Moving drains: the question to settle first
Supply lines are comparatively flexible — they are pressurised, small, and can be routed around obstacles. Drains are not. They rely on gravity, so they need a consistent fall, and they are considerably larger.
On a slab foundation — which most Boerne homes have — the drains are cast into or beneath the concrete. Moving a toilet, a shower or a tub more than a few inches means breaking the slab, re-routing, and re-pouring. That is a real cost and a real disruption, and it belongs in the budget from day one rather than as a discovery.
The toilet is the least forgiving. It needs a large-diameter drain with proper fall and correct venting, so “let's just move the toilet to the other wall” is a structural plumbing decision, not a layout preference.
Keeping fixtures roughly where they are is the single largest cost saving available in a bathroom remodel. If the budget is tight, that is where to compromise — a beautiful bathroom in the existing layout beats a compromised one in a new arrangement.
Establish this while the design is still on paper. It changes what is affordable.
Worth knowing
If the bathroom is on a second floor, the constraint is different but still real — drains run within the joist space, and moving them may mean cutting joists, which is a structural question rather than a plumbing one.
Choose the fixtures before demolition
The most common sequencing mistake, and it is entirely avoidable.
Shower and tub valve bodies are installed during rough-in, with the walls open, and they are manufacturer-specific. The trim you eventually mount — handle, escutcheon, showerhead — has to match that body. Choosing the trim after tiling can mean opening the wall again.
The toilet's rough-in measurement — the distance from finished wall to the centre of the closet bolts, usually 12 inches — determines what will fit. Get it wrong and the toilet simply does not go where the drain is.
Freestanding tubs need their supply and drain positioned precisely, often through the floor at a specific point. That location is set during rough-in and is not adjustable afterwards.
Wall-hung fixtures and concealed cisterns need framing and carrier support built in, decided before the walls close.
Order the fixtures, or at least confirm the exact models, before the plumber does the rough-in. “We'll pick that later” is the phrase that causes the rework.
What to do while the walls are open
This is the cheapest access you will ever have to this part of the house. Some of these cost almost nothing now and are expensive later.
- Replace old supply pipe serving the bathroom, particularly if it is galvanized. You will never have easier access.
- Fit shutoff valves where there are none, and replace any that are stiff or weeping.
- Check and improve venting. A bathroom that has always drained slowly may be inadequately vented rather than blocked — and this is the moment to fix it.
- Insulate hot water pipe for faster hot water and less waste.
- Add an access panel behind the shower valve if there is a sensible place for one. It costs almost nothing now and saves opening tile later.
- Consider a pressure-balancing or thermostatic valve if the existing one is neither — it is the scald protection that stops a shower going hot when a toilet flushes.
- Deal with any existing damage found during demolition — rot, previous leaks, compromised subfloor. Tiling over it is how the same problem returns.
Waterproofing, which is where corners get cut
The most consequential part of a bathroom remodel is the part nobody can see afterwards.
Tile and grout are not waterproof. Grout is porous by nature. What keeps water out of the structure is the membrane or waterproof backer behind the tile, and that is entirely hidden once the job is finished.
Which is exactly why it is where quality varies. A shower with excellent tiling over inadequate waterproofing looks perfect for several years and then produces the hollow-sounding tile and stained ceiling below that turn into a rebuild.
Ask specifically what waterproofing system is being used and see it before it is covered. Any competent contractor will be comfortable with that.
The floor has to fall correctly to the drain, and the pan detail at the drain is where leaks most often start.
This is also the argument against the cheapest quote without understanding what it excludes. The saving is usually here, and you will not find out for five years.
Sequence and permits
The order is: demolition, then rough-in plumbing and electrical, then inspection where required, then waterproofing, then substrate and tile, then finish plumbing — trim, fixtures, drain covers.
Rough-in inspection matters. Where a permit is required, the work is inspected before it is covered. Skipping that means either opening it up later or having undocumented work that surfaces at resale.
Water is off in stages, not throughout. Plan for the days it will be off rather than assuming the whole project.
Coordinate the trades. The plumber needs to be there twice — rough-in and finish — with the tiler between them. Gaps in that sequence are where schedules slip.
And if the house is older, expect to find something. Previous work of varying quality, a drain that is not where the plans suggest, or venting that was never right. Budget contingency for it rather than treating it as a surprise.