Bathrooms · San Diego County
Bathroom remodels, waterproofed properly.
Showers, tubs, tile, and full rebuilds. A large share of this work has come to Dane through water damage, which is a useful thing to have behind you when the job is keeping water where it belongs.
Who remodels bathrooms in San Diego?
San Diego Coastal Builder remodels bathrooms across San Diego County: showers and tub surrounds, tile, vanities, fixtures, and full rebuilds down to the studs. Much of this work has come through water damage (two of the reviews on this site are bathrooms rebuilt after a leak), which means the waterproofing behind the tile gets the same attention as the tile itself.
What we do
Four scopes, and the honest difference between them.
Most people arrive asking for one of these and leave having been talked into the smaller one. That is not a sales technique, it is just usually true.

Surface refresh
New floor, new vanity, new fixtures, paint. The layout stays exactly where it is, which means no plumbing moves and no permit drama. The fastest way to stop hating a bathroom.
- Plumbing moves
- None
- Best for
- A sound bathroom that simply looks dated
Shower and tub replacement
Tearing out a tub or a failing shower pan and rebuilding it properly: waterproofing, pan, tile, glass. This is the single most common bathroom job, and the one where what is behind the tile matters more than the tile.
- Watch for
- A quote that does not name the waterproofing
- Often reveals
- Rot in the subfloor once the pan comes out
Down to the studs
Everything out, the walls opened up, and the room rebuilt. Usually this is either a bathroom that has been leaking quietly for years, or a layout that was wrong from the day the house was built.
- Trades involved
- Plumbing, electrical, tile, drywall, paint
- Best for
- Water damage, or a layout worth actually moving
Insurance claim rebuild
A bathroom that failed and took the surrounding rooms with it. This is where most of Dane’s bathroom work has come from: document the loss, write the scope for the carrier, rebuild once it is approved.
- Runs through
- Your homeowners claim, not your savings
- See also
- The insurance rebuilds page
The part you will never see
A bathroom fails behind the tile, not on it.
Dane spent five years in water mitigation and insurance-funded rebuilds. That means he has opened up a large number of bathrooms that someone else built, and seen exactly which shortcuts cost a homeowner a ceiling three years later.
Pan liner, hot mop or membrane, the joint where the pan meets the wall, and the way the substrate is set: that is where the money should go, and it is the part of a bathroom quote nobody reads. Ours names it, line by line, so you can compare it against a bid that does not.
If the tile is the only thing a contractor wants to talk about, you are being sold a bathroom rather than shown one.


Reviews for Dane at Honor Construction
Two of these reviews are bathrooms.
These reviews were left for Dane Ziperski on Honor Construction’s Yelp page, where he ran these projects as senior project manager. They are not reviews of San Diego Coastal Builder, which he founded in 2026 after earning his own general contractor license.
- Two bathrooms rebuilt after a leak
“We had a leak in our house and Dane and his contractor Adrian got referred to us to help us rebuild our bathrooms. …”
Kevin H.ElitePacific Beach, San Diego, CA · April 2026
Yelp review for Dane at Honor Construction
If the leak already happened
A bathroom that failed is usually an insurance job, not a remodel. Different process, different money, and worth knowing which one you are in before you start calling contractors.
Dane wrote these scopes for carriers for five years.
How claim rebuilds workQuestions
What homeowners ask.
What does a bathroom remodel involve?
It depends on the scope. A surface refresh (floor, vanity, fixtures, paint) leaves the plumbing where it is and is the fastest version of the job. A shower or tub replacement means tearing out the old pan, rebuilding the waterproofing underneath, and re-tiling. A full rebuild takes the room back to the studs and involves plumbing, electrical, tile, drywall, and paint. Which one you need is usually decided by what is behind the tile rather than what you think of the tile.
How long does a bathroom remodel take?
A standard bathroom remodel typically takes two to three weeks of active construction, while a complex, premium master suite renovation can take four to six weeks. The exact timeline depends on whether we are keeping your layout the same or completely reconfiguring your plumbing, electrical, and custom tile layouts. Our team focuses on meticulous planning before we demo a single tile, ensuring that once we start, we work straight through to completion without unnecessary delays.
Will my insurance cover a bathroom rebuild?
If the bathroom failed (a supply line, a leaking pan, a burst pipe) there may well be a claim, and that is a different process from a remodel you chose to do. Coverage is your carrier’s determination, not ours. What San Diego Coastal Builder does is document the damage, write the repair scope for the carrier, and rebuild once it is approved. Dane spent five years doing exactly that work before founding the company.
Do you move plumbing, or only replace what is there?
Both, and the distinction matters to your budget more than almost anything else you will choose. Keeping the toilet, sink, and shower where they are keeps the job simple. Moving them means opening floors or walls, new drain lines and venting, and a permit. It is worth doing when the layout is genuinely wrong, and worth avoiding when it is not.
What makes a bathroom remodel more expensive?
Moving the plumbing. Keeping the toilet, sink, and shower where they are keeps the job simple; relocating them means opening floors or walls, new drain lines and venting, and a permit. A shower or tub replacement also means tearing out the old pan and rebuilding the waterproofing underneath, which is where the real work in a tile shower is.
Why does waterproofing matter so much in a bathroom?
Because a large share of the bathroom work Dane has done came to him through water damage. A shower that was tiled over a bad pan or without proper waterproofing fails behind the wall first, and by the time it shows it is a rebuild. Getting the waterproofing right is the part of the job you will never see and the part that decides whether the room lasts.
What is a surface refresh versus a full rebuild?
A surface refresh replaces the floor, vanity, fixtures, and paint and leaves the plumbing where it is, the fastest version of the job. A shower or tub replacement rebuilds the wet area and re-tiles. A full rebuild takes the room back to the studs and involves plumbing, electrical, tile, drywall, and paint. Which one you need depends on the condition of what is there, not on the size of the room.
Who is on site during a bathroom remodel?
Specialist trades for each phase (plumber, electrician, tile setter, drywall, paint), scheduled in order by Dane, who inspects the work between phases. One person is accountable for the whole room.
Got a bathroom that needs doing?
Send a photo of the room and a sentence about what is wrong with it. That is usually enough to tell you whether you are looking at a refresh or a rebuild.




