Circle Contracting / Bathroom renovations

Bathroom renovations, splashbacks and floors

A bathroom is the room most likely to go wrong and the most expensive to redo. We take it from the old tiles coming off to the last line of silicone, and you deal with one person the whole way through.

A full bathroom renovation

This is the whole job, done in order, with nothing skipped to save a day:

1. Strip-out. Old tiles, screed, vanity, shower screen and fittings removed and taken away. The room is protected and dust kept to the bathroom.
2. Rough-in. New pipes, wastes and wiring where they need to move. Plumbing and electrical work is done by licensed plumbers and electricians. We organise them, so you don't have to chase three trades.
3. Screed to falls. The floor is shaped so water runs to the waste. NCC 2022 allows a fall of between 1:80 and 1:50, and we check it with a level before anything goes on top.
4. Waterproofing to AS 3740. Primer, bond breakers at every junction, puddle flanges at the wastes, a waterstop at the doorway, then two coats of a Class III membrane, left to cure fully.
5. Tiling. Set out to a plan you've seen. Walls, floor, niches, hobs and steps, with mitred corners or trims on every external edge.
6. Grout and silicone. Grout colour chosen with you. Flexible sealant, not grout, in the corners and around the bath and shower.
7. Fit-off and carpentry. Vanity, mirror, doors and hardware fitted. Plumbing and electrical fit-off by the licensed trades.
8. Clean and hand over. The room cleaned, the rubbish gone, and a walk-through with you before we call it finished.

How each of those steps is done is on How we tile.

Feature tiling

Herringbone, terrazzo-look, mosaics and large slabs with a strong vein all need more planning than a plain tile. Where the pattern starts, where the vein runs and where the cuts land are worked out before the first tile goes down. Small herringbone tiles take longer to lay than a plain wall tile, and the quote says so. It prices them by the square metre on their own line.

Splashbacks

A splashback is small, and everyone sees it. Kitchen and laundry splashbacks in subway tiles, large-format slabs, mosaics or a feature tile, with:

• Cuts around power points and switches planned so they land cleanly, not as thin slivers.
• Grout lines that line up with the benchtop, the cooktop and the rangehood.
• A clean finish at the edges, mitred or with a trim that suits the tile.
• Flexible sealant where the tiles meet the benchtop, so the joint doesn't crack.

Tiled floors

Living areas, hallways, kitchens and alfresco areas, mostly in large-format tiles. Large tiles need a flat base, full adhesive coverage and a levelling clip system to finish without lippage. We check the floor before we quote, so levelling is in the price and not a surprise halfway through.

What it costs

We're not the cheapest quote you'll get, and we don't try to be. Proper screeds, a membrane that's allowed to cure, back-buttered tiles and straight silicone all take time and better materials. That's where the difference in price goes, and it's why the job doesn't need doing again in five years.

What you get in return is an itemised quote. Square metres and rates for walls and floors, materials, and every extra on its own line. If something changes once the old tiles are off, we tell you and agree it before it's done.