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PGT Bathroom Remodeling: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
PGT bathroom remodeling in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $9,000 to $28,000 installed, depending on the footprint, the condition of the framing behind the walls, and the materials you choose. We stock the common failure points for PGT-era bathrooms: valve cartridges, shower pan liners, and the substrate board that gives out after years of South Florida humidity. If your PGT bathroom is showing water damage, a soft floor around the toilet, or tile that won’t stay grouted, here’s exactly what you’re dealing with and what it costs to fix it right.
Which PGT Models This Applies To
PGT built homes across Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s and 2000s, and the bathroom packages they used were fairly consistent. You’ll most often see PGT’s standard fiberglass shower units, set-in bathtubs with acrylic surrounds, and the flat-stock cabinetry vanities that were installed as a package. The thing to know about PGT bathrooms specifically: the original shower valves were often budget-grade compression stems, not ceramic disc cartridges. If your handle takes three full turns to stop dripping, you’ve got the older style, and the repair path is different than a modern cartridge swap.
To identify what you have, look for the small engraving on the escutcheon plate behind the handle or the stamp on the underside of the toilet tank lid. The PGT installs used a mix of Moen and Delta rough-in valves, so the trim brand matters less than the rough-in footprint behind the wall. That’s the part that determines whether a repair stays simple or turns into a wall-open job. We handle both, but it’s the kind of detail that separates a fixed price from a change order.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your PGT Bathroom Remodeling Is Failing
- Grout keeps cracking along the shower floor seam. This usually means the original shower pan beneath is flexing. PGT-era pans in Fort Lauderdale were often set directly on subfloor, and after 15 to 20 years of humidity cycles, the pan liner separates and the floor moves just enough to crack grout lines.
- The bathroom has a damp, musty smell that won’t leave. South Florida moisture exposure means mold has likely found its way behind the tile or the surround. The fix isn’t a bigger exhaust fan; it’s opening the wall, addressing the moisture barrier, and rebuilding the wet zone properly.
- Your toilet rocks slightly when you sit. The original wax ring and closet flange have failed. In Fort Lauderdale’s humidity, old cast-iron or PVC flanges corrode or loosen, and the rocking motion quietly damages the subfloor every time it shifts. This turns into a soft floor repair faster than most homeowners expect.
- Sheetrock near the tub base feels soft or looks swollen. That’s a failed caulk line or a cracked surround seam letting water wick up the drywall. Once drywall swells, it never returns to shape. You pull it, replace it with cement board substrate, and reset the waterproofing.
- The shower handle requires more force to turn than it used to. Mineral buildup from Fort Lauderdale’s hard water has scored the valve stem. Left alone, the valve seizes. At that point, you’re not just swapping a cartridge; you’re repairing the rough-in plumbing behind the wall.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
A full PGT bathroom remodel in Fort Lauderdale runs $9,000 to $28,000 installed. On the lower end, you’re looking at a small footprint, a straightforward tub-to-shower conversion using your existing plumbing locations, and a stock vanity. On the upper end, you’re moving drainage lines, pulling rotted subfloor, upgrading the pan liner to a hot-mop or PVC system, and installing Cambria quartz counters or a KraftMaid or Wellborn vanity.
- Small bathroom remodel: $5,000 – $12,000
- Tub-to-shower conversion: $3,500 – $10,000
- Shower replacement: $3,000 – $8,500
- Bathroom vanity installation: $800 – $3,000
Every quote includes the parts, the labor, the permit coordination, the dump fees, and a written line-item price before we touch anything. We replace the substrate (the moisture-resistant layer behind your tile), not just the pretty stuff. If it’s not done right, our 365-Day Done Right Promise brings us back to fix it at no charge. That’s in writing on every project.
DIY or Call Us?
You can check a few things without opening anything up: look for water stains at the base of the tub, press gently on the tile around the shower valve to feel for movement, and listen for a hissing sound behind the wall when the shower is off, which would point to a pinhole leak. What you shouldn’t do is pull tile, cut drywall, or attempt a shower pan replacement yourself. Once you expose a PGT-era bathroom in Fort Lauderdale, you often find the original build used ordinary drywall in the wet zone, and the moment that material is compromised, the repair scope changes. A wrong move with a shower pan liner means water silently rots the subfloor, and that’s a structural problem, not a cosmetic one. Call (754) 551-2922, and we’ll give you a real number before any wall comes open.
FAQs
Most PGT bathroom packages start showing real wear between 15 and 20 years in Fort Lauderdale’s climate, and the shower pan and valve are usually the first components to go. Humidity and hard water accelerate the timeline compared to drier climates. Call (754) 551-2922 for an assessment of your specific bathroom.
Yes, if the pan liner is intact and the valve stem is the only problem, a cartridge or stem replacement can buy you more time for a few hundred dollars. If the pan is flexing or the substrate is wet, repair becomes more expensive than a proper remodel because you’re paying to open the wall twice. We’ll tell you which path makes sense before you spend anything.
Most PGT bathroom remodels in Fort Lauderdale take 2 to 4 weeks from demo to final walkthrough, with the biggest variables being permit timing and the condition of the subfloor once the old pan comes out. We give you a written schedule and a real arrival window before we start. Call (754) 551-2922 to get your timeline.
We keep the common failure parts on the truck: valve cartridges for the Moen and Delta rough-ins PGT used, PVC pan liners, cement board, and closet flanges. If you’re looking for a matching PGT-specific fixture and it’s no longer manufactured, we source equivalent aftermarket options that meet the same spec. We also work with KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone when a vanity or countertop needs to match a newer standard rather than the original PGT package.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale at Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
