Bathroom Renovation Questions We Get Asked Most

Money and contracts

What is the maximum deposit?

Ten per cent of the contract value, for residential building work in NSW. Where the work is above the home building compensation threshold, that cover has to be in place before a deposit is requested. Progress payments after that should be tied to completed stages, never to dates on a calendar.

Why will you not quote over the phone?

Because a phone quote for a bathroom is a guess with a number attached. Two rooms the same size — one in a Flinders estate home on a slab, one in a 1960s Oak Flats house on timber — can be many thousands apart because of pipework, floor framing, asbestos testing and access. None of that is visible in a photo. See what it costs for broad guide tiers, then book a measure.

Why are two quotes for the same bathroom so far apart?

Nearly always because they include different things rather than because one tradesperson is cheaper. Ask both the same eight questions — asbestos testing, structural allowance and variation method, which pipework is replaced, fittings by model, tile allowance basis, waterproofing system and cure time, fan model and discharge point, program in working days. Then compare line by line.

Is the measure really free?

Yes, anywhere in Shellharbour City Council's area, and there is no obligation attached to it. If the honest answer at the measure is that a partial update serves you better than a full renovation, that is what you will be told.

Older houses

Is there asbestos in my bathroom?

If the house was built or altered before about 1990, possibly, and it gets tested rather than assumed. Fibre cement sheet was used widely in wet areas, rear add-ons and under-house laundries across Oak Flats, Mount Warrigal, Warilla, Barrack Heights and the older Albion Park streets.

Sampling happens before anything is disturbed. A positive result means a licensed asbestos removalist does that part of the work and issues a clearance certificate before the rest restarts. A builder's licence is not an asbestos removal licence, and anyone offering to rip out a pre-1990 bathroom without testing first should not be on your property.

Houses in Shell Cove, Flinders and Blackbutt post-date residential asbestos use, so this is not a question there.

Why does the shower lose pressure when the kitchen tap runs?

Old galvanised supply pipework, narrowed internally by decades of rust. There is not enough flow for two outlets. It gets replaced while the walls are open, because that is the only time it is cheap, and it is the change people comment on most afterwards.

The floor feels soft near the shower. How bad is it?

It means water has been escaping the shower for a long time and the framing underneath has taken it. On a timber floor it is usually straightforward to repair once the room is open. What matters is that the quote carries a stated allowance for it with a variation method, rather than treating a predictable thing as a surprise.

Can I just tile over the existing tiles?

It is done, and in a room worth renovating it is a mistake. You inherit whatever the old membrane is doing, the floor rises at the doorway, and if the original tiles let go later the new ones come with them. It is a cosmetic fix sold as a renovation.

Living on the coast

Does salt air actually matter?

For the fabric of the room, no — tiles, grout, membrane and framing are unaffected. For anything metal and cheaply plated, yes, and noticeably so within a few streets of the surf at Warilla Beach, Barrack Point and Shellharbour Village, and around the lake entrance. Tapware plating, screen hardware, towel rails and exhaust grilles are the casualties.

The answer is specification rather than maintenance: good plating, stainless or marine-grade fixings, and a vent cowl that is not bare steel. See tapware finishes compared.

Why does mould keep coming back?

Almost always ventilation rather than cleaning. Shellharbour sits between the ocean and a wide shallow lake and the air stays damp. A small undersized fan ducted into the roof space pushes moisture into the building instead of out of it, and it condenses somewhere else.

The fix is a fan sized for the room volume, ducted to outside air, ideally on a run-on timer so it keeps clearing after the shower stops. Tiles to the ceiling remove the paint line that always peels. Neither is expensive and together they solve most mould complaints.

Does the humidity affect the build itself?

Yes, in one specific way. Water-based membranes cure by giving water up to the air, and damp still air takes it more slowly. The manufacturer's cure time is a minimum here, not a target. A job that tiles early to protect a start date is buying a leak. See waterproofing and tiling.

Scope and layout

Can we add a second bathroom?

Sometimes, where there is suitable space next to existing plumbing — the end of a hallway, an oversized laundry, part of an integral garage, or in a double-storey house an upstairs linen area. It needs drainage, ventilation and usually approval, and it has to be drawn at a measure before anyone can honestly say yes. Adding a toilet to the laundry is the cheaper cousin and often the more useful one.

Can the shower or toilet be moved?

On a timber floor with access underneath, usually without much drama. On a slab, it means cutting and re-coring concrete, which is the biggest controllable cost in an estate-home bathroom. The question worth asking is whether the move improves the room enough to justify it.

Should we keep the bath?

With children under about eight, usually yes. In a two-bathroom house you can often keep a bath in one room and make the other shower-only. Once the youngest is well past bath age, that floor area is worth more as a wide walk-in shower.

Should the bathroom and ensuite be done together?

It costs less per room and gets the mess over once. It also leaves you without both showers for several weeks, which is why many households here stage them: ensuite first, then the main bathroom.

Can you make the bathroom work for someone unsteady on their feet?

Yes, and the time to do it is during a renovation. Level entry, blocking behind the linings for rails, slip-rated floor tiles, lever tapware with a temperature-limited mixer, a comfort-height pan and a door that swings outward. Most of it is invisible and almost free while the walls are open. See accessible bathrooms. Where there has been a fall, a progressive condition or funding involved, an occupational therapist should assess the person first — we cannot do that and will not pretend to.

Materials and rules

Can we have an engineered stone benchtop?

No. Engineered stone has been banned in Australia since 1 July 2024, and it is not offered here in bathrooms or laundries. Porcelain, sintered surfaces, natural stone, solid timber and good laminate all make excellent vanity tops.

Do we need council approval?

Most bathroom renovations inside the existing footprint of a house, with nothing structural changing and the house not a heritage item, are exempt development in NSW. Removing a wall, changing or enlarging a window, or altering the footprint moves it out of that category, and parts of the plain near Macquarie Rivulet and the lake foreshore carry their own planning controls.

Shellharbour City Council or an accredited certifier decides. Nobody on this website can guarantee an approval or how long one takes.

What about a unit or townhouse?

Replacing waterproofing in a wet area generally needs owners corporation approval, and most schemes have a renovation by-law covering hours, lift and common-area protection, waste and acoustic requirements for floor coverings. Start with the strata manager — approval timing usually sets the start date.

Who is allowed to do the waterproofing?

Waterproofing of wet areas is licensed work in NSW. You should receive documentation of it at handover; ask for it and keep it with the house papers.

Still got a question?

Ring 02 4214 4283 and ask it, or send the room details through. If it is about timing, stage by stage sets out every phase in order.

Renovation work is carried out in partnership with Coastal Renovation Group, a licensed NSW builder. Licence and insurance details are provided on request.