Replacing a bath with a walk in shower in an Ashfield unit
This bathroom in an Ashfield unit was about three metres by three metres, which sounds generous until a bath takes up an entire wall of it. The owner did not use the bath, and the shower over it was the only place to wash. Removing the bath and building a proper walk in shower changed how the whole room worked without touching a single wall.
“We’ve read so many good things about you guys and we feel you’re the right people for the job,” was how the owner opened the first call. What follows is what we did with that trust.
Before and after. The same room, the same walls and the same floor. What changed is that the bath went and the shower took its place.
The job at a glance
| Detail | This job |
|---|---|
| DetailSuburb | This jobAshfield, inner west Sydney |
| DetailProperty | This jobUnit in an apartment block, with stair and street level access |
| DetailRoom size | This jobAbout 3 metres by 3 metres |
| DetailDuration | This job21 days |
| DetailBudget | This job$25,000 to $35,000 |
| DetailScope | This jobComplete renovation, existing walls and subfloor retained |
The problem: a bath nobody used in a bathroom with no room
A shower over a bath is the most common bathroom arrangement in Sydney units built before about 2000, and it is a compromise that satisfies nobody. Showering means stepping over the side of a bath, the screen is either a folding panel that never seals or a curtain that clings, and the bath itself becomes a place to store things rather than something anyone uses.
The owner here had reached the point most people reach, which is that the bath was occupying a quarter of a small room in exchange for nothing. The question was whether removing it was the right call in a unit, which is not always as obvious as it seems.
Should you remove the only bath in a unit?
This is the question worth answering honestly, because the answer is not always yes and a renovator who tells you it is has not thought about it.
| Remove the bath if | Keep a bath if |
|---|---|
| Remove the bath ifNobody in the household has used it in the last year | Keep a bath ifThere are young children, or there will be |
| Remove the bath ifThe bathroom is under about 9 square metres | Keep a bath ifThe unit has a second bathroom that already has one |
| Remove the bath ifThe unit is a one or two bedroom apartment | Keep a bath ifIt is a three bedroom family apartment where buyers expect one |
| Remove the bath ifThe shower is the thing that frustrates you daily | Keep a bath ifYou genuinely bath, in which case a smaller freestanding bath may fit |
For a one or two bedroom unit the trade generally favours the shower, because the buyers and tenants for that property are overwhelmingly people who shower. For a three bedroom apartment marketed at families, keeping a bath somewhere in the property is worth more consideration. In this case the room was small, the bath was unused and the owner was clear about it, which made the decision straightforward. We faced the same question in a house when removing a corner spa bath in Penshurst.
What is different about renovating a bathroom in a unit
Four things change in an apartment and all of them are worth knowing before you start.
- The drainage connects to a common stack in a fixed position, so there is far less freedom to move fixtures than in a house. What can move and what cannot is the first thing to establish.
- The floor is usually a concrete slab with limited depth, which constrains how far new drainage can run before the fall is used up.
- The owners corporation generally needs to approve work affecting common property, and drainage and waterproofing frequently count as common property. That process takes time and it should be started early.
- Building access and working hours are set by the building, not by the contractor. Material has to come up in a lift, rubbish has to go down in one, and common areas have to be protected the whole way.
On this job the strata side was straightforward, which is not always the case when many owners are involved. Working hours were the usual ones for a residential building, with no noise before 7.30am or after 5pm, Monday to Friday. The common areas were protected for the whole job and vacuumed constantly to keep them respectable, and because this unit had its own stair access to street level we did not need the lift at all, which took one of the usual apartment constraints out of the picture.
Our apartment bathroom renovations in Sydney page covers this work in full. None of this makes a unit bathroom harder to renovate well. It makes it harder to renovate quickly, and it is the reason a unit job and a house job of the same size can differ in timeline.
How we gained space without moving a wall
The whole renovation used the existing wall structure and the existing subfloor. The space came from three changes rather than from construction.
Removing the bath released the full length of one wall, which became the walk in shower. A niche was formed into the existing shower wall so that bottles sit inside the wall rather than on a shelf projecting into the room. The existing door was shaved down and a new wall frame with a niche built, which recovered the swing area that had been lost.
A wall hung vanity was chosen rather than a floor standing one, so the tiled floor runs underneath it. In a room this size that single decision does more for the sense of space than anything else, and it costs relatively little extra when the floor is being tiled anyway. Our small bathroom renovations page covers rooms of this size, and bathroom renovation costs in Sydney sets out what a complete room comes to.
