NYS and NYC M/WBE Certified Contractor
A lot of Kensington homeowners have been living with the same bathroom for twenty, thirty, sometimes forty years. Not because they don’t care — but because finding a contractor who actually knows what they’re doing in an older home, in a village with its own building department, feels like more effort than it’s worth. So the project stays on the list. And the grout keeps cracking.
When you finally move forward, the difference is immediate. Mornings feel different. The master bath that used to be an afterthought becomes the room you actually look forward to using. And because your home sits in a community where values consistently exceed a million dollars, a properly done renovation isn’t just a lifestyle upgrade — it’s protecting a serious financial asset.
Kensington’s position on the Great Neck Peninsula means your home deals with more moisture pressure than most. The proximity to Manhasset Bay, the coastal humidity, the freeze-thaw cycles every winter — all of it accelerates wear on grout, subfloors, and tile in ways that inland Nassau County homes don’t experience at the same rate. A bathroom renovation done with that reality in mind, using the right waterproofing and materials for this specific environment, holds up. One done without that knowledge won’t.
We work in Nassau County’s North Shore communities — and Kensington is a place we know well. The homes here were built in a different era, many of them going back to when Rickert and Finlay were first developing this peninsula as a luxury enclave in the early 1900s. That history is part of what makes Kensington special. It also means that when you open up a bathroom wall, you’re often looking at cast iron pipes, plaster, mud-set tile, and materials that require real experience to handle correctly.
We’re not a crew that shows up with a one-size-fits-all approach. We’ve worked in older homes throughout the Great Neck area long enough to know that surprises happen — and that how a contractor handles those surprises is what separates a smooth project from a nightmare. You get a clear scope upfront, honest communication when conditions change, and a finished bathroom that reflects the standard your home deserves.
It starts with a walkthrough. We come to your home, look at the space, understand what you want, and give you an honest assessment of what the project actually involves — including anything the existing condition of the bathroom might affect. In a home that’s been standing for sixty or a hundred years, that assessment matters more than most contractors let on.
From there, we handle permitting through the Village of Kensington’s building department. This is its own process, separate from Nassau County and the Town of North Hempstead, and it requires contractors to carry insurance that specifically names the village as the certificate holder. We know the requirements, we pull the right permits, and we don’t let paperwork become the reason your project stalls before it starts.
Once work begins, you have a dedicated project manager as your single point of contact. Demolition, plumbing, electrical, tile, carpentry, finishing — all of it is coordinated under one roof. If you’re commuting into the city via the Great Neck LIRR station and can’t be home every day, that’s fine. You’ll get updates, the site stays clean, and nothing moves forward without your sign-off on decisions that matter. When the work is done, we walk through the finished space with you and close out the permit properly.
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A bathroom renovation in Kensington isn’t a simple cosmetic swap. The homes here have real age on them, and doing the job right means addressing what’s underneath — waterproofing the shower pan properly, replacing deteriorated subfloor material before laying new tile, updating plumbing that hasn’t been touched in decades. The coastal moisture environment on the Great Neck Peninsula makes proper waterproofing more than a best practice. It’s the difference between a bathroom that lasts fifteen years and one that starts showing problems in three.
Every project we take on covers the full scope: demolition and debris removal, licensed plumbing and electrical work, tile installation, vanity and fixture selection, shower and tub work, and all finishing details. We work with premium materials — the kind that belong in a home at this price point — and we bring design input to the process so you’re not left making every decision alone. Whether you’re converting a dated tub-shower combo into a walk-in shower, adding heated floors to a master bath, or doing a full gut renovation of a guest bathroom, the process is the same: thorough, permitted, and built to last.
We also understand that in a village as close-knit as Kensington, your neighbors will notice the work — and so will buyers if you ever sell. Every project we complete here is one we stand behind publicly.
Yes — and the permit process in Kensington works differently than it does in most Nassau County communities. Because Kensington is an incorporated village, it operates its own building department, separate from the Town of North Hempstead and Nassau County. Any bathroom renovation that involves plumbing, electrical, or structural changes requires a permit approved by the village’s own building inspector. Contractors also need to carry insurance that specifically names the Village of Kensington as the certificate holder — a requirement that catches out-of-area contractors off guard and can delay a project before work even begins.
