Luxury Bathroom Remodeling in Charleston, SC

Two primary baths, two very different rooms

Ridgeville: rebuilt while the family lived at home

The bath was the first room in a phased renovation. The plumbing was relocated, the substrate fully waterproofed, and the tub surround rebuilt in vertically stacked sage tile with a fluted finish. A recessed niche holds a hand-laid marble petal mosaic, the one patterned moment in a quiet room. Fixtures are matte black throughout.

The whole project is documented on the Ridgeville family home renovation page.

Downtown Charleston: stone floor to ceiling

Here the primary bath is sheathed floor to ceiling in honed Calacatta marble, with fluted detail tile and matte black plumbing. Downstairs, the powder room takes the opposite approach: a black-and-white marble checkerboard set on the diagonal.

If one of these is close to what you picture, ask us to look at your bathroom.

When a full remodel is the right answer

• The layout is wrong: the toilet faces the door, the vanity is too small, the shower and tub compete for one wall.
• There are signs of water where it should not be: soft floor near the tub, loose tile, stains on the ceiling below.
• You are planning for later years; our article on remodeling for aging in place covers shower entries, grab-bar backing and door widths.
• The bath belongs to a larger project, such as a primary suite addition or a whole-house renovation.

The sequence behind a bathroom that stays dry

1. Consultation and layout: at your house, complimentary and confidential. Fixture locations are fixed before anything is ordered.
2. Proposal: itemized, with allowances for tile, stone, glass, vanity and fixtures.
3. Demolition and repairs: down to framing and subfloor, which is where hidden water damage shows itself.
4. Rough plumbing and wiring, then inspection. Nothing is covered until the inspector signs off.
5. Waterproofing: the whole wet area, before tile, as at Ridgeville.
6. Tile and stone, then fixtures, glass and vanity.
7. Final inspection, walk-through and punch list. Final payment follows your sign-off.

You get weekly progress reports with photos, and one foreman answers for the site. Start with a consultation.

Permits and checks for a bath in Charleston

Within City of Charleston limits, a bathroom alteration needs a building permit, and plumbing and electrical work each need a sub-permit with rough and final inspections; moving walls adds plans, and structural changes add stamped engineering (city single-family alteration guidance, February 2026). Mount Pleasant, the county and the island towns issue their own.

In flood zones AE and VE, the city requires a permit for every job on an existing house, and the cost counts toward the one-year total measured against 50% of the building's value (City of Charleston, Floodplain Development).

In homes built before 1978, demolition can disturb lead paint on walls and trim; paid work must follow the EPA's lead-safe rule (EPA, RRP Rule).

Tub, shower or both

What drives the cost of a bathroom

We keep prices off the website because they change, and two baths of the same size can differ a lot. The cost moves with:

• Whether the drain, toilet or shower move, or stay where the plumbing already is.
• Subfloor and framing condition once the old tile is out.
• Material and labor intensity: large stone panels, fluted tile and hand-laid mosaics take more hours than standard tile.
• Glass, vanity, fixtures and finish, each set as an allowance.
• Permits, inspections and, in older houses, lead-safe practices.

Every line is itemized, and changes are agreed in writing before the work. Request a bathroom proposal.

Built by our own crew

The people who tile, set stone and finish your bath are trained, insured members of the Domus Built team, not a rotating set of subcontractors. We are licensed in South Carolina and insured for general liability and workers' compensation. If the bath is part of a bigger plan, see high-end home renovation in Charleston.

When we are not the right call

• Liner systems or one-day tub replacements: those are a different product from a rebuilt bathroom.
• Small fixes such as a new faucet or a re-caulk. Our remodels start at substantial bathroom projects.

Bathroom remodel questions

Can a new bathroom be fitted in a day?

Not a remodel like the ones on this page. Moving plumbing, waterproofing and tile each take time, and the city's inspections fall between steps: rough plumbing and electrical must pass before walls close.

How many weeks should we plan for?

It depends on whether plumbing moves, on stone and glass lead times and on inspection dates, so we agree the schedule with you at the consultation.

What is a realistic budget for a bathroom remodel?

One that starts from the scope: whether plumbing moves, what is under the old floor and which materials you choose. A written, itemized proposal is the only honest way to see the number for your room.

What size of project do you take on?

Our renovation work runs from substantial kitchen and bath remodels through whole-home renovations.

Book a bathroom consultation.