Bathroom Remodel in Kentwood — Fixed-Price Design-Build

Kentwood bathroom remodels land in four practical bands, and they index closer to the West Michigan median than the luxury tier you'd see in Ada or Forest Hills. A focused refresh inside the existing footprint — new vanity, tile, fixtures, lighting, paint — runs $12,000 to $20,000. A full mid-range remodel with a new tile shower, custom vanity, quartz tops, and upgraded plumbing and electrical typically runs $22,000 to $35,000. An upgraded primary or master bath with a curbless tile shower, double vanity, freestanding tub, heated floors, and meaningful plumbing relocation lands at $35,000 to $50,000. A take-it-to-the-studs primary with expanded footprint and high-end finishes is the ceiling, starting around $50,000. Every Thornapple project is locked at a fixed-price contract once scope is finalized — the quote is the price you pay. Full breakdown in our bathroom remodel cost guide.

Usually, yes. Any Kentwood bathroom project that relocates plumbing, adds or moves electrical circuits, or touches structural framing requires permits from the City of Kentwood Building Department at City Hall on Breton Avenue SE — typically a building permit plus separate plumbing, electrical, and mechanical permits. A purely cosmetic refresh — paint, a like-for-like vanity swap, a like-for-like fixture replacement with no plumbing changes — usually does not. We confirm which side of that line your scope sits on during the in-home consultation, pull every permit, and schedule every inspection as part of the fixed-price contract. You never step into a city office. Full detail on our remodeling permits page.

All of it routes through the City of Kentwood Building Department in-house, at City Hall on Breton Avenue SE. Because Kentwood is its own incorporated city — not an unincorporated community like Forest Hills, and not a township that routes permits elsewhere like Ada does through Cascade — there's one submission, one set of inspectors, and one office for your whole bathroom remodel. That actually makes Kentwood one of the cleaner permitting jurisdictions we work in. We handle the full submittal, every inspection, and every sign-off so you never have to call or file.

Yes — that's the single most common bathroom job we build in Kentwood. The city is mostly ranches, split-levels, and tri-levels built between 1960 and 1985, and the bathrooms reflect their era: builder-grade vanities, almond or beige tile, single-sink layouts, fiberglass tub-shower combos, and original copper or dated drain configurations behind the walls. We respect the bones of the home and bring the bathroom forward by decades — a real tile shower, a proper vanity, modern fixtures and ventilation — while planning around the existing plumbing stack, joist layout, and original framing in the discovery phase. Any structural realities we find are priced into the fixed contract, not sprung on you as surprise change orders mid-build.

Yes — this is one of the most-requested project types in Kentwood, because many residents have lived in the home for decades and intend to stay. We design curbless zero-threshold showers, comfort-height fixtures, reinforced walls so grab bars install cleanly later, wider doorways, slip-resistant tile that still reads as finished and modern, and layered lighting that protects against falls without ever feeling clinical. Done right, the planning disappears into the architecture — it just looks like a good bathroom. Full detail on our accessibility remodeling page.

Most Kentwood bathroom remodels run 4 to 7 weeks from demolition to final walkthrough. A powder-room refresh can finish in 2 to 3 weeks. A full primary or master bath with custom tile, plumbing relocation, and longer material lead times can push toward 9 weeks. Because Kentwood's permit office is in-house and doesn't route through a second jurisdiction, permitting is generally a touch faster here than in Ada or Forest Hills. We map every milestone in the project portal before demo day, so you always know what's happening on-site and what's coming next. Week-by-week breakdown in our bathroom remodel timeline guide.

For most Kentwood homeowners, yes. A one-day acrylic liner or tub-to-shower swap installs a new surface over the existing one — it's fast and it's cheap, but it doesn't address the waterproofing behind the wall, dated plumbing, the vanity, the lighting, or the layout, and it's backed by a product warranty with carve-outs rather than real workmanship coverage. A Thornapple remodel is the real thing: demolition, proper waterproofing membrane, new plumbing and electrical where needed, a tile-and-mortar shower built to last, and an honest 2-year workmanship warranty. On a Kentwood ranch bath that's never been touched since the 1970s, the liner just hides the problem — the remodel fixes it.

Yes. If you have at least one other working bathroom in the home, you can keep using it through the entire project. We install plastic dust barriers to contain the work zone to the bathroom being remodeled, and we bring our own portable restroom for the crew so they never use your other baths. On a Kentwood ranch where the bathrooms are close together, that containment matters — and it keeps your daily routine close to normal.