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Bathroom remodeling in Alexandria

Alexandria has no market of its own in Cost vs. Value; the Washington, DC market that covers it listed $25,9361 for a midrange bathroom remodel in 2025. What shapes the job in the city is age and shared walls: 60%2 of Alexandria's homes were built before 1980, and 21%3 are townhouses or rowhouses joined to the house next door.

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Updated October 11, 2026

Illustration of a remodeled bathroom in a nineteenth-century Old Town Alexandria rowhouse, with a tall shuttered window and a wide pine floor.
Illustration

Bathroom prices for the Washington market

Alexandria's figures here are the Washington, DC market's from the 2025 Cost vs. Value report, a regional benchmark rather than a city one, next to the national averages.

Washington, DC marketU.S. average
Midrange bathroom remodel, job cost$25,9361$26,1384
Upscale bathroom remodel, job cost$80,9941$81,6124
Universal-design bathroom remodel, job cost$41,8321$42,1834

In an Old Town or Parker-Gray rowhouse, hauling materials through one front door and up a narrow stair adds labor that no regional average captures. Use these rows to sanity-check a bid, not to replace one.

How old Alexandria's housing is

Alexandria's Census counts show a historic core and then a large block of homes from the 1960s and 1970s, a bigger share from those two decades than Arlington has. Arlington is shown next to it.

AlexandriaArlington County
Homes built before 19409%28%2
Homes built before 196029%233%2
Homes built 1960–197931%220%2
Homes built before 198060%253%2

A bath from the 1960s or 1970s is old enough for worn shutoffs and tired subfloor, while a prewar one can hide anything from lead drain lines to joists notched for long-gone pipes. Either way, the price firms up once the floor is open.

Rowhouses, condos and detached houses

Alexandria has more than twice Arlington's share of townhouses and rowhouses, and fewer detached houses. Most occupied homes are rented.

AlexandriaArlington County
Single-family detached homes14%325%3
Townhouses, rowhouses and other attached single-family homes21%39%3
Homes in buildings with 2 to 19 units23%316%3
Homes in buildings with 50 or more units36%346%3
Occupied homes that are rented58%559%5

A rowhouse bath can only vent through the front, the back or the roof, and in a condo every new hole through a floor or wall has a code requirement of its own. Alexandria requires that every new penetration through an existing floor or wall assembly in a condominium unit be protected by a listed fire-stop system.6

What Alexandria homes are worth

Census puts the typical owner-occupied Alexandria home well above the Washington metro median, a figure that mixes condos with Old Town and Del Ray houses.

AlexandriaWashington metro
Median home value (owner-occupied)$735,1007$579,9008

At these values a well-built bath rarely overreaches in a house; in a condo, compare against renovated units that have recently sold in the same complex.

Alexandria's water

Virginia American Water serves the city and reports a range of hardness results rather than one average. Virginia American Water's Alexandria District gets its drinking water from two treatment plants owned and run by Fairfax Water: the Corbalis plant on the Potomac River and the Griffith plant at the Occoquan Reservoir.9

Virginia American Water, Alexandria
Water hardness, lowest result in 202578 mg/L9
Water hardness, highest result in 2025191 mg/L9

The USGS classes water at 61 to 120 mg/L of hardness as moderately hard.10 The USGS classes water at 121 to 180 mg/L of hardness as hard.10 Alexandria's results run from the low end of that first band past the top of the second, so plan on some scale: a glass panel you can squeegee and a handheld shower whose nozzles rub clean.

City repair loans for homeowners

Alexandria's Office of Housing lends to income-eligible owner-occupants for repairs and accessibility changes, with separate caps for houses and condos.

Alexandria
Home Rehabilitation Loan Program, maximum loan for a single-family home$135,00011
Home Rehabilitation Loan Program, maximum loan for a condominium$75,00011

Alexandria's Home Rehabilitation Loan Program lends income-eligible owner-occupants in the city money at 0% interest with no monthly payments for repairs needed for health or safety, including accessibility improvements for mobility-impaired people; the loan is due in 99 years or when the home is sold, transferred or no longer owner-occupied.11

Permits

Alexandria's Department of Code Administration issues the city's permits, separate from Arlington's and Fairfax County's, and takes applications online through APEX. Changes to water, drain or vent piping and new or moved wiring need permits; a straight fixture swap, cabinets and paint generally don't. In the two local historic districts, interior work skips the Board of Architectural Review, but changes to the outside, such as a new window or vent, can bring it in.

