Bathroom renovation

[july]

Hi Everyone,
Just thought you may laugh as loud as I did................
I have a small 10 square house and am wanting to upgrade the bathroom and kitchen. I am costing out all options for the bathroom and I contacted a bathroom company who came out and gave me a 'free' quote to put in a new toilet, handbasin & frameless shower. I advised the representative to quote middle of the road prices on the handbasin & toilet. To my surprise (the bathroom is about 1 square in total) the quote arrived in the mail today at $23,000!!!!
What a waste of time.

 

[RichardK]

23K ? That's not right. They use 24K gold on all the fittings - you're getting a discount!

I've just got a quote back for a sandpit at my son's school. 6m x 4m, 400mm deep, 800mm width of pavers all around, 300mm deep sand..... ( drum roll ) $21,500 ! This, of course, does not include a bathroom.

an hour wandering through Bunnings, 30mins with Excel and a few phone calls.......I can do the sandpit with 6 dads for 3 Saturdays for $3,500.

It's truly astounding - exorbitant quotes, and some people don't bother to get 2 or more quotes, and accept a 23K quote for 3 days work, some tiles, basin, loo & bath. aaaargh.

Richard

 

[Kristine..]

G'day Richard

6 dads x 3 Saturdays? Thats 6 x 6 hours = 36 labour hours

Plus your free time in designing the sandpit to meet Australian Standards and insurance criteria

And who will take the responsibility for any design faults? The school committee ie the parents, would be liable should a child (or anyone else for that matter) be injured due to a design or construction fault.

And as the work is over $12,000, the contractor (if in Victoria) is legally responsible for the work for ten years and must provide warranty insurance for 6.5 years, and must be a registered, licensed builder (landscape construction) before they can accept the contract, and must show proof before starting work of their workcover and public liability insurances.

Many schools and kindergartens are no longer having working bees to do construction work because of the legal implications. They are restricting volunteers to relatively minor tasks such as weeding, general garden maintenance, painting etc. Parents are not allowed to climb ladders to clear gutters, or to operate power tools or other equipment.

And home owners are now being held accountable for any work they do, for ten years, just as if they are a registered builder. it's not that you might electrocute yourself, but that the person who buys the house in good faith has every right to expect that work complies with appropriate standards.

However, July, the reno I am just finishing has the most magical bathroom, all in 2.2 x 1.8, with Tasmanian oak panelling, floor and wall tiles, mirrored cabinets etc, all new plumbing, wiring and even a new wall, new plaster, new ceiling, and it certainly wasn't anymore than $7,500, using qualified trades.

I should have some before & after photos by next week.

Cheers

Kristine

 

[brains]

Tradesmen will quote way over the odds if theres a lot of work around or theyre not really interested in the job , if they are too expensive and dont get the gig - dont care, didnt want it anyway.
If they get it - ok, i'll do it. Its a good earn.

Its very common in the building industry, to the point of ridiculous, unrealistic pricing (ive done it lots of times.. haha).

Kristine,

How does 6 x 3 = 36 hours.

Shouldnt it be 6 dads x 6 hours x 3 Saturdays = 108 hours?

And anyone can do any work they like on their own home, except plumbing, electrical and comms cabling as these connect to public networks and have strict licencing and regulatory requirements.

 

[manny]

Hi July,

well 3 years ago I did a renovation to 2 bathrooms (1 main & 1 ensuite)... shower basins/vanity units (timber hard wood in both), shower screens to both & bases, 1 bath tub, tiled all walls (after I ripped out all old tiles & put new cement sheeting on where tiles were to be stuck on), tiled floors, new ceiling fans, towel rails, painted walls/ceilings, new tap fittings (good quality, no plastic rubish), etc... & cost me a total of $3,400 at the time (for both bathrooms)... the only labour I paid for was a tiler (as I didn't have time to do the tiling) & a shower screen installer who did the installation of the shower screens... note: this price didn't include my labour, but the figure of your quote does sounds way over the top... I'd get a couple more quotes if I were you...

Good luck with it...

Cheers,

MannyB.

 

[clk0]

That's alot of monies to pay for bathroom renovation. I am in the same dilema of getting mine done at a decent price around $7K. My husband and I are not DIY. I am located in Sydney. Does anyone knows any tradesman who is reliable and does a good job?

 

[manny]

Hi Clk,

I don't know any trades ppl up in Sydney, but it may be worth paying the local TAFE college a visit & see if their teachers (that teach tiling, plumbing, carpentry, etc.) may be willing to come out to do ur bathroom... Someone I know utilised TAFE teachers to errect a pergola & charged him $150 a day (8 hour days on w/ends) to construct it... not bad compared to the prices he would have paid if he went with the quoted he had received...

Cheers,

MannyB.

 

[New Dad Soon]

Hi July

I recently received a quote for $260,000 for recolouring a roof.......

turns out it was a (BIG) typo, that i only found out because I rang and queried it.

the subbie was highly embarrassed.

have you actually checked that it is not $2300.00????????

when something looks that wrong, a call to confirm may just be all you need to rectify? Otherwise you will both never know.

just a thought.......

 

[Kristine..]

Hi Brains

Shouldnt it be 6 dads x 6 hours x 3 Saturdays = 108 hours?

Yep

Slight Typo there!

