Bathroom Remodeling in Short Hills, NJ

Almost nine in ten homes in Short Hills are detached single-family houses, and most of them have more than one bathroom. That single fact makes bathroom projects here fundamentally more comfortable than in a one-bathroom house, and it changes the conversation from "how do we survive this" to "which room, and in what order."

Median year built

1958of 4,718 housing units

Built before 1940

24.5%55.3% before 1960

Single-family detached

88.9%92.1% in 1–4 unit buildings

Owner-occupied

86.5%5.26 sq mi, Essex County

U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 5-year estimates. Figures describe Short Hills, NJ.

Which bathroom, and why

Three project types dominate here.

The dated primary bathroom. Usually from the 1980s or 90s, and usually built around a large corner soaking tub that nobody has used since the year it was installed. Beside it sits a shower stall too small to enjoy, a vanity with a cultured marble top, and a lot of tile in a color that has not aged well. The tub occupies the best 25 to 30 square feet in the room.

The estate-era hall bath. In the older quarter of the housing, an original bathroom with tile set into a mortar bed, a cast iron tub, and no waterproof membrane behind anything, because the concept postdates the house. These fail slowly and invisibly.

The secondary or guest bathroom that has simply never been touched and now looks it.

What we handle in a Short Hills bathroom

Full remodels, walk-in showers, shower rebuilds, tile, vanities and accessible layouts, with the plumbing, electrical and framing that goes with them. We work to a designer's drawing where one exists. Permits filed with Millburn Township.

Walk-In Showers in Short Hills

Removing a corner tub frees a footprint large enough for a shower that is genuinely comfortable rather than merely adequate: a bench, two shower heads or a fixed head plus a hand shower, a proper niche, and room to turn around. That scale brings more waterproofing detail with it, since a large low-curb wet area has more corners and transitions than a small enclosed stall, and each one is a place a rushed job leaks. With basements below, a curbless entry is achievable here by recessing the shower floor from underneath. A linear drain allows large-format tile. See walk-in showers.

Full Bathroom Remodels in Short Hills

In a primary bathroom the work is mostly reorganization: removing the tub, rebuilding the wet area, replacing the vanity run, and correcting lighting and ventilation that were afterthoughts in the original build. In an estate-era hall bath it is a rebuild of a failed assembly, and once the wet wall is open, replacing galvanized supply lines and repairing subfloor at the flange is far cheaper now than in a separate project later. Three to four weeks per room with the layout unchanged. See full bathroom remodeling.

Bathroom Vanities in Short Hills

Primary bathrooms here usually have the width for a genuine double vanity, which needs about 60 inches minimum for two sinks to each have usable counter beside them. Below that, one sink with generous surface is the better room regardless of how many people use it. Wall-mounted vanities show floor beneath and make a room feel larger; they need solid blocking installed at rough-in and plumbing positioned to stay concealed. Faucet configuration is set by the holes drilled in the top, so it is decided before fabrication. See bathroom vanities.

Bathroom Tile in Short Hills

Large bathrooms mean large tile areas, which makes both the material choice and the substrate preparation more consequential. Large-format wall tile gives fewer grout lines and needs a flatter wall behind it. On floors, prewar structures usually need an added plywood layer or an uncoupling membrane; postwar floors are generally more cooperative. On a shower floor, slip resistance is a safety consideration rather than a preference, and a polished tile that looks superb on a wall can be dangerous underfoot. See bathroom tile.

Shower Remodeling in Short Hills

Where only the shower is failing and the rest of the room is sound, rebuilding it alone is a legitimate scope. The wet area comes back to the studs, framing gets repaired, and a sloped pan with a continuous bonded membrane goes in, detailed at every corner, the curb and the drain, before backer and tile. A thermostatic valve is what allows a fixed head and a hand shower to run together, and the supply piping has to be sized for it at rough-in rather than adapted later. See shower remodeling.

Bathtub Replacement in Short Hills

In a house with several bathrooms, the sensible allocation is usually one good bathing tub somewhere and showers elsewhere. Where that tub is a period cast iron piece in an estate-era bathroom, it is often worth keeping rather than replacing, since nothing holds heat as well. Where a replacement is wanted, expect the surround to come with it, since the tile laps the flange and matching old tile is not realistic. See bathtub replacement.

Accessible Bathroom Remodeling in Short Hills

The room sizes here make genuine accessibility achievable rather than compromised: a curbless entry, a shower usable seated or with assistance, clear floor space beside the toilet, and a 32-inch clear doorway are all realistic. In a large two-story house the staircase is the underlying constraint, so where a first-floor powder room exists, expanding it into a full bathroom is often the more valuable long-term project. Blocking for grab bars costs almost nothing during any remodel and is a demolition afterward. See accessible bathroom remodeling.

Permits and inspections in Short Hills

Bathroom permits for Short Hills addresses are issued and inspected by the Millburn Township Building Department, since Short Hills is a section of the township rather than a separate municipality. Any work altering plumbing or electrical requires a construction permit, and adding a bathroom involves new drainage and venting, which is a more involved application.

Where we work in Short Hills

Throughout the section, from the older streets around Old Short Hills and Hartshorn to the postwar neighborhoods at Deerfield, Knollwood and Glenwood.