Avoid a budget blow out on your bathroom renovation

Avoid a budget blow out on your next renovation!

Are you thinking about embarking on a bathroom renovation, but afraid that you won’t be able to stick to your budget? Well, I have good news because there are some simple steps that you can take to ensure that when your new bathroom is handed over, it doesn’t come with any nasty surprises to your budget.

It’s not just a matter of jumping in and immediately getting a quotes. Believe me, there are a bunch of steps before you get to the quote stage to ensure that you feel in control and can get the most out of your tradies. 

Know what you’re working with - Identify any possible issues early

Being blindsided by unexpected costs turns what should be an exciting time, into a stressful one. That’s why it is critical to know everything you can about the space that you are planning to renovate. Does it have asbestos, water damage, double brick? The sooner you know what you’re working with, the more time you’ll have to account for it in your budget. In other words, mystery is the enemy of a renovation, by the time you’re getting a quote you want to know all of these things. They will likely influence the baseline cost of your renovation and knowing this early will allow you to weigh up what luxuries are important to you and offset them by saving costs in other areas. Of course, if your budget is unlimited, you can do ALL the things and buy all premium fixtures, fittings and features. But that is not the case for most people, so in order to achieve the best possible outcome within the budget you have set, knowledge is your best friend.

Asbestos or water damage can really easily blow out a budget if you don’t know about it upfront. The best solution is to identify it early so you can build any removal or repair costs it into your initial quote, rather than discovering the issues after demolition has already begun and blows out the budget that you worked so hard to stick to. Apart from being an unexpected cost, if these issues are discovered mid way through a renovation process they can be way more expensive to rectify and could significantly delay the entire process.

Do your research and get inspired

You don’t know what you don’t know, so ask for advice from a trusted person or do your own independent research. It’s so important to know what features you want in your bathroom that will add to the baseline costs, such as underfloor heating, concealed lighting, a skylight over the shower, premium bath or vanity, tiles laid in a herringbone pattern. All of these things can make your bathroom look incredible, but all will also contribute to the cost, so it’s important to have all of these features included in the quote so that you can be realistic about what to add and what to leave out. 

This is the fun part so let your imagination run wild! Create Pinterest boards to gather inspiration and help you identify the style and features that you love. We can help, check out our Pinterest profile here.

Plan and plan some more

Now that you’re feeling inspired, it’s time to take that inspiration and translating it to the space that you are renovating. The planning stage is not to be rushed or underestimated as it is critical to mitigate against unexpected costs in the process of making your dream bathroom a reality. 

Consider the final layout of your bathroom, are you going to keep it the same or take this opportunity to change it around? Now is the time to visualise all your options, so go ahead and stand in the space and imaging how it might look. Then draw up a small scale version on a sheet of paper.

Set a realistic budget 

Do some research on what it costs to renovate a bathroom and speak to people you know that have recently gone through a their own reno to get an idea of what they paid. It’s also a good idea to build in a contingency (of at least 10% of the total amount) for any issues that can potentially arise, such as unexpected water damage. If you don’t need it in the end, consider it an excuse to celebrate with a fancy dinner! But if something unexpected does come but, you’ll be so pleased that you set some extra aside. 

Get a quote (finally!)

I know you’ve been dying to jump in and get a quote, but believe me, all the previous steps will come in handy here. Now you get to test your budget. You know what you want and can communicate it to your tradie so you can be confident that your quote will be a good reflection of the final cost, rather than a best guess. 

Be as detailed as possible about what you want in your new bathroom to get the most accurate quote. But also be open to knowledge and expertise that your tradies can provide. If you’ve already researched fixtures and fittings, ask the plumbers opinion on quality. If you’ve been looking at premium options (such as a wall hung toilet or a smart toilet) these require more time to install and are worth mentioning early so that it can be accounted for.

You can seek quotes from each different trade individually if you plan on project managing your renovation yourself, or you could opt to engage a full renovation service, like we provide at Action Plumbing. Remember, if you’re not undertaking structural work, you don’t necessarily need to engage a builder. 

If the quote is way more than your budget you have two options - either reconsider your budget or see if adjusting your plans brings the cost down. This is why doing your planning and knowing what your bathroom goals are is so important, because if you know what your priorities are then you can either compromise or stick to your guns. If that means that a reno is out of your current budget, consider saving for another 12 months so that you can afford to do what you want. Bathroom renovations are a once in a decade (or two) process and therefore, they are worth doing properly! 

Budget or Boujee - chose your tiles, fixtures and fittings

Once you’ve locked in your trades, it’s decision time for your tiles, fixtures and fittings. So much of the cost of a bathroom renovation is out of your control, but choosing these items is one area where you can make a huge impact on cost. Although it’s tempting to save as much money as possible at this stage, try to avoid simply heading to Bunnings to buy the cheapest fittings you can possibly find. Chat to your plumber about where you can afford to save and what items are worth paying for quality. We at Action have worked with thousands of products and brands and this experience has helped us to understand what works and what lasts.  As much as we love our clients, we don’t want to be coming back to fix poor quality fittings any time soon. 

Keep the lines of communication open

The best thing to guard against a budget blowout is choosing a plumber that it a good communicator. That way you’ll have peace of mind that the project is progressing as planned and on budget. But good communication is a two-way street, set the expectations early that any change in cost needs to be clearly communicated and be empowered to ask questions so that you feel in control! 

There should never be a shock when you receive your final invoice. If you have a good tradie, any variation of the cost would have been clearly communicated so if you adjust the plan, both of you are 100% clear on what that decision means for the bottom line. 

Bathroom renovations aren’t cheap or easy. Some costs in a bathroom renovation are within your control - for example, you can choose an $800 bath versus an $8,000 bath - while others are fixed and unavoidable. To avoid a budget blowout spend the time to plan properly because knowledge is power, and build in a contingency into your budget just in case shit happens.

If you have any questions about bathroom renovations or you need support on your journey, reach out to us here! We love helping our clients achieve their dream bathrooms (check out some of our work here).