Bathroom and Shower Remodels in El Paso, TX

Yes, and a conversion almost always needs a permit, because the drain, the shower valve and the fixture are plumbing work, which is on the City of El Paso's permit list (City of El Paso, When Do I Need a Permit). That work runs under its own plumbing permit; which other permits a bathroom needs is answered below.

A walk-in shower is one you step into without climbing over a tub wall, usually with a low curb or none and a fixed glass panel in place of a door. The residential code El Paso adopted sets a minimum shower size: at least 900 square inches inside and at least 30 inches in the narrowest direction, measured to the finished walls, or as little as 25 inches in that direction when the shower has at least 1,300 square inches (2021 IRC P2708.1). The finished size of the space a tub leaves behind is measured at the Feasibility Audit, once the backer board and tile thickness are known.

What changes under the floor is a plumbing decision. A tub drain sits at one end of the tub, and a shower floor has to slope evenly to its drain, so the drain often moves. In a house on a concrete slab, moving it means opening the slab over the line: the new drain is set under the plumbing permit, and the concrete patch over it is written into Sage's scope. The new shower valve is plumbing work too, under the same permit, on a schedule Sage coordinates. When the valve wall is an outside wall, El Paso's rule on plumbing in exterior walls applies, as the whole house remodel page explains, and that rule decides where the valve can go.

The walls are the other big choice: tile or panels. Tile is set over a waterproofed backer, so the membrane behind it keeps the water out and the tile and grout are the finish; it allows niches, a bench and any pattern, and it brings grout lines. Wall panels, large sheets of acrylic, solid surface or a similar material, cover each wall in one or a few pieces with few joints, and they go up to their maker's installation instructions, which say what belongs behind them. In El Paso's moderately hard to hard water, every grout line is one more place for the white mineral spots covered below to settle, so fewer joints mean less to scrub. Either way, the residential code El Paso adopted asks for a nonabsorbent surface to at least 6 feet above the floor (2021 IRC R307.2).

Because tile and grout shed water but do not stop it, and the waterproofing is checked before the first tile is set, while it can still be seen. The Tile Council of North America notes, in its guidance on steam rooms, that glazed tile is vapor impermeable but that "cementitious grout easily transmits water and vapor." Water that gets past the grout has to meet a continuous lining or membrane that carries it to the drain. Without one, it soaks the backer, the framing and, in a slab house, the concrete under the shower.

El Paso wrote its own version of this rule into its residential code. The City's amended section requires an approved lining for all shower receptors, carried at least 3 inches beyond or around the rough jambs and at least 3 inches above the finished threshold where the model code asks for 2, and it makes one exception, for a recessed concrete compartment built to the depth, thickness and strength the section sets (EPMC 18.10.250, amending 2021 IRC P2709.2). The walls of a shower have to be finished with a nonabsorbent surface to at least 6 feet above the floor (2021 IRC R307.2). Where the lining seals to the drain, that connection is plumbing work under the plumbing permit.

The code also sets the check. A lined shower floor is plugged, filled with water at least 2 inches deep at the threshold, and held for at least 15 minutes with no sign of a leak before it is covered (2021 IRC P2503.6). On a Sage bathroom, that flooded lining is photographed and sent to you with the date, under the Sage Standard called Photo Updates, so you keep a record of the one layer you will never see again.

The walls get the same attention. Inside corners, seams and every place a pipe comes through the wall are where a membrane is most likely to be breached, so those are photographed before tile as well. What keeps the floor tile outside the shower from cracking over the slab is covered on our tile installation page.

Often, yes, where the slab under the shower can be lowered, and that is settled on site before Scope Lock rather than from a photo: the Feasibility Audit notes what can be seen and measured, and the three things below settle the rest.

The residential code El Paso adopted sets curb rules only for a shower that has a curb, so a curbless shower is not ruled out, and it still asks for a shower floor that slopes to the drain at least a quarter inch per foot (2021 IRC P2709.1). El Paso's amendment requires a shower lining that rises at least 3 inches above the finished threshold, with one exception: a concrete shower compartment recessed at least 4 inches below the floor beside it, at least 3 1/2 inches thick and at least 2,000 pounds per square inch need not be lined (EPMC 18.10.250). On a slab, the bathroom floor and the shower floor start on the same concrete, so a curbless shower usually means recessing the slab where the shower will sit, and which approach a given slab allows, a recessed concrete compartment or a lined one, is a design decision made once the three things below are known.

