Bathroom remodeling in Seattle starts from a room that is already damp because the city outside is damp. A fan that wheezes into the attic, or into a joist bay, will spot the ceiling and wet the deck above the tub through the long wet season no matter how new the tile is. Older craftsman baths are small, with plaster, a window at the tub, and a floor that has taken a century of splash. Newer townhouse baths stack wet rooms over finished ceilings, so a failed pan becomes someone else's plaster fast.
Start with the failure, not the finish. Soft floor at the tub, hollow tile, a black fan grille, a stool that a screwdriver falls into, a stain on the ceiling below. If the house is on a hill, say whether the bath sits on the low side where soil and runoff keep the wall cool. Crawl spaces under Ballard and Wallingford bungalows show the trap if you are willing to look. On a slab or a stacked townhouse you get a loose tile or a downstairs stain instead.
The fan has to reach the outside. Dumping steam into an attic in this climate is how a roof gets blamed for a bath. A shower against an outside wall needs a real membrane, because wind-driven rain and indoor steam can meet in the same cavity. Galvanized supply and old drum traps are common enough in prewar houses that the pretty work should not come first. Say whether the layout stays put or a wall has to move.
If water has already reached the room below, say that before you talk about tile color. Drying and the wet structure come first. Mention plaster, a crawl you can enter, or a stacked floor. Have the neighborhood in the first sentence only so the house type is clear.
The long wet season will still load the room after the new surround is up. Call with what is soft, where the fan blows, and which floor the bath is on. Call the number on this page.