Your bathroom is one of the most important rooms in your home and for this reason it should be stylish, modern, safe and comfortable. 

 

It is also a room, which if recently updated, will add considerably to the retail value of your property. 

 

A full bathroom renovation by our qualified and professional team of experts will see to it that all of these boxes are ticked. 

 

Some DIY websites and even some bathroom renovation companies will tell you that an average sized Sydney bathroom can be fully renovated for less than $10,000. 

 

However, this estimate is just a myth unless you are prepared to sacrifice quality by cutting corners – that is, by using unqualified/inexperienced workers, skimping on costs, skipping vital steps of the bathroom renovation process and disregarding industry standards. 

 

Renovating a bathroom is not a simple task; it can be quite complicated and is definitely not a project to be tackled by somebody who lacks the qualifications and experience to do so. 

 

At Yes I Can Project Group, we complete around 100 bathroom renovations a year. 

 

We offer a 15 year minimum Warranty on all our work and we only use the best – that is, fully licensed and experienced professionals for all stages of the bathroom renovation process.

 

To give you an idea of how much it costs a reputable company like Yes I Can Project Group to renovate an averaged sized bathroom in Sydney from start to finish, we have compiled the following step by step rundown of our bare minimum costs: 

 

 

The strip out can be quite complicated depending on access to the bathroom (ground floor, upstairs, or in an apartment block). Tasks may include removing the wall and floor tiles (removing floor tiles can be quite difficult and may require a jackhammer); removing asbestos (a dangerous task for which we quote $2,500 even for a small bathroom); insulation, removing wiring, repairing the ceiling etc. A skip bin will be required. As you can see there are many variables. Our bare minimum estimate is $1,200 and you would be up for well over $3,000 if asbestos removal is required. 

 

 

Our estimate is based on an average sized bathroom: 2.5m x 2.5m x 2.4m high and does not  

 

include any niche or any tiled into windows but does include tiled into ceiling. It includes  

 

tiles to the roof but not spas or baths. Our costing for such a job would be approximately $1,800 but if we have to move things around or if the plumbing has to be changed, the cost would increase to around $2,500. We arrange for the same plumber to return to install the PC Items as he would already be familiar with the layout of the plumbing and will be on site if something goes wrong. He will also check the PC Items to make sure there are no leaks. Having a professional do the plumbing will mean the difference between it lasting for 15-30 years as against five to seven years if you don’t get the job done by an expert. 

 

 

We estimate between $500-$1,000 for electrical work, depending on whether you need any new PC Items connected. Tasks for the electrician may include any new electricals, power points, LED lights, IXL, spa bath, running wiring, relocating the light switch and ensuring that power points are not too close to the hand basin and the shower. When renovating a bathroom, you want the best of the best which means for the end product to come up to the current standard and for the work to last for the longest possible time. 

 

 

Sheeting costs us from $900 to $1,800 depending on the size of the bathroom, how many corners there are, if the ceiling has to be re-sheeted as well and if you have any damage. We usually pay our contractors $1,200-$1,400 and we use Hardiflex 6mm compressed fibro cement sheeting, which we have to cut to size. So sheeting can be quite a complicated job.  

 

 

Waterproofing is an aspect of the job which must be done correctly to ensure there are no issues further down the track. The current industry standard is three layers of waterproofing (two layers of solvent-based below screed and a layer of acrylic-based above screed). If you are being quoted $300-$400 elsewhere for waterproofing, the company is not following the correct industry guidelines. Remember, the waterproofer has to return to the site over three days, while even a drum of very average acrylic costs around $200. This is why we have quoted $750-$900, again bare minimum, and it’s an estimate which we believe is well justified. 

 

 

The bare minimum cost of the tiles required for an averaged sized bathroom (2.5m x 2.5m x 2.4m high) is $600, based on 30 square metres of tiles ($20 per square metre for the floor and $15 per square metre the for walls). We are talking about very basic quality tiles here – obviously mosaic tiles and even higher quality tiles are more expensive. 

 

 

The best known grouting brands cost between $25-$30 per bag. Generally, if the bathroom is levelled, 3-4 bags are required per 4 square metres so on average, a cost of $300-$350 is appropriate for glue and grouting. 

 

 

Screed must be a minimum of 30mm thickness. It takes between 20-50 bags of sand and 3-4 bags of cement, or a cost of $150-$200 but please note that this does not include the labour for the floors to be screeded. It’s one thing for your bathroom to look the part but if the water doesn’t drain properly, it defeats the purpose. 

 

 

Here at Yes I Can Project Group, we believe that an experienced, professional tiler is worth his weight in gold! There is no way we will compromise on quality when it comes to the workmanship of the tiler as the tiling makes or breaks both the appearance and the longevity of your new bathroom. There is no point outlaying thousands of dollars on a full bathroom renovation and then allowing a mediocre tiler to do the job as poor tiling will ruin everything. For an average sized bathroom, we pay our tilers $3,000 and often more, depending on the work involved. Some companies only pay their workers half this amount but remember, you only get what you pay for. 

 

 

Please don’t think you can get away with outlaying $40 and doing the silicon work yourself! If you want a top job, it needs to be done by a professional who will ensure a good quality seal. We allow $350-$400 for silicon. Please note that the sealing should be checked every year and reapplied every 3 to 5 years.

 

 

New PC Items are a must in your new-look bathroom. We recommend a minimum spend of $1,500 (up to $2,500) for good quality PC Items. If you wish to extend your budget a little further, Italian and custom-made PC Items are on the market from $3,000 - $10,000 plus. 

 

 

Don’t fall for the trap of buying a cheap (around $200) shower screen, available from some of the well known hardware places….they are very flimsy and you will be lucky if they last for six months! Good quality, Australian made, custom shower screens are on the market for $800-$1,200 depending on the size and whether they are fully framed, semi-frameless or frameless. 

 

 

There will be a lot of sand, cement, glue, sheeting offcuts etc left over at the site which needs to be dumped at the local tip as the skip bin would have been taken away after the initial strip out. We will clean up the site and polish the tiles, for which we have estimated $500-800.