Old For New – Bathroom Transformation
Ageing plumbing, faulty or non-existent waterproofing and the presence of asbestos are just some of the hurdles you can expect to come across.
This is often a compelling reason to consider a purely cosmetic facelift, leaving everything where it is and simply glossing over the surface with tile and vanity paint, and updating things like taps, old shower screens, shaving cabinet and other dated fittings. A few hundred dollars invested can often reap several thousand in returns.
However, when the old bones are simply too worn to work with, it’s time for a new bathroom.
That was the case with this very original bathroom in a 1950s house in Ermington, 20 kilometres north-west of Sydney’s CBD. It certainly needed a major revamp, but nothing uber-modern that would clash with the rest of the unrenovated house.
Out with the old
Before I could get onto any of the creative challenges, I needed to get the pros in to remove the asbestos sheeting from the walls. First I stripped out the bathroom ready for the asbestos removal; that was $1500 right there. Now we were ready for the install.
Tweaking the layout
The width of the bathroom neatly accommodated the length of a bath, so I flipped the bath so it ran under the window, making much better use of the limited space. Along one wall, I now had room for a new toilet and vanity with a space-enhancing mirror above. On the opposite wall is a generous expanse of towel racks.
Weighing up the advantages
While it’s always recommended to avoid changing the plumping lines when you’re renovating, to save on costs, in cases like this, the investment absolutely justifies the outcome. Keeping all the bathroom services along one wall certainly helped contain costs.
Save on fixtures and fittings
While the labour component is notoriously costly for bathroom renovations, as it’s one of the most trade-intensive rooms, hunting down bargains is one of the best ways to save on fixtures and fittings. Trawl auction sites like GraysOnline and retail clearance sales, or do a one-stop shop at a big outlet like Bunnings – as I did here. I picked up a new bath, vanity, toilet, glass screen and all the tapware, all for under $1,000.
Laying it on
High gloss, large tiles will make a bathroom look bigger and rarely go out of style. My total outlay for both floor and wall tiles was $1100 plus labour.
All up, this bathroom renovation cost $6500. Labour (not including asbestos removal) cost just over $2500. Done smartly, bathroom renovations nearly always deliver a reliable return on investment – in this case, almost a 250% return on the money outlayed.
- Property Value (Before Renovation): $ 840,000
- Renovation Spend Total: $ 6,500
- Renovation Timeframe: 5 Days
- Property Breakeven Point: $ 846,500
- Property Value (After Renovation): $ 860,000
Gross Profit Margin: $ 13,500
