Bathroom plumbing remodeling in Little Rock, AR

Many Little Rock homeowners aren't sure who to call first: a plumber, a contractor, or a tile crew. Start with the plumber. Where your drains and supply lines can run decides where your toilet, shower, and vanity can go.

The plumbing code is strict about drains and vents. Each drain needs the right slope and a vent to work. If the pipes can't reach a spot, the toilet or shower can't go there either. That's why we plan the layout with you before demo starts.

Once the pipes are set, your tile and finish crew builds around them. Here's how the work splits up:

Who	What they handle
Our plumbers	Drains, vents, supply lines, shower and tub valves, fixture installs, and the plumbing permit
Your tile or finish crew	Walls, tile, and finish work
Your electrician	Lights, fans, and outlets

We work alongside the crew you choose. The city issues plumbing permits separately from electrical and gas permits, so each trade pulls its own. Arkansas law requires a licensed master plumber to be in charge of plumbing installs, and a plumber can't lend a license to someone else for a permit.

Our owner, Angel Bahena, is a master plumber and owns the company outright. He trained through the Arkansas Construction Education Foundation. He and his brothers, David and Eloy, are all licensed and background-checked, with 25 years of experience between them. We tell you what we're doing as we go, so you're never guessing about your own house.

In Hillcrest and the Heights, many homes were built before 1940. Hillcrest alone has about 1,200 houses from the early 1900s through World War II, and the most common style is the Craftsman bungalow (source). Some of these homes still have their original galvanized supply pipe or cast iron drains.

Across Little Rock, the median home was built in 1978. About 1 in 3 homes went up in the 1960s or 70s. That means many houses have pipes that are decades old.

Galvanized pipe is steel coated with zinc. Once the zinc wears away, the steel rusts from the inside, and lumps of rust block the flow (source). Cast iron drains have a working life of about 50 to 60 years.

You may see signs before we ever open a wall:

What you notice	What it can mean
Low water pressure at the shower or sink	Rust buildup inside galvanized supply pipe
Brown or discolored water	Corroding galvanized pipe
Leaks that keep coming back	Pipe that has worn through
A musty smell you can't trace	Hidden mold from a leak inside the wall

When we open the walls, we often find rusted supply pipes, cracked or worn drain lines, and water damage around old leaks. We check your pipes before demo starts, so surprises show up early, not halfway through the job. If we find worn galvanized or cast iron, open walls are the best time to replace it.

The biggest task is moving a drain on a slab. The drain runs under the concrete, so we cut the floor open to reroute it.

If you're planning a remodel on your own timeline in Little Rock, a few early choices can save you rework later. Here are the mistakes we see most:

Mistake	Why it matters
Buying fixtures before checking fit	Shower trim only works with a valve from the same brand. A Moen trim won't fit a Delta valve.
Skipping the exhaust fan	Shower steam with nowhere to go can lead to mold that keeps coming back.
Closing walls before a pressure test	A hidden leak stays hidden until it damages your new tile.
Moving a toilet without checking vent and slope	Drains need the right slope and a vent to flow well and pass inspection.

Already bought a faucet you love? We install customer-supplied faucets.

Mold needs moisture to grow, and our summers are hot and humid. Plan your fan and venting now, before the walls go back up.

Many families in Little Rock's Pleasant Valley are redoing bathrooms that are decades old. Pleasant Valley was built mostly in the 1960s and 70s. A remodel there runs in two plumbing stages, with tile work in between:

Stage	What we do	When it happens
Rough-in (first fix)	Set drains, vents, supply lines, and the shower valve	After demo, before the walls close
Testing and inspection	Check every line for leaks; the city inspects if there's a permit	Right after rough-in
Tile and walls	Your tile or finish crew closes the walls and sets tile	Between rough-in and finish
Finish (second fix)	Install the toilet, sink, faucet, and shower trim	After the tile is done

Each stage builds on the one before it. A leak found after tile goes up means tearing out new tile to fix it. That's why we test before anything gets covered.

Rough-in often takes about 2 days. The full remodel depends on your tile and how much of the layout changes. Keeping the same layout moves faster than moving a toilet or shower.

In Arkansas and nearby states, nearly all new homes are built on a concrete slab. If your home sits on one, that shapes where your drains can go. To move a drain, we cut a trench in the concrete and reroute the pipe. We set it at the right slope so it drains well, then patch the floor.

If you want your bathroom done once and left alone, testing is the step that counts most. We test at four points in the job, before and after anything gets covered:

Test	When we do it	What we check
Drain test	After rough-in, before the walls close	We fill the drains with water or air and hold it for 15 minutes. No leaks allowed.
Supply line test	After rough-in, before the walls close	We pressure test the lines at your home's working water pressure or higher.
Shower floor test	Before tile goes on a built-in shower floor	We plug the drain, fill the floor 2 inches deep, and watch it for 15 minutes.
Fixture test	After the toilet, sink, and shower trim are set	We fill and drain each fixture and check every connection.

We also check that the vents are clear and the drains fall the right way. A leak we catch now is a quick fix. A leak found under new tile means tearing that tile out.

When your job needs a Little Rock plumbing permit, we pull it and schedule the city's inspections. The city's plumbing permit lists slab, rough, and final inspections.

Selling soon in Chenal or West Little Rock? Buyers can check a home's permit history, and unpermitted work can hurt an appraisal. Permitted, inspected plumbing gives you a clean record to show them.