Bathroom Remodeling in Colfax, CA
Bathroom remodels in Colfax — an incorporated city with its own building department, at about 2,425 feet, where 14% of the housing was built before 1940.
- Free in-home consultation
- Line-item written estimate
- Licensed: CSLB #1125321
- County
- Placer County
- ZIP
- 95713
- Corridor
- I-80 Foothill Corridor
- Building permits
- City of Colfax
Colfax sits on the I-80 Foothill Corridor corridor. See the whole Sierra Foothills service territory, or read our Placer County permit guide.
Bathroom remodeling in Colfax: the short version
- Permit: City of Colfax Building Department for addresses inside the city limits; Placer County for the unincorporated area around it. See our Placer County permit guide.
- Water: PCWA's Colfax system serves the city — it is a PCWA system, not a municipal utility. Reported hardness 10.1 mg/L: soft.
- Housing stock: About 1,069 housing units; 14% built before 1940 and 8% in the 1950s, alongside 43% built from 1990 onwards; median year built 1987.
- What we do here: Bathrooms and showers only: full bathroom rebuilds, shower replacements after a pan failure, tub-to-shower conversions, and ventilation upgrades.
- Code minimums: a shower with at least 1,024 sq in of finished interior that can contain a 30-inch circle (CPC §408.6); a pressure-balance, thermostatic or combination valve capped at 120°F (§408.3); safety glazing at the enclosure (CRC §R308.4.5); exhaust ducted outside the building.
- Warranty: a 3-year workmanship warranty on our bathroom remodeling work. Manufacturer warranties vary separately by product.
Sources: City of Colfax permit information; the serving utility's own water quality report; ACS 2024 5-year housing tables for Colfax; 2022 California Plumbing Code §408.3 and §408.6; California Residential Code §R308.4.5.
Local work, designed around Colfax homes.
Oakwood Remodeling Group is bathroom-focused — that's all we do. The work we deliver in Colfax carries the same craftsmanship standard as our Auburn projects, with detailing tailored to how homes in your area are actually built.
Colfax is the one incorporated city in this part of the I-80 corridor: 1,995 residents at the 2020 census, ZIP 95713, at about 2,425 feet — the highest place we routinely work. Being a city changes the paperwork. A bathroom permit for an address inside the city limits comes from the City of Colfax Building Department, which oversees construction, remodelling and demolition within the city, not from Placer County.
It also has the oldest in-town housing stock on this corridor. Of about 1,069 housing units, 14% were built before 1940 and another 8% in the 1950s; the median year built is 1987 only because 43% of the housing arrived from 1990 onwards (17% in the 1990s, 14% in the 2000s, 12% in the 2010s). So Colfax is two remodel problems in one city: turn-of-the-century houses where nothing is square, and 25-year-old houses where the builder-grade bathroom is simply finished out.
Owner-occupancy is 45%, well below the foothill norm, so a fair share of enquiries here come from owners preparing a property rather than living in it. We will tell you honestly which findings behind the tile are structural and which are cosmetic.
A city permit, and PCWA water
Two things surprise people about Colfax. The first is that the city runs its own building department: the City of Colfax Building Department handles construction, improvement, remodelling and demolition inside the city limits, so an in-town bathroom permit is a city permit, while a property just outside the limits is a Placer County permit. Knowing which side of the line you are on before anyone quotes a schedule saves a fortnight.
The second is the water. Colfax is served by PCWA's Colfax system rather than a city-owned utility, and that system reported hardness of 10.1 mg/L — among the softest figures in the region. Anything you read about hard-water damage in Colfax bathrooms is wrong: the residue on glass is soap scum, and the correct response is mechanical, not chemical.
What we build in Colfax
Work we take across a city with both pre-war houses and 1990s subdivisions:
- Full bathroom rebuilds where the subfloor under a tub has taken water over decades
- Shower replacements after a pan or membrane failure, rebuilt with a bonded, water-tested assembly
- Tub-to-shower conversions in small original bathrooms
- Exhaust fans installed or replaced so they discharge outside the building
- Tile work planned around walls that are not square, rather than pretending they are
Colfax's two housing stocks
The year-built table splits cleanly: of about 1,069 housing units, 14% predate 1940 and 8% date from the 1950s, while 17% were built in the 1990s, 14% in the 2000s and 12% in the 2010s. The 1970s and 1980s sit in between at 12% and 14%. Median year built is 1987; owner-occupancy is 45%. (ACS 2024 5-year estimates, 2020–2024, tables B25001, B25003, B25034 and B25035.)
