What a full bathroom remodel in Fort Myers actually costs and how long it takes
A full bathroom remodel in Fort Myers runs $9,000 to $28,000 for a complete gut-and-replace, with most projects finishing in 3 to 5 weeks once permits clear. That range covers everything from pulling the old tub and tile to installing new waterproofing, flooring, vanity, fixtures, lighting, and paint. Call (844) 638-7249 to schedule a free on-site estimate and get a fixed-price quote before you commit to anything.
We’re not talking about swapping a faucet or re-grouting tile. Full bathroom remodeling means the room comes down to the studs and subfloor, then goes back up with new everything. In Fort Myers, that timeline stretches or shrinks depending on whether you’re moving drain lines, what the framing looks like once we open the walls, and how busy Lee County’s permit desk is that month.
How we take a Fort Myers bathroom from old to brand new
The sequence matters because every homeowner hits decision points that can stall the job if they’re not ready. Here’s what the five stages look like on the ground.
Stage 1: Demolition and discovery (days 1-2). Everything comes out: tile, drywall, tub or shower pan, vanity, toilet, flooring, light fixtures. We take it down to the studs and subfloor. This is where we find what’s actually behind the walls. In Fort Myers, that means checking for moisture intrusion in exterior walls, rusted-out metal studs in older condos, or termite damage in wood-framed homes built before concrete block became standard. You’ll need to confirm your vanity, tub, and shower fixture selections by the end of day 2 so we’re not waiting on materials.
Stage 2: Rough-in and waterproofing (days 3-7). If you’re relocating plumbing or adding electrical for a heated floor or steam shower, this is when it happens. Our plumber moves supply and drain lines, electricians run new circuits, and we install a waterproofing system on the shower walls and floor before a single tile goes on. This is also when Fort Myers building inspectors do the first rough-in check, looking at the plumbing and electrical before we close anything up. You’ll pick your tile layout and grout color here.
Stage 3: Tile, flooring, and surfaces (days 8-14). Tile work takes the most calendar days. Shower walls and floor get tiled first, then the bathroom floor. Any niche, bench, or curb detail adds a day. We set the new tub or walk-in shower base before tiling starts. Once tile is set and grouted, we need 24 to 48 hours of cure time before anyone walks on the floor. At this point you’re also confirming paint color and mirror placement.
Stage 4: Fixtures, vanity, trim-out (days 15-18). The vanity goes in, countertop gets templated and installed, plumbing trim pieces and shower glass get measured or installed, the toilet is set, lighting and exhaust fan go up, and the mirror is hung. We also do the door and baseboard trim. Electrical outlets and switches get their cover plates, and the room starts looking finished. If you ordered a custom glass enclosure, that measurement happens here, with install scheduled about a week later.
Stage 5: Final inspection and walkthrough (day 19-21). Lee County or City of Fort Myers does a final building inspection to sign off on the permit. Once that passes, we walk the room with you, note any paint touch-ups or adjustment items, and handle those within the week. The room is usable the day we finish; the walkthrough is about making sure every detail matches what the contract promised. Every project carries our 730-Day Done Right Promise: if something isn’t right, we make it right.
The options you’ll choose between during a full bathroom remodel
Most homeowners we work with in Fort Myers haven’t thought through every material choice before we start. That’s normal. These are the real decision points, not a catalog dump.
- Shower system: acrylic pan with tile walls vs. full tile shower. An acrylic pan costs less and installs in hours. A tiled shower floor takes a full day of mortar-bed and waterproofing work but gives you a seamless look and lasts decades if maintained. Full tile adds $1,200 to $2,800 to the job.
- Vanity: stock off-the-shelf vs. semi-custom. A stock 48-inch vanity from a big-box store can work fine and keeps costs low. A semi-custom vanity with soft-close drawers, dovetail joinery, and a quartz or solid-surface top runs more but fits the space exactly and holds up better in Florida humidity. The price difference is typically $600 to $2,200 depending on size and material.
