Remodeling contractor · McKinney
Bathroom remodeling in McKinney
McKinney splits cleanly into two cities for our purposes. Near the square there are genuinely old houses with small bathrooms and a review process attached. Away from it there is twenty-first-century construction with neither. The work is different in each, and so is the calendar.
- A Certificate of Appropriateness applies only inside the Historic Overlay District
- The trigger is work visible from the public right-of-way, not exterior work generally
- Staff review runs roughly 10 to 30 days rather than a monthly commission cycle
Two McKinneys, two projects
The houses near the square and the houses in the newer developments have almost nothing in common, and pretending otherwise would produce advice that is wrong for both. What decides your project is which of the two you are in, and whether the street can see the part you want to change.
Near the square, inside the overlay
These are genuinely period houses with the problems that implies: small original bathrooms, aging supply and waste lines, and a footprint that usually has to borrow from a closet or hallway to become what people now want. That is framing work, occasionally a load path, and always a decision about where the storage goes instead.
The review question is narrower than owners expect. A bathroom rebuilt inside the existing walls does not need a Certificate of Appropriateness at all, and even work that is technically exterior may fall outside the process if the street cannot see it. Where it does apply, staff review runs roughly 10 to 30 days on a complete application, which is a materially shorter wait than a commission cycle.
Newer McKinney, outside it
Most of the city is recent construction on slab, with copper or PEX supply and a modern panel. There is no historic overlay, no certificate, and nothing behind the wall that needs correcting before the work you want can begin.
The bathrooms there are the builder standard of their decade: a large corner garden tub, a separate framed shower and a long cultured-marble vanity. The usual project is reclaiming the tub for a genuinely large shower and putting real material where the original had none. Because it sits on a slab, moving the drains is the one expensive change.
Here the question is not whether it is exterior. It is whether the street can see it.
Historic Overlay District, near the square
What your address decides
Three things separate a McKinney bathroom from the metro band, and the first one depends entirely on your address.
Whether the street can see the change
Inside the Historic Overlay District the test is visibility from the public right-of-way rather than exterior work in general. That is a narrower trigger than most cities use, and it means a good deal of work proceeds without review. We establish which side of that line your plan falls on before design.
The age of what is behind the wall
Near the square, original supply and waste lines are often at the end of their service life and the room is small enough that most plans borrow space from a closet. Away from it, neither applies. These are effectively two different quotes and we do not average them.
How far the fixtures move on a slab
In the newer parts of the city everything sits on a slab, so relocating a toilet or a shower drain means saw-cutting, re-plumbing and re-pouring. Keeping the fixtures roughly where they are is the single largest saving available in that half of McKinney.
Real numbers, published
What a bathroom costs in McKinney.
The same published bands as the rest of the metro. What changes in McKinney is which of the two cities you live in, because a house near the square and a house in a newer development are not the same job at the same price.
The refresh
$12,000–$20,000
Everything stays where it is. New vanity, toilet, mirror, lighting, hardware and floor tile, with the existing tub or shower kept and re-grouted or re-glazed rather than rebuilt.
What moves the number: Tile choice and whether the existing shower pan is sound. If the pan or the surround has failed, this tier is not honestly available, and we will say so on the first visit, not after demolition.
The full remodel
$18,000–$34,000
Where most projects land
Down to the studs inside the existing footprint. New shower built from the substrate up with a bonded waterproofing membrane, hand-set tile, new cabinetry, new fixtures, and plumbing and electrical brought to current code.
What moves the number: Tile size and pattern, since large-format and herringbone both add days of labor. Then glass, whether the shower becomes curbless, and how far the drain has to travel if the layout changes at all.
Walls move
$34,000–$60,000+
The room changes shape. Taking space from a closet or an adjacent room, relocating the toilet or the shower, a wet room or a fully curbless entry, structural work, a full permit set and inspections.
What moves the number: Structural scope and drain relocation. Moving a toilet more than a few feet on a slab means cutting and re-pouring concrete, the single largest step change in bathroom pricing here.
Bands assume a DFW bathroom of roughly 35 to 90 square feet, plumbing walls staying put unless noted, and no concealed damage, the one thing no honest contractor can price before demolition. We carry it as an itemised allowance rather than padding the headline number, and unused allowance comes back to you.
How McKinney reviews work, and why it is faster
Inside the Historic Overlay District, a Certificate of Appropriateness is required before work begins and before a permit issues. The trigger is narrower than in most cities: it applies to work that is visible from the public right-of-way, which is a different test from the exterior-work standard used in Fort Worth and Dallas.
Ordinary maintenance generally needs no approval, provided materials and design are not changed. Painting, repairs and replacing materials in kind fall outside the process, which removes a large share of what owners of older houses actually do.
The review route is the part that most distinguishes McKinney. Applications go through the city's development portal and are reviewed by the Historic Preservation Officer, with a stated window of roughly 10 to 30 days for a complete application. There is no monthly commission cycle to plan around and no neighborhood task force step, so the practical waiting time is measured in weeks rather than in months.
Outside the overlay district, and that is most of McKinney, remodeling is ordinary permitted work. Altering plumbing, electrical or framing needs a permit. Finish work inside the existing footprint generally does not. We pull what is required and the inspection dates go in your written schedule.
Bathroom remodeling in McKinney, answered
Do I need a Certificate of Appropriateness for a bathroom in McKinney?
How long does historic review take in McKinney?
Does repainting or repairing need approval?
The parts that are the same everywhere
How a tiled shower is actually built, why grout is not waterproofing, what separates a renovation from an acrylic refit, and the full question and answer on cost across the metro all live on our bathroom remodeling page. This page covers only what is different about doing the work in McKinney.
The permit rules, the review calendar and everything else that is true of the place regardless of which room you are doing are on the McKinney page.
Also remodeling in McKinney: kitchen remodeling in McKinney.
Get your fixed price.
Two quick steps. We already know it is a bathroom, and the last step is the only place we ask for your number.
Step 1 of 2
Project: Bathroom
The fear is not the price. It is being left mid-build.
These four commitments are in the contract rather than on a badge.
A fixed written price
The number we sign is the number you pay. It moves only through a written change order you approve before any work starts.
A named project manager with a cell number
One person owns your project from demolition to final walkthrough. You get their mobile number on day one, and they answer it.
A written update every Friday
Photos, what happened this week, what happens next, and whether we are on schedule, in your inbox before the weekend either way.
Broom-clean every evening
Floor protection down every morning, tools packed out and floors swept every night. You are living here while we work, and we work like it.