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CGI Bathroom Remodeling: The Miami Owner’s Guide
If you’ve got a CGI bathroom fixture or component that’s failing, we can match it, replace it, or rebuild around it. In Miami, a full bathroom remodel where we’re working with existing CGI pieces or swapping them out runs $10,620 – $33,040, and a smaller refresh starts around $5,900. The most common way owners discover a CGI part has gone bad is water staining on the ceiling below a second-floor bath, a tub or shower surround that never fully dries, or a vanity that’s started to swell at the base.
We’re an independent Miami remodeling contractor, not a CGI dealer or affiliate. What that means for you: we don’t have a parts-counter incentive to push one brand’s replacement over another. We identify what failed, tell you honestly whether it’s worth repairing or replacing, and give you a written number before any work starts.
Which CGI Models This Applies To
CGI (Ceramic Glazed Interiors, and yes, the acronym matters when you’re hunting for a match) supplied tubs, shower bases, surrounds, and wall systems to a lot of Florida builders from the 1980s through the early 2000s. If your Miami home was built in that window, there’s a decent chance the original bathroom still has at least one CGI piece in it. The giveaway is usually the finish: a high-gloss ceramic glaze over a dense composite core, with a slightly pebbled texture on the underside.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most owners run into: CGI changed its drain geometry between its earlier and later series, so a tub from 1989 won’t always accept a drain assembly listed for a 1999 unit. The only reliable way to identify what you have is to measure the drain opening and check the model stamp, which is usually on the underside of the tub or the back of the surround panel. If the piece is too heavy or awkward to flip, we’ll do it during the estimate visit. For most CGI fixtures, an OEM-matching replacement part is the safest bet, but on surrounds and wall panels, a quality aftermarket piece from a brand like Kohler or a local Miami plumbing supplier often fits just as well and costs 20 – 30% less. We’ll show you both options with real prices.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CGI Bathroom Remodeling Is Failing
- Hairline cracks spiderwebbing across the tub or shower base. This is classic CGI fatigue. The composite core flexes over decades of Miami humidity swings, and the rigid glaze eventually develops stress fractures. Once they appear, water gets into the core and accelerates failure.
- You notice a soft spot when you step in. That means the underlying substrate (the cement board or mortar bed beneath the CGI unit) has been soaking up water. The CGI glaze can look fine while the floor beneath rots. In older Coconut Grove homes, this is one of the most common things we find hiding behind a “perfectly good” tub.
- The surround has pulled away from the wall at the caulk line. Miami’s humidity makes caulk fail faster than it does up north. Once the seal breaks at the flange, water runs behind the surround and into the wall cavity. You won’t see it until the baseboard starts darkening.
- Persistent musty smell that no amount of cleaning removes. That’s mold inside the core or behind the unit. In our experience, by the time the smell is this strong, the CGI panel is beyond repair and the framing behind it needs at least a section replaced.
- Rust-colored streaks running down from the drain or overflow. The glaze around those openings wears thin first. Once the metal drain collar starts bleeding rust through micro-cracks in the glaze, the seal around the drain is compromised and the subfloor is actively getting wet.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
In Miami, replacing a CGI tub or shower system breaks down like this:
- CGI tub replacement (labor and materials): $4,130 – $10,620 depending on whether we’re doing a straight swap or moving drain lines
- CGI surround or wall panel replacement: $2,360 – $5,310 if the tub base is solid and only the walls need re-glazing or replacement
- Full bathroom remodel with CGI teardown and modern replacement: $10,620 – $33,040
The range comes down to four factors: how much water damage is inside the wall cavity, whether the existing plumbing can stay put, what replacement materials you choose, and whether we find surprises when we open things up. We don’t make you play the “surprise change order” game. You get a written price before demo starts, and if we find rot behind the CGI surround, we show you the damage, explain the added cost in plain terms, and get your sign-off before we spend another dollar. Every job carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing: if the work fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge.
See the difference
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
Here’s the honest split. You can safely check a few things yourself: run a bead of silicone caulk along a gap at the surround flange if it’s small and dry behind; tighten the drain collar if it’s loose but not leaking; inspect the underside of the tub from a crawlspace or closet access panel if you have one. If that access shows wet wood or the CGI unit itself is cracked or soft, stop there.
This is a job where the failure you can see is usually a symptom of damage you can’t. Removing a CGI unit means cutting into a wall, dealing with whatever framing rot and mold is behind it, and rebuilding to Miami code. That’s not a Saturday project. We’ve seen homeowners patch a cracked surround, only to have a bathroom ceiling collapse six months later because water had been running inside the wall the whole time. Give you a number first, then pick up the tools. Call (850) 988-7559 and we’ll come take a look.
FAQs
CGI tubs and surrounds typically last 20 – 35 years in Miami conditions, which is about 10 – 15 years less than they last in drier climates. The constant humidity and salt air accelerate the breakdown of both the glaze and the underlying composite. If your unit is past year 25 and showing stress cracks, it’s running on borrowed time.
Call (850) 988-7559 for an honest assessment of whether yours has any life left.
Small surface chips and hairline glaze cracks can sometimes be repaired with a color-matched epoxy, but a structural crack that flexes when you press on it means the core is compromised and the unit is done. In our experience, about 7 out of 10 “repairable” CGI cracks in Miami bathrooms are already letting water through to the subfloor. We’ll tell you which category yours falls into, and we won’t push a repair that won’t hold.
Call (850) 988-7559 and we’ll give you a straight answer.
A straight CGI tub swap takes one to two days if the framing and subfloor are clean. If the water damage has spread into the wall cavity or floor, you’re looking at three to five days because we rebuild the substrate, let it cure, and then set the new unit. That timeline includes cleanup: we leave the bathroom swept and the debris hauled away.
Call (850) 988-7559 and we’ll give you a schedule with a real arrival window before you commit.
We carry a selection of common CGI-compatible drain assemblies, overflow plates, and trim kits on our trucks, and we have fast access to OEM-matching replacement tubs and surrounds through our Miami suppliers. For surround panels, we also offer quality aftermarket options from Kohler and other manufacturers we trust. If we need to order a specific CGI piece, we’ll tell you the lead time before we schedule the work. We also handle parts for KraftMaid cabinetry, Cambria and Silestone countertops, which we sometimes pair with a bathroom refresh.
Call (850) 988-7559 to find out what’s in stock for your model right now.
Call Penhallow Remodeling Miami for a Written Estimate
If your CGI tub, shower, or surround is failing, don’t let another week of Miami humidity work its way behind the walls. Call (850) 988-7559 and we’ll schedule a visit with a background-checked, uniformed technician, assess the damage, and hand you a written price before anything comes apart. That number is the number on the invoice. Trevor Nash signs off on every estimate, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise covers the work in writing from day one.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Miami at Penhallow Remodeling Miami, serving Miami and nearby areas.
