What a Brickell bathroom looks like before we start
Most units here still have the bathroom the developer installed 15 to 20 years ago. Towers have gone up in Brickell since the 1970s, but the big wave came in the 2000s, so the usual starting point is a tub with a shower over it and a builder-grade vanity. The layout tends to work. What owners want gone is the tub.
Keeping that layout is what keeps a tower job reasonable. Drain lines drop through the slab to the unit below, and moving one means coring the concrete. We never core or cut a tower slab until the association approves it in writing, an engineer reviews it and the concrete has been scanned, so most Brickell remodels keep the toilet and drains where they are.
The building's approval and its rules
Nothing gets torn out until the association signs off. We prepare the package the board reviews, with the scope, a drawing of the new layout and the contractor's certificate of insurance when the building asks for one. Then we reserve the service elevator, cover the hallway floors and haul debris down on the manager's schedule.
Brickell sits inside the City of Miami, where construction noise is not allowed from 6 PM to 8 AM on weekdays or at any hour on Sundays and holidays. Many towers set tighter windows. Plumbing and electrical inside the unit are done by licensed plumbing and electrical contractors under their own permits. The full building routine is laid out in how we run condo bathroom projects.
Trading the tub for a walk-in shower
Swapping the tub for a walk-in shower changes these bathrooms more than anything else. In a tower we usually build it with a low curb, since a truly curbless entry needs the slab recessed for slope, which is a structural question for the association and an engineer. The pan slopes ¼ to ½ in per foot toward the drain and gets a bonded membrane before any tile. Curb heights and drain types are compared on our walk-in and curbless shower page.
A leak up here lands in the neighbor's ceiling, so we flood-test the pan before tile goes on.
Own a second place across the bay? The rules shift a little for bathroom remodels in Miami Beach buildings.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move the toilet in my Brickell condo?
Sometimes, but it means coring the slab. That takes the association's written approval, an engineer's review and a concrete scan before anyone drills, so most owners leave the toilet in place and put the budget into the shower and tile.
What hours can you work in a Brickell tower?
The City of Miami bans construction noise from 6 PM to 8 AM on weekdays and all day on Sundays and holidays. Your building's own rules usually narrow that, and we book the noisy work inside the window they give us.
Is the association paperwork part of the price?
Yes. The condo bathroom price covers preparing the association package, protecting the floors and taking debris out by the service elevator.
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