Three things are settled before a curbless design is promised. Where the drain can go: its location and how it ties into the line under the slab are confirmed first. What kind of slab it is: whether it is post-tensioned, with steel tendons under tension that have to be located before any cut is planned, as our kitchen remodel page explains. Where the water goes at the entry: with no curb, the waterproofing is carried past the shower opening onto the bathroom floor, the floor is laid out so its low point stays inside the shower, and because there is no 2-inch threshold to hold the flood test, the code calls for a temporary one to be built at the opening for the test (2021 IRC P2503.6).

Where the slab cannot be recessed, a low curb is the usual answer, and both layouts can be drawn as part of the design before Scope Lock.

Grab bars are planned the same way, before the walls close, whether you want them now or may want them later. A grab bar holds only as well as what its screws reach, and tile, backer board and drywall alone are not enough. Solid blocking set between the studs while the wall is open gives each bar something to hold, so the bar positions are marked on the plan and the blocking goes in behind them before the backer board. Adding blocking after the tile is on means opening the finished wall.

Because a hot shower makes its own humidity, whatever the air outside is doing, and the residential code El Paso adopted requires a bathroom to have either a window of at least 3 square feet, half of it openable, or a light and an exhaust fan whose air goes directly outside (2021 IRC R303.3).

Shower steam condenses on the coolest surfaces in the room: the ceiling, an exterior wall and the window frame. Peeling ceiling paint over the shower is the usual sign that a fan is too weak, is rarely run, or is venting into the attic instead of outside. That is why the fan's location and the path its duct takes to the outside are planned before the ceiling closes.

The fan, its switch and its wiring are electrical work, under its own permit where the City requires one, and Sage stays your one point of contact, scheduling that work around the tile.

Because El Paso's tap water carries minerals. El Paso Water describes it as moderately hard to hard, which means it holds calcium and magnesium, and every drop that dries on clear glass leaves a little of that behind as a white spot.

That makes glass a selection decision, settled before the scope is locked. Clear glass shows every spot, and textured or frosted glass hides most of them. A fixed panel with no door leaves fewer edges and hinges to clean. Fixture and hardware finishes differ in how much they show, too. The glass itself is measured after the tile is set, so it is one of the last things to go in.

The same minerals build up inside a showerhead's nozzles and a faucet's aerator, so how easily each one can be taken off or wiped clean is worth weighing when the fixtures are chosen. Installing them is plumbing work.

Most bathroom remodels do, because most change plumbing, electrical or structure: the City of El Paso lists plumbing work, electrical work, permanently installed heating, cooling and ventilation units, and remodeling that requires structural change as permit work, and each plumbing, electrical or mechanical change carries its own trade permit (City of El Paso, When Do I Need a Permit; EPMC 18.02.105.4). What needs none is ordinary minor nonstructural repair work such as painting, papering and similar finish work, and movable cabinets and counters, as long as nothing structural, plumbing, electrical or mechanical changes (EPMC 18.10.040).

Sage pulls the permit for its own scope inside the City of El Paso under LCCR26-00183, and trade work carries its own permits; how the City handles trade permits is explained on our El Paso permits guide.

Yes. El Paso Water runs a commode rebate for new WaterSense-labeled toilets that use 1.28 gallons per flush. Its rebate page lists the current amount and terms: a toilet bought after June 1, 2023, an application with proof of purchase within 60 days of purchase, proof of installation (a plumber's receipt or photos of the newly installed toilet), and a limit of two toilets per household every 10 years. The application is yours to file, and El Paso Water decides it.

In a Sage bathroom the toilet is chosen with the other fixtures during design. El Paso's residential code exempts pulling and resetting the same toilet from a permit only when the work does not replace or rearrange valves, pipes or fixtures (EPMC 18.10.040). A new toilet is set under any plumbing permit the work needs.