How to sequence work for a bathroom renovation

 

One of the most valuable and ambitious renovations before putting your home on the market is to rip out and replace your bathroom.

A brand new bathroom can add tens of thousands of dollars to the value of your home and help it sell quickly.

A bathroom is arguably the most complicated area of the home to renovate – a key reason why it is seen so favourably by prospective buyers.

The work can be expensive, and problems may arise. One of the best pieces of advice for a bathroom renovation is to put aside 10-20% of your budget to handle unexpected issues.

You can save money by project managing yourself, but you will need to coordinate a builder, plumber, tiler, electrician, painter and all the supplies to create a quality bathroom. 

To help, we’ve listed the standard sequence of work for a bathroom renovation. We hope you find it helpful.

Strip-out

Once this begins, there’s no going back. Your builder will pull everything out, including the tiles. All the walls and floors will be exposed, showing the old waterproofing.

Re-organising

If you’re moving the shower and bath to different areas of the bathroom, the plumber will begin to remove the old pipes and rough-in the new ones. This is also the time to bring in your electrician to wire any new locations for lights, switches and heated towel rails.

New walls, please

Once the rough-ins are complete, your builder will return to replace or repair the walls that had to be opened for the new plumbing and electrics.

Waterproofing

Your tiler will begin their work by waterproofing the floors and walls. If this isn’t done correctly, all manner of issues can arise later on. Pay close attention when this element of the work is being carried out. Most tilers will waterproof the walls up to waist or even shoulder height.

Screed and tiling

The tiler then lays down the screed (a cement) on the floor in preparation for the tiling. The tiles may go down at this stage, or after you’ve painted.

Painting

This is the perfect time to paint. The room will still be empty, and the painter will have easy access to every corner of the room.

Cabinets installed

The builder or plumber (you choose) will install the cabinets once the tiles are ready to walk on.

Fit-off

The plumber and electrician return to install the taps, toilets, lights and heated towel rail. It’s a good idea to have a timer for the towel rail to avoid using electricity 24×7. The plumber should rigorously test the water pressure for the basin, shower, bath and toilet, and the drainage.

Shower screens

Specialists, usually booked by your bathroom supplier, should do this installation. It only takes a couple of hours, and it’s fantastic how shower screens visually complete a bathroom.