Bathroom plumbing covers everything from a running toilet or a shower valve that won't hold temperature to a full gut remodel where the tub, vanity and floor drain all move. It's repair work when something's broken, and rough-in work when walls are open and pipe is going in new places. Both come through Sheltons Construction the same way: a licensed plumber, a clear scope, and a permit when the work calls for one.
When do you need a bathroom plumber?
Most calls fall into a few buckets:
- A toilet, tub, shower or vanity that leaks, runs, drains slowly, or won't hold hot water at a steady temperature
- A remodel where fixtures are being relocated, a tub is becoming a shower, or a half bath is being added
- New construction or an addition that needs a bathroom rough-in from scratch
- An older house where the shutoff valves, the drain line, or the vent stack behind the wall are original to the house and starting to show it
If water is actively coming through a ceiling or a floor, that's an emergency, not a remodel — see emergency plumbing and shut the water off at the fixture or the main if you can get to it safely.
How does the visit go?
For a repair, the plumber looks at the fixture, checks the shutoff and the supply lines, and often runs a sewer camera inspection if the issue is a slow or repeat drain rather than the fixture itself. Most single-fixture repairs are same-visit.
For a remodel or rough-in, it's usually two visits: rough-in (supply, drain, vent, sometimes moved several feet if the layout is changing) before drywall goes up, then trim-out (faucets, valves, toilet, tub or shower fixtures) once tile and finish work are done. Anything that moves a drain line or adds a fixture needs a permit and a rough-in inspection before the walls close — a builder or GC coordinating the schedule can talk through it directly; see drain cleaning and hydro-jetting if the existing line needs clearing or descaling before new fixtures tie in.
What affects the price?
No prices here, but the things that move a bathroom job up or down in scope:
- Whether it's a repair (swap a valve, fix a wax ring, clear a P-trap) or a full rough-in
- Whether pipe is being moved — moving a toilet flange or a shower drain a few feet is a different job than replacing what's there
- What's behind the wall: galvanized supply lines, cast iron drain, or a mix of decades of past repairs, common in Portland's older bungalows and Craftsman-era houses
- Access — a slab floor, a second-story bathroom over a finished ceiling, or a crawlspace with limited clearance
- Whether a permit and inspection are required, which most rough-in and relocation work is
What's specific to Portland-area bathrooms
A lot of the metro's housing stock — the bungalows in inner Portland, the older homes in Milwaukie and Oregon City, the postwar ranches spread through Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham and Tigard — still has original cast iron drain lines and, in some cases, galvanized supply piping feeding the bathroom. Both corrode from the inside; a bathroom that drains slowly or a shower with weak pressure is often a symptom of the pipe, not the fixture. See water pressure problems and leak detection & pipe repair for what that looks like beyond the bathroom itself.
Portland's water is soft and mildly corrosive, which is generally kinder to fixtures than hard-water regions but does its own slow work on old galvanized pipe. On a remodel, it's worth asking whether the supply lines feeding the bathroom should be replaced while the wall is open rather than left for a future leak — see whole-home repiping. It's also a natural point to swap in a tankless water heater or upsize a tank if the new bathroom's fixtures — a soaking tub, a rain head — will outrun what the current water heater can keep up with.
Why Sheltons Construction
Sheltons Construction is a licensed Oregon plumbing contractor working residential and light-commercial bathroom plumbing across the Portland metro — repairs, remodels, and new construction rough-in, with the CCB and plumbing board licensing that permit-pulling work requires. The same crew that fixes a leaking shutoff valve on a Tuesday is the one a GC calls to hit a rough-in inspection on schedule.
What to do now
For a bathroom that's leaking, backed up, or without hot water today, contact Sheltons Construction or check emergency plumbing for what to do while you wait. Planning a remodel or a new bathroom rough-in — for yourself or as a GC lining up trades — the same contact page is the place to talk through scope and scheduling. General questions about permits, timelines or how visits work are covered in the FAQ.
Where we work
Bathroom plumbing repairs, remodels and rough-in across the metro: Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, Tigard, Tualatin, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Oregon City, and Milwaukie.