Bathroom Renovation 2009

Summary: What a refreshing experience! We have renovated half our bathrooms and have obviously found a trade we were happy with. The general consensus in Australia is that trades are only frustrating to deal with. At least I can attest to a good experience.

Foreword

I reckon I have to expand on the summary a bit, and quantify the "half" and the "frustrating" trades in Australia.
First the "half": I reckon it is clear, just to make sure, the trades did not finish half done, but we got 2 out of 4 bathrooms renovated. The other two are due for ealry next year (January 2010).
Second the "frustrating" trades in Australia: Talking to fellow colleagues at work, 8 out of 10 said outright they would not build a house again. On the quality of the trades the consensus was: "you are lucky to get one good one in twenty. Counting my own experiences, I must have been lucky: 1 in 15 is my ratio.
My mother told me about a documentary aired on TV in Germany about Australian trades: only one in 20 does a good job. What a coincidence!

Getting Involved

Anyway… I think I alluded to it: we were very anxious about engaging any trade to renovate our bathrooms. I already had strong ideas on how to do it all myself, and buy a Honda Gold Wing from the dollars I would save.  We looked at a few bathroom shops, and eventually went out for quotes, just to get a feel for what to expect.
Our last large scale building experience was some 15 year old (then building a total of 20 units on three blocks of land), hence, prices may have changed since then. And sure, they have.

Getting Quotes

We eventually came across  Lifestyle Bathrooms Brisbane. They just put the finishing touches on their showroom. We walked in one Saturday morning and immediately liked what we saw. A great range of tap ware, tiles, and ceramics, etc. — I am changing "great" to "sensible and well selected". And yes, I have to state the obligatory phrase: the author is not affiliated in any way with Lifestyle Bathrooms.

We had a quick look around, quick because my wife and I scan fairly quickly, and also form an opinion fairly quickly. As I said, we liked what we saw, and invited the owner for a visit to provide us with a quote.

We received the quote in no time, and were shocked about the cost. Not because we felt it was darn expensive, but we forgot about inflation. 

My wife started to rip the quote apart; we did some thinking, whether to get it done or do it ourselves, or get someone else to do it. The latter refers to another company we got a quote from. We visited their showroom. What a shocker! Furniture damaged left, right and centre; the explanation was "damn kids" running around the place, etc. Well, we didn't really like the furniture; nevertheless we got the quote organised.

Well, I do not want to write a book, so to cut a long story short: we analysed the quote, and though it was 20,000 dollars cheaper, we dismissed it for a variety of reasons. Not quoting standard and basic stuff was just one of them.

We tossed our options around, and after I figured I rather travel around Australia this year than renovating bathrooms on end, we decided to go with Lifestyle Bathrooms

Just to clarify: when I said "darn expensive" before… their quote had fair allowances for all the standard stuff, such as electrician, and accessories. The equipment we looked at was of decent quality, hence decent price. So to quote my favourite expectation: we were getting value for money.

Selecting the Gear

After we accepted the quoted we popped into the showroom (on a Saturday) to select the tiles, tap ware, ceramics, furniture, etc. We probably stunned the crew there: we selected the lot in 45 minutes! They asked twice, whether we were sure with our selections, and the poor fellow writing down what we were ordering forgot a few bits in the rush. 

We selected for a modern style, though generally acceptable design, after all this is not Europe, were we installed grey basins and bathtubs with yellow tapware  and I am not kidding.

The questions we had were answered sensibly, honest, and knowledgeable. I reckon some experience with people helps, to separate the bullshitters, who talk the talk, but do not look and feel like delivering, from the good ones, those who can prove right here and there, they know what they are talking about. The owner was certainly a member of the latter category; much to our delight. I have to say that we were treated with the same respect when we entered the showroom for the first time.

So, this was the easy part. Now comes the dreadful part: trades in the house  I am saying dreadful, because past experience with other trades was just that.

Renovating the Bathrooms Upstairs

We got a call the following week asking, whether they could start earlier than planned. Oh well, my wife can be at home, why not?! The rule of thumb was 10 days per bathroom; the contract stated 16 days, and it took 19 days and a bit. The bit was for the shower screen following the last day… well, fair enough.

Renovations are a nuisance by nature! Dust, noise, and the odd behaviours of some of the tradies. something we would have to live with in some shape or from over the coming days, no, weeks!

The odd behaviours were addressed immediately after we identified them. The theme I tried to explain was: "You are not moving in, you are not guests of the house, you are here to do some work in return for a reward based on a contract." The theme was understood, and respected. Bathroom renovations involve a few trades, e.g. electrician, plumber, tiler, painter, carpenter, etc. Since we were dealing with a family business, where daughters, brothers, son-in-laws are working in, only the odd trade, electrician and plumber were sub-contracted by Lifestyle Bathroomware.

The plumber we had a real issue with, I still have, we discussed it, some things were addressed, and others are work in progress to make the man a better plumber. I mean, we all know it, plumbers must be the worst trade… but with this one, the owner's junior is convinced to make him a better plumber. Well, good luck. And let me set the record straight: while I may have my issues with the plumber, the key point is that this is the owners problem not mine. As I said, the issues were addressed, and kept in check.
[2010-02-26: My understanding is that this plumber no longer works for Lifestyle Bathrooms. A wise decision, and don't get me wrong: I am not in the hire-rire business, but this guy is a liability, and probably has the wrong occupation; maybe he should work in demolition.]

By the way: any surfacing problems, mostly of a technical nature was mostly pro-actively addressed and rectified. Where do you find this today? You usually have to jell and scream and threaten with the lawyers to get some of the trades to even come back to the job, let alone address any issues — not so with Lifestyle Bathroomware.

I am trying to present the facts, and want to emphasize: while we had some minor issues to start with, these were addressed immediately to our satisfaction, and to say it out loud: we are looking forward to dealing with them again, which will be after the Xmas break. I am sure we will receive a great service!

Renovating the Ensuite

Ensuite upstairs: Before and after renovation

Renovating the Main Bathroom

Main Bathroom upstairs: Before and after renovation

Renovating the Toilet

Looking at it in hindsight and I truly acknowledge, while this did the trick for me, it is clearly in need of a renovation. Just a few points: the toilet started leaking at the sewer connection pipe; the gift wrapper was employed to cover the non-painted area which was a result of replacing the cistern, after the previous one became unrepairable. When we painted our place in 1995, I never got around painting this toilet. Well, have a look, it is sorted now, isn't it? 

Toilet upstairs: Before and after renovation

Summary and Conclusion

All-in-all we are happy with the outcome of the renovation as well as the performance of Lifestyle Bathroomware! The workmanship was good, all trades (except the plumber) performed to Australian expectations, and we feel we got value for money. Judge the pictures above for yourself. We put forward our requirements, what you see is how they interpreted these requirements with the materials we selected with their guidance.

Key questions:

1. Would we use them again? Yes!
2. Would we recommend Lifestyle Bathroomware? Most certainly!

I will put up more pictures later, once all bathrooms had the ceilings painted… by end of January 2010.

Happy renovating!

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