Most of our in-home consultations on the Gold Coast get to the same question eventually. Where does the money actually go?
A large part of any bathroom renovation is work you will never see once the tiles are on. Demolition, plumbing, waterproofing and the preparation underneath the finished surfaces. That part of the job costs about the same whatever the room ends up looking like. The decisions that change the price sit on top of it, and most of them are yours to make.
Keep the Layout If It Works
Moving the toilet, the shower or the drain means new plumbing under the floor, and in a home with a slab that means cutting concrete. It is one of the biggest costs in a renovation. If the existing layout suits the way you use the bathroom, keeping it lets the budget go into the parts you will see and use every day.
Put Feature Tiles Where You Will See Them
You may not need a feature tile on every wall. One well-chosen feature on the wall you face from the door, or in the shower, with a good plain tile on the rest of the room, gives you the look for a lot less in tiles.
Standard Sizes, Well Chosen
Vanities, shower screens and baths come in standard sizes that suit most Gold Coast bathrooms. Custom joinery is sometimes the right answer, particularly for an awkward corner or a curved wall. Where a standard size fits, choosing a good one costs less than having the same thing made to measure.
Spend on What You Touch
Tapware, the shower screen and the vanity are the parts of the bathroom you use every day, and the parts a visitor notices first. A step up in quality shows here more than anywhere else, so this is where we suggest putting the money saved elsewhere.
Never Try to Save on What You Cannot See
Waterproofing, the substrate and the plumbing are the foundations of the bathroom. We do not cut costs here, and it is the reason we are licensed builders rather than installers. Every Benco bathroom is built to the same standard underneath, whether it is a budget renovation or a full luxury fit-out.
Keep the Bath Only If You Will Use It
Most of our clients are taking the bath out, and it is usually the right call. A bath takes floor space, plumbing and part of the budget. If you will use it, keep it and make it a feature. If you will not, a larger shower is a better use of the room.
Decide Early
Changes of mind during the job usually cost money. A tile swapped after ordering, a vanity moved after the plumbing is roughed in, a niche added after the waterproofing is done. This is why the consultation and the showroom visit come before the quote, and why the quote is fixed once you have made your choices.
Ready to Renovate?
If you are a Gold Coast homeowner and you want to know where your budget will go before you commit to anything, book a free in-home consultation. We come to you, look at the space, and talk it through.
Contact us today to start planning your renovation.
