Bathroom Remodel vs. Refresh: How to Know What Your Bathroom Actually Needs

If your bathroom looks dated but everything works — the plumbing is solid, the layout makes sense, nothing leaks — you probably need a refresh, not a full remodel. A refresh updates surfaces and fixtures while keeping the bones intact. A remodel tears it down to the studs and rebuilds. In St. Petersburg, the price difference is significant: a cosmetic refresh on a standard 5x7 bathroom runs $20,000–$30,000, while a full remodel lands between $40,000 and $70,000. The right choice depends on three things: what’s behind your walls, whether your layout works for how you actually live, and how long you plan to stay.

Before

After

What’s Actually Different

A refresh — sometimes called a facelift — keeps your bathroom’s existing layout and plumbing in place. Same drain locations, same wall framing, same footprint. You’re replacing what you can see: tile, vanity, fixtures, paint, maybe swapping a tub for a shower in the same location. The plumbing rough-in (the pipes and wiring behind the walls) stays where it is.

A remodel changes the structure. Walls come down. Drains move. In homes built on a concrete slab — common across St. Petersburg — relocating a drain means cutting the slab, recessing a new drain line, and pouring new concrete. Electrical gets rerouted. Waterproofing gets rebuilt from scratch.

Here’s how the two compare side by side:

How to Tell Which One Your Bathroom Needs

Your bathroom is already telling you — here’s how to read the signals.

You probably need a refresh if:

• Your layout works for how you actually use the space
• Plumbing fixtures are in the right spots — you don’t want to move the toilet, shower, or vanity
• The structure underneath is solid — no soft spots in the floor, no water stains on the ceiling below, no musty smells near the shower
• Your main complaint is cosmetic: dated tile, worn countertops, old fixtures, peeling paint

You probably need a full remodel if:

• The layout doesn’t match how you live — you want a walk-in shower where a tub sits, or a double vanity where a single one barely fits
• You’re seeing signs of water damage — stains, soft flooring, mold, or persistent musty smells
• Your home was built before the 1970s and the plumbing has never been inspected
• You need accessibility features — a curbless shower (a shower with no raised edge at the entry), grab bars, or a wider doorway
• The room is undersized and you’re expanding the footprint into adjacent space

Some projects genuinely start as refreshes and become remodels once demolition reveals what’s behind the walls. That’s not a contractor upselling — it’s reality in older St. Pete homes.

The Cast Iron Question: Why Some Refreshes Become Remodels

This is the biggest wildcard in St. Petersburg bathroom projects, and it’s why scoping your plumbing before committing to a budget matters more here than in most markets.

Most homes in Old Northeast, Historic Kenwood, Snell Isle, and Shore Acres were built before the 1970s with cast iron drain pipes. Cast iron was the standard — durable and quiet. But after 50–70 years, it corrodes from the inside out. Your pipes can look fine on the outside while the interior is scaling, pitting, or nearly closed off.

“We almost always get a camera down the pipes to know what we’re dealing with and tell the story to homeowners,” says Revolution owner Jeremy. A plumber runs a small camera through your drain system for $100–$300. It takes about an hour and shows you exactly what’s happening underground.

If your cast iron is healthy, your refresh stays a refresh. If it’s corroded, you’re looking at $10,000–$20,000 in pipe replacement — and that moves your project into remodel territory whether you planned for it or not. “In a 100-year-old house, we know that there have been four generations of grandpas and dads doing their DIY bullshit work — things we can’t see until we really are doing some destructive demo.”

The camera scope is the cheapest insurance in bathroom renovation. $100–$300 upfront can save you from a five-figure surprise on demolition day. For a deeper look at what drives these costs, see our bathroom remodel cost guide.

What a Refresh Can (and Can’t) Fix

A well-executed refresh transforms the room. New tile on floors and shower walls, a modern vanity with a solid-surface countertop, updated faucets and showerheads, fresh paint, new lighting, and modern accessories — your bathroom looks and feels completely different.

What a refresh won’t fix: layout problems, underlying plumbing issues, structural damage, or waterproofing failures. If your shower pan (the waterproof membrane underneath your shower tile) is failing and water is getting into the subfloor, new tile over the same failing substrate won’t solve the problem. That’s a remodel.

One distinction that catches homeowners off guard: converting a tub to a walk-in shower is usually remodel-level work, even if nothing else changes. Tub-to-shower conversions involve moving the drain, installing new waterproofing, and often modifying the curb or threshold. On a concrete slab, a curbless conversion requires cutting the slab to recess the drain below floor level. Your $25,000 refresh just became a $45,000 remodel — not because of cosmetics, but because of the plumbing underneath.

Why Pricing Transparency Matters When Scope Is Uncertain

The refresh-vs.-remodel question is exactly where fixed-price bids cause the most problems. A contractor quotes a fixed price for what looks like a refresh. Demolition starts. They find corroded pipes or a failed shower pan. Now the scope has changed, but the contractor is trying to stay under a number — so they either cut corners or hit you with a change order that feels like extortion.

Revolution uses Time & Materials pricing with a transparent 30% markup — stated openly, not buried in line items. Before construction starts, your estimate goes through a pre-construction phase where 75% of line items become confirmed fixed-price, giving you 90–95% budget certainty. You get weekly budget reports showing where every dollar went.

If your refresh stays a refresh, you pay refresh prices. If it becomes a remodel because of what’s behind the walls, you see the real cost as it happens — no hidden markups, no surprise lump sums. And because Revolution’s 20+ W-2 carpenters handle tile work, Schluter waterproofing (a membrane system that carries a lifetime warranty), and finish carpentry in-house, the same crew that started your project finishes it, regardless of how the scope evolves.

Key Takeaways

• A refresh updates surfaces and fixtures ($20,000–$30,000 for a standard 5x7 in St. Pete); a remodel changes layout, plumbing, and structure ($40,000–$70,000+)
• If your layout works and the structure is sound, a refresh is likely all you need
• Scope your cast iron pipes with a camera ($100–$300) before committing to a budget — corroded pipes turn refreshes into remodels
• Tub-to-shower conversions usually require remodel-level work, even when everything else stays the same
• Revolution’s T&M pricing handles scope changes transparently — no surprise change orders when a refresh becomes a remodel

Ready to dig into the numbers? Our bathroom remodel cost guide breaks down pricing by component and scope. Working with a tight footprint? See our 5x8 bathroom remodel ideas. Start with our bathroom remodel checklist to make sure nothing gets missed. See our full bathroom remodel service page for the 8-phase process and project gallery. Thinking about doing the kitchen too? Explore our kitchen remodel services.