renovation of an 1975 Bathroom

[Knipe_AUS]

I have this Bathroom that I really want to get renovated in 2025. I am currently seeking ideas which won't cost an arm and a leg $5,000 or less

I wanna give most of it a go myself ,I've considered painting the tiles but I fear this will not last long. I've also got the tarrazo flooring  which I'm considering tiling over as I don't like the colour of it was plain black or white I would have keptb

Thanks in advance Tom

[Dave-1]

Good Afternoon @Knipe_AUS 

Going over your photos a few times I dont think its wise to tile over any of your tiles. Mostly because of that long diagonal crack from above the toilet down the the sunken shower pan. Plus the cracking in that concrete. If you look at the tiles on the wall the grout is also discolured in that area. I suspect there is water damage to whatever waterproofing was done way back when the bathroom was orginally done. 

Id be tempte dto save your dollars and looking into replacing the whole bathroom. Beware that there could be abspestos in the walls so that may need to be done professionally. If you decide on redoing the bathroom then you know that the waterproof will be up to spec (you will need to get it signed off by a professional for insurance reasons most likely) But mainly it will give you a chance for a re-design. I like the idea of merging a shower and bath together. Its one way of pulling space back from a tight room.

Combining the shower and bath in the area where the xisting shower is will keep major plumbing within the same locations so lesson the cost of shifting them. 

With your plumber removing tiles to change the toilet you already are changing the waterproofing. I dont think you will be able to keep within your $5,000 limit but doing what you can yourself will keep the costs lower. I have a 1980's bathroom that looks like its had the floor tiles doubled over. I have tried rejigging a small space to give me seperate areas but sometimes its just not possible.

Dave

[Knipe_AUS]

Evening @Dave-1 

Thanks for your response.

I've looked into having the the bathroom redone by a professional with that enamel spray stuff ie spraying the tiles & bath , this of course would last a lot longer than me painting it myself but of course is just patching up an issue that will need to be fixed in the future. I believe that by the time the toilet , vanity and the cracked tiles have gone I might as well retile the whole thing because there will be very few tiles that are in good condition and I don't want it looking like a patch work quilt.

When you say "replacing whole bathroom" does that also include the terrazzo flooring ? although I'm not a massive fan of the terrazzo flooring I feel that if I got the cracks filled and had it re-polished back to its former glory with the walls painted with a similar egg shell paint it might look pretty good.

Basically if I was to :

- Remove the toilet and vanity myself.

- Remove all the tiles myself

- Have a plumber come to move the water outlets accordingly (for new toilet and vanity) and have all the taps changed over to mixers.

- Have a professional in to put a new waterproof membrane onto the wall and find someone to also just enamel spray the bath (The bath is fine minus the colour)

- Re-polished tarrazo floor before tiling to prevent vibrations moving new tiles.

- Then have the plumber come back to install toilet / Vanity

- then I might give the tiling a go myself to keep the cost down , Youtube is an amazing thing.

If it is a case of having the whole bathroom redone including floor this would be well out of my budget and capabilities so will have to just look at patching up that leaky toilet on the cheap until a point i have the funds to do the whole thing properly.

[Dave-1]

Evening @Knipe_AUS 

Yeah it can be daunting I must admit.

My first bathroom that I did the patch and cross fingers had a couple of loose tiles coming off in the shower area I waterproofed the surface and then reinstalled the tiles as they didnt break when they came away. Several months later I could lean on the wall and it would flex.... This is why I am super cautious over any cracks in the walls or flooring. 

Removing the tiles yourself, verify there is no asbestos withing the backing of the walls, there is a bunch of information here https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/ 

I like the idea of re-enamling the bath. I also like the idea of paint the tiles and will probarly go that route myself. The floor... mmm thats a hard one as the tiles are so small. Id be tempted to paint, knowing that it may not hold up. At least it will give you time to save some dollars if you want to do the lot.

Not sure about re-pollishing the terrazo tiles, but you could paint the floor. or even line it with lino. My mum has that in her bathroom (ex housing commision place)

Retiling over the floor will be a lot cheaper, it will raise the floor a little 2-3cm but that crack in the base concrete is what I worry about as the water if leaked is already under the existing tiles.

Think ive gone through your worries/questions I break things down when it feels too much. Individual issues are easier to do then just class each as a project.

Dave

[Nailbag]

HI @Knipe_AUS 

Need to bear in mind the minimum width requirement for a toilet space needs to be 900mm. So, ideally you don't wont to encroach within that measurement. 

Deleting the toilet will give you a lot more space to work with, but this can affect resale. So combining the toilet and show could be an option. Stealing some space from there bedroom would also give you a lot of options.

A bedroom on the smaller side would be consider less of a negative than a bathroom. You can make a bedroom work with movable pieces, but you can't do the same with a bathroom.

Functional bathrooms, kitchens and laundries take high priority in any reno. So, here are a few ideas to get the thought processes going:

Nailbag.