This isn’t something you want to discover mid-project. Unpermitted work creates real problems when you sell — it shows up in a title search and can require costly corrections to get a certificate of occupancy. Working with a contractor who already knows Kensington’s specific requirements means the permit process runs smoothly, inspections get scheduled on time, and your project closes out clean.
The range is wide depending on scope, but for a full bathroom renovation in a Kensington home, a realistic starting point for a mid-range project is around $25,000 to $40,000. A master bath renovation with premium tile, a custom walk-in shower, heated floors, and quality fixtures will typically run $50,000 to $80,000 or more. Full gut renovations in older homes — where plumbing, electrical, and subfloor work are all part of the job — can go higher.
What drives cost in Kensington specifically is the age of the housing stock. Many homes here are 70 to 100-plus years old, and older homes frequently have conditions behind the walls that add scope: deteriorated subfloors from years of moisture exposure, outdated plumbing that needs to be brought up to code, or tile set in traditional mud beds that requires more labor to remove. A contractor who quotes low without accounting for these realities will either cut corners or hit you with change orders. A detailed walkthrough and honest scope upfront is the only way to get a number you can actually plan around.
For a standard full bathroom renovation, plan on three to five weeks of active construction once work begins. A larger master bath renovation or a project that involves significant plumbing or structural changes can run six to eight weeks. These timelines assume permitting is in order before demolition starts — which is why getting the Village of Kensington permit process underway early in the planning phase matters.
In practice, the total timeline from your first consultation to a finished bathroom is usually eight to twelve weeks when you factor in the design and selection phase, permitting, material lead times, and construction. Some materials — specialty tile, custom vanities, certain fixture lines — have longer lead times right now, so decisions made early in the process keep things moving. If you’re planning around a specific date, like wanting the project done before the holidays or before putting the house on the market, share that upfront so the schedule can be built backward from your deadline.
Older homes on the Great Neck Peninsula come with their own set of realities, and a bathroom renovation is often where those realities surface. Behind walls and under floors that haven’t been touched in decades, it’s common to find subfloor damage from years of moisture exposure, original cast iron drain lines that are corroded or misaligned, plaster walls that require different handling than drywall, and occasionally materials — like certain floor tiles or pipe insulation — that were standard in their era but need to be addressed carefully today.
None of this is a reason to avoid the renovation. It’s just a reason to work with a contractor who has actually opened up walls in Kensington homes and knows how to handle what they find. The key is having a clear conversation before work starts about what the walkthrough reveals, what contingencies are built into the scope, and how decisions get made if something unexpected turns up mid-project. Surprises are manageable when communication is good. They become expensive when a contractor goes quiet and starts making decisions without you.
For most Kensington homeowners, yes — and the Long Island climate is a big part of why. Nassau County winters are genuinely cold, with temperatures regularly dropping below freezing from December through February. Stepping onto a heated tile floor on a January morning is a different experience than stepping onto cold stone, and in a home at this price point, that daily quality-of-life difference is hard to argue against once you’ve had it.
From a practical standpoint, in-floor radiant heating systems are installed beneath the tile during the renovation — which means a bathroom remodel is the right time to add it, not an afterthought you try to retrofit later. The cost to add electric radiant heating during a renovation is relatively modest compared to the overall project budget, typically in the range of $1,500 to $3,500 depending on the square footage of the floor. It also adds measurable appeal if you ever sell, particularly in a market where buyers expect the finishes to match the home’s value.
Start with licensing and insurance — and in Kensington specifically, make sure the contractor knows the village’s permit requirements. Because Kensington operates its own building department, a contractor who only knows Nassau County’s general process may not be familiar with the village’s specific insurance and permitting requirements. That gap creates delays and headaches that fall on you as the homeowner.
Beyond credentials, look at how the contractor communicates during the estimate process. Do they walk through your space carefully and ask real questions, or do they give you a number in twenty minutes? In a home that’s been standing since the early 20th century, a contractor who doesn’t ask about the existing plumbing, the condition of the subfloor, or what’s behind the walls isn’t giving you an accurate quote — they’re giving you a number designed to win the job. Ask for references from projects in similar Kensington homes, ask how they handle unexpected conditions mid-project, and make sure you have a clear, written scope before anything begins. In a village as close-knit as Kensington, contractors who do good work earn their next job by referral. That reputation is worth asking about directly.
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