What we installed
The palette here is warm rather than white, with antique brass tapware against a soft grey stone look tile, which is a combination that has aged well and reads as considered rather than trend driven.
- Pegasi overhead shower, 200mm round head, antique brass light finish
- Pegasi slide shower on a 600mm rail, antique brass light
- Pegasi M wall mixers, antique brass light, and a Pegasi M wall basin mixer set 200
- Silkstone Hague basin, 480 x 360mm
- London 900 wall hung vanity in matte black
- Cloudburst concrete Caesarstone benchtop
- Kado Neue Arch mirror shaving cabinet, 500 x 900mm, with a Milton Moon cabinet and door
- Pegasi NF towel rails, robe hook and towel ring in antique brass
- Caroma Luna CF toilet suite
- Homestone Grey Microtec floor tile, textured 300 x 600 x 9mm, with Agrestic White Gloss 75 x 150mm wall tile
Our scope of work
- Management of all trades from demolition through to completion
- Strip out and demolition of the existing bathroom, and removal of all material from the property
- Retention and reuse of the existing subfloor
- Retention of the existing wall structure, with a new niche formed in the shower wall
- Shaving down the existing door and building a new wall frame with a niche
- Waterproofing and certification
- Priming and waterproofing applied below and under the screed, with three days of drying time between coats
- Re screeding in sand and cement, with seven days of drying before tiling began
- Tiling and grouting to all walls and floors
- Painting the existing ceiling with shadow line cornice
- Fit off of taps, accessories, fixtures and mirror
- Testing and commissioning
- Professional industrial clean on completion
The ten days of drying time inside that list are not padding. Screed and waterproofing membranes have to cure before anything is laid over them, and tiling over an uncured membrane is one of the most common causes of the waterproofing failures we are later called in to repair.
What the owner said
A big thank you to Rick and all the team at Nu-trend. They have just completed the renovation for the main bathroom in my apartment and I could not be happier with the result.
They have truly done an outstanding job.
The experience I have had with Nu-trend has been of an utmost high quality from beginning to end. Rick and the team were systematic in their approach, from the planning stage right through to project commencement and completion. Rick was a master at managing the project and coordinating the team so the project was completed on time. I was very reassured and impressed by Rick’s knowledge and attention to detail. He was also backed by a formidable team of outstanding tradespeople. Chris and Rob were across all the details and executed everything as per our briefs. Anthony did beautiful work with the tiling. And I was impressed with Phil’s electrical skills, he just got things done.
Rick was also very accommodating and approachable, he gave me sound advice and was available at every step of the way. Nu-trend should be commended for their professionalism and for producing such high quality work.
What did we do in this bathroom renovation?
#1 PROTECTED THE COMMON AREAS
Doing as many unit renovation projects as we do, we understand how stressful they can be for people trying to live through them. Most tradies also make a big mess. We make sure we protect all the common areaswith floor and wall coverings to make sure nothing is damaged while we are renovating in the block.
#2 PLUMBING & FLOORING INSPECTION
Nu-Trend is a licensed plumber which is an advantage when you are renovating a bathroom. For every project we inspect all the plumbing to make sure it is ready for use. When you combine this with our renovation expertise you get piece of mind.
#3 RUBBISH REMOVAL
Some renovation contractors will not include this in their service, they might leave the rubbish from the demolition in your backyard or on the street. Nu-Trend will make sure all the materials and rubbish that are not used are removed neatly ensuring your property isn’t left in a mess and neighbours are happy.
#4 SHOWER SCREEN INSTALLATION
We can install a custom made glass shower screen into your bathroom if it is a house, unit or town house. We can make sure the flooring and plumbing is suitable and it is sized exactly to fit your space.
#5 KEEPING YOUR UNIT CLEAN
Doing as many renovation projects as we do, we understand how stressful they can be for people trying to live through them. Most tradies also make a big mess. We make sure we protect all your main living areas while we are renovating as well as furniture to protect it from dust or debris
Recognise your own bathroom in this?
If you have a shower over a bath in a unit, a bathroom that feels smaller than its dimensions suggest, or a bath nobody has used in years, the useful first step is to find out what can actually move. We will visit, tell you which fixtures are fixed by the drainage and which are not, explain what your building is likely to require, and give you a fixed written price.
Call Rick on 0401 165 779 or request a site visit.
