How we verify listings | Shower Renovation Guide

In most cities, the compact list draws from that state's shower remodeler license records, oldest license first. We confirm each one is active, note its class, and record the date it took effect, linking every entry back to that state's own file. A city with no such records yet shows a shorter, different list: the shower remodelers Google's own reviewers rate highest for that search.

Neither version is a craftsmanship review. We haven't inspected any listed remodeler's finished work, and a spot on either list is not our endorsement of it.

Where the listings come from

California: contractor license records of the California Contractors State License Board, from the CSLB Public Data Portal: License Master file dataset. CSLB notes that license status can change at any time and points to its license check for the most current status. How to check a license in California.
Connecticut: contractor license records of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. How to check a license in Connecticut.
Florida: contractor license records of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, from the Construction Industry Public Records (licensee files) dataset. How to check a license in Florida.
Washington: contractor license records of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, from the L&I Contractor License Data - General dataset. data.wa.gov lists this dataset as updated three times a day. How to check a license in Washington.

Each license listing also links to its own record on the state agency's website, so you can check it at the source.

What we check before a business is listed

The license is active in the registry when we pull the data. Businesses with any other status are left out.
The license hasn't passed its expiration date.
The business matches shower renovation. We match on the registry's specialty classification, the registered business name, or both. That's why every listing shows its license class: check that it fits your job.
The business address on record is in a city with at least 3 matching businesses. Smaller cities don't get a page yet.

What each listing shows

Business name: As registered with the state, with capitalization tidied up.
Category: Our label for why the business is listed on this site, based on its specialty or registered name.
License class: The specialty the registry lists for the business, for example General or Roofing.
License number: The contractor license or registration number the registry uses.
Status: Active as of the date we checked. We don't list any other status.
Effective and expiration dates: When the current license took effect and when it expires, as the registry reports them.
Business type: For example limited liability company, corporation or individual, shown on each business's profile when the registry provides it.
City and ZIP: From the business address on record. They show where a business is based, not the area it serves, which is why we say “based in”.
Verify license: A link to the business's own record on the state agency's website.

What we leave out on purpose

We don't publish phone numbers, street addresses or the names of owners and principals, even where the registry lists them. The business name is the only name we show.

How often we refresh

We re-pull the registry data and rebuild these pages from it. Every city page shows the date its listings were last checked; the current listings were checked on September 30, 2026. A license can change between our checks, so the Verify license link, which opens the live record, is always the final word.

Top-rated lists

This site's usual compact list sorts shower remodelers by how long they've held a license, but that only works where enough license records exist. For a city short on those, we build a different list from a Google Maps search for shower remodeling contractors centered there instead. A business falls out of consideration if it's closed, if its Google category doesn't genuinely match shower remodeling, if it sits an unreasonable distance from downtown for a place that size, if it's carrying only a handful of reviews, or if it reads as a supply house, a design showroom, a lead-generation site or a person's name rather than a working remodeler.

Among what remains, we rank by a combined score built from the star average and how many reviews back it, so a single outstanding review can't outrank a business with a long, slightly lower-rated history. This page needs five or more qualifying remodelers before it runs at all, and even then it shows ten names, two fewer than our usual compact list.

We note the month behind every set of ratings, since they keep moving. This isn't a license check, and a spot on this list isn't us vouching for the work either: treat it as research, and call the state yourself to check whatever license or registration a remodeler tells you they hold before you sign anything. The remodeler who actually calls you back might not be the one you read about here.

The details, the same on every top-rated page (3,378 city pages on this site):

One Google Maps search per city for “shower remodeling contractor”, for cities of 10,000 or more people where this site has no license page.
Left out: businesses marked closed, businesses outside a matching Google category (stores, suppliers and showrooms among them), businesses far from the city center (about 6 to 25 miles, depending on the city's size), businesses with fewer than 3 reviews, and names that are a person's name or belong to a lead marketplace or a big-box store.
Ranked by a Bayesian average of the Google rating, (rating × reviews + 4.3 × 15) ÷ (reviews + 15), so a 5.0 from 3 reviews ranks below a 4.8 from 300.
A city needs at least 5 businesses that pass; the page shows the top 10.
Each listing shows its rank, Google rating, number of Google reviews, Google category, the town and ZIP in its address, and a link to its Google Maps listing. No phone numbers, websites, street addresses or review text.
Ratings were checked between September 2026 and October 2026. They change every day, so open the Google reviews link for the current figure.

A rating is not a license check and not an endorsement. Before you hire anyone, ask for the license or registration number your state or city requires and check it with the office that issued it.

What we don't do

We don't review or endorse contractors, and a listing isn't a recommendation. License listings are sorted alphabetically; top-rated lists are ranked only by Google rating and review count, as described above. No business pays to be listed, to be left off or for its position. If we ever add paid placements, they will be marked Sponsored. How we make money.

Something wrong?

Business owners can claim a listing to ask for a correction, or ask us to remove it.