- Flooring: porcelain tile vs. luxury vinyl plank. Porcelain tile handles Fort Myers humidity like a champ, never warps, and works beautifully in wet bathrooms. LVP installs faster and costs less per square foot, but direct water exposure around a shower base needs careful seam sealing. Tile runs roughly $6 to $14 per square foot installed; LVP runs $4 to $9.
- Lighting and ventilation: builder-grade vs. humidity-sensing fan and layered lighting. A basic exhaust fan and a single overhead fixture meet code. A Panasonic humidity-sensing fan that auto-runs when moisture spikes, plus a dedicated shower light and sconces at the vanity, changes how the room lives day to day. The upgrade adds $400 to $900 but cuts mold risk in a climate where bathroom walls stay damp six months a year.
- Waterproofing method: standard cement board vs. full membrane system. Standard cement backer board with a vapor barrier meets code. A full bonded sheet membrane like Schluter Kerdi covers every seam and corner with a continuous waterproof layer. The full-membrane approach costs $800 to $1,500 more and is the standard we recommend for any Fort Myers home, where humidity and storm-driven moisture are facts of life.
What a full bathroom remodel costs in Fort Myers, FL
The range is $9,000 to $28,000. Where your project lands depends on a few concrete variables, not guesswork.
Square footage and layout. A standard 5-by-8-foot guest bath that isn’t changing its footprint lands near the lower end. A 100-square-foot primary bath with a separate tub and shower, a double vanity, and a private water closet pushes toward the upper end. Moving the toilet or shower drain across the room adds $1,500 to $4,000 in plumbing reroute costs, and that number grows fast if you’re on a slab foundation where concrete cutting is required.
What’s behind the walls. Fort Myers homes built before the mid-1990s often have cast-iron drain pipes that are corroded or cracked at the slab penetration. If we find that during demo, replacing the drain assembly adds $600 to $1,800. Homes that took water during Ian sometimes have stud rot or subfloor swelling that doesn’t show until the tile and drywall come off. We write every estimate assuming we might find something, and we show you photos the day we find it.
Material grade. Porcelain tile from a stock line runs $3 to $5 per square foot. A large-format marble-look porcelain with matching trim pieces runs $8 to $14. A Kohler or similar mid-tier toilet is $200 to $400; a comfort-height model with a soft-close seat and a concealed trapway is $500 to $800. Fixtures alone can swing the total by $2,000 to $6,000 depending on how many spray settings, finish levels, and brand selections you make.
Permit scope. A straightforward fixture-for-fixture replacement with no layout change typically requires a minimal permit through Lee County. If you’re moving walls, adding square footage, relocating a drain, or adding electrical circuits, the permit goes to plan-review level, and that takes longer and costs more in fees. We pull every required permit and build permit costs into your estimate so you see the real number up front. No-hassle upfront pricing means the number on the quote is the number you pay.
Call (844) 638-7249 for a free on-site estimate. We’ll walk the bathroom, talk through which of these variables apply to your home, and hand you a written, line-by-line price before we leave.
What Fort Myers homes specifically do to a full bathroom remodel
Fort Myers bathroom remodels run into conditions that a contractor in Orlando or Tampa rarely sees. The housing stock here is a patchwork: 1950s concrete block homes along the McGregor corridor, 1970s and ’80s slab-on-grade ranches in neighborhoods off Colonial and Winkler, and newer condos and planned communities built to post-2002 Florida Building Code standards. In the older block homes, bathroom walls are often structural concrete block with furring strips, which means relocating a plumbing wall isn’t a simple stud bay reroute, it’s a masonry job that adds cost and time.
Then there’s the moisture reality. A Fort Myers bathroom sits in a Wind-Borne Debris Region with 160+ mph design wind speeds, but the day-to-day fight is humidity and mold. A bathroom that isn’t properly exhausted will grow mildew on the ceiling within two wet seasons. We size every exhaust fan to the room’s cubic footage and vent it to the outside through the roof or soffit, never into the attic. That’s a Lehigh Acres or Cape Coral shortcut we refuse to take.
