Balaclava Road
1930s house, wall removed to gain 700mm, walk-in shower with linear drain. Nineteen working days.
BOARD 01 · SURFACES · ROOMS · SUBURBS
Bathroom Renovations Caulfield
One trade board for the whole job: tiles and stone chosen first, then the room, then the suburb, then a written quote.
Complete renovations
Bathroom Renovations Caulfield
A full rebuild from the frame out: demolition, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, tiling and fit-off, run by one crew on one written program. This is the service most Caulfield homes need when the bathroom is original to the house.
3–4 weeks on siteFixed itemised quoteAS 3740 waterproofing
What a complete renovation covers
The room goes back to bare frame and slab. That is the only honest way to fix falls, hidden leaks and wiring that predates modern safety switches. From there the layout is either kept — because it already works and the money is better spent on finishes — or re-planned to gain usable floor space.
In Caulfield we mostly work with two building types. Interwar and Edwardian houses have timber floors, generous ceiling heights and often a bathroom carved out of a rear verandah, which means bearers and joists get inspected before anything else is priced. Post-war brick homes and walk-up units have concrete floors and shared stacks, so waste positions drive the layout more than taste does. We tell you which constraint you are working with at the first visit.
Included in every complete renovation
- Protection of hallways and floors, dust barriers, and waste removal through the week rather than one skip at the end.
- New water and waste rough-in, new lighting, fan and heat circuits, both inspected before sheeting.
- Waterproof membrane to AS 3740 with bond breakers, correct cure time and a flood test, photographed at each step.
- Screed and falls set to the waste, wall and floor tiling to an agreed setout, sealing of stone or porous finishes.
- Installation of vanity, basin, pan, bath, tapware, shower screen, mirror, towel rails and lighting.
- Final clean, walk-through, defect list closed, plumbing compliance certificate and care notes.
Benefits
What the rebuild actually buys you
Four outcomes worth the disruption. If a job cannot deliver these, a partial upgrade is the better call and we will say so.
01
A dry building
New membrane, correct falls and a tested waste stop water reaching the frame, the slab edge and the room next door.
02
Usable floor space
Wall-hung fittings, a hobless entry and a re-planned door swing typically return half a square metre of clear floor.
03
Lower running cost
Water-efficient tapware, a properly ducted fan and LED circuits cut both the water bill and the mould that follows bad ventilation.
04
Value at sale
In Glen Eira a dated bathroom is the first thing a buyer prices down. A documented, compliant rebuild removes the argument.
Process
Eight stages, dated in writing
You receive this as a week-by-week program with your quote, including the curing days that cannot be shortened.
01
Consultation
Site visit, stack and subfloor check, an honest read on what the room can become.
02
Measure & Quote
Laser measure and a fixed itemised price with any provisional sums named.
03
Design & Planning
Layout drawing, tile setout, fixture schedule, selections locked, trades booked.
04
Demolition
Strip to frame and slab behind dust barriers, waste removed the same week.
05
Plumbing & Electrical
Rough-in for new positions, lighting, fan and heat, inspected before lining.
06
Waterproofing & Tiling
Membrane to AS 3740, full cure, screed and falls, then wall and floor tiling.
07
Installation & Finishing
Vanity, pan, tapware, screen, mirror and lighting fitted, grout and silicone finished.
08
Final Inspection
Walk-through, defects closed, compliance certificate and care notes handed over.
Materials & options
Choices that change the price the most
These four decisions move a quote further than anything else. We price two of each so the trade-off is visible before you commit.
- 01
Tile format and finish
600×1200 porcelain covers walls quickly with few grout lines. Handmade subway and honed stone take longer to lay and need more setout care. Mosaic shower floors grip better underfoot and cost more per square metre.
- 02
Shower type
A framed screen on a hob is the economical option. A hobless entry with a linear drain looks better, feels larger and needs floor recessing or a raised finished level.
- 03
Vanity and top
Off-the-shelf wall-hung units suit most rooms. Custom joinery makes sense in odd widths and under sloped ceilings. Stone tops sit above laminate on price and well below it on longevity.
- 04
Moving plumbing
Keeping the toilet and vanity where they are saves real money. Moving a waste on a concrete floor means core-drilling and a different price bracket — sometimes worth it, often not.
Project examples
Three complete renovations
Full details, before images and materials for each of these sit on the projects page.
Kooyong Road
Two-metre ensuite in a walk-up unit, hobless shower, wall-hung pan, recessed storage. Twelve days.
Hawthorn Road
Plumbing kept in place, freestanding bath under the window, heated towel run relocated. Sixteen days.
Questions
About complete renovations
Specific to full rebuilds. General questions are answered on the home page.
Is a full rebuild always necessary?
No. If the waterproofing is sound, the falls are right and the tiles are simply dated, a partial upgrade — new vanity, tapware, screen and lighting — delivers most of the visual change for a fraction of the cost. We say so at the quote stage rather than selling the bigger job.
Can the layout change?
Usually yes, within the limits of the waste position. On timber floors we have room to re-route; on a concrete slab, moving a toilet waste means core-drilling and a bigger budget. We price both options so the difference is clear.
How much disruption should I plan for?
Demolition is the loud week. After that the noise drops sharply. Water is off for short, scheduled periods rather than whole days, and we give you those dates in advance.
Do you handle apartments and owners corporations?
Yes. We work to the building rules on access hours, lift protection and waste, and prepare the documentation the owners corporation asks for before work starts.
Related services
Smaller scopes we also run
Not every bathroom needs the full eight stages.
Small Bathroom Renovations
Under five square metres, planned around the door swing and the shower entry.
Shower Renovations
Base out, falls reset, membrane replaced, new screen measured to the finished tile.
Bathroom Tiling
Setout planned on paper, cuts pushed to the corners, grout matched in daylight.
Next step
Send the room dimensions and two photos
We reply within one business day with an indicative range, then book a site measure for the fixed price.