The master bathroom remodel ideas that still feel right fifteen years later are mostly layout decisions, not finishes: two sinks with real counter space between them, a shower big enough to use without brushing the glass, a toilet you cannot see from the bed, and a tub only if someone in the house will actually fill it. In Los Angeles, a primary bathroom remodel that changes some of the layout typically falls in the $18,000–$40,000 mid-range tier; a full reconfiguration with plumbing moved across the room runs $40,000–$80,000+; and projects with structural changes, steam showers or extensive custom work reach $100,000 or more. The single decision that moves the price most is whether the drains move, and it is the one to settle first.
We are Green Design and Build, a licensed residential general contractor based in Van Nuys (CSLB #1110975), designing and building bathroom remodels across Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties and the western parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The plumbing and electrical work in our bathrooms is done by licensed specialty contractors we schedule and supervise. Every figure on this page is a budgeting range, not a quote: what your bathroom costs depends on the room, the foundation under it and the selections you make, and the honest number comes from a site visit.
A note on the name. Builders, designers and real estate listings increasingly say primary bathroom or primary suite instead of master bathroom. They mean the same room, the bathroom attached to the main bedroom, and this guide uses both terms.
What makes a primary bathroom different from any other bathroom
A hall bathroom works for one person at a time. A primary bathroom usually has to work for two people at the same hour, opens onto a bedroom where someone may still be asleep, and has more fixtures on more walls. Three things follow: room for two people at once, privacy and quiet for the toilet and fan, and a budget that depends on how many of those fixtures move.
If your bathroom is closer to hall-bath size, our guide to small bathroom remodel layouts covers the plans that fit tight footprints. This article is about the larger primary suite.
Master bathroom layouts, compared
Most primary bathrooms are a variation on five layouts. Room shape, window position and the existing drain locations decide which are realistic in your house.
| Layout | What it is | Works best when | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double vanity on one wall | Two sinks in one continuous cabinet | One wall is long enough for two sinks with counter between them | Shares one drain wall, but the counter between sinks is often cut and later regretted |
| Separate tub and shower | A freestanding or alcove tub plus a stand-alone shower | The room is large and someone uses a tub regularly | Two wet zones, two valves, two drains and the largest tile area of any layout |
| Wet room | Tub inside the glassed-in shower zone, on one waterproofed floor | The room is wide but not long | The whole zone is built as a shower: sloped floor, continuous membrane |
| Water closet room | The toilet behind its own door | The bathroom opens onto the bedroom, or two people get ready together | Uses floor area; code clearances still apply inside it |
| Shower-only primary bath | The tub comes out and a larger shower takes its place | No one in the household uses the tub | Best when another bathroom keeps a tub for bathing small children or pets |
Double vanity on one long wall
The double vanity is the defining feature of most primary bathrooms, and the one most often compromised. Two sinks squeezed into a cabinet barely long enough for them leave each person a strip of counter. The better version keeps usable counter between the basins, or adds a lowered sit-down section, like the Inglewood vanity below. Choose drawers over doors for storage, and put lighting at face height beside each mirror, not only overhead.
When no single wall is long enough, two vanities on facing walls give each person their own sink and storage. That doubles the drain walls, so it is a plumbing change rather than a cabinet swap.
Separate tub and shower
A freestanding tub with a separate walk-in shower is the layout most people picture, and the one that needs the most planning before demolition. A floor-mounted tub filler brings the supply lines up through the floor at an exact spot, so the tub and filler have to be chosen before the rough plumbing. Leave open floor around the tub so it can be cleaned. On a second floor, have the framing under a large tub evaluated, and check that the water heater can fill a deep tub.
The wet room
A wet room puts the tub inside the shower enclosure: one glass wall or door, with tub and shower sharing a single waterproofed floor. It suits rooms that are wide but not long. Everything inside the glass is built to shower standards: a continuous membrane, a floor that falls to the drain everywhere, and safety glazing. A linear drain lets the floor slope one way so large-format tile can run through uncut.
The water closet room
Putting the toilet behind its own door is the most effective privacy upgrade in a primary suite. The California Plumbing Code clearances apply inside the compartment: at least 15 inches from the toilet’s centerline to any side wall or obstruction, and 24 inches clear in front. Give it a light and fan coverage, and use a door that does not swing into the toilet; a pocket door often solves that.
