Bathroom remodeling in Uptown Columbus — historic homes, current plumbing.

What Uptown means, and what it means for your bathroom

"Uptown" covers the downtown Columbus core — Broadway, the Historic District, the RiverWalk-adjacent blocks near the Chattahoochee, and the older residential streets between about 1st Avenue and Hilton Avenue. Most of the housing stock here was built between 1890 and 1940. Column-front cottages, wood-siding Victorians, brick foursquares, bungalows.

Beautiful, characterful — and full of surprises the moment you open a wall.

What's usually behind the tile in a 31901 home

• Cast-iron drain lines. Original DWV plumbing in a 1920s house is almost always cast-iron. When they leak — and after 80–100 years many do — they leak into wall cavities. We routinely replace the wet-vent section as part of a bathroom remodel.
• Galvanized supply lines. Same era, same story. Galvanized pipe rusts internally and drops water pressure. If we're already opening walls, this is the moment to swap for PEX or copper.
• Plaster walls over wood lath. Not drywall. Removing tile from plaster without collapsing the wall takes patience most contractors won't spend.
• Non-standard framing. 2x4s that are actually 2x4 (not 1.5x3.5), studs on 16" centers usually but sometimes not, joists spanning further than modern code allows.
• Original tile you may want to keep. Salt-glazed penny rounds, black-and-white hex, subway walls with pencil trim — beautiful, historic, and worth preserving if possible.

Historic District permitting

Uptown holds several of Columbus's designated historic districts, and in a historic district it is the exterior that comes under review. A bathroom that stays inside the walls is a different conversation from one that puts a new vent or a new window on an elevation the street can see.

If your property is in one of those districts and the job touches the outside of the building, confirm what review applies with Columbus Inspections and Code on Get a Free Quote before demo — not after the fan is already cut in.

What Uptown remodels usually look like

• Adding a proper master bath to a house that was built with one bathroom for the whole family.
• Turning a hall bath from 1950s pink-tile-and-fluorescent into a modern usable space, while keeping the trim, molding, and door hardware that give the house its character.
• Powder-room additions — carving a half-bath out of an unused closet or hallway.
• Full stud-out remodels where the old cast-iron drain is on borrowed time and you want it replaced before more damage.

Nearby streets and neighborhoods we work in

Around Broadway and 12th, up through Hilton Avenue and Second Avenue. Historic Chattahoochee Council, the Springer Opera House block, the streets around National Civil War Naval Museum. Also Rose Hill, Overlook, and East Wynnton — all sharing similar older housing stock, and often the same plumbing surprises.

Related local pages

See North Columbus for newer housing stock, or the full service area. For scope, start with full bathroom remodel or vanity & countertop.

For the shopping questions that apply to any Uptown project, the bathroom remodel near me checklist on our home page walks through what an itemized quote should name, how to compare waterproofing systems, and how to tell a truly local remodeler from a national franchise or a lead-matching site.