Bathroom Remodeling in Hillside, NJ

Hillside's housing is mostly modest single-family houses from the 1930s through the 1950s, and a large share of them were built with one bathroom. Some have since gained a second; many have not.

That single fact shapes most of what we do here. It affects the sequence, it affects how disruptive a remodel is, and it is why "can we add another one" comes up more in this town than almost anywhere else we work.

Median year built

1950of 7,457 housing units

Built before 1940

29.7%71.5% before 1960

Single-family detached

57.1%93.2% in 1–4 unit buildings

Owner-occupied

67.3%2.77 sq mi, Union County

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates. Figures describe Hillside township, Union County, NJ.

What Hillside bathrooms look like

The standard is a 5-by-8 hall bathroom on the second floor: an alcove tub, a toilet, a small vanity or a wall-hung sink. In the Cape Cods, that bathroom sits under the roof slope with knee walls on one or both sides, which constrains where you can stand upright and therefore where fixtures sensibly go.

Construction is generally more predictable than in the prewar towns. The 1950s houses have drywall and copper; the 1930s and 40s houses often have plaster in the older sections and galvanized steel supply lines that have closed up internally over eighty years.

What demolition turns up most often here: rotted subfloor around the toilet flange from a wax ring that failed long ago, water damage at the tub apron where the surround has been leaking behind the tile, and supply piping worth replacing while it is accessible.

What we handle in a Hillside bathroom

Full remodels, shower rebuilds, tub-to-shower conversions, tile, vanities, adding a powder room, and the plumbing, electrical and framing that goes with them. Permits filed with the township.

Full Bathroom Remodels in Hillside

In a one-bathroom house this is a scheduling problem as much as a construction one. The work itself is three to four weeks if the layout stays put, and the room is unusable for most of it. What we can do is sequence to restore a working toilet as early as the inspections allow and compress the stretch with no shower. The rough plumbing and electrical inspection is a hard stop that cannot be worked around, so honesty about the timeline matters more here than the ability to move fast. See full bathroom remodeling.

Tub-to-Shower Conversions in Hillside

The standard 60-inch alcove in these houses converts cleanly. The tub comes out, the drain relocates from the tub position near the wall to a shower position nearer the center with correct fall and proper venting, the valve is replaced, and the alcove is rebuilt with a waterproof assembly and tile. Most of these houses have open basements, which makes the drain work straightforward. Expect one to two weeks and a permit. In a one-bathroom house, think about who uses it before removing the only tub. See tub-to-shower conversion.

Small Bathroom Remodeling in Hillside

The 5-by-8 responds to the same handful of moves everywhere, and they work particularly well under a Cape Cod roof slope where the room already feels closed in. A clear glass panel instead of a curtain lets the eye reach the far wall. Recessed storage in the knee wall uses space that is otherwise entirely dead. A shallower vanity frees up the door swing. Tile carried up to where the ceiling slopes removes the horizontal break. See small bathroom remodeling.

Shower Remodeling in Hillside

Where the tub stays and only the surround has failed, the wet wall comes back to the studs and is rebuilt properly: framing repaired, a continuous bonded waterproof membrane over backer board, and tile. The valve gets replaced with a pressure-balancing type, which removes the temperature spike when a toilet flushes. Tiling over a wall that is already wet is a two-year fix, so we do not do it. See shower remodeling.

Bathroom Vanities in Hillside

Many of these bathrooms still have a wall-hung sink and no storage at all, so a vanity is a genuine upgrade rather than a replacement. Depth matters as much as width in a small room, an 18-inch cabinet instead of a standard 21-inch returns three inches to a room where the door already clips something. Drawers hold considerably more than a door with a P-trap through the middle of the cabinet. Check that the new unit clears the existing supply stops before ordering. See bathroom vanities.

Bathroom Tile in Hillside

Floors in these houses are usually stiff enough for tile with modest preparation, though an added plywood layer or an uncoupling membrane is often worth it. In a Cape Cod bathroom under a slope, wall tile is best carried up to the point where the ceiling breaks rather than stopped at an arbitrary height, which makes the room read as intentional rather than cropped. Movement joints at changes of plane get flexible sealant, not grout, which is why grout cracks in the same corner year after year. See bathroom tile.

Accessible Bathroom Remodeling in Hillside

Where the only bathroom is upstairs, accessibility is a real consideration for anyone planning to stay in the house. Adding a first-floor powder room, if the drainage allows, changes what is possible. Within the upstairs bathroom, a low-curb shower entry, a hand shower on a slide bar, a comfort-height toilet and solid blocking in the walls for grab bars are all straightforward during a remodel. The blocking in particular costs almost nothing now and requires removing tile later. See accessible bathroom remodeling.

Permits and inspections in Hillside

Hillside's Building and Housing Department issues and inspects construction permits under New Jersey's Uniform Construction Code. Any bathroom work altering plumbing or electrical needs one, and adding a bathroom involves new drainage and venting, which is a more involved permit than remodeling an existing room. Rough work is inspected before anything covers it.

Where we work in Hillside

Throughout the township, from the Irvington border through Hillside Center and Saybrook down toward the Elizabeth line. It is one of the shortest drives from our shop.