Bathroom Remodeling • Mandarin, Jacksonville, FL
Mandarin's brick ranches and two-story homes under the oak canopy are solid houses with original bathrooms: a hall bath and a small primary, finished in the 1970s and 80s and largely untouched since. Braga Remodeling remodels bathrooms in Mandarin, Jacksonville, FL — the old mortar-bed tile and the leaking shower pan come out, the shower is rebuilt over modern waterproofing, and the room is finished to be the last bathroom remodel the house needs for a long while.
Liability insured · Jacksonville, FL
5.0 · 37 Google reviewsA Mandarin bathroom is rarely worn out in the way the owner thinks. The tile is tired, but the real story is underneath: a shower pan at the end of its life and grout that has been feeding water into the mortar bed for years. We scope the room honestly — what comes out, what the rebuild includes — in writing, before demolition.
Overview
Mandarin sits at the southern end of Jacksonville along the St. Johns River, and its housing stock settled in decades ago: brick ranch homes on large, oak-shaded lots, two-story houses in the later subdivisions, and riverfront properties off Mandarin Road. A bathroom remodel here almost always means bringing an original bathroom up to date — the hall bath every guest uses, and a primary bath that is small by current standards.
These bathrooms were built with tile set in a thick mortar bed, an original tub or a tiled shower on a pan that has now been in service forty-plus years, and an exhaust fan that barely moves air. The failures arrive quietly: grout cracking in the same lines every year, a shower floor that feels soft at the drain, a faint musty smell in the primary closet. Our demolition takes the room back to sound material so the pan, the subfloor and the framing can be seen, and the rebuild goes over a continuous waterproofing system instead of another mortar bed.
Mandarin homeowners often phase the work — the hall bath this year, the primary next — and that is fine with us. Each room gets its own written scope after a free measurement, or both are measured together so the plan and the prices are settled before either starts. The wider picture of working in these homes is on our Mandarin remodeling page.
Mortar-bed tear-outs
Thick-set tile removed to sound material
Shower pans renewed
The forty-year failure point, rebuilt
One room at a time
Phased projects welcome
Written scope first
Price fixed before demolition
The Tear-Out
Tile set in a thick mortar bed was the quality method of its era, and plenty of Mandarin floors installed that way are still flat and solid. The problem is the shower: the pan under a mortar-bed shower floor is a membrane with a working life, and after four decades many of them leak at the drain and the corners. Once water is in the bed, the grout cracks, the floor softens and the subfloor below starts to go — and no surface repair reaches the pan.
So a shower rebuild here means the heavy work: mortar bed and tile broken out and hauled away in our demolition scope, the subfloor and framing inspected and repaired where the leak reached, and a new shower base built with modern waterproofing that does not depend on a buried membrane. It is slower than tiling over the old floor. It is also the difference between a remodel and a countdown to the next one.
Soft floor at the drain and returning grout cracks are the tells
Leak damage repaired before the new base is built
The new shower is waterproofed as a system, not a coating
The Common Project
The most requested Mandarin project is a tub-to-shower conversion in the primary bath: the original tub — used as a shower with a curtain for twenty years — comes out, and a tiled walk-in shower takes its alcove, with a niche, a handheld and a seat if the owners want one. The hall bath usually keeps its tub for kids and guests, which keeps the house practical and the project focused.
A ranch layout helps: the conversion works inside the existing footprint, the drain is already where a shower wants it, and while the walls are open the original valve and any tired supply lines in that wall are easy to renew. What it changes is daily life — a real shower, at the standard of the rest of a well-kept house.
Straight answers
Braga Remodeling is a Jacksonville remodeling company at 4305 Napoli Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32207, phone (904) 520-1994. The crew remodels Mandarin's original 1970s–80s bathrooms — mortar-bed tile tear-outs, shower pan rebuilds, tub-to-shower conversions, tile, vanities and fixtures — starting with a free in-home measurement and a written scope.
The shower pan. After forty-plus years the membrane under a mortar-bed shower floor commonly leaks at the drain and corners, which cracks grout, softens the floor and damages the subfloor. The fix is a rebuild of the shower base over modern waterproofing — surface regrouting does not reach the problem.
What We Build
The original hall bathroom brought current: mortar-bed tile out, tub kept or replaced, new tile, vanity and fixtures, and an exhaust fan that actually clears the room.
Mandarin primaries are compact. Within the footprint: a better shower, a vanity with storage and tile that makes the room feel finished instead of original-issue.
The primary tub becomes a tiled walk-in shower — niche, bench option, glass-ready opening — while the hall bath keeps a tub. Details on the conversion page.
For showers already leaking: the bed and pan come out, subfloor damage is repaired, and the shower is rebuilt over a waterproofing system with a proper slope to the drain.
Original vanities and valves replaced with storage that fits the room and fixtures that can still be serviced in twenty years — often the highest-impact half of a Mandarin bath update.
Floor and wall tile over a prepared substrate — and where the bath floor stays carpet-era subfloor or worn sheet vinyl, a clean transition to the LVP flooring many Mandarin owners run through the rest of the house.
Our Process
We measure the room, check the shower floor, grout and fan, and talk through whether this is a surface update or a pan-and-bed rebuild.
The scope and price are fixed in writing — demolition, repairs, waterproofing, tile and fixtures — for one room or both baths together.
The mortar bed and old pan come out, the subfloor is inspected, and anything the leak reached is photographed and agreed with you before the rebuild.
New base and waterproofing, tile, fixtures and finish work go in, and we walk the finished bathroom with you.
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Google Reviews
5.0 average from 37 reviews on Google
“I had a great experience with this construction company. They were honest, reliable, and did exactly what they promised. The team was professional, hardworking, and paid attention to every detail.”
“We had an overall wonderful experience with Braga Remodeling. They were responsible, professional and communicated well throughout the process.”
“Excellent service and outstanding workmanship! The crew was punctual, respectful, and very knowledgeable throughout the entire project.”
Tell us about the bathroom — hall or primary, the shower's condition, what you want changed — and we'll measure in person and put the scope in writing, at no cost. Prefer to talk? Call (904) 520-1994 or email braga@bragaremodeling.com.
Call (904) 520-1994