Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry 1 May 20, 2010 8:16 pm Hi, We have a bathroom and an ensuite that need renovating before we sell our house (we will be selling our house when our new one is built - new one does not even have council approval yet). Just worried about how disruptive this is to normal family life. We would be sourcing the tiles, toilets, vanities, shower screens, bath ourselves and hiring the appropriate people (plumbers, tilers, shower screen installers etc) to do the hard work. I realise it will probably depend on how efficiently we are able to hire the tradespeople, but just wondering how long this sort of reno generally takes? And is there a particular order that things should be done in? And is it tricky to replace a built in bath? We have 2 toddlers, am wondering if this would make our life easier to do this after we have moved out (although I would love to be able to enjoy a nice new bathroom for the next year or so....) Thanks in advance. Re: How disruptive is a bathroom reno? Time frame? 2May 20, 2010 9:08 pm We've done 2 bathroom renovations. The first we did ourselves completely in 3 weekends. Destruction took a day but we didn't remove the toilet or the bath that day so the bathroom was still marginally functional. The second day we replaced the toilet and the bath, so we couldn't use them for 24 hours. Then they were marginally functional again, the following weekend was the tiling which had everything not functioning for 24 hours again. The rest of the finishing off was not a problem to live with. All up it took 3 weekends. The second bathroom we had a builder do it all. It took less than 3 weeks, some days nothing was done as he had other jobs. We managed OK because our toilet was separate and we were installing the second and we have a builders shower in the outside laundry. So if you have an ensuite and a bathroom then just do one and then the other and it would proabably take a month. Our second house with bathroom reno was done with a baby and 2 active boys. It wasn't hard to manage, we went out when it was too noisy and our builder had a young child as well so he did quieter work if we had to stay home for nap time. Re: How disruptive is a bathroom reno? Time frame? 3May 20, 2010 9:10 pm It wasn't difficult it both cases for the bath. It was just ripped out, build a new frame in the new location and pop the new one it. That is when it is marginally functional again. No silicone, no tiling but all supported so the kids could take a bath easily. Of course if you have a separate shower then just a couple of days showering with kids is not a drama, even if they do hate it. Re: How disruptive is a bathroom reno? Time frame? 5May 20, 2010 10:00 pm Bathroom renos are a pest, but when you have two, it's not so bad. It also depends on how far you want to go - total "rip everything out and replace it" job, or keep as much as possible and minimise cost? We did our main bathroom, including knocking out a wall and combining miniscule toilet and small bathroom into one generous room, but we kept the bath and shower base because they were in good condition and we were doing it on a budget. We also kept the toilet and vanity in the same basic locations to minimise nuisance value and cost. From memory, we organised everything thus: Collect quotes, buy tiles, new toilet and vanity. Employ a carpenter/handyman to knock out the wall, remove shower screen and do necessary plastering, frame up a new doorway etc. Get plumber (father in law) to install vanity and taps. The night before the tiler was to start, I decided that I needed a hob running alongside the bath so my husband knocked up a new frame out of some of the timber from the demolished wall. Get tiler in to remove old tiles and do shower, around bath and vanity, and floor tiles. Get shower screen guys back to do a check measure Get plumber to install new toilet Have shower screen and new mirror installed Then I painted and my husband added towel rails etc. Oh, and we had a friend put in new fan, power point and light switch. The whole thing took about two weeks - mainly because of having to wait for the shower screen to be made to measure - but the bathroom was only unusable for a couple of days. The ensuite was an easier job, since we wanted to do the minimum prior to selling, so we only replaced wall tiles and shower screen, then painted, got a new mirror and towel rail and new handles for vanity cabinet. Re: How disruptive is a bathroom reno? Time frame? 6May 23, 2010 9:05 pm Thanks Kek, would love to do the minimal to save on costs but as everything is so outdated I think we are committed to changing it all. Will be keeping everything where it is though and that is obviously the cheaper option than a total move everything around. Thanks again, appreciate your response! Re: How disruptive is a bathroom reno? Time frame? 7May 24, 2010 12:49 am I have my bathroom reno happening in 2 weeks time. There is an ensuite and laundry been done at the same time. The only saving grace is the toilets were replaced to water saving ones only a year ago. I have asked the bathroom guys to stagger the bathrooms so we have an operating suite for most of the time. If all else fails its off down to the hot pools for a soak and a shower This is 100% true. You can not hang anything on steel frames. very frustrating 8 8009 Hello It is good to have a planned bathroom reno to suit your budget and design, living for 10 years I think you need a bathtub 4 10371 Bought in Nov 21 at the height of the market (classic). Good area, atrocious floor plan. BUT has land out to the left-hand side that we can extend out on (see second… 0 8771 |