Setting a bathroom budget when renovating

A bathroom budget can be split into four areas of renovation - labour, design and permit fees, project management, and materials.

Setting a bathroom budget, however, is like a carpenter's measuring tape. It depends on how far the home owner wants to unwind.

Being prepared for the big renovation spend

While kitchens and bathrooms apparently add the most value to your house, they're also the most expensive to renovate, so if you're after a thorough makeover you'll need a healthy budget, unless you simply repaint, retile and maybe update a vanity.

Architect Jude Doyle, who specialises in new homes and renovations in inner-city Melbourne, says a budget is an open-ended story.

Don't cut corners with your budget

Jude warns not to trim expenditure on the structural work or the plumbing, as not only can ill-erected structural work or plumbing be potentially dangerous, but fixing problems in these areas can end up being costly down the track. If your budget is tight, you might be able to save with the quality of the materials such as taps, benchtops and tiles. When Jude talks to clients for the first time, she gives them a budget range and it's up to them what they want to do in terms of finishes.

"People always want to go down in the budget for materials when they are looking at things on paper," observes interior designer Carmel Killingbeck. However, as soon as they're let loose inside a showroom with gleaming tapware, tiles and basins they're tempted to revise their budget up. ''Once they visualise it they are more willing to spend a bit more,'' she says.

Labour accounts for the bulk of the cost of a bathroom renovation and the choice of fittings influences the labour component. Stone tiles and marble, which needs to be cut, can add extra costs.

Things to look out for when planning a renovation

Things that can blow your budget include wall-hung, or hidden, toilets, which can be expensive to install; custom-made fittings which don't fit properly; encountering large rocks below excavations for a slab; or any other unforeseen problems along the way, such as the discovery of asbestos.

Research your site properly and think about items that might set you back and factor these into your initial budget. If they don't end up presenting a problem you can splurge on fancier fittings at the end.

Help is just a phone call away, so talk to a bathroom renovator in your area to find out how you can stick to your bathroom budget: