Adding a Bathroom Part II - Urgent advice needed

[gprp]

Hi Guys ,

We are young couple interested to buy a property in N-E suburbs , Melbourne.
We've inspected a 4 bedroom house and it looks nice .
The block is 800m2 , however there is neither ensuite nor gas ducted heating / cooling .

Location is good, very close to public transport and walking distance to local primary school .
I do realize that it will be extremely difficult to get some estimation regarding the potential cost of adding bathroom , however I need a +-30% estimation to understand the feacibility of a project .

We intend to live in this house for the next 7-8 years .

Please your advice per below :

1) What is the process to initiatate the renovation . What kind of permits we must obtain from a council ?
2) I need your rough estimation regarding the cost of installation of 2 X 2 HP aircons and 2 X 0.8 HP aircons ( should be sufficient enough for this house) .
4) Converting a badroom to ensuite - please give me you worst case scenario .

3) Tips and tricks . The house is probably 30-40 y.o. , consequently from a structural point of view some additional stamps or framing is necessary to support an additional bathroom ; in addition , it might be a significant pressure drop across the pipeline , as a result it could lead to some serious issues if more than two people using a shower concurrently .
What would you suggest to check during inspection ( we will inspect the house again on Wednesday )

Kind Regards
gprp

 

[Collector]

IMO... Ensuite bathrooms are over-rated, we have one 2 adults/3 children, we hardly use it - you are better off having a 2nd toilet only - i would not lose a bedroom to gain an ensuite.


To answer the A/C question you will need to provide the size of the rooms the a/c will be installed - the a/c wont do the whole house it will only do the 3 rooms - sure some warn/cool are will filter out to other rooms but will not heat or cool effectively - why not look at ducted air on 2 zones?

 

[gprp]

Hi Collector ,

Thank you for your reply .

We definitely need a second bathroom , trust me , every family is different

Regarding the air conditioners , this is what I meant:

one 2 HP unit in a family room
one 2 HP unit will do an ensuite and study ( I would like to convert one bedroom to study )
two separated 0.8 HP units for two bedrooms .
I don't like the idea of evaporative cooling or split aircon. system , since you don't have ability to control the temperature based on your preferences

Kind Regards

 

[craigb]

allow 10k for air and another 10<20k for the second bathroom, ?

 

[gprp]

Hi Craig ,

Thank you , I've made exactly the same assumptions .

I've spoken to the builder and he's mentioned that the total price depends on many variables , such as the size of dig ups , amount of concrete to me removed ( manual labour) , proximity to storm water and sewer pipelines etc

Guys, if some one has installed a new bathroom please send me a PM

Kind Regards
gprp

 

[gecho1]

Bathroom

GPRP,
Our bathrooms are in the 8-12 thou range, if no plumbing needs to be relocated.
an easy go 15-25 thou for plumbing relocation etc

good luck

 

[pennyk]

last year, we had a full bathroom and laundry reno, plus an ensuite built from scratch, with an overall cost of $50 000. The ensuite build from scratch was probably about $25000 of that. our bedroom was easily big enough to install the ensuite without taking too much living area away. We didn't get any council approval, because there was no changes made to structural walls or to the outside walls. but someone complained to council and they came around to inspect and rap the builder over the knuckles!
We also just installed a daikin inverter FVXS50G floor mounted air con unit in our family room. It cost $3200 fully installed. The rating is 5.7kW. It is unbelievable. the air con tech suggested that this would do the best job of getting heat into the front bedrooms, which are off to the side of the family room, but he couldn't guarantee that they would be really warm. But actually, it pretty much heats the whole 4 bedroom house. Very effective and very efficient. The comparative price for ducted aircon was about $20 000. It will be interesting to see if its as effective in summer. We got floor mounted, because of the angle that we needed the air to be directed... there was no outside wall that was facing in that direction. Its a very neat looking unit, and the "split" part of it is on the side of the house well away from where anyone can see it.
Hope that helps,

Pen

 

[Ana]

You should be able to do the bathroom for under $10k if you don't need to relocate plumbing too much... Can you convert the laundry into another bathroom? We have found these types of renovations to be the cheapest way to add a bathroom to a project and do them all the time for people. Happy to discuss more with you if you need a hand.