Removing the tub entirely
If no one uses the tub, taking it out frees the floor for a generous walk-in shower, a bench and storage. Our tub-to-shower conversion cost guide prices that change in detail, and the walk-in shower guide covers curbed versus curbless entries, glass and drains.
Master bathroom ideas that age well, and a few that do not
Tile colors come and go. These ideas are about how the room works, which is why they hold up:
- A shower you walk into, not climb into. A low curb, or a curbless entry where the floor structure allows it, works for every age and every injury.
- A bench, planned from the first sketch. It has to be drawn into the shower size from the start; see our guide to the walk-in shower with a seat for heights and framing.
- Blocking for grab bars while the walls are open. Solid wood in the walls lets you add bars later without opening the tile; it is on our aging-in-place remodeling checklist.
- Large-format porcelain with fewer grout lines. Less grout to clean, but the floor has to be flattened first.
- Niches drawn into the tile layout. Placed with the layout, a niche lines up with the grout instead of leaving slivers.
- Layered lighting. Overhead, face-height at the mirrors, and a dim night light.
- A real exhaust fan, ducted outdoors. The code minimum is 50 cfm on demand; a large room with a glassed-in shower often needs more.
- A heated floor. Comfortable in a large tiled room, but it is a high-end-tier item, so price it early.
And the ideas that tend to date, or that we are most often asked to undo:
- The platform corner tub. The built-in corner tub of the 1990s is the single most common thing we are asked to remove: it takes a large share of the floor, it is awkward to climb into, and most households use it a handful of times a year.
- The toilet in the sightline from the bed. Moving it later costs money; planning it out of view does not.
- A rain head, handheld and body sprays on one valve, unplanned. California limits the combined flow, as the next section explains.
For finish and style inspiration once the layout is settled, browse our bathroom design ideas.
The code numbers that shape a master bathroom layout
California’s 2025 building, plumbing and mechanical codes took effect on January 1, 2026, and some section numbers moved. These are the rules that most often decide whether a primary bathroom layout fits. The building department enforces them through the permit inspections, so draw the plan around them from the start.
| Rule | Where it is | What it means for the layout |
|---|---|---|
| Toilet clearances | California Plumbing Code 402.5 | At least 15 inches from the toilet’s centerline to any side wall or obstruction, 30 inches center to center between adjacent fixtures, and 24 inches clear in front. A water closet room is sized from these numbers. |
| Minimum shower size | California Plumbing Code 408.7 | At least 1,024 square inches of finished interior, able to contain a 30-inch circle, kept clear to 70 inches above the drain. A built-in bench cannot count toward the minimum. A receptor at least 30 by 60 inches is exempt from the area and circle minimums. |
| More than one showerhead | California Plumbing Code 408.3.2 | All showerheads and outlets on one valve together may not exceed 1.8 gallons per minute at 80 psi, or the shower must be built so only one outlet runs at a time. A handheld counts as a showerhead. |
| Exhaust fan | California Mechanical Code 405.3 | Ducted directly to the outdoors, at least 50 cfm on demand. |
| Glass near a tub or shower | California Residential Code R324.4.5 | Glass in walls or enclosures containing or next to a tub or shower is a hazardous location when its bottom edge is less than 60 inches above the floor, so it has to be safety glazing. Glass more than 60 inches horizontally from the tub’s water’s edge is exempt. |
Two of these surprise people. A “dual shower” in California is a shower whose outlets share 1.8 gallons per minute or run one at a time, so the valve is chosen with the layout. And the glazing rule reaches the window beside a freestanding tub, so check that glass before the tile goes up. The full text is in the IAPMO readers for the 2025 California Plumbing Code and 2025 California Mechanical Code, and in the ICC reader for Chapter 3 of the 2025 California Residential Code.
