How long a bathroom renovation really takes, week by week

We typically finish a bathroom in three to four weeks on site. A job with a full layout change and imported materials can run longer. The work itself is only part of it. Demolition takes one to two days, waterproofing takes one to two days plus a cure of 24 to 72 hours when nobody is on site at all, and a custom shower screen cannot even be measured until the tiles are on. What follows is the order it happens in and what decides whether your job runs to schedule or drifts past it.

My name is Michael. I am a registered builder and a licensed plumber, and I project manage the trades on every job we run in Berwick, Officer, Pakenham, Narre Warren, Beaconsfield and Clyde North. The timings below are the ones we work to.

A standard bathroom of six to eight square metres keeping the existing layout. Some stages overlap, which is why the days do not simply add up to the total.

The job starts before anyone arrives

Your renovation begins on the day you finish choosing things, not on the day the first tile comes off. Tiles, vanity, toilet, tapware, shower screen, mirror, lights, the fan and the towel rail all have to be selected and ordered before demolition, because once the room is stripped it is a shell and your trades are booked.

Lead times are the reason. Tiles held in a Melbourne warehouse can be on site in days. Imported tiles run four to eight weeks and sometimes longer. A custom vanity is commonly three to six weeks. Premium tapware from overseas can be two to four weeks. If one of those items is still in transit when the tiler is due, the whole job waits, and so do you.

There is paperwork in this stage too, and it has its own timing. Bathroom work over $10,000 requires a major domestic building contract, and work valued at more than $20,000 requires Home Warranty, which replaced Domestic Building Insurance on 1 July 2026. Your cover starts when you sign the contract, and the builder pays the premium to the Building and Plumbing Commission within 10 business days of signing or before work starts, whichever comes first. You then receive a Notice of Cover. If a builder wants to start on Monday and the contract is not signed, the paperwork is not the thing that should give way.

Order 10 to 15 per cent more tiles than the floor and wall areas call for. Tiles get cut and some get broken, and a dye lot that has sold out mid-job is a problem with no cheap answer. Allow one to three weeks for this stage if your selections are straightforward and longer if you have fallen in love with something that ships from Italy.

Week one: demolition and rough-in

Demolition is the fastest part and the loudest. A crew strips a standard bathroom in one to two days, taking out the fixtures, the screen, the wall and floor tiles and the linings, and clearing the waste from site. A strip-out produces one to three cubic metres of rubbish, and it goes as it comes out rather than sitting in your driveway.

What slows demolition down is what is underneath. Heavy porcelain on a thick mortar bed takes 50 to 100 per cent longer to strip than thin ceramic on adhesive. Asbestos stops the job while a licensed removalist is brought in, which adds a day or two on its own. Rot in the framing adds repair time before anything new can go up.

The rough-in follows over the next two to four days. The plumber runs the water lines and the drainage, the electrician runs the cabling for the lights, the fan, the power and any heating, and the carpenter frames anything that has moved. Then the wall sheeting goes on and the room is closed up again. If you are keeping your layout, this stage is quick. If fixtures are moving, particularly the toilet on a concrete slab, it is the stage that grows.

The waterproofing, and the wait

Waterproofing takes one to two days of work and then it has to be left alone for 24 to 72 hours.

Day one is preparation, priming and the first coat. Day two is the second coat and the detailing at the drain, the tap penetrations, the corners and the niche. Then the membrane cures. Nobody is on site for that part, the room looks finished to nobody, and it is the only stage of your renovation where paying more does not buy speed.

AS 3740 is the Australian standard this work has to meet, and the cure time is not a suggestion inside it. A renovator who is running behind can get the days back by tiling early, and you will never see that they did.

Week two: tiling

Tiling takes three to five days for a standard bathroom, and it is the stage most affected by what you chose.

A straight lay in a standard format tile is quick. Herringbone takes longer because every tile is a cut. Mosaics take longer again because of the number of grout lines. Large format tiles need a flatter wall to sit on, so if the substrate has to be levelled first, that happens before the first tile and adds to the stage. A feature wall behind the vanity is roughly another day.

Grout goes in at the end and then it needs to harden before the plumber can come back and fit off. This is the second built-in wait in the job. Between the waterproofing cure and the grout, a bathroom has two stretches where the right answer is that nothing happens.

Fit-off, and the shower screen

Fit-off takes two to three days. The plumber returns to hang the toilet, connect the vanity and fit the tapware and the shower. The electrician returns to fit the lights, the fan, the power points and the towel rail. The room goes from a tiled shell to a finished bathroom in about two days.

