13/01/2022
Plumbing is only a small part of a bathroom’s renovation costs. It can cost more if illegal work has been discovered behind the walls or if pipes need to be replaced because of their age or quality.
It’s important to understand a plumber must ensure illegal plumbing work is replaced and brought up to standard. This can add considerable cost to the plumber’s portion of your renovation, and will be charged as a variation fee.
This ‘unknown factor’ is why it’s important to allow a 20-percent buffer for unexpected costs. If you’re spending the time to renovate a bathroom completely, spend the money to get your pipes replaced if you’re advised to do so.
Here is a rough estimate for how long it usually takes a plumber to complete a bathroom renovation:
- Four-plus hours to demolish and cap services (this can sometimes be less if there aren’t many fixtures to be capped).
- Six-plus hours to rough-in the new bathroom. If new pipework for water and sewerage needs to be run in and around your bathroom, allow for at least a day.
- Four to eight hours to ‘fit off’, which includes installing fixtures and tapware.
Delays in these time estimates can also occur for various reasons. These are some common ones:
- Difficult access to pipework or if the pipework is old and needs to be upgraded to a new size or material. For example, upgrading old clay sewer pipes to PVC, or galvanised-iron water pipes to copper or plastic pipes.
- If the new fixtures have not arrived on-site.
- If the wrong fixtures have been delivered to your site.
- If the quality or type of new fixtures is more labour-intensive to install than branded fixtures with a good reputation.
- If other trades are still finishing their work, such as tilers or cabinetmakers, it can also push out how long it takes a plumber to complete their part of the renovation.
