Bathroom Planning
Updated September 2026
A bathroom has nowhere to hide a mistake. Two inches in a shower, an outlet on the wrong wall, or a fan that vents into the attic shows up every morning. Here's what to decide, in order, before anything is ordered, and where BBD's $80,000 to $250,000 bathroom range comes from.
10 min read
Written by Mike Schwartz, Built by Design | Published May 5, 2026
Bathrooms punish vague planning because every decision competes for the same few inches, and most of them get buried. The waterproofing is behind the tile. The fan duct is above the ceiling. The circuit for the heated floor is under it. Once those are closed, changing your mind means opening a finished room. That's why a bathroom remodel is planned in a particular order: the things that get covered first get decided first.
This checklist is that order. It's the sequence Built by Design walks with homeowners in Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, Shawnee, and Leawood before a single tile is ordered, with the code minimums Johnson County cities enforce where a number matters, and photos from BBD's finished bathrooms to show what the decisions look like when they're made on time.
If the wish list needs a wall or a door to move, read how to plan a primary suite remodel first. For the service, see bathroom remodeling with Built by Design.
A bathroom is built from the inside out: framing and plumbing rough-in, electrical rough-in, inspection, waterproofing, tile, then fixtures, glass, vanity, and lighting. Each step covers the one before it. So the decisions run in the same order, and the deadline for each is the day the step before it starts. The table is the whole guide in one view; the sections below explain each row.
| Decide | Deadline | Why it can’t wait |
|---|---|---|
| Layout: what moves, what stays | Before permit drawings | The permit, the plumbing, and the framing all depend on it |
| Shower size, entry, drain type, control location | Before plumbing rough-in | The drain is set in the floor and the valve in the wall |
| Tub: keep, replace, or remove | Before plumbing rough-in | The drain and the supply move with it |
| Every outlet, switch, fan, and heated floor | Before electrical rough-in | The wiring is inspected and covered by drywall |
| Tile, and with it the niche, bench, and layout | Before waterproofing | The tile size decides the niche and the flatness the walls need |
| Vanity size and height, mirror, sconces | Before electrical rough-in | The sconce boxes and the outlet land on the vanity plan |
| Glass | Templated after tile | Glass is cut to the finished opening, never the drawing |
The first decision is whether the toilet, the shower, the tub, and the vanity stay where they are. Keeping them keeps the floor closed and the project shorter. Moving them is right when the layout is the problem, and it changes the permit drawings, the plumbing rough-in, and often the ceiling below. Check the clearances before deciding: the residential code Johnson County cities adopt requires 15 inches from a toilet's centerline to a wall or fixture and 21 inches of clear floor in front of it, a sink, or a shower opening (IRC R307.1). The National Kitchen and Bath Association recommends 18 and 30 inches for comfort. In a hall bath the usual question is whether the tub becomes a shower. In a primary bath it's whether the shower can grow, the vanity can hold two sinks, and the toilet can get its own compartment. Draw it to scale with those clearances before falling for any tile.
See also: Primary suite remodel planning: when the bathroom needs the closet or the bedroom
The shower is the decision that sets the most other decisions. Size first: the code minimum is 30 by 30 inches of interior (900 square inches), and a shower that replaces a tub alcove is usually 36 by 60. Then the entry: a curb, a curbless entry with a sloped floor, or a low threshold, each of which changes the floor buildup and the drain. Then the drain: a center drain with a four-way slope, or a linear drain at the wall or the entry, which is what makes large-format tile possible on a shower floor and makes a curbless entry work. Then the controls: the valve goes where you can reach it from outside the spray, usually near the entry, with the head on the far wall. BBD's showers show the range: a glass walk-in with large-format marble in Overland Park, a hexagon-tile walk-in with a niche in another Overland Park basement, a glossy blue tile shower with a tub in Olathe, blue tile with a glass enclosure in Shawnee. Each one was sized, drained, and valved before the tile was ordered.
Tile isn't waterproof; the assembly behind it is. The residential code requires shower and tub walls to have a non-absorbent surface to at least 6 feet above the floor (IRC R307.2) and a shower receptor that's tested before the tile goes on. How that's done is a method: a bonded sheet membrane over a foam or cement board, a liquid-applied membrane, or a traditional mortar bed over a pan liner. Ask your remodeler which one and why, and ask when the pan gets flood-tested. The method decides the tile in two ways. Large-format tile (any side over 15 inches) needs a substrate flat to about an eighth of an inch over 10 feet, which means the framing and the board have to be planned for it. And a curbless or linear-drain shower needs a single-slope floor, which rules out the four-way slope a center drain uses. Choose the tile before the waterproofing, then build the waterproofing for the tile.
