How long a bathroom renovation takes

On site, a straightforward Cranbourne bathroom is fifteen to twenty working days from the first swing of the hammer to handover, so three to four weeks of calendar time. Add a week where asbestos has to come out, and another one to two weeks where drainage moves or the layout changes. The room is out of action for that whole period, which matters in a township house with one bathroom and nowhere else to shower. What follows is the real order of the trades, how many days each one holds the room for, and where the time actually goes when a job runs over.

What does the day by day program look like?

Days	Stage	Who is on site
Before day 1	Site visit, measure, asbestos sampling if the house pre dates 1990, written quote, contract and deposit, all selections locked	Estimator, laboratory
1 to 2	Protection of the hallway and floors, strip out, rubbish removal	Demolition crew
1 to 3 extra	Licensed asbestos removal and clearance, only where testing was positive	Licensed removalist
3 to 4	Plumbing rough in: waste and drainage set, water lines run, any relocation done	Licensed plumber
4	Electrical rough in: lighting, fan, heating, power, any new circuit	Licensed electrical worker
5 to 6	Carpentry: wet area sheeting, noggings behind future grab rails and fixings, hob or set down formed, door adjustments	Carpenter
7	Screed laid to falls in the shower and to the floor waste	Tiler or screeder
8	First waterproofing coat, bond breakers and corner detail	Waterproofer
9	Second coat, then the cure period begins	Waterproofer
10 to 11	Membrane curing, room stays empty	No one
11 to 15	Wall and floor tiling	Tiler
16	Grouting, then silicone movement joints at the internal corners and the base to wall junction	Tiler
17	Shower screen measure, ordered once tiling is set out and true	Glazier
17 to 18	Fit off: vanity, tapware, toilet suite, mirror, heated rail, fan and lights	Plumber and electrician
19 to 20	Screen installation, final silicone, clean, certificates issued and walk through	Glazier and site supervisor

Why the cure time is not padding

The membrane manufacturer sets a cure time before anything can be laid over it, usually a day or two depending on the product and the weather, counted from the last coat rather than from the first. The standard the membrane is applied to, and the wall height it has to reach, are set out on what the law requires.

A membrane tiled over before it has cured does not fail in a way you can see on handover day. It fails at the floor to wall junction a few years later, and by then the repair is the whole room again. Anyone offering to shave those days off the program is offering to bring the next renovation forward. A cold, damp Cranbourne winter week stretches the cure rather than shortening it, so a job run in July will often want an extra day here compared with the same job in February.

What actually adds weeks?

Delays almost never come from the tiler being slow. They come from decisions, and from things arriving late.

1. Selections made after the quote. Tapware, the vanity and the toilet all determine where pipework goes at rough in, which happens in the first week. A wall mounted mixer chosen in week three means opening the sheeting and repairing the membrane, which costs days and money.
2. Tile availability. A tile in stock at a Dandenong or Springvale warehouse is on site in a couple of days. An indent tile can be six to ten weeks. Confirm stock before the tile is signed off, not after.
3. Asbestos. Sampling results take a few days, then licensed removal and the clearance step hold the room for another one to three days. Plan for it in the township, Junction Village and Devon Meadows rather than treating it as a surprise.
4. Drainage. Moving a waste in a slab on ground house means cutting and re pouring concrete, then waiting on the plumber’s return visit. In the older township houses on stumps the drainage is more accessible, which usually makes the relocation cheaper and quicker.
5. What is found behind the old lining. Rotten bottom plates, water damaged studs around a leaking base, or an old shower recess built over untreated timber all get repaired before the new sheeting goes on. This is the single most common variation on houses over thirty years old, and the signs that predict it are on signs your shower is leaking.
6. The shower screen. A custom frameless screen is measured after the tiling is finished, not before, because the measurement has to match the real surface. Fabrication commonly runs seven to ten business days, which is why the screen is usually the last thing installed.
7. A permit, where one is required. Structural work brings a private building surveyor into the program, and the permit has to be issued before anyone starts. What does and does not trigger that is on what the law requires.
8. Variation approvals. Every variation is put in writing and needs your sign off. A homeowner away on holiday during week two is a common cause of an idle day.

How do you live without the bathroom?

In a Cranbourne North or Cranbourne East house with two wet areas, the ensuite carries the household while the main bathroom is rebuilt, and the disruption is manageable. In a one bathroom township or Cranbourne West house it is worth planning for the full three to four weeks: a temporary shower arrangement at a family member’s place, or staging the job so the toilet is reconnected at the end of each day where the plumbing allows. Tell us at quoting stage if the house has only one bathroom, because it changes how the program is sequenced.

Do two wet areas take twice as long?

No. Doing the main bathroom and the ensuite in the same visit does not double the time. The trades overlap, one set of protection and rubbish removal covers both, and the waterproofing and tiling stages run across the two rooms together. Twenty five to thirty working days is a fair expectation for a pair, against roughly forty if they are done as separate jobs months apart. The scope of each is on ensuite renovations and bathroom renovations, and the cost difference is on bathroom renovation cost in Cranbourne.

To get a program with real dates against it, send the room sizes, the age of the house and your suburb through the quote form.

Request a free quote