Wishing you every success,

Ana Stankovic

 

[RightValue]

I am doing just that in Melbourne's west..

I am turning a one and a half bath 4 bed house into a 3 bed 3 bath house.

First step is to turn one small bedroom into a walk in robe and ensuite.

I have just had the plumber in to plumb the ensuite. Quote was $3,000. That was to run new plastic hot and cold water pipes to the ensuite, plus through most of the house as well ... he used the expensive black stuff not the cheaper brown pipes (unfortunatley). He had to work in a confined space under the floor ... about 400mm high to run the sewer pipes. I had to break up some concrete for him to get to the existing sewer .. that took me a couple of hours.

All I have to do now is the rest of it ... line the ensuite, waterproof the shower walls, tile etc. He will come back and attach everything.

As for the rest of this little project....

I have framed it myself and built the wardrobe and drawers etc (about $200 for materials).

Shower base 1200 x 900 new on ebay for $77, 700mm wide vanity from Bunnings was $311, a porcelin toilet was $257.


I expect the additional costs to be shower screen via ebay for $275, taps $300. Wall tiles are $18 per sqm, about 5 sqm required and about 3 sqm of floor tiles at $15 per sqm (both end of lines at tile shop). Tile laying will cost me about $10 per sqm for materials. I made a new glass block window - 12 blocks - for about $200. Other materials such as tile underlay, and plasterboard cost under $150.

Other costs already incurred are about $100 for framing and trim timber and $270 for a cavity slider and door.

All up about $5,000 for the WIR and ensuite ... but all the labour except plumbing is being done by yours truly. .. I would expect the whole thing to cost twice that otherwise. The major cost was the plumber and his materials.

good luck,

cheers

RightValue

 

[Brettus]

Rightvalue you seem like a good shopper, it definately looks realistic to do for about 5K. Can you elaborate a bit on the sewage plumbing, for example did you just run 100mm pvc pipe under the house from new toilet positon to existing waste position? How far was that?
I am looking at doing this myself but are a little concerned that I wouldnt get enough pitch on the pipes with only about 300mm space under the house and the pipe needs to run about 10 meters.

 

[battler]

I am looking at doing this myself but are a little concerned that I wouldnt get enough pitch on the pipes with only about 300mm space under the house and the pipe needs to run about 10 meters.

Every plumber that has done sewers for me requires a fall of 1 in 60, so if my maths is correct you would need about six and a half inches of fall.

 

[Brettus]

Thanks Battler your a wealth of info. You know any good books for someone who wants to build their own extension but is stuck in a job? You should write one! For me !

 

[sandandra6]

hey gprp,
just thought even though you have already re-inspected the property, i have just recently finished a COMPLETE bathroom renovation with floor to ceiling polished porcelain tiles a feature tiled wall and all pluming fittings included, my suggestion would be keep ringing around get as many quotes as possible until you find a BARGIN!!!! my entire bathroom inc brand new HUGE bath, china toilet, glass vanity and matching glass cabinets x2 and all the tiling and pluming as mentioned above to create a deluxe (Parents retreat) bathroom cost me $15,000. hope this helps please PM me to let me know how you went. http://www.somersoft.com/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif

 

[mja]

... i have just recently finished a COMPLETE bathroom renovation... to create a deluxe (Parents retreat) bathroom cost me $15,000.

Hi sandandra6,

Do you have some photos of this bathroom so we can see what $15k buys you? I just did a bathroom [1] for $9k - standard size (working class size )... but that was completely outsourced by me.

-- MJ.

[1] Search for "Stafford" and "Reno".