Bathrooms built for Bentleigh houses
Local service
Bathrooms in Bentleigh fall into two groups: the tight 1960s brick-veneer rooms with a hobbed shower and a failing screed, and the period homes where the bathroom was added later and never quite worked. We rebuild both.
A complete renovation means the room comes back to the studs and the slab or joists. Old tiles, screed, membrane and fixtures are removed, the substrate is checked for water damage, and any rotten framing or sheeting is replaced before new work goes in. From there the job runs through plumbing and electrical rough-in, waterproofing, screeding, tiling, cabinetry, glass and fit-off.
The scope is written down before anything starts, including the tile set-out, the height of the niche, which way the vanity drawers open and where the towel rail lands. Decisions made on paper cost nothing. Decisions made with a tiler standing in the room cost a day.
Floors. Matt porcelain in stone or concrete looks, 300×600 or 600×600, slip rating chosen for a wet room.
Walls. Large-format porcelain to the ceiling in the shower, or a half-height tile with paint above for smaller budgets.
Vanities. Wall-hung for floor space, floor-standing for storage. Stone, engineered stone alternatives or solid-surface tops.
Glass. Frameless, semi-frameless or a fixed panel. Measured after tiling, which is why it lands late in the program.
Tapware. Chrome, brushed nickel, matt black, brushed brass. We will tell you which finishes mark in a hard-water house.
Services
Each of these can be a standalone job or part of a full rebuild. The waterproofing standard does not change either way.
In a room under four square metres, the wins come from the layout: a wall-hung vanity to show more floor, a sliding or outward door, a hobless shower with a linear drain so the tile runs unbroken, and a mirror cabinet instead of a separate mirror and shelf. We plan these on the measure, in the room, with the tape out.
Ensuites carry tight service runs and share a wall with a bedroom, so acoustics and ventilation matter as much as the finish. We look at where the exhaust can duct out, whether the toilet can be moved without cutting the slab, and how to get a double basin in without losing the shower.
Most shower failures we open up trace to the same causes: no fall to the waste, a membrane that stops short of the junction, or a hob that cracked. We rebuild the base with correct fall, bond the junctions, re-membrane the wet area and re-tile, then fit new glass measured to the finished surfaces.
Swapping a built-in bath for a walk-in shower, or the reverse, is the most common single change we make. It usually means new waste positions, a rebuilt floor and re-waterproofing, so it is a proper wet-area job rather than a fixture swap. We quote it that way.
Set-out first: we work out where the full tiles land, keep cuts out of sight lines, align the floor grout with the walls where the format allows, and check the grout colour against a wet sample rather than a dry one. Waterproofing has to be cured before a tile goes down, and we do not shorten that.
Applied to AS 3740 across the shower walls, the full floor and every junction and penetration. Primer, bond breakers, then coats with the cure time the product specifies. Photographed at each stage and certified. It is the least visible part of the job and the only one that cannot be fixed later without demolition.
Wall-hung units need noggins in the right place, which means deciding before the walls close. We set heights to the people using the room, run the waste to suit the drawers, and seal the splash junction properly so the wall behind stays dry.
One central downlight flattens a room and throws shadows onto your face at the mirror. We plan a layer at the mirror, a layer overhead and, where it suits, a soft strip under the vanity, all on IP-rated fittings appropriate to their zone, with switching that makes sense at night.
Step-free shower entry, a graded floor with a linear drain, grab rails fixed to blocking rather than plasterboard, a slip-rated floor tile, a fold-down seat and lever tapware. Planned around the person who will use it, and around what the room can physically take.
Most clients combine two or three of the above. If you are unsure what your room needs, book the measure and we will tell you what is failing and what can stay.
Process
What you want changed, what the house allows.
Full measure, then an itemised written price.
Set-out, selections and orders confirmed.
Strip-out, protection, substrate checked.
Rough-in, exhaust ducting, circuits.
Membrane to AS 3740, cure, screed, tile.
Cabinetry, glass, tapware, silicone, paint.
Walk-through, list cleared, certificates handed over.
Examples of work
Photographs below show finish and detail. Completed job records, with day-one and finished images from the same corner, live on the projects page.
Questions
Frequently. We map out which days the room is unusable before we start, get the toilet reconnected as soon as the trade order allows, and keep the shower out of service for the shortest window the waterproofing and tiling permit.
Booking depends on the season and on how quickly selections are locked in. The measure can usually happen within a few working days of your enquiry, and we will tell you the honest start window at that visit rather than a placeholder date.
We stop, photograph it, and price the repair before continuing. Water damage behind a shower wall is common in older Bentleigh homes and it is the main reason a scope changes mid-job. You approve the variation in writing before we proceed.
Sometimes, if the range is current. Older ranges are usually discontinued, which is why partial repairs often look worse than a full re-tile. We will tell you which case you are in before you spend money.
Bathroom renovation design and build for the houses of Bentleigh and the surrounding south-east suburbs.
Service areas
Bentleigh · Bentleigh East
McKinnon · Ormond
Moorabbin · Brighton East