Bathroom Remodeling
Duluth bathroom remodeler — built to hold up behind the tile, sauna and all.
Bathroom remodeling in Duluth and across Northern Minnesota, waterproofed before a single tile goes up. From a layout fix to a full gut with a sauna built in, the owner is on site for the work.
The room
The damage
you can't see.
A leak, dated tile, or a layout that never worked is the reason most people call. But the real problem with bathrooms is the one you don't notice: the remodel that looks finished and fails behind the wall, quietly soaking the framing until the floor tells on it. A bathroom is mostly waterproofing wearing tile.
ProCon builds the part you can't see first. Dan Bruckelmyer quotes the room, settles the layout, and is on the job through demo, waterproofing, and finish — and yes, ProCon builds bathrooms around saunas, too. One recent project worked a bathroom and sauna into an existing space. Here's what a ProCon bathroom includes:
- Demo & disposal. The old bathroom out and hauled away, down to sound framing before anything new goes back.
- Waterproofing done right. A waterproof shower and wet-wall base built before tile — the step that decides whether the room lasts.
- Tile work. Floors, walls, and shower set straight and sealed, not just stuck up to look good on day one.
- Plumbing fixtures. Shower valves, tub, toilet, and faucets set to the new layout and tested before the walls close.
- Vanity & finishes. Vanity, counter, lighting, and trim — the surfaces you touch every morning.
- Ventilation, and an optional sauna. Proper exhaust so moisture leaves the room — and a built-in sauna space when that's the plan.
How a ProCon bathroom gets built
Demo to last tile.
Walkthrough & estimate
We look at the room, talk through the layout, and get you a free written estimate.
Design & selections
Layout, tile, fixtures, and finishes locked — the scope set before anything comes out.
Demo & waterproofing
Old bathroom out and hauled off; the shower and wet wall waterproofed first.
Tile, plumbing & fixtures
Tile set, fixtures and vanity in, ventilation vented — and a sauna wired if it's in the plan.
Finish & walkthrough
Surfaces finished, we walk the room together, and the workmanship is backed afterward.
Every bathroom is quoted to its own scope — a layout fix and a full gut with a sauna are different jobs. We look at the room and give you a written estimate, no charge.
Quoted to the scope, with the schedule set before demo. You know the plan and the timeline before the first wall comes down.
Ready to talk through your project?
Free written estimate · MN license #QB807406
Bathroom remodeling in Duluth
Old houses,
new bathrooms.
Most of the bathrooms we remodel in Duluth are in houses that pre-date the bathroom itself — Lakeside and Lester Park bungalows, Congdon and East Hillside foursquares, Denfeld and West Duluth story-and-a-halfs. Those rooms were shoehorned in decades ago: cast-iron and galvanized plumbing, plaster-and-lath walls, a floor that has settled toward the lake, and a window where the shower wants to go.
That's the work we plan for. Before demo, Dan walks the room and the basement below it to see what the plumbing stack, the joists, and the venting actually look like, so the written estimate covers the house you have — not a new-construction bathroom that doesn't exist. Hillside homes get a drainage and venting plan, lakeshore homes get the moisture control a Lake Superior winter demands, and every remodel is pulled under a City of Duluth building permit when the scope requires one.
- Plaster, lath & framing. Opened up, squared, and brought to sound framing before any backer board or tile goes on.
- Old plumbing, replaced correctly. Galvanized and cast-iron lines swapped for new supply and drain lines where they're exposed, tied in and tested before the walls close.
- Hillside basements. Basement and lower-level bathrooms planned around Duluth's slope — drainage, ejector pumps when needed, and exhaust that actually leaves the house.
- Saunas, the Duluth way. A proper cedar sauna off the bathroom, built and vented for a house that sees 40 below.
We remodel bathrooms across the city — Lakeside, Woodland, Congdon Park, Kenwood, Piedmont, Morgan Park — plus Hermantown, Proctor, and up the shore. See everything we build in Duluth.
Bathroom questions
Answered.
Why do so many remodeled bathrooms fail behind the wall?
Because the waterproofing under the tile was skipped or rushed. A bathroom can look finished and still be wicking water into the framing. We build a waterproof shower and wet-wall base before any tile is set, so the part you can't see is the part we get right first.
Can you build a sauna into our bathroom?
Yes — we build bathrooms around saunas. On one recent Duluth-area project we worked a bathroom and sauna into an existing space. If you want a sauna as part of the remodel, we plan the framing, ventilation, and finishes for it from the start rather than tacking it on at the end.
Will you fix a bad layout, or just replace what's there?
We'll rework the layout. Moving the vanity, resizing the shower, or relocating plumbing is part of the design step before demo. We settle the new layout with you up front so the plumbing and tile are set to the plan, not to wherever the old fixtures happened to sit.
What does a bathroom remodel cost in Duluth?
It's quoted to the scope — a tub-to-shower conversion in Hermantown and a full gut with a sauna in Two Harbors are not the same job. We give you a free written estimate after seeing the room, and the schedule is set before demo so you know what you're signing up for.
Do you remodel bathrooms in Duluth's older homes?
That's most of what we do in Duluth. Houses in Lakeside, Congdon, East Hillside, and West Duluth usually have plaster walls, cast-iron or galvanized plumbing, and floors that have settled. We open the room up, bring it to sound framing, replace the old lines we expose, and waterproof before tile — so the new bathroom outlasts the one it replaced.
Do I need a permit for a bathroom remodel in Duluth?
If plumbing, electrical, or structure changes, yes — the City of Duluth requires a building permit and inspections. We pull the permit under our Minnesota license (#QB807406) and schedule the inspections, so you're not chasing the city during your own remodel.
Is the owner actually on the job?
Yes. Dan is on site for the work, not relaying it through a crew you never met. ProCon is licensed in Minnesota under #QB807406 and insured, and every remodel is backed by a workmanship guarantee.
A recent ProCon project
“Professional from the first consultation all the way through the entire project. Outstanding workmanship and craftsmanship.”
You might also need
Bathroom remodeling, available in
Let's redo your bathroom.
A leak, a dated room, or a sauna you've been meaning to build. Free estimates, straight to the owner.