So I have finally guilted DH into a noew bathroom. We live in a really little, really old fibro house. The bathroom has kinda had a dodgy reno and the tiling etc is awful. Still has original (pink) bath and yucky floor.
We want to gut it, put in new vanity, hip/small corner bath with shower over and a toilet (there isn't one now) new floor and wall tiles. The floor is wooden with plenty of room to get under the house (over 1m) so no cutting slab etc. The room is olny little and we only want plain and simple and mostly white - nothing "fashionable".
One bathroom place said $15 000 and I nearly dropped dead of shock - I thought maybe $8 - $9 000? Am I living in fairyland or can it be done?
Anyone elses experiences most valuable!
BTW anyone know any good tradies on NSW Central Coast (Near Gosford?)
We wanted to do the same with our bathroom, trying to renovate it at a minimum cost. All our quotes ended up over $10k with most about $12k. It seems like if you need to get concreting done and replumbing it makes it much more expensive than if you just had the tiles done. If you know anyone in the industry I've been told it is much cheaper. Good luck in getting your new bathroom!
You girls didn't see Better Homes & Gardens last week did you? They did a bathroom makeover on a small budget. Typing one handed here at the moment, but if you check out the BH&G website, they have the video on there. Don't know if it will help or not? might give you some ideas?
Ours did cost a bit over a loooong period of time, but we did have the luxury of time and did want some really nice finishes.
One thing we did that cut the cost a little while still keeping the look was to use big tiles. We visited a *fancy* tile shop and found the look we really liked then shopped around at some cheaper tile places to get the look at about 1/2 the price. We chose tiles which were about 300x150mm (White) then tiled from floor to ceiling with them. Our bathroom is pretty small, but with the bigger tiles it actually looks much bigger. I think going floor to ceiling also helps. With the bigger tiles it meant less grout, less work and less $$.
I think good tapware can make a room look great but it is so pricy... I shuddered when I found the receipt for our shower head recently, 3 years after the reno and 5 years after we paid for it! One other way to cut costs could be to go for cheaper tapware now and save up for more exxy ones later. Also keep in mind tapware can really date so its a good idea to go for classic pieces.
And a final word of advice - Auctions! We bought heaps of bits and pieces for our renovation including our toilet for really reasonable prices at Auction houses... Try Grays online dot com dot au
we totally had to gut it out and start again- it was bad!! Tiles had fallen off walls, shower and bath couldnt be used and to top it all off- we had asbestos under the tiles. Most bathrooms that were done pre 1983 were tiled with asbestos underneath- so be aware that could be a factor and add to the cost! They have to spray and dispose of it properly!
we got a new celing
new plaster on walls
bath/vanity moved
new bath,vanity, shower and shower screen and vanity mirror/cupboard
new floor and tiled
walls tiled 2/3 up
heater/light/fan
powerpoints
all tapware including a hand held shower head
and it worked out around $11K
it took 2 weeks and from woe to go! It was going to be 1 week but the wood that the bathroom was constructed with was really hard and they had heaps of trouble cutting through it!
the only thing we had to do in the end ourselves was to paint it!
It looks awesome and it was a easy/great experience
ours was so dear b/c of the asbestos and the extra plastering they had to do to replace the walls and roof, but that may not be needed in your case and save you heaps of $$$
definately if you dont need these types of extras done- it could be done for the price you are thinking of!
good luck!
$$$ Bathroom Reno How Much? $$$
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(oh but my FIL is a home handyman genius!)
One other way to cut costs could be to go for cheaper tapware now and save up for more exxy ones later. Also keep in mind tapware can really date so its a good idea to go for classic pieces. 
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