What each master bathroom layout change costs in Los Angeles
Most primary bathroom remodels land in the $18,000–$40,000 mid-range tier or the $40,000–$80,000+ high-end tier. Where yours falls depends less on the size of the room than on how many fixtures move and what is under the floor. These are the same budgeting tiers published in our bathroom remodel cost guide for Los Angeles:
| Tier | Typical Los Angeles range | What usually changes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic refresh | $8,000–$18,000 | Layout stays; new tile or tub surround, vanity, toilet, fixtures, lighting and flooring |
| Mid-range remodel | $18,000–$40,000 | Some layout changes: tub to walk-in shower, plumbing moved a short distance, frameless glass, better tile and ventilation |
| High-end renovation | $40,000–$80,000+ | Full layout reconfiguration, plumbing moved across the room, custom cabinetry, natural stone, heated floors |
| Luxury with structural changes or specialized systems | $100,000 or more | Structural changes, extensive custom work, premium materials, steam showers |
The individual line items below, from our tub-to-shower conversion guide, explain most of the gap between those tiers:
| Line item | Typical Los Angeles budgeting estimate | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing with the drain and valve left in place | $500–$2,500 | New valve and trim, drain converted in the same spot |
| Relocating a drain, raised foundation | $2,500–$6,000 | Crawl-space access, new trap and vent tie-in, drain size |
| Relocating a drain, slab foundation | $5,000–$12,000+ | Saw-cutting and trenching the slab, patching, how far the line moves |
| Electrical package (exhaust fan, GFCI receptacle, lighting) | $1,000–$3,000 | New or replaced fan, duct route to the outside, lighting count |
| Floor tile, installed | $12–$25 per sq ft | Tile choice and layout |
Which layout changes push the price into the next tier
- Tub out, walk-in shower in the same place, or a second sink on the same wall. Typically mid-range: the drains move a short distance or not at all.
- Toilet into its own room, freestanding tub mid-floor, or the shower moved across the room. Each relocates at least one drain; together they are what the high-end tier means by plumbing moved across the room.
- A steam shower, a moved wall or a new window opening. The structural and specialized work behind the $100,000-or-more tier.
A modest-looking plan that moves three drains across a slab can cost more than a lavish one that keeps every drain in place. If you are weighing how to pay for a larger scope, our home remodel financing options are worth reading before the design is final.
Slab or raised foundation: the question to answer before you fall in love with a layout
We work on both slab and raised-foundation houses across Los Angeles, and the difference matters more in a primary bathroom than anywhere else in the house, because primary bathroom layouts move so many fixtures. On a raised foundation, a plumber works from the crawl space and a relocated drain costs $2,500–$6,000. On a slab, the same move means cutting and trenching concrete and runs $5,000–$12,000 or more. Multiply that by a toilet, a tub and a second sink and the foundation can decide which layout is affordable.
A quick way to tell: a crawl-space access hatch in a closet floor or an exterior vent screen along the base of the walls usually means a raised foundation, and we confirm it at the site visit. Older houses also hide things behind the tile, which is why our cost guide recommends a contingency of 15% to 20%; it describes a bathroom budgeted at about $22,000 that finished at about $28,500 after a long-leaking tub overflow gasket was found.
What to decide first: the order that protects your budget
Most expensive mistakes in a primary bathroom come from deciding things in the wrong order. Settle these in sequence, before demolition:
- Who uses the room, and when. Two people getting ready together need two sinks and probably a toilet room; an early riser and a late sleeper need a quiet fan.
- Tub or no tub. It frees or consumes the largest block of floor area.
- Where the drains go. Draw the toilet, shower, tub and sinks against the existing drain locations and decide which moves are worth paying for.
- Shower size and entry. Curb or curbless, bench or no bench, one valve or two, and where the glass goes.
- Vanity length and storage. One cabinet or two, drawers or doors, and how much counter between the sinks.
- Lighting and ventilation. Fan location and duct route, mirror lighting, night lighting.
- Every fixture, bought or confirmed available. The rough plumbing is set to the tub filler, valve and vanity you actually chose.
- Tile and finishes last. They are the easiest decisions to change.
Our article on the correct bathroom remodel order follows the same logic through construction, from permit and demolition to the final inspection.
Three primary bathrooms we have built
Inglewood: a full gut with a freestanding tub and double vanity
The owners of this primary bathroom remodel in Inglewood wanted a freestanding tub, a large glass shower and a double vanity in a dark, modern palette. The room was taken to the studs, the supply and drain lines were rerouted for the new tub position and shower valve, and the shower walls were built in cement board with a waterproofing membrane before tile: marble-look panels, black textured tile in the shower, and a long white double vanity with black stone counters.
