How to Make an Efficient and Reasonably Cheap Bathroom

When renovating a home, bathrooms (perhaps next to kitchens) represent by far the largest part of the budget. Even for small bathrooms you can get easily quoted $20K and more from builders and professionals. They charge a lot for labour and probably even more for managing the whole thing. With that said, the more you can do and organise yourself, the more you save. The more you know, the less you get ripped off. You control not only the expenses but the quality too.


I estimate that I saved at least $8,000 by managing the bathroom renovation myself.

Sequence of jobs I used for the bathroom and most important points:

First and foremost and it's true especially for units/apartments: Keep the bathroom layout as it is but make it better and more efficient. For instance, use narrower vanity, find a quality toilet with smaller water container, better design your shower,  install fan and heating, use simple and appropriate mirror (not a bulky one with storage inside).

1. Demolition of the old bathroom (saying goodbye to the old look)

Bathroom demolition

Got rid of bath tub, shower screens, vanity, floor and wall tiles, toilet (I kept the old toilet one as long as possible because I din't have another one; it can be done as the last item)




2. Getting rid of the dirt.
Rent a skip (but make sure that you're neighbour doesn't use it before you), or sometimes some councils will even pick it during their monthly garbage collections.





3. Design and sourcing supplies / equipment / fittings

Old bathroom

By now you should have a rough idea of colours. I made a mistake there. Darker floors are actually better. With lighter floor, marks and dirts are more noticeable so if you like cleaning, go for a light colour floor. But with lighter floor, you will be force to keep it clean which is not bad too.

New bathroom

Get a deal when buying tiles. If you live in Sydney, go west. Here, for example, you can get yourselves real bargains.
Floor and wall tiles are different so remember that in your calculations. Your supplier will tell you the rest.

4. Control space and quality

I got narrower vanity to gain more space, quality bath tub (German enamels that will last), quality toilet (Geberit mechanism - that's what I cared for most, the actual bowl 'Made in Turkey' and the whole toilet cheaper), Methven mixers. I got all of those in Harvey Norman which had a good quality of service. I needed to replace the mixer (as there was a fault), an issue with vanity (more on that later). That was not a problem.

5. Outsource jobs you can't do yourself

Get a reliable and flexible electrician, plumber, tiler and a shower screen specialist. That was a problem but I was lucky in the end. Friend's references helped. I would probably be able to tile myself if I really pushed myself but it would take me too long and so I didn't risk it. I learned from the pro and was later at least able to tile my laundry.
Ideally, get the shower screen guy in BEFORE you tile. He might give you a few ideas and have his phone number handy when the tiler asks questions.

5. Remember before tiling

Before tiling is done, you HAVE to speak to an electrician. Sometimes there might be a problem like in my case there was: For some reason the Ground was missing in the bathroom ceiling light (something that is totally against current regulations but this house was from 1976). It had to be run from the socket. I found out AFTER the tiling was finished and I had to drill a hole through the socket to the next room, run the Earth wire there, then cut a groove about a meter long up almost to the ceiling and drill another hole to get it back to the bathroom.

6. Remember after tiling

After tiling was done. I studied the vanity and mixer and shower rail instruction manuals and did the installations myself, thus saving further because the plumber didn't have to do it.
Design the Shower screen.

7. Toilet and bath tub. 
That's a biggie. I think this one should done by a plumber unless you are REALLY confident. It it's sitting on a concrete bed and which I finished after he left).

Bathtub wall is relatively easy

8. Ceiling. 

That's a big one too.  You can save here although you need an electrician to connect the ceiling light. In this case that was 3 in one (fan + ligh + heater). I knew a person who was doing these kinds of jobs and he said he only needed a day but there was more involved (especially fan exhaust duct that he would not care for). I preferred to take this into my own hands and deservedly so.


8. Cleaning. For some reason wives like to do it sometimes but it's not always a rule ... :-)

My last challenge was to put the door hinges on the other side of the door frame. If it's a steel frame, it might be quite difficult job for a novice. I was lucky because my friend had the know-how.
The trick there is: you don't drill to the frame but you rather hammer the holes with a sharp steel point. Then the steel sheet is bent a little bit inside and you can use metal screws. It's guesswork and experience. If you hit too lightly, the hole will be too small, if you hit it too much, the screw will go through it and the thread will not catch on. Precision is extremely important. You can only do it once (well, you have to fill the holes if you miss).


The result:
More space and efficient energy usage and aesthetics. That's all you can do with so little.