Bathrooms are the least forgiving room in a house to renovate. Waterproofing, falls, tiling and ventilation all have to be right, and every one of them is buried behind a finished surface by the time you find out whether they were done properly. A bathroom that leaks does not announce itself for two years, and by then the damage is in the subfloor.
We handle bathroom renovations across South East Melbourne, covering full rebuilds, ensuites, powder rooms and accessible bathroom conversions. The waterproofing is done by a licensed applicator, documented, and inspected before a single tile goes down.
Get a fixed price for your bathroom renovation — agreed before any work starts.
Free consultation. Licensed & registered building practitioner. 7-year workmanship warranty.
What a bathroom renovation with us involves
- Full strip-out back to frame and slab, with an assessment of what the demolition exposes
- Any structural or subfloor repair found once the old room is out
- Plumbing and electrical rough-in to the new layout
- Licensed waterproofing to Australian Standard AS 3740, with certification you keep
- Screeding and setting of falls so water actually reaches the waste
- Wall and floor tiling, including niches, hobs and shower screens
- Custom vanity joinery, benchtops, mirrors and storage
- Tapware, toilet suite, heated towel rails, exhaust ventilation and lighting
- Silicone, fit-off, and a defects walkthrough before we invoice
Why waterproofing decides everything
Almost every bathroom failure we are called to inspect traces back to one of four things: waterproofing that stopped short of the required height, a membrane punctured by a later trade, falls that send water away from the waste instead of toward it, or a shower screen sealed on the wrong side.
None of these are visible once the room is finished, which is exactly why they keep happening. Waterproofing has to extend to a minimum height up the shower walls, turn up behind the hob, and be continuous across every junction and penetration. It then has to be protected while tiling proceeds. We photograph the membrane before it is covered and give you the certificate at handover, so you have proof rather than assurance.
Ventilation is the second thing that gets skipped
Mould on the ceiling of a two-year-old bathroom is a ventilation problem, not a cleaning problem. An exhaust fan that vents into the roof cavity rather than outside simply moves the moisture somewhere you cannot see it. We duct exhausts to an external vent and size the fan to the room volume, which costs very little at rough-in stage and is expensive to retrofit later.
How the process runs
- Consultation and measure. We look at the existing room, the services, and what the space can realistically become.
- Design and documentation (set fee). Layout, tile and fixture schedule, and your firm fixed price. We quote and agree this fee before we start.
- Selections. Tiles, tapware, vanity, screen and lighting locked in before demolition.
- Build. Strip-out, rough-in, waterproofing and inspection, screed, tiling, fit-off.
- Handover. Walkthrough, warranties and waterproofing certification.
A standard bathroom runs three to four weeks on site. That is not padding: waterproofing membranes have mandatory cure times between coats, and rushing them is the most common cause of premature failure.
What drives the cost of a bathroom renovation
- Whether the layout changes. Moving the toilet is the most expensive single relocation, because it means cutting the slab or reworking the floor.
- Tile size and format. Large-format tiles, mosaics and herringbone patterns all take considerably more labour than a standard rectangular layout.
- What demolition exposes. Rotted subfloor, corroded pipework or failed old membranes are common in homes built before the 1990s and cannot be quoted blind.
- Fixture specification. Tapware and screens span a very wide range.
- Frameless versus semi-frameless screens and whether you tile to ceiling height.
Our renovation price guide sets out indicative ranges so you can budget before you start getting quotes.
Bathroom renovations across South East Melbourne
We work throughout the South East corridor, including Berwick, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Pakenham, Officer, Clyde, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Hallam and Beaconsfield, and the surrounding suburbs.
Age of housing stock matters more for bathrooms than for any other room. Older homes across Dandenong, Hallam and parts of Berwick frequently have bathrooms built before current waterproofing standards existed, which means a renovation is a full rebuild rather than a resurface, and the strip-out often reveals subfloor damage. Newer estates in Clyde, Officer, Pakenham and Cranbourne generally have sound structure but builder-grade fittings and undersized ensuites, so the work is about reconfiguring the layout to gain usable space and upgrading the finish.
Frequently asked questions
How long will I be without a bathroom?
Three to four weeks for the room being renovated. If it is your only bathroom, we can stage the work to reduce the gap, but you should plan for alternative arrangements.
Do I need a permit for a bathroom renovation?
A like-for-like renovation usually does not require a building permit, though the plumbing work must be carried out by a licensed plumber who issues a compliance certificate. Structural changes or relocating the bathroom to a different part of the house do require permits.
Can you renovate a bathroom without removing the tiles?
Tiling over existing tiles is possible in limited circumstances, but it means you inherit whatever waterproofing is underneath. We do not recommend it, because you carry all the risk of a membrane you cannot inspect.
How high does waterproofing need to go?
AS 3740 sets minimum heights for shower walls, hobs and the wider bathroom floor area, and requires continuous coverage across junctions and penetrations. We waterproof to the standard and give you the certificate.
Do you do ensuites and powder rooms as well?
Yes. Small wet areas are the same technical job in a tighter space, and the same waterproofing and ventilation rules apply.
Book a free bathroom consult
Tell us about the bathroom you want replaced and we will come out and measure. The visit, the measure and a ballpark figure are free. When you are ready to lock in your layout, fixtures and a firm fixed price, that is our design and documentation stage — one set fee, quoted and agreed before we draw a thing.
Book your free bathroom consult, or see our recent projects.
