Bathroom renovation costs and timelines on the Gold Coast

Across Australia, a bathroom renovation averages around $26,000, and a job can run anywhere from about $8,000 to $35,000 or more depending on how far you go (Canstar, 2025). Queensland-specific guides put a typical full Gold Coast bathroom at roughly $15,000–$25,000, a small bathroom from about $13,000, and an ensuite around $15,000–$30,000 (Qld Bathroom Renovations).

Those figures sort into three rough tiers. A basic, cosmetic refresh — budget fittings, plumbing and electrical left where they are — is around $8,000–$15,000. A standard strip-out and rebuild with some plumbing and electrical changes sits in the $15,000–$35,000 band. A premium job — major structural changes or high-end finishes — pushes past $35,000 (Canstar).

The single biggest lever isn't the tiles you pick — it's whether the layout stays put. Keep the toilet, basin and shower where they are and you're mostly paying for finishes. Move them, and you're paying a plumber to relocate drains and waste, which is what tips a job into the premium tier.

A cosmetic refresh — new tapware, a new vanity, paint — is the cheaper path, sitting in that $8,000–$15,000 range. The lighter the touch, the lower the cost. A full strip-out back to the frame, then rebuilt, is the $15,000–$35,000-plus job.

The trap is the 'cheap re-tile'. Removing old tiles runs about $25–$50 per square metre (TradieVerify), but the bigger cost is what sits under them. In a shower or on a wet-area floor, lifting the tiles means lifting the waterproof membrane with them, so a fresh membrane has to go back on before any new tiles do — re-waterproofing is treated as a standard step in any wet-area re-tile, not an optional extra (Re-seal Bathrooms; Novocastrian Bathrooms). So a job that started as a quick tile swap quietly turns into a waterproofing-plus-tiling spend. It's the most common reason a re-tile quote comes in higher than people expect.

This is the kind of thing worth getting eyes on before you commit. When we quote a bathroom, we'll tell you plainly whether the wet areas can be re-tiled or whether a strip-out is the better value — rather than starting cheap and hitting you with a variation halfway through.

Tiling is usually the biggest single trade. Labour runs roughly $40–$120 per square metre, with the national average around $65/m² (TradieVerify). Installed — tiles supplied and laid — runs about $50–$100/m² for standard ceramic and up toward $130–$280/m² for natural stone, so the tile you choose moves the number as much as the floor area does (TradieVerify).

Waterproofing is small as a line item but non-negotiable. For a standard 6–8m² wet area, expect roughly $800–$1,800; a small powder room is around $300–$700, and a large ensuite with a walk-in shower and bath runs about $1,500–$3,000 (Joyce Kitchens). Plumbing is its own licensed trade and a typical bathroom keeps a plumber busy across rough-in and fit-off.

On the fittings side, a vanity is commonly around $500–$1,400, a basic toilet about $120 (a standard one nearer $400) plus roughly $150–$250 to install — more if the plumbing has to move — and a shower screen from about $300 for a basic framed unit up to roughly $360–$690 for frameless panels, plus install (OpenAgent). The mix shifts from job to job, but labour, materials and the 'everything else' — waste removal, contingency for what's found behind the walls — all have to be in the budget, not just the shiny fittings.

A cosmetic update — tapware, vanity, paint, lighting — is usually a one-to-two-week job. A full strip-out and rebuild on the same footprint is generally three to five weeks on site, and once you count planning, ordering and handover, the whole project commonly spans six to eight weeks (Oxford Bathrooms).

The part people find hardest to accept is the waterproofing pause. The membrane is quick to apply, but it then has to dry and cure before any tiling can start — figure on the better part of a few days for waterproofing and drying (Oxford Bathrooms). It can't be rushed without risking a leak down the track, so it's a fixed gap in the middle of every wet-area job, not slack in the schedule. Wet-area waterproofing in Queensland homes is governed by AS 3740, which sets out how the materials are to be installed (HIA).

Delays beyond that usually come from custom cabinetry lead times, tile back-orders, or hidden problems uncovered once the walls are open — old leaks, rot, or out-of-spec plumbing. A good quote builds a little contingency in for exactly this rather than pretending it never happens.

In Queensland, building work valued over $3,300 must be done by a QBCC-licensed contractor (QBCC). A standalone bathroom reno almost always clears that threshold, so the person doing the work should be licensed — it's a fair question to ask before you hand over any money.

Waterproofing is its own licensed trade in QLD. Applying, installing or repairing a waterproof membrane — including the surface preparation — is licensed work that requires a QBCC waterproofing licence (QBCC). Plumbing, drainage and gas fitting are licensed regardless of the job's value, and a bathroom touches all of them (QBCC).

This is the part of the model that does the quiet work. You ring one number and deal with us; behind that, the waterproofing goes to a licensed waterproofer, the plumbing to a licensed plumber, and so on — managed on site and billed as one itemised invoice. You're not the one chasing five different trades or checking five different tickets.