The shower screen is the one item that cannot be brought forward. A custom or frameless screen has to be measured against the finished tiles, because a wall that is a few millimetres out will not accept glass cut to a drawing. Manufacture then takes around 7 to 10 days. A standard framed screen can often be bought off the shelf and fitted straight away, which is one of the practical differences between a job that finishes in three weeks and one that finishes in four.

Painting, silicone, the final clean and your walk through take the last day. You should be handed a Compliance Certificate of Plumbing Work from the plumber and a Certificate of Electrical Safety from the electrician at this point. If nobody hands you those, ask.

What actually makes a bathroom run long

Very little of the delay in a renovation happens during the work. It happens in the spaces between the work.

The most common cause is a decision changed mid-job. A different vanity chosen after the rough-in means the plumbing has to move, the new unit has to be ordered, and every trade after it slides. The second is trade availability. If the tiler who was due on Wednesday is finishing someone else’s job, your bathroom sits until he is free, and the plumber booked behind him now has to be moved as well. The third is what turns up behind the wall, which is the only one nobody can plan away.

How a builder engages his trades changes what happens next. It changes what happens when a stage runs over, because a subcontracted tiler who is late to your job is late because he is standing in someone else’s bathroom. The majority of our trades are employed, which is the main reason we can hold three to four weeks.

A renovation runs long in the gaps between trades, not in the work itself.

How to test a timeline before you sign

Any renovator can say four weeks. The way to find out whether the number means anything is to ask for the detail behind it, and none of these questions require you to know the trade.

Ask for the schedule in writing, stage by stage, with the dates each trade is due. A builder who has actually booked the work can produce it, and one who intends to ring around after you sign cannot. Ask whether the trades are employed or subcontracted, and ask what happens to your dates if one of them runs over. Ask when your selections have to be finalised and when the materials will be ordered, because that is the date your job really starts. Ask how long the waterproofing is left to cure before tiling, and be careful with anyone who says it does not need long. Ask when the shower screen is measured, because the answer should be after tiling.

Then ask what the schedule assumes. A four week program built on the room being empty of surprises is a different promise from one that carries a few days for what might be behind the wall.

Living around it

The room is unusable for the whole job, so work out where you are showering before demolition day rather than during week one. A relative nearby, a gym, or the neighbour all work. Ask whether your toilet can stay connected for part of the build, because on some layouts it can.

Empty the cupboards the weekend before. Expect dust in the hallway even with protection down, because bathrooms usually sit at the back of the house and every tile and every bag of rubble travels through it. Park the car somewhere else if the skip is going on the drive.

The reason all of this matters is that a household showering elsewhere makes decisions quickly, and quick decisions on a renovation are expensive ones. A job that runs to schedule is not only more convenient. It is cheaper, because you never end up choosing under pressure.

Take the timeline with you

Our free renovation guide sets out the stages, the questions to ask before you sign and what to have decided before demolition day. You can download it here.

FAQ

How long does a bathroom renovation take? Three to four weeks on site with us. A job with a layout change or imported materials can run longer.

How long does the room stay unusable? The whole time the job is running. Plan to shower elsewhere for three to four weeks and ask whether the toilet can stay connected for part of the build.

Why can a bathroom not be done in a week? Because two stages have to wait. The waterproofing needs 24 to 72 hours to cure before tiling under AS 3740, and the grout has to harden before the plumber can fit off.

How long does demolition take? One to two days for a standard bathroom. Heavy porcelain on a thick mortar bed takes 50 to 100 per cent longer to strip than thin ceramic on adhesive.

How long does tiling take? Three to five days. Herringbone, mosaics and feature walls add time, and large format tiles add time if the walls need levelling first.

When do I need to have chosen my tiles and fittings? Before demolition. Imported tiles can take four to eight weeks to arrive, custom vanities three to six weeks and premium tapware two to four weeks. Order 10 to 15 per cent extra tiles for cuts and breakages.

Why does the shower screen take so long? A custom or frameless screen is measured after the tiles are on, because it has to fit the finished walls rather than a drawing. Manufacture then takes around 7 to 10 days. A framed screen off the shelf is much faster.

What delays a bathroom renovation most often? Changing a decision after the rough-in, a trade who is finishing another job, and what turns up behind the wall. The first two are avoidable.

Does finding asbestos add time? Yes. The area has to be sealed and stripped by a licensed removalist and cleared before work carries on, which usually adds a day or two.

Do the trades work every day? Not on every stage. There are two built-in waits, the waterproofing cure and the grout, where the correct thing to do is leave the room alone.

What should I be given at handover? A Compliance Certificate of Plumbing Work for any plumbing work valued at $750 or more, and a Certificate of Electrical Safety from the electrician.