Bathroom remodeling in Chesterfield County
The 2024 Cost vs. Value report's Richmond-market price for a midrange bathroom remodel is $25,0041, close to the $25,2512 national figure; Chesterfield isn't priced on its own. The county's housing is what sets the job apart: 54%3 of its homes were built between 1980 and 2009, so many bathrooms here sit in subdivision houses whose tubs, showers and vanities are wearing out rather than in old houses with failing pipes.
Calls are recorded. One independent company that handles bathroom remodels in the Chesterfield County area answers.
Updated October 11, 2026
Richmond-market bathroom prices
Cost vs. Value lists the Richmond market but not Chesterfield. The figures below are its 2024 prices, the latest edition to include Richmond, with that year's national averages beside them.
| Measure | Richmond market | U.S. average |
|---|---|---|
| Midrange bathroom remodel, job cost | $25,0041 | $25,2512 |
| Upscale bathroom remodel, job cost | $78,1651 | $78,8402 |
| Universal-design bathroom remodel, job cost | $40,4011 | $40,7502 |
In a Chesterfield house from the 1990s, the price usually turns on the shower: keeping the drain where it is holds costs near these figures, while moving it or enlarging the room pushes them up.
When Chesterfield's houses were built
Census counts by year built show Chesterfield's housing is younger than the metro's, with far less of it from before 1980.
| Measure | Chesterfield County | Richmond metro |
|---|---|---|
| Homes built 1980–2009 | 54%3 | – |
| Homes built before 1980 | 29%3 | 44%3 |
| Homes built 2010 or later | 17%3 | – |
Bathrooms from these decades often have one-piece tub-shower units and stock vanities. Before agreeing on a price, ask the contractor to check the subfloor and the framing behind the tub for slow leaks.
What Chesterfield homes are worth
Owner-occupied homes in Chesterfield carry a higher median value than those across the Richmond metro.
A county of detached houses
Census counts by building type show Chesterfield is more heavily single-family than Henrico, its neighbor north of the James.
| Measure | Chesterfield County | Henrico County |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family detached homes | 78%5 | 63%5 |
| Single-family attached homes (townhouses and similar) | 6%5 | 11%5 |
| Homes in buildings with five or more units | 12%5 | 20%5 |
In a detached house, a bathroom remodel rarely has to account for a shared wall or a neighbor below, but a homeowners association may still set rules on dumpsters, work hours and contractor parking.
Chesterfield's soft water
Chesterfield Utilities publishes a hardness range rather than a single average for county water.
| Measure | Chesterfield County water |
|---|---|
| Water hardness, low end of published range | 40 mg/L6 |
| Water hardness, high end of published range | 70 mg/L6 |
The USGS classes water at 0 to 60 mg/L of hardness as soft.7 The USGS classes water at 61 to 120 mg/L of hardness as moderately hard.7 Chesterfield's range runs from soft into the bottom of moderately hard, so scale on glass shower doors and chrome builds slowly. Chesterfield's water quality report for 2025 names three sources of county water: the Swift Creek Reservoir, Lake Chesdin and the James River.8
Chesterfield's bathroom permit fees
Chesterfield's residential fee schedule for July 2026 through June 2027 sets flat fees by permit type rather than by job cost.
| Measure | Chesterfield County |
|---|---|
| Building permit, alteration with no change to square footage | $1149 |
| Plumbing permit, renovation where new rough-in is required | $1149 |
| Plumbing permit, renovation where rough-in is pre-existing | $579 |
| Electrical permit, renovation where rough-in is pre-existing | $579 |
| State levy added to the base permit fee | 2%9 |
Leaving the fixtures where they are keeps the plumbing permit at the lower fee. Moving the toilet or adding a second sink means new rough-in work and the higher one.
Permits
Chesterfield County's Building Inspection department sets these rules for single-family homes; apartments and condominiums go through as commercial projects. Replacing a toilet, sink or faucet, laying new flooring and refurbishing a vanity need no permit, though the work still has to meet code. New pipe or a new fixture takes a plumbing permit, wiring changes take an electrical permit, and any structural change takes a building permit. Owners can apply for work on their own home.
- Chesterfield needs no permit in a single-family home for new floor coverings, installing or refurbishing cabinetry, or replacing plumbing fixtures such as sinks, toilets and faucets, but the work must still comply with the code; the county treats apartments and condominiums as commercial projects.10
- Chesterfield requires a plumbing permit to install any new piping or fixtures, or to replace plumbing pipe, including hot and cold water supply, county water and sewer connections, well and septic tank connections, and drainage piping.10
- Chesterfield requires a building permit for renovation, repair and alteration projects, says any work that is structural in nature requires a permit, and asks for a plot plan except for exclusively interior work.11
- Depending on scope, a Chesterfield renovation may also need electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing permits, and the county asks applicants not to submit mechanical, electrical, plumbing or cabinetry drawings for residential plan review.11
- Chesterfield requires a plumbing rough-in inspection when piping will be concealed in walls or ceilings, and a groundwork inspection for any plumbing installed below a concrete slab.12
- Chesterfield's residential permit application lets an owner or lessee working on no more than one residential building for his or her own use in any 24-month period claim exemption from contractor licensing under Code of Virginia § 54.1-1101.13
- Chesterfield takes residential permit applications online through its Community Development ELM portal, in person at Building Inspection, 9800 Government Center Parkway, or by mail.11
Checked October 11, 2026
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Bathrooms in Chesterfield's subdivision houses
Chesterfield is mostly a county of detached houses, 78%5 of its homes, and 54%3 date from 1980 through 2009. Houses from those years commonly have a hall bath upstairs and a larger primary bath with a separate tub and shower, and that primary bath is where many remodels start.