Irvine: the corner tub comes out
In this Irvine bathroom remodel, a corner soaking tub on a platform took up a third of the room and a builder-grade vanity ran wall to wall. The platform came out and the tub drain was moved so a freestanding tub could sit under the window. The shower became a walk-in with three tiled niches and a low curb, and a floating wood vanity with a backlit mirror replaced the old cabinet.
Diamond Bar: three bathrooms on one schedule
The Diamond Bar bathroom remodels covered two full bathrooms and a three-quarter bath in the same house, with one crew and one schedule. Two of the rooms use large-format marble-look porcelain over properly flattened floors, with linear drains so the big tiles run through the showers. If other bathrooms are due too, doing them with the primary means each trade comes once.
Permits, timeline and living through the remodel
Whether a permit is needed, and what it brings with it, depends on the scope and on the city. Los Angeles, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and the Orange County cities each issue their own. Our guide to bathroom remodel permits in Los Angeles explains what triggers one, what the inspector checks at rough and final, and the retrofit items that ride along with a permit.
On timing, our published Los Angeles estimates are two to three weeks of construction for a same-layout refresh, three to five weeks for a mid-range remodel and five to eight weeks for a full reconfiguration, plus one to four weeks of design, selections and permitting before work starts.
Plan for living without the room: arrange another shower if this is the only one, and expect short water shutoffs during rough plumbing and dust barriers at the bedroom door.
Master Bathroom Remodel FAQs
How much does a master bathroom remodel cost in Los Angeles?
Most primary bathroom remodels in Los Angeles fall in the $18,000–$40,000 mid-range tier or the $40,000–$80,000+ high-end tier, and projects with structural changes, steam showers or extensive custom work reach $100,000 or more. How many drains move, and whether the house sits on a slab, decide where yours lands. These are budgeting ranges, not a quote.
Is a master bathroom the same as a primary bathroom?
Yes. Primary bathroom is the term many builders, designers and listings now use for the bathroom attached to the main bedroom; master bathroom is the older name for the same room.
Should I keep a bathtub in my master bathroom?
Keep it if someone will use it regularly; otherwise the floor area usually does more good as a larger shower, a bench or storage, especially when another bathroom in the house keeps a tub.
Can a master shower have two showerheads in California?
Yes, but under California Plumbing Code 408.3.2 the combined flow of all showerheads and outlets on one valve cannot exceed 1.8 gallons per minute at 80 psi, unless the shower is built so only one outlet runs at a time. A handheld counts as a showerhead, so the valve and outlets have to be planned together.
How much space does a toilet need in a separate toilet room?
California Plumbing Code 402.5 requires at least 15 inches from the center of the toilet to any side wall or obstruction and at least 24 inches of clear space in front of the bowl. Plan a door that does not swing into the toilet, plus a light and fan coverage.
What is a wet room, and does it make sense in a Los Angeles house?
A wet room places the tub inside the shower enclosure on one waterproofed, sloped floor behind a single glass wall or door. It suits primary bathrooms that are wide but not long, as long as the whole zone is built to shower standards with a continuous membrane and the glass is safety glazing.
How long does a master bathroom remodel take?
Construction typically takes three to five weeks for a mid-range remodel and five to eight weeks for a full reconfiguration, after one to four weeks of design, selections and permitting. A same-layout refresh is shorter, at two to three weeks of construction.
Should I remodel the primary bathroom and the other bathrooms at the same time?
Often, yes. Demolition, waterproofing, tile and glass each come to the house once instead of several times, which usually costs less overall, as long as one bathroom stays usable during the work.
Planning a primary bathroom remodel in Los Angeles?
Whether a primary bathroom works for two people every morning is decided on paper, before the first tile is ordered. We measure the room, check what is under the floor, draw the layout against the code clearances and give you a written scope with a budgeting range you can compare against anyone else’s. Learn more about our bathroom remodeling services, including the work we do in Sherman Oaks, Glendale, Van Nuys and Woodland Hills. Site visits take about two hours, proposals follow within 48 hours, and we reply within one business day. Call (800) 348-3050, 8am–6pm daily, or request an estimate online.