Permit Path Works in Wells Branch
Wells Branch sits in an unincorporated portion of Travis County’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, which means a remodel here has to satisfy two layers of review that most Austin neighborhoods don’t see. The structural work, electrical, and plumbing are permitted through Travis County. Separately, any change to water or wastewater piping, even moving a shower drain a foot, requires Wells Branch Municipal Utility District approval before it can be covered. We pulled both on a recent project on Wells Port Drive: a 1987 two-story where the original cast-iron tub drain had rusted through into the slab. Our crew rerouted the drain in PVC above the slab, framed the new walk-in shower with a Kohler pan rated for the existing floor joists, and pulled the Travis County permit plus the MUD sign-off before rough-in inspection. The shower passed, the punch list was cleared in writing, and the homeowner now has a remodel that matches the 1990s framing without another under-slab leak. That dual approval process is the thing a generic bathroom remodeling page never mentions, and it’s the thing that determines whether your final inspection goes smoothly or the walls get opened back up.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner at Penhallow Remodeling Austin, serving Wells Branch residents with written prices and the 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Ready to get a written number for your Wells Branch bathroom remodel? Call (325) 225-5429 and we’ll schedule a free estimate. A real person answers, day or night.