Post-Ian, Lee County’s permit office tightened plan-review scrutiny on anything involving structural changes or electrical work. Even a bathroom that stays within its original footprint now gets cross-checked against the latest FEMA flood zone maps if the home sits in an AE or VE zone. We handle every permit submission in-house, and our license is verified with Lee County. After the wave of unlicensed out-of-state crews that hit Fort Myers following the storm, that verification matters. Homeowners here have seen deposits vanish on shoddy bathroom jobs done by crews who were gone by the time the grout cracked. We’ve been doing this since 2014, and we’re not going anywhere.
If your home took water during Ian and you’re now revisiting the full bathroom, you may also be looking at a larger scope: Bathroom Remodeling in Fort Myers often expands once we find subfloor damage, or you may decide to pair the bathroom work with storm-hardening upgrades like Roof Repair in Fort Myers or a full Roof Replacement & Installation in Fort Myers. We can coordinate both scopes under one permit package so you’re not juggling two contractors.
Our Bathroom Remodeling crew works full-time on bathrooms across Fort Myers, from the riverfront neighborhoods to the newer builds east of I-75. We know which houses have cast-iron drains, which condos have sound-dampening requirements in their HOA docs, and how to keep a bathroom build moving when the afternoon thunderstorms shut down exterior work on other trades.
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Frequently asked about full bathroom remodeling in Fort Myers
Plan for 3 to 5 weeks from the day we start demo, assuming the permit is already in hand. Lee County permit approval for a straight fixture swap takes 5 to 10 business days. If you’re changing the layout or adding electrical, plan-review adds another 1 to 2 weeks before we can start swinging hammers. The construction itself is 3 weeks minimum; custom glass enclosures or backordered specialty tile can push it to 5. Call (844) 638-7249 and we’ll give you a realistic schedule based on your scope.
Yes, if we’re touching plumbing, electrical, or structural walls, which describes nearly every full bathroom remodel we do. Lee County requires a permit for any drain or supply-line work, new circuits, exhaust fan wiring, or changes to bearing walls. We pull the permit and schedule all inspections. Skipping the permit might save a few hundred dollars up front, but it will bite you when you sell the house and the buyer’s inspector flags unpermitted bathroom work.
Yes, and that’s the most common approach. Keeping the toilet, shower, and vanity in their existing positions avoids the slab-cutting and plumbing reroute costs that balloon a budget. Even with the same footprint, we still gut to the studs and replace every surface, fixture, and the waterproofing system. The room looks and functions like a new build; it just doesn’t require moving drain stacks through concrete.
Tile and waterproofing choices, hands down. A standard 60-inch acrylic tub with a tile surround and basic porcelain floor tile keeps material costs manageable. Switching to a full walk-in shower with a tiled floor, custom niche, frameless glass enclosure, and large-format wall tile can add $3,000 to $7,000 in material and labor alone. The second-biggest variable is what we find when we open the walls, especially in pre-1990 houses with original cast-iron plumbing or Ian-related moisture damage behind the tile.
Every full bathroom remodel we do is covered by our 730-Day Done Right Promise. If something fails because of our workmanship within two years, we fix it at no charge. Manufacturer warranties on fixtures, tile, and vanities run separately and vary by brand. We walk you through those coverages during material selection so there are no surprises later.
Get a straight price on your Fort Myers full bathroom remodel
A full bathroom remodel is a serious investment, and you deserve a real number before you sign anything. Call (844) 638-7249 to schedule a free on-site estimate. We’ll come to your Fort Myers home, talk through your layout and material choices, check what’s behind the access panel or crawl space, and hand you a written, fixed-price quote. No vague ranges, no change-order games. Live person on the phone, 24/7, and background-checked crews on every job. Upfront pricing, 730-Day Done Right Promise, and a single contractor who handles every trade from demo to final inspection.
Written by Derek Hollenbeck, Owner at Groundwork Construction Co. of Fort Myers, serving Fort Myers and all of Lee County since 2014.