As a rough guide
The tiers below are deliberately broad 2026 planning figures for work in the City of Ryde. They exist to help you set a budget, not to price your bathroom. Two rooms of identical size in the same street can land in different tiers once the floor, the access and the finishes are known.
| Tier | As a rough guide | What usually sits here |
|---|---|---|
| Smaller scopes | $11,000 – $22,000 | Cupboard and European laundries, powder rooms, lighter refreshes in newer apartments where the layout and membrane stay |
| Full bathroom renovations | $22,000 – $45,000 | Main bathrooms and ensuites in walk-up units and post-war houses, taken back to slab or frame and rebuilt with new falls and a new membrane |
| Larger or more complex projects | $40,000 and up | Combining a bathroom, separate toilet and laundry into one room, new ensuites, relocated drainage, coring a slab, premium finishes |
The tiers overlap on purpose, and the overlap is where most jobs live. Where yours lands depends far more on the factors below than on the square metres.
What is inside the number
A bathroom renovation divides roughly into three parts, and it is useful to know which one a saving comes out of.
- Trades and labour — demolition and removal, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, screeding, tiling, carpentry, glazing and fit-off
- Materials and fittings — tiles, tapware, toilet, vanity, glass, mirror, lighting, joinery and accessories
- Site and compliance — protection, waste removal, asbestos testing, strata requirements, certificates, documentation and supervision
In a walk-up block the third category is larger than people expect, because the building is old, the access is shared, and the paperwork is real.
What moves the price
Access. A second or third-floor unit with no lift means every bag of demolition rubble goes down concrete stairs by hand and every sheet, slab and bath comes up the same way. Carrying time is real time, and in some blocks so is the search for somewhere to park a truck.
What is under the old tiles. A 50 mm sand-and-cement bed with waste pipes cast into it takes far longer to remove than a tiled sheet floor, and the building's by-laws often restrict when that noise is allowed. What the demolition exposes — a cracked cast-iron waste, no membrane, a slab that needs patching — can add to the scope.
Whether anything moves. Keeping the toilet, shower and floor waste in place is the biggest single saving available. Moving a floor waste a little is usually manageable. Relocating a toilet in a unit may mean coring a shared slab, which requires engineering input and the owners corporation's approval, and is priced accordingly. In a house on timber, the same change is much simpler.
Asbestos. Anything from before 1990 is tested before demolition. If asbestos is present, licensed removal with containment and a clearance is priced once the type and quantity are known.
Strata requirements. Protection of common areas, permitted hours, a nominated waste route, insurance documentation and the waterproofing paperwork the committee wants. Any fee your building charges for a by-law or a meeting is separate.
Finish level. Handmade or natural stone tile, custom joinery, a stone benchtop, underfloor heating, a linear drain, integrated mirror lighting and designer tapware can move a bathroom from the middle of a tier to the top of it — each is a choice rather than a requirement.
Whether the room changes shape. Taking out the wall between a bathroom and a separate toilet in a post-war house is often the best money spent in the whole job, and it does move the price. Combining three rooms into one is a different project to renovating one of them.
Where savings are smaller than they look
Reusing fittings. Removing, storing, protecting and reinstalling an existing vanity or toilet costs labour, and the result mixes a new room with old pieces. It rarely repays itself.
Skipping the full demolition. Tiling over the existing floor keeps the old falls, raises the floor at the doorway, and leaves you not knowing what is underneath. It is cheaper on the day and expensive in a decade.
Choosing the cheapest tapware. Cartridges, seals and finishes are where budget tapware fails, and replacing a mixer in a tiled wall is not a cheap job.
A smaller room. As above — the fixed costs do not shrink with the floor plan.
Every job is different — a customised price needs a visit
A tier is a starting point for a budget conversation and nothing more. Your actual price depends on the building, the slab or the joists, the position of the stack, what access looks like on the day, what a pre-1990 test finds, whether the drainage can stay where it is, and the finish you want.
That is why we do not quote from photographs alone. A measure takes under an hour and costs nothing. From it you get a scaled drawing of the room with the fittings placed, and a written, itemised quote with brands, models and allowances named — a fixed price for your bathroom rather than a range for somebody else's.
Book an on-site measure and quote or call 02 5563 0307.
Deposits, insurance and progress payments
In NSW the maximum deposit for residential building work is 10 per cent of the contract price. For work over $20,000, home building compensation cover must be in place before a deposit is requested, and you should receive the certificate of cover with your contract.
Progress payments should follow completed stages — demolition and rough-in, waterproofing, tiling, fit-off — rather than dates on a calendar. If a payment schedule is driven by the calendar rather than by finished work, ask why.
Then what
The process page sets out the running order and how long the room is out of action. The FAQ covers strata, asbestos and access questions. If your bathroom is in a strata building, read the strata renovation rules guide before you approach your building.
Renovation work is carried out in partnership with Coastal Renovation Group, a licensed NSW builder. Licence and insurance details are provided on request.
Call 02 5563 0307 or book a measure.
| How a Job Runs | Read next |
|---|---|
| FAQ | Read next |
| Strata Bathroom Renovation Rules | Read next |
| Wall-Hung Toilets & In-Wall Cisterns | Read next |
| Contact | Measure and quote |
Questions people ask before they commit
Why can't you give me a price over the phone?
Because the things that move the price are the things you cannot see from a description: how thick the old mortar bed is, whether there is a membrane, where the stack runs, whether the floor waste can move, how rubble leaves the building, and what a pre-1990 asbestos test finds. A measure takes under an hour and turns a range into a fixed, itemised figure.
How much deposit can be asked for?
In NSW the maximum deposit for residential building work is 10 per cent of the contract price. For work over $20,000, home building compensation cover must be in place before a deposit is requested, and you should be given the certificate of cover.
Do strata requirements add to the cost?
Some do. Stairwell or lift protection, restricted noisy-work hours, a designated waste route, off-street parking limitations and the documentation a committee asks for all sit in site costs. Fees your building charges for a by-law, a meeting or its own legal advice are separate and set by the owners corporation, not by us.
Is asbestos removal included in the quote?
Testing is a line item for any pre-1990 building. Removal is priced after the result, because the type and quantity determine the method, the containment and the cost. It is carried out by a separately licensed asbestos removalist.
Does a smaller bathroom cost proportionally less?
No. Demolition, plumbing and electrical rough-in, waterproofing, certification and supervision barely change with floor area. Tile and joinery quantities shrink; the fixed costs do not. A very small bathroom often costs three quarters of what a mid-sized one does.
What is the single biggest saving available?
Leaving the toilet, shower and floor waste roughly where they are. In a unit with a shared stack, that one decision can be the difference between a straightforward job and a difficult one.