Bathroom remodeling in Michigan meets a long freeze and a wet summer, often in a small old room. A tub on an outside wall sweats, chills, and softens plaster at the rim. A fan that dumps into a cold attic feeds the same moisture an ice dam uses. Swapping a tub in place is a smaller job than moving the toilet, because the drain in the floor decides the layout.
A cottage closed all winter needs a bath you can drain so an outside-wall trap is not left full. A year-round town house more often needs a tired alcove, a valve that will not hold steady, and a surround wet behind the surface. Older stacks limit how far a drain can move. A formed base and a tiled shower keep water out in different ways.
Steam has to leave the house. A fan that only stirs the room does not do it. The duct should end outdoors, not in a soffit that freezes shut. In a tight old bath the window is often painted shut. Ask what is behind the new wall: sheet membrane, liquid membrane, or only the board packed with the surround. If the curb and the drain slope are vague, water will sit and find the ceiling below.
Accessibility comes up because tubs are tall and many baths are narrow. A grab bar is only as useful as the blocking behind it. A curbless entry can mean lowering the floor, not only changing the door. Say who uses the room and what has to stay easy to enter. Keep the fan and the valve on the same list as the tile.
Say tub, shower, or the whole room, and say if the house is a winter-closed camp or a year-round home. That split changes the drain, the fan, and the wall. Call the number on this page.