A niche is framed between studs and waterproofed with the wall, so its location, height, and size are decided before the board goes on, not when the tile setter asks. Put it on a wall the spray doesn't hit directly, at a height the shortest regular user can reach, and size it to the tile so the edges land on grout lines. A bench is the same: framed, sloped to drain, waterproofed, and sized to the tile. A recessed wall cabinet beside the vanity, as in BBD's Overland Park basement bath, is the same idea outside the shower. The tile layout is the last piece: where the grout lines start, how the pattern meets the niche and the ceiling, whether the floor tile runs into the shower or the shower gets its own. Large tiles and tight joints look calm and show every wave in the wall; small tiles and wider joints forgive more and clean harder. Look at samples under the lighting you'll use, not the showroom's.
A fan that moves humid air into the attic is worse than no fan: it puts the moisture where it rots framing. The residential code requires a bathroom without an operable window to have mechanical exhaust of at least 50 cubic feet per minute intermittent or 20 continuous, ducted to the outside (IRC M1505.4). In practice every remodeled bathroom gets one, because a window in January stays shut. Size it for the room and the duct run (long runs and tight elbows cut the real airflow), put it near the shower, and put it on a timer or a humidity sensor so it runs after you leave. Fogged mirrors, peeling paint edges, and a musty smell are all the same problem: the fan isn't moving the air out.
Electrical is decided before rough-in and inspected before drywall, so every outlet, switch, and circuit is a pre-tile decision. The code requires a receptacle within 36 inches of the outside edge of each sink basin (IRC E3901.6), every bathroom receptacle GFCI protected (E3902), and the bathroom receptacles on their own 20-amp circuit (E3703.4). Beyond the minimum, plan where cords actually go: an outlet inside a vanity drawer for the hair dryer and toothbrush chargers, one beside the mirror rather than across the room, and a switch layout that puts the fan, the vanity light, and the shower light on separate controls. Heated floors are an electrical decision too. Electric radiant mats need their own circuit, a thermostat location, and a floor buildup that the door swings and the tile thresholds account for. Confirm panel capacity while the plan is open. Once you've lived with a warm floor in a Kansas January, it's the feature people say they'd never give up.
One ceiling fixture on one switch is why most bathrooms feel like a hallway. Plan three layers: light at the mirror for the face (sconces at eye level on both sides, or a lighted mirror, which is what BBD's Overland Park primary bath uses), general light for the room on a dimmer, and a light in the shower on its own switch, rated for a wet location. A fourth, a low night light under the vanity or on a motion sensor, is what keeps the 2 a.m. trip from being a flashbang. The Overland Park vanity has under-cabinet lighting for exactly that reason.
The vanity decides the outlet and the sconce locations, so it's chosen before electrical rough-in. Size it to the wall: a single sink needs about 30 to 36 inches; two sinks need about 60, with 36 inches between sink centers recommended by the NKBA (30 is the code minimum). Height is a choice: the traditional 32 inches suits kids, and 34 to 36 suits adults and is what most new vanities are. Drawers beat doors for everything that lives at a sink. Then the mirror, sized to the vanity and hung so the tallest and shortest users both see their faces, with the sconces beside it rather than above it. Storage is what keeps the counter clear: drawers for tools, a medicine cabinet or a tall cabinet for the rest, a hook and a shelf within reach of the shower for towels, and a home for the hamper. BBD's bathrooms pair a colored vanity (navy in Olathe and Overland Park, blue in Lenexa, gray in Shawnee) with brass hardware and a round or arched mirror, and every one of them has drawers.
In a hall bath, keep a tub if anyone bathes children or a dog there, and put a shower over it: BBD's Olathe basement bath did exactly that with glossy blue tile and brass fixtures. In a primary bath, a tub is worth its floor space only if someone takes baths; if nobody does, the space goes to the shower and storage. A freestanding tub looks the way it does in photos only with clear floor on all sides, and its filled weight has to be checked against the floor structure. Decide before rough-in, because the tub drain and the filler both move with it.
