Coral Gables, Florida
Bathroom Remodeling in Coral Gables
Bathrooms for older and architecturally distinct homes, where the aim is a room that works like new and still belongs in the house.
Working with the house, not against it
Coral Gables is known for Mediterranean Revival architecture: barrel-tile roofs, arched openings, thick plaster walls and a lot of character in the details. Many homes have been updated several times, and bathrooms are often the rooms where earlier renovations aged worst. Plenty of Gables homeowners want the new bathroom to feel like it belongs with the arches and wood floors elsewhere in the house, rather than dropping in a room that could be anywhere.
That affects the material choices. Honed stone or stone-look porcelain, handmade-looking tile, unlacquered or aged brass, and vanities built as furniture tend to sit well in these houses. Clean, contemporary bathrooms can work too; the key is proportion and a consistent palette.
Original tile
Some homes still have original or early tile in a bathroom. If it's intact and you like it, we'll talk about keeping it, repairing it, or reusing part of it as a feature. If it's cracked, loose or hiding a failed shower pan, keeping it usually costs more in the long run.
What we find behind the walls
Plaster on lath or block
Plaster walls are durable but don't make a good tile substrate in a wet area. Shower walls get stripped back to a new backer and membrane; dry walls may be repaired and kept.
Older supply and drain piping
Galvanized supply lines and cast-iron drains are common in houses of this age. Replacing what's exposed during demolition is cheap compared to opening the new tile later.
Out-of-level floors
Settling and earlier renovations leave floors uneven. Large-format tile needs a flat base, so leveling is part of the plan.
Undersized ventilation
Older bathrooms often relied on a window. We add a properly ducted fan, because a window alone doesn't clear humidity on a still, muggy day.
Room to grow the primary bath
Larger lots and single-family floor plans mean Gables projects sometimes go beyond a refresh. Borrowing space from an adjacent closet, combining a separate tub room and water closet, or adding a double vanity are realistic here in a way they rarely are in a condo. Those projects fall under luxury bathroom remodeling when they involve layout changes, custom millwork and a larger shower.
For secondary bathrooms we often recommend a shower rebuild or new vanity and countertop rather than a full gut, and our guide to porcelain vs natural stone helps if you're weighing marble against a porcelain look-alike.
Sequencing in an occupied house
Most Gables owners stay in the house during a remodel. We seal the bathroom off from the rest of the house, protect floors along the route to the door, and plan noisy demolition for early in the project so the remaining weeks are quieter. If the house has original hardwood or terrazzo in the hallway outside the bathroom, protecting it is part of the setup, not an afterthought.
Neighboring Coconut Grove shares many of the same older-house conditions.
Nearby and across Miami-Dade
Remodeling a bathroom in Coral Gables?
Tell us about the house and the room. We'll visit, look at what's there, and give you a written quote with the options laid out.
(305) 712-5953 Total Bathroom Remodeling Miami10800 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33161
Open daily, 7:00 AM to 10:30 PM