The renovation story
This first-floor home in Mount Pritchard presented a challenge that many older Sydney homes share: concrete slab floors and double brick walls. Both bathrooms were original to the house, with floral feature tiles, built-in bathtubs, shower curtains, and dated timber vanities. The homeowner wanted two fully modern bathrooms without compromising on quality or finishes. For an overview of what a bathroom renovation typically costs in Sydney, our cost guide breaks it down by scope and finish level.
The key difference between this project and a typical bathroom renovation comes down to the building structure. In a timber-framed home, plumbing runs through floor joists and stud walls, making it relatively simple to move or add new pipe runs. Here, every new waste line and water supply had to be chased directly into the concrete slab and brick walls using diamond-tipped cutting equipment. Where pipes couldn’t run through the slab, they were routed through the ceiling space of the room below, which meant carefully opening up sections of ceiling, running the new pipework, and then patching and repainting the plasterboard downstairs. This kind of structural complexity is one of the common surprises we help homeowners avoid.
Once the plumbing rough-in was complete, the exposed brickwork in both bathrooms was rendered smooth to create a flat, even surface for waterproofing and tiling. This is an essential step in brick homes because tiles cannot be adhered directly to uneven masonry, and waterproofing membranes need a consistent substrate to perform properly. Our bathroom renovation checklist covers the full sequence of trades and stages involved.
The main bathroom features an Ashton corner back-to-wall bathtub, a frameless splayed glass shower screen, and a custom timber vanity with an LED backlit mirror cabinet above. Kingsley brushed nickel tapware is used throughout, including wall-mounted basin mixers, a rainfall shower head with hand shower on a rail, and a wall-mounted bath spout. The toilet is a Caroma Luna Cleanflush.
The ensuite was reconfigured to remove the old bathtub and replace it with a generous walk-in shower with a tiled seat. A frameless corner glass shower screen keeps the space open, while an arched tiled niche provides storage. The ensuite also features a Roca In-Wash Inspira smart toilet with a heated seat. Like the main bathroom, the vanity is custom timber with a white stone benchtop and LED mirror cabinet, and all tapware is Kingsley brushed nickel.
Both bathrooms were tiled floor-to-ceiling with large-format stone-look porcelain tiles, tile-insert strip drains in the showers, and tile-insert floor wastes. Every surface was fully waterproofed before tiling, including shower recesses, bath surrounds, floors, and perimeter flashings. For a week-by-week breakdown of how a bathroom renovation progresses, our timeline guide walks through each stage.