  • Alexandria's Department of Code Administration requires a permit for changes to the water supply distribution system or the drainage and vent system.12
  • Alexandria requires a permit to install or relocate any electrical systems, equipment or components, including fixtures, appliances and devices.12
  • In its memo on alterations inside condominium units, Alexandria's Code Administration lists replacing plumbing fixtures without altering the water supply, drainage or vent system, installing or replacing cabinets or trim, and painting or wallpapering as ordinary repairs that are exempt from permits.6
  • The City of Alexandria takes permit applications online through APEX, its permitting and land use system.13
  • In Alexandria, if no contractor will be doing the work, the property owner must submit a Property Owner's Affidavit with the permit application.13
  • In Alexandria's two local historic districts, Old and Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray, a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Board of Architectural Review or preservation staff is required for new construction and exterior alterations, generally when the work is visible from a public right of way.14
  • Alexandria's Historic Preservation office states that interior work does not require Board of Architectural Review approval.14

Checked October 11, 2026

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Bathrooms in Old Town rowhouses, Del Ray bungalows and garden apartments

Established in 1946, Alexandria's Old and Historic Alexandria District is the third oldest historic district in the United States.15 Its brick and frame rowhouses were built long before indoor plumbing, so their baths were fitted in later, often in a back bedroom or over the kitchen wing. Farther north, Del Ray's early twentieth-century bungalows and foursquares tend to have one hall bath upstairs.

Old Town windows get particular attention. On early buildings in the Old and Historic Alexandria District, the Board of Architectural Review's staff policies require historically appropriate multi-light sash on street-facing elevations to be single-glazed wood windows, while double-glazed wood or aluminum-clad wood windows may go on elevations that do not face the street.16 A bath fan needs an outlet too: Under the Board of Architectural Review's administrative approval policies for the Old and Historic Alexandria District, staff may approve vents measuring less than one cubic foot, provided the color matches the adjacent surface.16

In Alexandria's historic districts, a Permit to Demolish is required for any proposed demolition of more than 25 square feet of material, whether or not it is visible from a public way.15 Interior demolition doesn't need the board, but cutting a bigger window opening into an old brick wall can.

The EPA notes that lead can collect inside galvanized pipe and later reach drinking water, and that solder made before 1986 contained high levels of lead.17 Virginia American Water has prepared a service line inventory for its Alexandria District, and customers can look up their own service line material on an interactive map at virginiaamwater.com/leadfacts.9 The EPA lists vinyl floor tile, vinyl sheet backing and flooring adhesives among products that may contain asbestos, which is released mainly when the material is disturbed.18

Condo owners have their own rules. Alexandria's Code Administration tells condo owners to carry out alterations in accordance with the association's governing documents and to obtain all required permits before any work begins.6 Alexandria requires that every new penetration through an existing floor or wall assembly in a condominium unit be protected by a listed fire-stop system.6

An Alexandria bath for aging in place

In a rowhouse with every bath upstairs, a ground-floor bath is often the change that lets someone stay. A rear addition in a historic district is new construction, so if it can be seen from a street or alley, put the board's review in the schedule. More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.19 The CDC's home fall-prevention checklist recommends grab bars in and beside the tub and next to the toilet, and a non-slip surface on tub and shower floors.20

For the wider Washington market, a universal-design bath came to $41,8321 in the 2025 Cost vs. Value report. Alexandria's Home Rehabilitation Loan Program lends income-eligible owner-occupants in the city money at 0% interest with no monthly payments for repairs needed for health or safety, including accessibility improvements for mobility-impaired people; the loan is due in 99 years or when the home is sold, transferred or no longer owner-occupied.11 NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.21

What happens when you call

You call the number on this page. The call is recorded, and we connect you to one independent company that handles bathroom remodels in the Alexandria area. You talk with them directly about your project, timing and price.

