When renovating your bathroom, it's important to know what is the most expensive part of the process. This helps you create an accurate and realistic budget that covers all of the renovations you need doing without spending more money than you can afford. A bathroom renovation can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $25,000. As such, it's essential to pinpoint the most expensive aspects of a renovation and look for affordable and creative alternatives.

The most expensive parts of a bathroom renovation are the tiling, plumbing, labour and structural work. These are bathroom upgrades that often require the hiring of a highly-skilled, licensed, experienced professional to get the job done right. This can make the cost of getting those types of services done very high for people who want to renovate their bathrooms. So when planning to make major renovations to their bathroom, wise homeowners should first contact the professionals. They are equipped with the training, licenses and expertise to get the job done.

Average Bathroom Renovation Cost

Here is a look at the average bathroom renovation cost for each of the most expensive services.

1. Tiling

Professional tilers in Australia typically charge between $35 and $140 per hour to tile a bathroom. When the job is priced per square metre, retiling a standard bathroom can cost between $30 and $150 per square metre. That does not include the cost of buying the tiles. However, the complexity of the job can also affect the price. Plus, if a qualified Australian tiler has to remove the old tiles before installing the new ones, it can increase the cost to have the bathroom walls or shower wall panels and floor retiled significantly. To get a realistic estimate of what the tiling job will cost, you have to add the value of the new tiles to the cost of old tile removal and new tile installation.

2. Plumbing

Suppose you plan on making significant renovations to the bath, toilet and shower in a bathroom. In that case, you will need to hire a licensed, certified, professional plumber. Generally speaking, You can expect the average professional plumber to charge between $50 and $90 an hour to install the pipes and other plumbing needed for a new bath, shower and toilet. Plus, you have to add the cost of the new toilet, bath and shower as well as any supplies and pipes the plumber needs to complete the job. Overall, the plumbing cost for a bathroom renovation can be between $1,800 and $3,500 for a small bathroom, $3,500 to $4,500 for a medium-sized bathroom to as much as $4,500 to $8,500 for having a large bathroom renovated.

3. Labour

Another bathroom upgrade expense includes labour costs for demolition work and other odd jobs. It's essential to choose the right tradespeople for these jobs, especially if you want the job done right. The Housing Industry Association says the longer the renovation of a bathroom, the higher the labour cost. Labour costs can include painting and installing waterproofing and fittings. One of the ways that homeowners can save on labour costs during bathroom renovations is to do as much of the labour they can, themselves.

4. Structural Work

If the bathroom renovation plans require structural changes, the cost can rise sharply. Structural work like installing underfloor heating, windows and skylights, replastering walls and moving electrical points and plumbing add thousands to the renovation cost of a bathroom. The complexity of the structural changes you desire can quickly increase renovation costs. This is because they may require electricians, plumbers and designers to make significant changes to how and where outlets for water and electricity have to be installed.

While making cosmetic upgrades to a bathroom may cost a few hundred dollars, structural changes can make the renovation cost go up by $10,000 or more.

Other Factors Impacting Renovation Cost

Several other factors impact bathroom renovation costs in Australia. Depending on the tiles you choose, the cost to upgrade the bathroom can increase a great deal. The quality of the materials and fittings you select also impact what it costs to renovate your bathroom. Adding specialised details will make renovating your bathroom cost even more.

To keep bathroom remodelling costs low, it's crucial to find the most affordable tradespeople to do the tiling, plumbing, labour and structural work.