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CGI Bathroom Remodeling: The Sacramento Owner’s Guide
If your CGI bathroom is leaking, cracking, or showing water damage around the pan, curb, or wall surrounds, you’re in the right place. A full CGI bathroom remodel in Sacramento typically runs $9,000 – $28,000 depending on the size of the space, what’s behind the walls, and whether you’re replacing just the shower or gutting the entire room. We install and rebuild CGI-compatible bathrooms throughout Sacramento, and yes, we can usually start the demo within about a week of your written estimate. Most Sacramento homeowners discover the problem the same way: a soft spot near the drain, mildew that keeps coming back, or a hairline crack in the acrylic that grows a little wider every month.
We’re an independent Sacramento remodeling company. We’re not owned by or affiliated with CGI, but we work with their products constantly and know how they fail, where they fail first, and what it takes to make the repair last.
Which CGI Models This Applies To
CGI, or Custom Glass Industries, built acrylic and gelcoat shower pans, tub surrounds, and one-piece bathroom systems that went into thousands of Sacramento homes from the 1980s through the early 2000s. The most common units we see are the CGI one-piece tub/shower combos, the CGI low-threshold shower pans, and the CGI wall surround kits that came in 3-piece and 5-piece configurations. If your pan has a small round drain with a metal strainer and the acrylic has a slightly pebbled texture, that’s almost certainly a CGI pan.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most people don’t know: CGI pans were molded with specific drain offsets that don’t match standard modern pans. A Kohler or Delta pan will not drop into a CGI footprint without moving the drain. The drain rough-in on most CGI pans sits 12 to 14 inches off the back wall and dead-center side to side. If you’re not sure what you have, look under the drain cover for a molded CGI stamp, or measure from the back wall to the center of the drain. We’ll verify this during the estimate, but knowing it helps you understand why a “simple pan swap” sometimes means plumbing work.
When we do a CGI-specific remodel, we use Cambria, Silestone, or Caesarstone for solid surfaces, and Kohler or Moen for fixtures. These are the same product lines we stock for our kitchen work with KraftMaid cabinetry, so the materials carry warranties that stack with our own 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CGI Bathroom Remodeling Is Failing
- Soft spots around the drain. This is the most common failure and the one we see most in Sacramento’s older neighborhoods like Tahoe Park and East Sacramento. The acrylic delaminates from the fiberglass backing, water seeps in, and the pan flexes underfoot. You’ll feel a slight give when you step on it. By the time you feel it, the subfloor underneath is usually wet.
- Hairline cracks in the pan or curb. Gelcoat and acrylic expand and contract with Sacramento’s temperature swings. Over 20-plus years, that movement creates stress cracks. Even a crack the width of a credit card will let water through to the framing.
- Mildew or black staining at the seams. CGI surrounds are caulked at the seams where panels meet. Caulk fails, water creeps behind the panel, and the mildew you see on the surface is just the tip. By the time you see staining, there’s a colony behind the wall.
- Water damage on the ceiling below. If your CGI bathroom sits above a garage or lower floor, a brown water stain on the ceiling below the bathroom is a serious sign. The pan or the plumbing beneath it has been leaking long enough to soak through.
- A drain that drains slowly no matter what you do. Sacramento’s hard water leaves mineral deposits, but CGI pans are also prone to drain flange failure. The gasket between the pan and the drain body deteriorates. The pan looks fine from above, but water is escaping around the drain pipe instead of through it.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a CGI bathroom remodel in Sacramento, you’re looking at $9,000 – $28,000. A direct shower pan replacement with a new acrylic or tile pan, new drain, and matching wall panels usually lands between $5,000 and $12,000 if the framing underneath is still sound. A full gut of a CGI tub/shower combo with new tile, new valve, new pan, and new glass doors runs $12,000 to $22,000 depending on the materials you choose and whether we have to repair subfloor framing.
What drives the number: whether the floor joists need sistering, how much plumbing rerouting the CGI drain offset requires, what surface materials you pick, and whether there’s hidden water damage that only shows up after demo. We price this honestly before we start. You get a written number, not a verbal ballpark. If we find rot behind the wall, we show you, we explain it, and the change order is in writing before we touch it. Every CGI remodel we do includes our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If something fails inside that year, we come back and fix it. No charge, no service fee, no argument.
DIY or Call Us?
Some things you can safely check yourself. Look for visible cracks. Press gently around the drain to feel for flex. Run the shower and watch the seams for water beading where it shouldn’t. These observations help us prepare for your estimate, and they don’t cost you a dime. What you shouldn’t do is cut into the pan, try to patch a crack with an off-the-shelf kit, or pry up any surround panels. The first cut into a CGI pan releases the bond between the acrylic and the backing, and from there the failure accelerates. And here’s the honest part: a crack you can see means water you can’t see. Patching the surface doesn’t dry the framing, doesn’t fix the drain gasket, and doesn’t stop what’s already underway. Beyond that, you’re dealing with shower valves and drain plumbing, and plumbing mistakes behind a second-story bathroom are among the most expensive fixes we get called in to undo. If the pan is moving, the floor is wet, or the ceiling below is stained, call us at (279) 300-1177 and we’ll come take a look. The estimate is free, and you’ll know exactly what you’re dealing with before you spend anything.
FAQs
A CGI shower pan typically lasts 15 to 25 years in Sacramento, depending on how it was installed and how consistently it was maintained. Hard water, temperature swings, and the original caulking all affect that lifespan. If your pan is over 20 years old, it’s living on borrowed time. Call (279) 300-1177 and we’ll tell you honestly whether you have another few years or whether you’re closer to the end than you’d like.
For hairline surface cracks where the pan is still rigid, a professional repair is possible but temporary. For cracks that flex, soft spots, or drain flange leaks, repair will not hold, and the correct fix is replacement. In our experience, a pan that has reached the cracking stage has already been compromised at the substrate level. The honest answer is that replacement is usually the cheaper option over two years. Call (279) 300-1177 for a free assessment and we’ll tell you which category your pan falls into.
A pan replacement or tub-to-shower conversion typically takes 3 to 5 working days. A full CGI bathroom remodel with tile, new fixtures, and new glass runs 2 to 4 weeks depending on material lead times. We give you a real arrival window before we start, and our crew shows up when they said they would. Call (279) 300-1177 and we’ll map out a realistic timeline for your specific bathroom.
We don’t stock original CGI parts, because CGI is no longer manufacturing replacement pans and surrounds. What we stock and install are modern equivalents from quality brands: Cambria, Silestone, Caesarstone, Kohler, Moen, and Delta. These are the same products we install in our kitchen remodels alongside KraftMaid cabinetry, so the materials carry warranties that complement our own 365-Day Done Right Promise. If you need a specific part matched, call (279) 300-1177 and we’ll source the right one.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Sacramento at Penhallow Remodeling Sacramento, serving Sacramento and nearby areas.
