Bathroom Renovations in Rolleston

A Bathroom Done Properly, Start to Finish

A bathroom is the most involved room in a house to renovate. Four trades work in a space the size of a wardrobe, in a strict order, and the part that matters most - the waterproof lining behind the tiles and under the shower - is the part nobody sees once it is finished. That is why a bathroom is a builder's job to run rather than a tiler's or a plumber's: someone has to own the sequence, and someone has to be responsible for what is behind the wall.

Hayde Construction renovates bathrooms across Rolleston and Selwyn as complete jobs. Adam strips the old room out, fixes whatever the strip-out finds, frames any changes, fits the wet-area linings, and builds the room back up - shower, vanity, bath, toilet, tiling, joinery, doors and trim. The plumber and the electrician are booked and sequenced by him, so you deal with one person and get one quote.

What a Bathroom Renovation Involves

1. Look, talk, and a written quote

   Adam comes out, measures the room, checks what is behind the existing fittings where he can, and talks through what you want. The quote lists the building work and, where you want it, the plumbing and electrical, so the price is the whole price.

2. Strip-out and repairs

   Old fittings, tiles and linings come out. This is where an older bathroom shows its secrets - a soft floor under the shower, framing that has been wet for years, a leaking waste. They get fixed now, while they are exposed, and you are told what was found.

3. Framing, plumbing and wiring rough-in

   Any new nibs or walls are framed, a niche or a new window is built in, and the plumber and electrician run their pipes and cables to where the new fittings will be.

4. Wet-area linings and waterproofing

   Moisture-resistant plasterboard or tile underlay in the wet areas, the shower base or tray set, and the membrane applied where it needs to be. This is the part that decides whether the bathroom is still dry in ten years.

5. Tiling, fit-off and finishing

   Floor and wall tiles or the panel system you have chosen, then the shower glass, vanity, mirror, toilet, towel rail and tapware, the door and the trim. The plumber and electrician connect and test. The room is cleaned and handed back.

Wet Areas and the Building Code

The Building Code's clause on internal moisture, E3 Internal moisture, requires the surfaces in wet areas of a home to be impervious and easily cleaned, with ventilation, so that water cannot get into the building and cause rot or mould. In practice that means the right lining behind the tiles, a proper shower tray or membrane, sealed junctions, an extractor fan that actually vents outside, and a floor that falls to the waste. It is also the reason a bathroom done cheaply so often has to be done twice.

Whether a bathroom renovation needs a building consent depends on the job. Replacing fittings in the same positions generally does not; moving the toilet or the shower and changing the drainage generally does, and any structural change or new window is restricted building work that a Licensed Building Practitioner must do. Adam will tell you which applies before you commit, and handle the paperwork if a consent is needed.

What Affects the Cost and the Time

Two things move the price of a bathroom more than any other: whether the fittings stay where they are, and what you choose to put in. Keeping the toilet, shower and vanity in their existing positions keeps the plumbing simple. Moving them is entirely possible and often worth it, but the drainage work and a consent add to the job. On the finishes, a tiled floor and a tiled shower cost more than vinyl plank and an acrylic shower liner - and both can look good, as the bathrooms in our gallery show, because the difference is in the preparation and the finish rather than the price of the tile.

Most bathrooms take two to three weeks from strip-out to hand-over, allowing for the membrane and the tile adhesive to cure between steps. If the house has a second bathroom that is no hardship; if it does not, Adam will tell you exactly when the toilet and the shower will be out of action and keep it to the shortest window he can.

Bathrooms Are Often the Start

A lot of bathroom jobs turn into a laundry or a toilet at the same time, because the trades are already on site and the plumbing is already open. If the rest of the house is due some attention as well, our home renovations and alterations page covers the bigger picture, and the smaller jobs - a new extractor, a door that binds, a window that has rotted at the sill - come under repairs and maintenance. Either way it starts the same way: a look and a written quote.

Contact Us

To talk about a bathroom renovation in Rolleston, Lincoln, Prebbleton, West Melton, Darfield, Leeston, south-west Christchurch or Mid Canterbury, ring Adam on 027 444 5657 or send the details through the form below. A couple of photos of the room as it is now will get you a much more useful first conversation.