That company pays us for the call. You don't pay us anything, and we never call or text you. How we make money

After you're connected

Before you sign anything, look the company up yourself. Virginia's Board for Contractors licenses contracting businesses as Class A, B or C; the class sets the dollar value of jobs a firm may take on, and its classification or specialty sets the type of work it may do.22 Virginia's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation advises hiring only licensed contractors, and its License Lookup shows a license's status and any past disciplinary actions.23 Check a Virginia license

Ask who will apply in APEX and whose name goes on the plumbing and electrical permits. In Alexandria, if no contractor will be doing the work, the property owner must submit a Property Owner's Affidavit with the permit application.13

Questions people ask

How much does a bathroom remodel cost in Alexandria?

Cost vs. Value's Washington, DC market, which covers Alexandria, listed $25,9361 for a midrange bathroom and $80,9941 for an upscale one in 2025. Narrow rowhouse access, historic windows and condo building rules are the local reasons a bid lands above or below those.

Do I need Board of Architectural Review approval for a bathroom in Old Town?

Not for the inside. Alexandria's Historic Preservation office states that interior work does not require Board of Architectural Review approval.14 In Alexandria's two local historic districts, Old and Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray, a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Board of Architectural Review or preservation staff is required for new construction and exterior alterations, generally when the work is visible from a public right of way.14 A new window, a larger opening or a vent on a visible wall is where the board comes in.

Can I do my own bathroom work in Alexandria?

In Alexandria, if no contractor will be doing the work, the property owner must submit a Property Owner's Affidavit with the permit application.13 Alexandria says condo owners doing their own work are not subject to contractor licensing but must meet every requirement of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, and the city recommends hiring a contractor to pull the permits.6

How hard is Alexandria's water?

Virginia American Water's results ranged from 78 mg/L9 to 191 mg/L9 of hardness in 2025. Virginia American Water's Alexandria District gets its drinking water from two treatment plants owned and run by Fairfax Water: the Corbalis plant on the Potomac River and the Griffith plant at the Occoquan Reservoir.9

Sources

Page updated October 11, 2026. How we source our numbers

  1. Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, Washington, DC. Released 2025. Washington, DC. Industry source.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25034 (Year Structure Built). Released January 29, 2026. Alexandria (independent city), VA, Arlington County, VA.
  3. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25024 (Units in Structure). Released January 29, 2026. Alexandria (independent city), VA, Arlington County, VA.
  4. Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2025, national. Released 2025. United States. Industry source.
  5. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25003 (Tenure). Released January 29, 2026. Alexandria (independent city), VA, Arlington County, VA.
  6. City of Alexandria, Virginia, Memorandum: Alterations Within Condominium Units. Released June 23, 2022. View source.
  7. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25077 (Median Value, owner-occupied). Released January 29, 2026. Alexandria (independent city), VA.
  8. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25077. Released January 29, 2026. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro.
  9. Virginia American Water, 2025 Annual Water Quality Report, Alexandria District. Released 2026. View source. Industry source.
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School: Hardness of Water. No publication date. View source.
  11. City of Alexandria, Virginia, Home Rehabilitation Loan Program brochure (Office of Housing). Released May 2024. Alexandria (independent city), VA.
  12. City of Alexandria, Virginia, Plan Submission Checklist: Kitchen Renovation. Released February 2012. View source.
  13. City of Alexandria, Virginia, Permit Requirements. Released April 3, 2026. View source.
  14. City of Alexandria, Virginia, Historic Preservation. Released October 7, 2026. View source.
  15. City of Alexandria, Virginia, Old & Historic Alexandria and Parker-Gray Districts, and One Hundred Year Old Buildings. Released July 2, 2025. View source.
  16. City of Alexandria, Virginia, BAR Policies for Administrative Approval. Released October 15, 2024. View source.
  17. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sources of Lead in Drinking Water. Released August 2017. View source.
  18. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Learn About Asbestos. Released July 13, 2026. View source.
  19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Facts About Older Adult Falls. Released September 4, 2026. View source.
  20. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, STEADI: Check for Safety, a home fall prevention checklist for older adults. No publication date. View source.
  21. National Association of Home Builders, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS). No publication date. View source. Industry source.
  22. Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Board for Contractors. No publication date. View source.
  23. Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, DPOR Consumer Guide: Hiring a Contractor. No publication date. View source.
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