Built by Design's bathroom remodels run $80,000 to $250,000, and the checklist above is the reason the range is that wide. A bathroom rebuilt inside its footprint, with the toilet, shower, and vanity where they were, new tile, a new vanity, new fixtures, lighting, and an exhaust fan that finally vents outdoors, sits at the bottom. A primary bath that takes down a wall, moves the toilet across the joists, adds a curbless shower with a linear drain and a freestanding tub, heated floors, a lighted mirror, and a double vanity, and opens the ceiling below to do it, sits at the top. Between them, the levers are the ones this guide is about: what moves, the shower's size and glass, the tile and its substrate, and the electrical and heated-floor work. A project-specific number follows an in-home visit and selections; BBD prices the designed plan with the selections in it.
| Where in the range | What that bathroom usually is |
|---|---|
| Bottom, from $80,000 | Same footprint: fixtures stay put, new shower or tub-shower with tile and glass, new vanity and mirror, new lighting, exhaust ducted outdoors, new floor |
| Middle | Reworked room: a tub alcove becomes a 36 by 60 walk-in shower, a fixture or two moves, a double vanity, heated floor, three-layer lighting, in-drawer outlets, a niche and bench |
| Top, toward $250,000 | Primary suite: walls and drains move, the ceiling below opens, a curbless shower with a linear drain, a freestanding tub, large-format stone or porcelain, frameless glass, heated floor, a lighted mirror, closet and door changes |
See also: Primary suite remodel planning: the wall, closet, and plumbing decisions at the top of the range
Tile, plumbing fixtures, the vanity, and any special-order lighting are the long-lead items, and they're ordered as soon as the decisions above are made, before demolition. Glass is the exception: a frameless enclosure is measured after the tile is finished, because it's cut to the real opening, and it takes a week or two after the template. That's why the shower is usable before the glass is in on most schedules. BBD's Overland Park primary suite, plus a basement bathroom in the same project, ran 12 weeks of recorded construction. A single bathroom rebuilt in its footprint is shorter, and a bathroom that waits on a late tile choice is longer. The order of decisions is what keeps the schedule.
See also: Why remodels take longer than planned, and what prevents it
Built by Design meets homeowners at the home, writes one scope before finishes are chosen, and builds with the same trade partners named in the case studies above.
FAQAnswers, by design
The questions homeowners ask before a bathroom remodel, answered from the residential code Johnson County cities enforce, NKBA planning guidelines, the bathrooms BBD has built, and BBD’s published $80,000 to $250,000 range. Your project team confirms what applies to your home.
The layout, the shower size and entry, the drain type, the waterproofing method, the niche and bench locations, and the grout joint you want. The tile size decides the niche dimensions, the drain, and how flat the walls need to be, so it’s chosen before the board goes up, and it’s ordered before demolition because it’s a long-lead item.
The residential code minimum is 30 by 30 inches of interior, or 900 square inches, with a 22-inch opening. Plan 36 by 36 or larger; a 36 by 60 inch shower fits where a standard tub alcove was. Put the controls where you can reach them from outside the spray.
Yes. The residential code Johnson County cities adopt requires bathroom exhaust to discharge outdoors, at a minimum of 50 cubic feet per minute intermittent or 20 continuous where there’s no operable window. A fan that dumps into the attic puts the moisture where it damages framing.
At least one receptacle within 36 inches of the outside edge of each sink basin, every receptacle GFCI protected, and the bathroom receptacles on their own 20-amp circuit. Beyond the minimum, put one inside a drawer for the hair dryer and chargers, and one beside the mirror.
Most families who have one say yes, especially on a slab or over a garage. It needs its own circuit, a thermostat location, and a floor buildup the thresholds and door swings account for, so it’s decided before electrical rough-in, not when the tile arrives.
Not the one being remodeled; the floor and walls are open for most of the schedule. Plan on another bathroom in the house. If there isn’t one, the project is usually sequenced so the toilet is out for the shortest possible stretch, and that’s worth asking about before the start date.
Built by Design bathrooms run $80,000 to $250,000 depending on scope. A bathroom rebuilt in its footprint with new tile, glass, vanity, and fixtures sits at the bottom; a primary suite that moves walls and drains, opens the ceiling below, and adds a curbless shower, freestanding tub, and heated floor sits at the top. A project-specific number follows an in-home visit and selections.
BBD’s Overland Park primary suite plus a basement bathroom took 12 weeks of recorded construction. A single bathroom in its existing footprint is shorter. The schedule is set by the long-lead items, tile, fixtures, and the vanity, and by glass, which is templated after the tile is finished.
Keep planning with these related guides.
Bathroom Planning
A primary bathroom remodel turns into a suite remodel the moment a wall, a door, or the closet gets in the way. This guide covers when that's worth it, the clearances that decide the layout, and what moves with the plumbing.
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Bathroom Planning
A spa bathroom is a set of systems, not a fixture. Heated floors need a circuit, steam needs a sealed ceiling, body sprays need water volume. Here's what each feature needs, what it costs to maintain, and when it's worth it.
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Johnson County Guides
Walls, wiring, plumbing, structure, additions, decks, and egress windows need a permit almost everywhere in Johnson County. Paint, flooring, and cabinet swaps usually don’t. Here’s the line, city by city, and what happens on the schedule.
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