Bathroom renovation quotes from local renovators

What's in a bathroom renovation

A bathroom is the smallest room in the house and one of the most complicated to renovate, because plumbing, drainage, waterproofing, electrics, tiling and fittings all happen in a few square metres. A typical full renovation runs like this:

• Strip-out of old tiles, fittings and, often, the old screed.
• Plumbing and drainage changes, with new pipes in the walls and floor while they're open.
• Electrical work for lights, extractor fan, heated towel rails and plug points.
• Screeding the floor, with a fall towards the shower drain if needed.
• Waterproofing in the shower and other wet areas.
• Tiling walls and floors.
• Fitting the toilet, basin and vanity, bath or shower, taps, shower screen and accessories.

Waterproofing: the step you can't see

Tiles and grout are not waterproof on their own. Water gets through grout lines and hairline cracks, and if there's nothing underneath to stop it, it soaks into walls and the floor slab, causing damp in the next room, rot in skirting boards, and tiles that loosen.

Every shower should have a waterproofing membrane under the tiles, covering the floor and lapping up the walls, carefully detailed around the drain and the corners. It's the single most important step in a bathroom renovation and the easiest one to skip, because it disappears under the tiles. Ask every renovator exactly how they waterproof a shower.

Showers, baths and walk-ins

Many people now replace a bath they rarely use with a large shower. Walk-in showers with a level or near-level floor look clean and suit people with limited mobility, but need the floor screeded to a careful fall, and often a linear drain, so water doesn't run out into the room.

Shower screens, bath screens and any glass close to a bath or shower must be safety glass. Under the glazing part of the building regulations, SANS 10400-N, glazing in shower and bath enclosures, and glazing close to them, must be safety glazing. Reputable suppliers supply toughened or laminated glass as standard.

Plumbing and electrics

Use a plumber registered with the Plumbing Industry Registration Board (PIRB), and ask whether your municipality requires a plumbing certificate of compliance for the work. Electrical work in bathrooms is subject to strict rules on where fittings and plug points may go near water, and needs an electrical certificate of compliance from a registered electrician.

Good ventilation is easy to overlook. An extractor fan, or a window that's actually opened, prevents the condensation and mould that ruin new paint and grout.