How Long Does A Bathroom Renovation Take?

A typical bathroom renovation takes roughly four to six weeks to complete. So if you don’t have a second bathroom, it’s safe to say you’ll need to factor in moving out temporarily or at the very least finding another place to shower.

To illustrate the process, take a look at this sample bathroom renovation schedule to better understand all the steps involved in your typical bathroom renovation.

1. Selections & design finalised –  Once you’ve decided on all the elements (tiles, shower type/style, tap fittings, bath, vanity, basins) the actual renovating can begin. 

2. Demolition – A day is usually all it takes to strip your bathroom of tiles, fittings and fixtures. Once it’s stripped back to the bare framing, the work can begin.

3. Framing – Needed if you’re planning on remodelling your bathroom and making changes to the bathroom layout.

4. Rough in for plumbing and electrical – This is installing all the pipes and any wiring for your bathroom through the walls/floor and framing. If you’re keeping the layout the same for powerpoints, basins, showerhead, taps etc there will be less work involved at this stage (meaning less time and cost).

5. Flooring – laying scion floors gives greater longevity to your bathroom (far better than chipboard with an overlay)

6. Plastering – Expect a couple days to be allocated to plastering, required for where tiles/mirrors have come off the original walls and for any new walls too.

7 Screeding – especially required for ‘walk in’ showers or those that aren’t using a standard off the shelf ‘poly marble’ shower base.

8. Waterproofing – Perhaps the most important element of your bathroom to get right! A poor waterproofing job could lead to disaster down the track. Waterproofing, completed by a professional to requirements set out by the Building Code of Australia (BCA) and Australian Standards, protects the structure of your bathroom.

9. Cabinetry – Off-the-shelf cabinetry (made to a set size) is ready to be installed, but if you opt for custom-made cabinetry this can take 3-4 weeks to complete depending on your chosen finishes.

10. Tiling – Taking up the largest portion of your renovation timeframe and the biggest job in your bathroom, tiling time will vary depending on your specifications – do you require floor-to-ceiling tiling, mitred edges etc?

11. Fit off taps and electrical – Connecting any basins/taps, showerheads and electrical work (powerpoints, lighting).

12. Screens and mirrors – Once tiling is complete mirrors and shower screens are ready to be fitted.

13. Painting – Any required painting to architraves, walls etc.

14. Site cleaning

Hopefully, knowing the timeline process will give you a better idea of just why your bathroom could be out of action for about four weeks. And while there’s no easy answer to the question: How long will my bathroom renovation take? once we know the plans for your space, selections and finishes we can give you a better indication of the timeframe. If it’s a large bathroom and you’re changing the layout or after higher-quality finishes (such as stone benchtops and two-pack cabinetry) expect the job to take a little bit longer to achieve. 

See Some Other Case Studies	Bathroom Renovation Tips & Articles
South Melbourne Renovation Case Study	A-K Guide to Bathroom renovations
Kew Renovation Case Study	L-Z Guide to Bathroom renovations
See our before and after photo gallery	Modern Bathrooms - Elements of Style

Book your own bathroom design workshop

Richard Armstrong is a Director of Melbourne firm The Makeover Group. Educated in interior design, he is a Registered Building Practitioner. Richard has undertaken post graduate property valuation research to identify the renovations that add the most value to homes in specific Melbourne suburbs. Over the last decade, he has helped hundreds of inner metro Melbourne clients undertake renovations to update their homes and create a new, fresh and modern look – all while growing the value of their property. See testimonials.