6 September 2015. Many home owners in Sydney’s Inner west are currently renovating their homes with a view to selling in the current buoyant Sydney property market. It is an old adage in real estate that to maximise the selling value of your home, it is wise to invest in your bathroom and kitchen. The demand for bathroom renovation companies is currently very high, however we would recommend that if you are planning to upgrade your bathroom that you carefully consider the credentials of ‘bathroom renovators’. By doing so you may save yourself a lot of heartache and money!

Not All Bathroom Renovators Are Equal

There are many ‘bathroom renovators’ advertising their services in the Inner west currently. In some instances (and by no means the majority), some of these companies are not necessarily fully licensed to perform all of the tasks required in a competent bathroom renovation. In particular be very wary of who will do the plumbing in your bathroom renovation and check:

• Are they a licensed plumber?
• What experience do they have in bathroom renovation?
• Are they fully insured?
• Can they supply references from previous clients that have had bathroom work performed by them?

Good Quality Plumbing Is Critical In Bathroom Renovation

A newly renovated bathroom can look fantastic. With modern looking tiles, new bathroom vanities, showers, toilets and accessories (towel rails, mirrors, shaving cabinets and the likes) it is easy to be impressed by what seems to be a successful bathroom renovation. But look ‘beneath the surface’ – what is the quality of plumbing like and was it performed by a competent, qualified plumber? Many homes in the inner west of Sydney have very old pipework in place. In many instances the plumbing has been done to a standard that does not meet todays requirements. In many instances a competent, experienced plumber will replace existing water pipes prior to any renovation work, in a new bathroom fit out. Many homes in the inner west have, for example, old taps over an even older cast iron bathtub. In this instance plumbers will often be required to replace the outdated (and often leaking) tapware with a modern mixer diverter tap as pictured below.

What seems to the ‘layperson’ as a reasonably straightforward piece of plumbing work, can indeed be a fairly complex job, with great care and skill required. As the new mixer tap needs to often be connected to pipework actually within the brick walls of the bathroom, the brickwork invariably needs to be cut away and the the mixer tap and pipework connected into place. This plumbing ‘operation’ needs to be performed very carefully. Once the new tap ware and piping are in place in the wall, the wall will be waterproofed and finally tiled over. Imagine the problem created if the new tap ware later leaks due to improper plumbing. It could, potentially be necessary to remove the new tiles, cut through the new waterproofing and cut into the bathroom wall brickwork to fix the problem. This is why it is critical to use only experienced, licensed plumbers in your bathroom renovation.