How to Choose a Bathroom Remodeler in Ontario: 15 Questions Worth Asking

The company itself

1. Are you insured? Ask for liability insurance and WSIB coverage, and ask for the certificate rather than the assurance. If someone is injured in your home or your home is damaged, this is the question that matters and it is too late to ask afterwards.

2. Who actually performs the installation? Not who sells it. Who turns up. Ask whether you will meet them before the day.

3. Do you use employees or subcontractors? Neither answer is automatically wrong. Plenty of excellent work is done by subcontractors. What matters is that the company answers plainly, and that you know who to call if something needs fixing in two years. A company that is evasive about this is telling you something.

Scope: where most disputes start

4. What exactly is included in the quote? Every product by name. Not “wall system” but which one. Not “fixtures” but which fixtures.

5. What is not included? Ask this explicitly and get the answer in writing. Painting, reinstating, disposal and fixture allowances are the usual gaps.

6. What can trigger a change order? Have them list the circumstances. A company that has done this many times can tell you immediately; one that cannot is either inexperienced or avoiding the question.

7. How are hidden plumbing or framing problems handled? This is the single most important question on the list. Behind an old tub there is sometimes rot, failed waterproofing or a leak nobody knew about. Ask what happens, how you will be told, how it is priced, and whether you can decline. “That never happens” is a wrong answer.

The actual work

8. What waterproofing system is used? They should be able to name it and explain it. This is the part of a bathroom that fails expensively and out of sight.

9. What products and materials are being installed? Specific names and model numbers. Ask to see and touch a physical sample rather than a photograph. Finishes photograph far better than they look in a real bathroom.

12. How long should the project take? Ask for the realistic duration for your bathroom rather than the figure on the website. Almost everyone in this trade advertises a best case. Ask what would make yours take longer.

13. Who handles demolition, cleanup and disposal? Including the old tub. Ask what your bathroom looks like at the end of each day if the work spans more than one.

Warranties, read properly

10. What product warranty applies? Ask for the document rather than the headline. A lifetime warranty can mean very different things: some cover materials only, some exclude labour entirely, some end if you sell the house. None of that is visible in the advertisement.

11. What workmanship warranty applies? This is separate from the product warranty and is often much shorter. A manufacturer warranty on a wall panel does not help you if the installation leaks.

15. Who handles service after installation? The company you bought from, or someone else? What is the response time? Is there a number that reaches a person? This matters in year three, not week one.

Money

14. How does payment work? What deposit, what schedule, and what is the final payment contingent on. A reasonable deposit is normal in this trade; a large one before anything arrives is not.

If you are financing, ask two further questions: what the rate becomes after any promotional period, and whether the financed price is the same as the cash price.

Things worth a second look

• Vague scope. A single number on one page is not a quote.
• No written agreement. Everything should be on paper, however well the conversation went.
• A large or unexplained deposit before any materials are ordered.
• Verbal-only changes. Every change should be written and agreed before the work happens.
• Warranty terms nobody will put in writing.
• No proof of insurance.
• A quote dramatically below the others. Usually a gap in what is covered rather than a bargain, and the gap tends to surface partway through the job.
• Vagueness about who actually installs.

The printable checklist

Print this checklist

How we answer these, for reference

So you have something concrete to compare against, here are our own answers.

Insurance: carried, and we provide certificates on request. Who installs: our own Jacuzzi-trained employees, not subcontractors. Scope: itemised in writing, with exclusions stated. Unexpected damage: we remove the old surround rather than covering it, so anything behind it is found; you are shown it and given a price before anything proceeds. Timeline: most projects install in as little as one day, and we tell you if yours is not one of them. Disposal: we remove and dispose of the old fixture. Warranty: limited lifetime on materials and workmanship for as long as you own the home, in writing. Pricing: an exact written quote, guaranteed for a full year.

Where we are limited: we only do wet-area work. No vanities, no flooring, no layout changes, no walk-in tubs. If your project needs those, a general renovator is the right call and we will say so.

What a good answer sounds like

Across all fifteen, the pattern that matters is the same: a company that answers awkward questions directly, writes things down without being pushed, and tells you plainly what it will not do.

Vagueness at the quoting stage rarely improves once the work starts. Specifics are the thing to look for.