And anyone can do any work they like on their own home, except plumbing, electrical and comms cabling as these connect to public networks and have strict licencing and regulatory requirements. [/B][/QUOTE]

Perhaps - the requirements may be slightly different here in Victoria. However, my reference was to the provision of liability and insurance as an ongoing responsibility.

Cheers

Kristine

 

[WillG]

Hi July,

new toilet : $400 for middle/good toilet
toilet removal/delivery : $100
toilet plumbing : $150

handbasin : $800 for midle of road vanity
handbasin removal/delivery : $100
handbasin plumbing : $200
handbasin Tapware : $200

Assumptions ...
1. You are not changing any plumbing
2. No tiling
3. No removal of internal walls

frameless shower : mmmm big $$ if a large area of glass
can cost up to $3000
Frameless showers may look great but have a tendancy to leak

Total : $4950 (with expensive shower)

 

[geoffw]

Some councils give a rebate if you replace a single flush toilet with a dual flush- it's always worth checking.

I don't know if they do similar for a water conerving shower head.

 

[Michael Croft]

Hi,

Stegbar do a 'semi' frameless shower screen and door - quite reasonable price and look. Worth checking out anyway and from memory less than $1,000.

Michael Croft

 

[sbe]

The closest I've got is when I had a leaking shower problem - one of those inset in the slab types.

I had a guy (recommended by agent - had a look at a job in progress & was impressed) who replaced the base with a polymarble one, new shower screen, retile the shower area (and for good measure, the replace the rest of the tiling around the bath etc), and fix arch's where water damaged.

I did the floor.

Cost was $3000. Only original fittings left was towel rail, bath, cupboard (but new basin) and mirror. I thought it was expensive at the time (sounds cheap by comparison), but what a job - looks fantastic. Everyone comments on it too. Replacing the older tiles at the same time was a good idea.

Cheerio

Simon.

 

[john doe]

HI all,

My wife and I are not DIYs, and we got Harvey Norman to do our bathroom for $14k (finished in Dec, 2002). They did an excellent job.

Just wondering, for all those who posted with jobs costing around $7k or less, how did you do it???? Is it because it was mostly DIY? If so, how did you go about learning how to do it. It's just that after seeing what was done to our bathroom (completely tore down what was originally there, then rendered, then tiled etc etc) I couldn't imagine doing some of it very well (like rendering).

I assume if you got plumbers, sparkies etc to come in. DId you just shop around for the best quotes for each of these trades, and buy and supply all of the materials for them???

THanks

John (completely DIY illiterate)

 

[karsal]

Hi Guys.

Just completed a reno in North Melbourne.

I have found that it is cheapest to supply materials yourself and hire different tradespeople to do the work.

Here's the cost breakdown for the bathroom:

Respray: $385
Pedestal Basin $185
Shower screen (over tub)and Mirror $330
Plumbing $320
Tiling (bathroom & WC) $300
Tiles $260
Towel hooks $145
New Vitreous WC $187
Tap set (bath, shower, vanity) $365
Paint (DIY) $100

Total $2577

Bathroom was 1.7m wide by 3m

If in Melbourne, I recommend Budget Plumbing Supplies and Fowles Timber and carpet for tiles (Wall tiles cost me $9.50 per m2).
Also picked up a new Stainless steel package for $980!

This should save you a few bucks.
I only used qualified tradespeople.

Regards and happy renovating.
Sam

 

[Mrs Bird]

Hi Karasal

What did the re-spray include for $385? Tiles and bath?.

Also what company did you go through for this Mendabathroom?

Thanks Mrs Bird

 

[handyandy]

Hi all

I am trying to think how much it cost us to renovate a bathroom as normally it is part of a total unit renovation.

Pedestal and basin (fowler) $230
Mixer Tap $85
Cistern $200
Shower Screen $150
Tiles (to ceiling) $500
Tile fixing $800
Waterproofing $100
Plumbing $150
Mirror Cupboard $60
Bathroom fitting $150
Bath Or menda bath respray $200
Wastes $60
Pipe enclosures $40
Tipping Fees $100
Fluro Light $40
Taps, showerand bath spout $200
Power point & light switch $30

Total (aprox) $3000

We do a lot of the work ourselfs in that we do the removal, rerendering if required, basic plumbing carry all materials from and to unit, refit everything except shower screen.

We do not fit a sliding door on shower as find it becomes a maintenance problem over time also a bright curtain each new tenant lifts the look of the bathroom again. This is subject to rental market expectations. Some other markets I would fit a door.

Cheers

 

[XBenX]

Ive been debating putting a curtain in (and removing the old screen)

I was thinking a r shaped curtain (if that makes any sense so it pulls flat against the wall)

Bonus is they are cheaper, and you can have them open when doing the inspection and it should give the perception of a larger bathroom

Any thoughts ? (other than how annoying curtains are)

 

[Michael Croft]

Hi,

When on a concrete slab I use shower curtains by choice;
a) cheaper
b) when drawn back makes room look bigger
c) part of low value pool therefore deducted in first year
d) provide a new one with each tenancy (beats cleaning mould)
e) can change colour/feel of whole room for $30 and 5 mins effort.
f) probably other reasons but these do it for me

My avearge tenacy lasts approx 2 years or more so cost $30 over 2 years = $15 pa and the ATO gives me back my $15 in year 1.

I won't use shower curtains on timber floors as they leak at the edges and rot out floors in time.

regards, Michael Croft

 

[XBenX]

Thanks Micheal - seems to reinforce what I was thinking

Any negatives from others out there ?