DIY Bathroom

The 2 main areas of a home that date are the kitchen and bathroom.  I have found the bathroom renovation is not for the faint hearted as there is quite a bit of preparation that will be needed and a whole lot of dirt and dust.  But with saying that there is great satisfaction in doing this yourself not mentioning the dollars that are saved. Even just removing old tiles and getting all the rubbish out will save you a lot of money as this sort of work is labour intensive and is what costs the most money.

Although you can do the tiling yourself I have opted (with the money that I have saved) to get more bang from my buck by having a tiler do all the tile work.  He will give it a more professional look than the home handyman doing tiling for the first time.  Believe me there is no money saved if you are trying to sell a property that looks like the home handyman has had his first go at tiling.  This is too big a first job for a home handyman save your first tiling job for perhaps splash backs or something small to get the tiling experience.

HANDY TIPS

  • Safety first, face mask, gloves and goggles for both dust and flying tile bits
  • Large wheel barrow for rubbish
  • Plumber to disconnect (reconnect later) taps and to cap off the bath and shower fittings
  • You will also need an electrician to put in the tastic
  • Remove old vanity, bath, and shower
  • Gently tap the tiles with a hammer and usually you can get a chisel under the tiles and get a run of tiles off at a time.
  • Continue until all tiles are off the floor and walls and you swept up and have all smooth surface.
  • Wet seal is applied and then reapplied with 24hours between coats

As with the kitchen tips I gave in another article I buy most things on eBay even down to large items such as the shower screens, I have saved hundreds of dollars shopping this way.


The bath and vanity I buy at auction and at times I have got a bargain with a run of tiles that are discontinuing from either tile shops or bigger places like Bunning’s. 

When decorating for resale I prefer to stay with neutrals and I add a feature tile or a panel of tiles just to add interest.  Again this is negotiated with tile warehouses, eBay or look on the internet for people that have things left over from doing their own renovations.