In houses this age, the trouble is more often hidden water damage than old materials. Ask the contractor to check the subfloor around the toilet and tub, look for soft framing behind a shower that has leaked, and rebuild the shower pan instead of tiling over it.
Only 29%3 of Chesterfield homes predate 1980, against 44%3 across the metro. If yours is one of them, the paint rules apply when walls and trim come apart: EPA's lead renovation rule requires anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in a home built before 1978 to be lead-safe certified, and the EPA says about three-quarters of U.S. homes built before 1978 still contain some lead-based paint.14
Chesterfield has completed an inventory of its water service lines, approved on October 22, 2024, which residents can look up at Chesterfield.gov/ServiceLineInventory.8 Some houses in the county run on a well and septic system instead. Chesterfield's residential permit application asks whether the house is on county water or a well and on county sewer or septic, and, for a septic house, whether there is plumbing in the basement.13 If yours is on a well, test the water before you pick fixtures, filters or a water heater.
Planning for aging in place
More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.15 The National Institute on Aging suggests non-skid surfaces wherever a floor can get wet and a light left on in the bathroom at night.16 In a two-story house, having a full bath on the main floor can matter as much as grab bars, so ask whether a first-floor powder room could become a full bath with a walk-in shower.
Chesterfield lists a handicap ramp among the residential projects that need a building permit.11 Chesterfield County's housing assistance page points residents who need a wheelchair ramp or critical home repair to project:HOMES as an eligibility-based program that may help.17 NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.18
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 Chesterfield County area. You talk with them directly about the project, the schedule and the 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 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.19 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.20 Check a Virginia license
Questions people ask
How much does a bathroom remodel cost in Chesterfield County?
Chesterfield isn't priced separately in Cost vs. Value. Its 2024 Richmond-market figures are $25,0041 for a midrange bathroom, $78,1651 for an upscale one and $40,4011 for a universal-design bath. County permit fees come on top; an alteration permit that adds no square footage is $1149.
Do I need a permit to replace a toilet or vanity in Chesterfield?
Usually not. Chesterfield needs no permit in a single-family home for new floor coverings, installing or refurbishing cabinetry, or replacing plumbing fixtures such as sinks, toilets and faucets, but the work must still comply with the code; the county treats apartments and condominiums as commercial projects.10 Running new pipe is different: Chesterfield requires a plumbing permit to install any new piping or fixtures, or to replace plumbing pipe, including hot and cold water supply, county water and sewer connections, well and septic tank connections, and drainage piping.10
Can I pull my own permit in Chesterfield County?
In many cases, yes. Chesterfield's residential permit application lets an owner or lessee working on no more than one residential building for his or her own use in any 24-month period claim exemption from contractor licensing under Code of Virginia § 54.1-1101.13 Chesterfield takes residential permit applications online through its Community Development ELM portal, in person at Building Inspection, 9800 Government Center Parkway, or by mail.11
Sources
Page updated October 11, 2026. How we source our numbers
- Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2024, Richmond. Released 2024. Richmond. Industry source.
- Zonda / Journal of Light Construction, Cost vs. Value 2024, national. Released 2024. United States. Industry source.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25034. Released January 29, 2026. Chesterfield County, Virginia, Richmond, VA metro.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25077. Released January 29, 2026. Chesterfield County, Virginia, Richmond, VA metro.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B25024. Released January 29, 2026. Chesterfield County, Virginia.
- Chesterfield County Utilities, Drinking Water and Water Resources. No publication date. Chesterfield County public water.
- U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School: Hardness of Water. No publication date. View source.
- Chesterfield County Utilities, Water Quality Report (testing January 1 through December 31, 2025). Released 2026. View source.
- Chesterfield County Building Inspection, Residential Fee Schedule, effective 7/1/2026 through 6/30/2027 (PDF). Released July 1, 2026. Chesterfield County, Virginia.
- Chesterfield County Building Inspection, Residential Permits and Inspections Processes. No publication date. View source.
- Chesterfield County Building Inspection, Residential Project Requirements and Application Submittal. No publication date. View source.
- Chesterfield County Building Inspection, Plumbing Projects: Required Inspections (PDF). No publication date. View source.
- Chesterfield County Building Inspection, Residential Building Permit Application (PDF). No publication date. View source.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program. Released June 17, 2026. View source.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Facts About Older Adult Falls. Released September 4, 2026. View source.
- National Institute on Aging, Preventing Falls at Home: Room by Room. Released September 12, 2022. View source.
- Chesterfield County Community Enhancement, Housing Assistance. No publication date. View source.
- National Association of Home Builders, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS). No publication date. View source. Industry source.
- Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, DPOR Consumer Guide: Hiring a Contractor. No publication date. View source.
- Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Board for Contractors. No publication date. View source.