How to Remodel an Eichler Bathroom Without Wrecking It

Three things that make Eichler bathrooms different

1. The slab and the radiant heat. Most Eichlers were built on a concrete slab with hot-water tubing cast into it for heat. The toilet flange, tub or shower drain and sink drain are set in that same concrete. Moving any of them means cutting a channel in the slab, which means first finding where the tubing runs.

2. Post-and-beam walls. Eichler walls are thin, and many are glass. There is less room for a recessed niche, a wall-hung toilet carrier or a pocket door than in a framed ranch house, and the wall between bathroom and bedroom is sometimes the only place for plumbing.

3. No attic. The roof is flat or low-pitched, with exposed beams and tongue-and-groove ceilings. An exhaust fan or a new light cannot be fed from an attic, so ducts and wiring have to be planned around the beams and through the roof.

Before you design anything

• Get the slab scanned if any drain will move or a curbless shower is planned.
• Test for asbestos. Original floor tile, mastic and some joint compounds from the era can contain asbestos. A test before demolition costs little; finding it during demolition stops the job.
• Camera the drains. Original cast-iron drains under the slab are now decades old. A camera inspection tells you whether the line to the street is sound before you tile over it.
• Check the radiant system. Working, abandoned, or replaced with forced air? It affects how careful the slab cutting has to be and whether a heated floor makes sense.
• Look at the roof. A new fan or skylight means a roof penetration. On a foam or built-up flat roof, plan for a roofer to flash it.

What to keep

• The open, low look. No soffits, no heavy crown molding, nothing that drops below the beam line.
• Natural light. Original high windows and skylights. Replace the glass, not the idea.
• Simple geometry. Stacked or grid tile layouts, flat-panel or slab-front vanities, wall-hung or floating pieces that show the floor.
• Warm materials that sit well next to the wood ceiling: walnut or teak-tone vanities, warm white or earth-tone tile.

What is worth changing

• The shower. Original showers and tub surrounds are where water damage hides. A new membrane, a flood-tested pan and a low curb or curbless entry are worth the investment.
• The fan. Many Eichler bathrooms have no fan or one too weak to clear steam. A quiet, ducted fan protects the ceiling.
• The light. Recessed lights are hard to fit between beams; surface-mounted fixtures and vanity sconces usually suit the house better anyway.
• Storage. A floating vanity with drawers and a recessed medicine cabinet, where the wall allows.

Where the money goes

The biggest variable in an Eichler bathroom is whether anything moves in the slab. If the toilet, drain and vanity stay where they are, an Eichler bathroom costs about the same as any other bathroom its size. Each drain that moves adds scanning, saw-cutting, new pipe and a concrete pour back, and a curbless shower adds a recess across the whole shower floor. We price slab work as its own line item, so you can see exactly what a layout change costs before you decide.