Bathroom Plumbing in Sarasota, FL: What to Settle Before the Remodel Starts

Most bathroom plumbing calls fall into two groups. The first is a failure: a shower pan that no longer holds water, a tub valve that drips inside the wall, a toilet flange that has let go. The second is a plan: a remodel that changes what sits where. The questions are different, and so are the risks.

Is the shower leaking, or is it the room around it?

A shower pan or tub surround that leaks usually shows up somewhere else first: a stain on the ceiling below, a baseboard that lifts, or tile that sounds hollow. Before anyone opens a wall, narrow it down.

1. Seal the drain with a stopper and fill the tub or shower base a few inches. Mark the water level and wait an hour. A drop points to the drain or the pan.
2. Run the shower with the drain open and look for staining that appears only then. That points to the valve, the arm or the wall behind the tile.
3. Check the caulk and grout at the base. A failed seal can let water in without anything inside being broken.

If water is reaching a ceiling or a wall, see locating the leak for what the plumber looks for before demolition.

Replacing a shower or tub valve

Valves wear out from the inside. A handle that is stiff, a shower that will not shut off, or a drip from the spout after you turn it off are the usual signs. Replacement means opening the wall behind the valve unless there is an access panel.

Repair the pan, or rebuild the shower?

A shower pan that leaks can sometimes be repaired, and sometimes it cannot. If the leak is at the drain flange or a small crack, a repair may hold. If the membrane under the tile has failed across the floor, the honest answer is to rebuild the base, which means removing the tile.

• Ask for the test result, not just the recommendation. A flood test of the pan shows whether it holds water.
• Ask what the failure was: a drain, a seam, a crack or the whole membrane.
• Ask what a rebuild includes: the pan, the drain, the valve and the tile, or only some of them.

Changing the layout: what moves the drain

A remodel that moves a vanity a few inches is easy. One that moves a toilet, a tub or a shower is not, because the drain has to follow. In a house on a concrete slab, that may mean cutting the slab. In a house over a framed floor, it means working in the floor structure below.

Ask early what your layout requires. Moving a drain changes the venting, the slope and sometimes the floor structure, and each of those has a cost that does not show up in a tile price.

Permits and who pulls them

The City of Sarasota Building Division's guideline exempts repairing a leak in pipes, valves or fixtures only when nothing is replaced or rearranged. A remodel that moves fixtures, or replaces concealed pipe, falls outside it. Ask the plumber, and your general contractor if there is one, who will pull the permit and when the inspection happens before walls are closed. The City Building Division is at 941-263-6494, and Sarasota County Building is at 941-861-5000 for county addresses.

What to check on the plumber

Ask for a license number and category. The state's license search lets you look a contractor up by name or license number. Under Florida law a certified plumbing contractor holds a state certificate, while a registered contractor works only in the jurisdiction where they registered. License details are available from us on request before work begins.

Valve, shutoffs and access panel choices before the tile goes in

• Valve and trim: pick the valve before the tile is set. The trim has to match a valve body that is already in the wall.
• Shutoffs: add a stop for the bathroom if there is none, so the next repair does not need the whole house shut off.
• Access: ask for an access panel behind a tub valve. It is a small cost that saves a wall later.
• Fixtures on site: have the toilet, vanity and shower hardware on site before rough-in, since their rough-in dimensions decide where the pipes go.

A bathroom drain that gurgles or runs slowly

A tub or shower that drains slowly after a remodel, or a sink that gurgles when the toilet flushes, often points to venting or slope. A drain that is not vented properly pulls air through the traps and makes noise. Ask the plumber to check the vent when the walls are open, because it is a small job then and an awkward one later.

When a bathroom problem cannot wait

• Call now: water running through a ceiling below, a valve that will not shut off, or a toilet that overflows.
• Schedule soon: a slow drip behind a wall, a shower pan that loses water, or a loose toilet base.
• Plan ahead: layout changes and fixture upgrades. Call before the tile is ordered.

For a toilet-specific problem, see toilet repair in Sarasota. For what usually moves the cost of a bathroom visit, read what moves the cost of a bathroom job.