Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Tamko Bathroom Remodeling: The Los Angeles Owner’s Guide
If you have a Tamko product in your bathroom and something has failed, you need the right replacement matched to your specific model, priced before anyone touches a wall, and installed without a second visit. In Los Angeles, a bathroom remodel involving Tamko materials typically runs $10,620-$33,040 installed, depending on what failed, what’s behind it, and how much of the surrounding waterproofing has to come out with it. Most owners discover the problem the same way: a soft spot under tile, a persistent musty odor that won’t clear, or a fixture that wobbles when it used to sit dead solid.
We’re Rowan Construction Group, and we’ve been writing flat prices before work starts since 2007. That habit has kept project costs within a few percent of the agreed number across 4,000-plus jobs, because no change proceeds until you sign a change order and see exactly what it costs. We’re an independent contractor, not a Tamko affiliate, which means we match the right part to the right product without a brand rep’s thumb on the scale.
Which Tamko Models This Applies To
Tamko’s footprint in bathroom remodels is broader than most Los Angeles homeowners expect. The brand you know for roofing shingles also produces waterproofing membranes, underlayments, and backer-board systems that sit under tile, around tub surrounds, and behind shower walls. If your bathroom was built or remodeled with Tamko’s composite waterproofing products, the failure you’re seeing is almost never the tile itself. It’s what’s under it.
The compatibility gotcha that trips up most contractors, and we see it in Los Angeles regularly: Tamko’s waterproofing membranes are rated for specific thin-set mortar types. Use a modified mortar where the spec calls for unmodified, and you get a bond failure that looks like a tile problem but is actually a membrane-to-mortar mismatch. When we walk a job, we’re looking for the product label on the exposed edge of the membrane, or the original permit paperwork that tells us what was spec’d. If neither exists, we take a small sample and match it by thickness, color code, and backing texture.
The OEM-vs-aftermarket decision matters here. Genuine Tamko membrane sheeting is manufactured to a consistent mil thickness, and that matters when you’re tying new waterproofing into old. An aftermarket sheet that’s 5 mils thinner creates a transition point that fails first. We stock genuine Tamko membrane and Tamko-compatible backer board on our trucks, along with the specific fasteners and seam tape the spec calls for. We also stock complementary brands, including KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone, for when the failed part means adjacent finishes have to come out anyway. If you bring us a competitor’s written quote, we’ll review it line by line at no charge. That’s our standing Free Second Opinion.
Signs Your Tamko Bathroom Remodeling Is Failing

- A soft spot under the floor tile near the tub or shower. Water has gotten past the waterproofing layer and saturated the substrate beneath. The tile is still intact, but the structure under it is spongy, and that’s a subfloor replacement, not a regrout.
- Persistent musty odor that returns after cleaning. Moisture trapped between the membrane and the wall cavity is growing mold. You can scrub the surface all day, but the smell comes from behind it, and it means the waterproofing envelope has been compromised.
- Grout cracking repeatedly in the same lines. When the backer board shifts even slightly because the fasteners were spaced wrong or the seam tape failed, grout lines crack along the same path every time. Regrouting fixes the symptom for three months, then it comes back.
- A tub or shower fixture that moves when you press against it. The mounting surface behind the wall has deteriorated, which means water has reached the framing. The fixture is loose because there’s nothing solid left to anchor it to.
- Tile that sounds hollow when you tap it. The mortar bond has failed in that spot, usually because the membrane was installed with incompatible mortar or the substrate wasn’t prepped flat. Hollow tile is tile that’s about to crack or fall.
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
In Los Angeles, the installed price for Tamko-related bathroom repair and remodel work runs $10,620-$33,040. Where you land in that range depends on a few things we can only see after opening the wall: how much of the waterproofing membrane is still intact, whether the subfloor or wall framing has rot, and whether the damage is confined to the shower area or has spread under the main bath floor.
Here’s how the work typically breaks down:
- Floor repair with Tamko membrane replacement: $3,540-$10,030 depending on square footage and substrate condition
- Tub or shower surround waterproofing rebuild: $4,130-$11,800 when the existing membrane has failed and framing needs repair
- Full bathroom remodel with Tamko system: $10,620-$33,040 when the damage is extensive enough that a complete gut is faster and safer than patching
Every quote we write includes the parts, labor, demolition, disposal, and the written warranty on our workmanship. Under Clause 1 of the Haven Standard, the price is written before anyone starts. If we open the wall and find something worse, the change order gets signed before work proceeds. You approve the number before you’re committed to it. That’s been the discipline since 2007, and it’s why our projects finish within a few percent of the first number you saw.
DIY or Call Us?

There are two things you can safely check before calling. First, look for water stains on the ceiling below the bathroom, which tells you if the leak is active and spreading. Second, press gently on the floor tile around the toilet and tub, not hard, just enough to feel for movement. Notes like “soft spot near tub, roughly 18 inches square” help us scope the job before we arrive, which keeps the first visit faster.
What you shouldn’t do is open the wall yourself. Mold exposure is a real hazard in Los Angeles bathrooms where moisture has been trapped for months, and the remediation protocol isn’t something to improvise. That’s where DIY goes wrong fast. A homeowner pulls off tiles, releases spores into the air, and now the job is bigger than it needed to be. Let us open it with proper containment, and you get a documented photo record of what we found and what we did. Call (470) 298-9650 and we’ll schedule the free estimate.
FAQs
A properly installed Tamko membrane should last 20 to 30 years. The Los Angeles caveat is that our summers are dry and our bathrooms see heavy daily steam, so the failure mode here is usually at seam transitions and fastener points rather than the membrane itself, and it happens a decade earlier than it would in a cooler climate.
It depends on how far the water has traveled. If the failure is caught early and the framing is still solid, we can replace a section of membrane and tie it into the existing sheet with the proper seam tape and cure time. If the water has reached the framing or the subfloor, patching is buying time, not fixing it. Call (470) 298-9650 and we’ll give you an honest read after the inspection.
Most Tamko-specific bathroom repairs in Los Angeles take 3 to 7 working days from tear-out to dry-time to finishing. Waterproofing membranes have mandatory cure windows that no contractor can rush, and we won’t tile over a membrane that hasn’t reached full cure. A full remodel with Tamko systems runs 2 to 4 weeks depending on scope.
We stock genuine Tamko membrane, seam tape, and compatible backer board on our trucks, along with the fasteners the spec calls for. If your job needs a Tamko product we don’t carry, we order it directly and it’s on-site within a week. The price you see on the written quote already includes the parts, so there’s no surprise line item later. Call (470) 298-9650 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Written by Grant Rowan, Owner, Rowan Construction Group at Rowan Construction Group, serving Los Angeles and nearby areas.







Before
After
Before
After