Lansing, MI · September 2026
A bathroom gut, and the change order that came out of the wall
A full-bath demolition and rebuild quoted labour-only at $16,200.68, plus one written change order for the rot found behind the tub wall.
What happens to a fixed price when something is found behind the wall?
It becomes a written change order, priced and agreed before the work goes ahead, and it appears on the invoice by name. On this job the quote was $16,200.68 labour only. Opening up the tub wall found rot in the framing behind the surround, which nobody could have quoted for with the tile still on. That became Change Order No. 1 — a tub-wall rebuild — and the final invoice was $17,500.68. You can see both numbers because that is the point: a fixed price is not a promise that nothing will be found, it is a promise that you decide about it before it is done rather than after it is billed.
- Where
- Lansing, Michigan
- Completed
- September 2026
- For
- Homeowner
- Invoice
- #306
Price$17,500.68, labour only, including Change Order No. 1
The problem
A bathroom that needed taking back to the framing, inside a wider written scope on the same house that also covered window replacements, door and lock work and a kitchen faucet. The photograph below is what came out from behind the tub surround: rot running up the stud bay, invisible until the wall was open.
What it took
A multi-week project across several trades, quoted as one written scope with the exclusions listed as plainly as the inclusions, and one change order raised in writing when the wall came off.
What was done
- Full-bath demolition — tub, surround and finishes out, back to the framing
- Rot found in the wall behind the surround, priced as Change Order No. 1 and agreed in writing
- Tub wall rebuilt before anything new was fitted to it
- Bathroom rebuilt and restored
- Quoted labour only: every material bought directly by the customer
On site
Taken by the crew, on the job. No customer is named and no address appears in any frame.
The outcome
Walked through with the customer and paid in full on 10 September 2026. ⚠️ There is exactly one photograph on this page and it is the one above — the job predates this company photographing its finished work properly, and we are not going to illustrate it with somebody else’s bathroom. The next remodel of this size gets shot end to end.
The trades on this job
Carpentry
Trim, doors, framing and built-ins, including the repairs that need a carpenter rather than a patch — rotten sill plates, a stair tread, a door that needs the frame squared before it will shut.
Plumbing Repairs
Leaks, drips, blocked drains, failed shut-offs, and fixture replacement — taps, toilets, vanities and water heaters.
Painting & Decorating
Interior and exterior painting with the preparation done properly — filling, sanding, caulking and priming, which is the part that decides whether the finish lasts.
General Repairs
The jobs that have been on the list for months — doors that stick, running toilets, a handrail that moved, trim that never went back. Priced as one visit rather than one call-out each.
Tell us what needs doing.
Send the details and we will come and look. Quotes are free, and every job is priced individually — we do not work from a rate sheet you have not seen.