Bathroom renovations
Bathroom renovations in Bayside Melbourne, detailed to last
We renovate bathrooms and ensuites across Bayside Melbourne, most often several at a time as part of a whole-home renovation. Bathrooms are the rooms where shortcuts show up latest and cost most — so the parts nobody ever sees are the parts we care about hardest.
What you cannot see is what fails
A bathroom is judged on tiling and tapware and lost on waterproofing and falls. Water that does not run where it should will find a wall cavity, and by the time it announces itself the tiling has to come off. Membrane needs its cure time. Falls need setting out before screed, not corrected after.
None of that is visible in a finished photograph, which is exactly why it is the first thing to be compressed when someone is quoting to a number. We would rather tell you the sequence takes as long as it takes.
Three bathrooms and an ensuite, at once
In Hampton we rebuilt three bathrooms plus an ensuite as part of the wider renovation. Doing them together meant one waterproofing programme, one tiling programme and one set of trades — considerably less disruption than three separate jobs spread across three years, and a house where the rooms speak to each other.
The sequence, and why it cannot be rushed
A bathroom is built in a fixed order, and most of the order is waiting. Strip out, then framing and any structural change, then rough-in for plumbing and electrical, then waterproofing — which needs its cure time and cannot be hurried — then screed and falls, then tiling, then fit-off.
Every stage depends on the one before it being right. That is why a bathroom takes longer than people expect, and why the quote that comes in dramatically under the others is usually shortening a stage that should not be shortened.
Waterproofing
The membrane, and the time it needs to cure. Invisible when finished, ruinous when wrong, and the single most common cause of a bathroom having to be redone.
Falls and drainage
Set out before the screed goes down, not corrected afterwards. Water either runs to the waste or it finds somewhere else to go.
Tiling and setting out
Where the cuts land, how the pattern meets a corner, whether the niche lines up with a course. Planned, not improvised on the day.
Joinery and vanities
Built for the room, with real storage. A floating vanity also makes the floor easier to keep clean, which matters more than it sounds.
Lighting and ventilation
Light you can shave and put on makeup in, and an exhaust that actually clears steam — the difference between a bathroom that ages well and one that grows mould.
Ensuites and second bathrooms
Usually worth doing at the same time. One trade sequence instead of two, and the rooms end up speaking to each other.
See the Murrumbeena bathrooms for a period home where three were rebuilt and the original leadlight was kept, or home renovations if the bathrooms are part of something larger.
Recent work
The Hampton whole-home renovation
Three bathrooms and an ensuite, rebuilt as part of the Hampton whole-home renovation — with before-and-after photography of the main bathroom.
Kitchen, laundry, three bathrooms and a new pool house — with before-and-after photography of every room.
See the projectQuestions we get asked
- How many bathrooms do you usually do at once?
- Often several. On our recent Hampton project we rebuilt three plus an ensuite as part of the wider renovation, which is far more efficient than doing them one at a time.
- What goes wrong in a bathroom renovation?
- Almost always waterproofing and falls. They are invisible when finished and ruinous when wrong, which is why they are not a corner we let anyone cut.
- How long does a bathroom take?
- Longer than people expect, because of the sequence — strip out, rough-in, waterproofing and its cure time, screed, tiling, fit-off. Rushing any stage is what causes callbacks later.
More than one bathroom?
Tell us how much of the house is in play — doing them together is usually the better answer.
Enquire
Let’s talk about your home.
The more you can tell us, the more useful our first conversation will be. James personally reads every enquiry.
We take on a limited number of projects each year, so the more detail you can give us, the faster we can tell you whether we are the right fit.
- Phone
- (03) 9787 4880
- Where we build
- Bayside Melbourne — Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham & surrounds