Those two stocks need different work. In the pre-war houses the bathroom was retrofitted into a room never planned for plumbing, so framing, waste routing and subfloor condition are all findings rather than givens. In the 1990s and 2000s houses the bones are fine and the bathroom is simply builder-grade: a fiberglass unit, a stock vanity, strip lighting. The first is a careful rebuild; the second is a design problem with a clean starting point.
A Colfax bathroom we rebuilt in a pre-1940 house
7×9 single bathroom — compromised subfloor replaced, galvanized supply swapped, real exterior venting added.
The house predates 1940, and the bathroom had the full set of period findings: a cast-iron tub, a tile shower over cement board, galvanized supply lines, no meaningful exhaust ventilation, and corners that measured about half an inch out of square.
We demolished back to studs, replaced eight feet of compromised subfloor under the old tub, swapped the accessible galvanized supply for PEX back to the manifold, and built a walk-in shower on a bonded membrane with a linear drain. A new exhaust fan was ducted through the wall to the outside — the previous one had not been. The tile layout absorbed the out-of-square corner in a deliberate shadow-line trim detail, with small-format glazed tile, a wood vanity and warm metal fittings keeping the room in period.
What to expect locally — Colfax
What is genuinely specific about remodelling a bathroom here:
- Permit authority
City of Colfax Building Department inside the city limits; Placer County immediately outside them. We confirm which applies before quoting.
- Water
PCWA's Colfax system, 10.1 mg/L — one of the softest figures in the region, and a reason to ignore hard-water advice written for elsewhere.
- Elevation
At about 2,425 feet this is the highest town we regularly work in. Winter weather rarely stops a build but it does affect delivery days, so material drops are planned around the forecast.
- What is commonly hidden
In the roughly one in five homes built in the 1950s or earlier: subfloor damage under tubs, galvanized supply, and exhaust ducted into the attic rather than outdoors. All three get found on demolition day and reported plainly.
Bathroom services we deliver across Colfax.
Bathroom Remodeling
Full bathroom remodels for Auburn homes — layout, tile, vanities, lighting, plumbing, and modern finishes.
Learn moreShower Remodeling
Custom tile showers, glass enclosures, niches, benches, and durable waterproofing built for Sierra Foothills homes.
Learn moreTub-to-Shower Conversions
Replace an unused or outdated tub with a modern, low-step walk-in shower designed for daily use.
Learn moreWalk-In Showers
Curbless and low-threshold walk-in showers with frameless glass, custom tile, and quiet, premium finishes.
Learn moreHow we serve Colfax.
Colfax is a straight run up I-80 from Auburn, and at about 2,425 feet it is the one place in the territory where winter weather genuinely affects a delivery day. We plan material drops around the forecast rather than assuming every day in January is available.
Whether your project is a single shower rebuild or a full primary bathroom remodel, we plan the schedule and crew cadence around the realities of working in your area. That keeps the build clean, the punch list short, and the communication consistent.
Request a free consultation for your Colfax bathroom, or call us directly at (530) 450-2343.
Other foothill communities near Colfax.
We work across most of the Auburn-area foothills and the I-80 / Highway 49 corridor — these are the closest sister cities we cover.
Bathroom Remodeling in Meadow Vista
Bathroom remodels in Meadow Vista — treated district water in town, private wells on the rural edges, and a housing stock old enough that what is behind the tile matters.
View Meadow Vista pageNearbyBathroom Remodeling in Lake of the Pines
Bathroom remodels for Lake of the Pines homes — a gated Nevada County community with an Auburn mailing address, where three homes in four date from the 1970s and 1980s.
View Lake of the Pines pageNearbyBathroom Remodeling in Grass Valley
Bathroom remodels in Grass Valley — an incorporated Nevada County city at about 2,411 feet, with its own building department and a fifth of its housing built before 1950.
View Grass Valley pageBathroom remodeling in Colfax — common questions.
Does my Colfax permit come from the city or from Placer County?
Will you find rotten subfloor when you remove my old tub?
Is Colfax water hard?
How do you handle a bathroom where the walls are out of square?
Ready to plan a bathroom remodel in Colfax?
Tell us about the room — where it is, what is in there now, and what you want instead — and we'll set up a free consultation and a written estimate.