The short answer
A bathroom renovation in Sydney runs $15,000 to $20,000 for a standard refit, $20,000 to $30,000 for a full mid-range renovation, and $30,000 to $45,000+ for a high-end reconfigure. An apartment bathroom starts around $15,000 done properly. The number is driven by labour and tiling (40 to 50 percent of the total), the finishes you choose, and the apartment layer that house guides ignore: waterproofing to AS 3740, strata approval, and building access. The cheapest line on the page, waterproofing, is the one that matters most.
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Most bathroom cost guides price a house bathroom and lean on a year-old national average. This one is built for Sydney apartment and strata owners, with real 2026 prices and the apartment costs nobody else spells out. If you have seen a "$10k bathroom" ad and felt suspicious, you are right to be. Here is what an apartment bathroom actually costs, and where every dollar goes.
How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Sydney?
A bathroom renovation in Sydney runs $15,000 to $20,000 for a standard refit that keeps the layout, $20,000 to $30,000 for a full mid-range renovation, and $30,000 to $45,000 or more for a high-end reconfigure. The national average sits around $26,000, but Sydney runs higher, and an apartment adds strata and access costs on top. Here is how that breaks down by tier.
| Tier | What it covers | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Full refit, same layout, quality off-the-shelf finishes | $15,000 – $20,000 |
| Mid-range | Strip to studs, new waterproofing, better tiles and fixtures | $20,000 – $30,000 |
| High-end | Reconfigure, premium stone and tiling, custom joinery | $30,000 – $45,000+ |
These are our real Fine Touch Group ranges, drawn from 1,000+ Sydney apartment projects. The national average of around $26,000 (Housing Industry Association, via Canstar) is national and understates Sydney. Your exact number depends on finishes, layout changes, and your building.
What you get at each budget
Standard refit
from, one-off project cost
A full bathroom refit at a solid, honest standard.
- Same layout, stripped and rebuilt
- New waterproofing to AS 3740
- Quality off-the-shelf vanity, toilet and tapware
- Wall and floor tiling
- Strata approval handled
Mid-range
from, one-off project cost
A full rebuild with better tiles, fixtures and a fresh layout if needed.
- Strip to studs, new membrane and plumbing
- Large-format tiles, frameless shower screen
- Floating vanity with stone top
- Designer tapware and LED mirror
- Strata, acoustic and waterproofing handled
High-end
from, one-off project cost
A full reconfigure with premium stone and custom joinery.
- Layout reconfigured, plumbing relocated
- Natural stone or premium porcelain
- Custom joinery and freestanding bath
- Underfloor heating and niche detailing
- Full compliance and certification
Where the money goes
A bathroom is the most labour-heavy room in the home, which is why a small footprint does not mean a small bill. Labour and tiling alone are 40 to 50 percent of the total. The line that protects you, waterproofing, is one of the cheapest. Here is a typical mid-range apartment bathroom, broken down.
| Element | Share of budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Labour and tiling | 40 – 50% | The biggest line, and it does not shrink with the room |
| Fixtures and fittings | 20 – 30% | Vanity, toilet, tapware, shower screen, mirror |
| Plumbing and electrical | 10 – 15% | Relocating a toilet, shower or bath adds $1,500–$3,000 each |
| Demolition and waste | 5 – 10% | Strip-out and strata-compliant waste removal |
| Waterproofing to AS 3740 | ~$500 – $750 | The cheapest line and the one you never cut |
Waterproofing figure from the hipages waterproofing cost guide, which cites the BCA and AS 3740. Plumbing relocation and labour shares from published Sydney and national renovation cost breakdowns.
“Just wondering how much bathroom renovations generally cost? I just got a quote for a small bathroom, less than 9 sqm nothing extravagant and the quote was $29000 is this normal? Seems incredibly high.”
That reaction is common, and the answer is that the quote is tracking the work, not the size. A sub-9 square metre bathroom still needs the full strip-out, a new membrane, the same tiler hours, and the same fixtures as a larger one. In an apartment, add the strata by-law and the lift bookings, and $20,000 to $30,000 for a compact bathroom is normal, not a rip-off.
The apartment premium: strata, waterproofing and access
This is where an apartment bathroom parts ways with a house bathroom, and where the cheap quotes go quiet. The build is the easy part. The apartment layer adds cost, time, and risk, and it is the thing most cost guides skip in a single throwaway line.
Waterproofing to AS 3740 is the line you never cut
In an apartment, a bathroom sits above someone else's ceiling. AS 3740 is the Australian Standard for waterproofing wet areas, and a membrane installed to it by a licensed waterproofer is the single most important step in the whole job. It costs around $500 to $750. Skip it, or paint over the old one, and you have built a leak into the floor.
Once you renovate the bathroom, the leak is yours
“We took down some shower tiles and have discovered that there is no waterproofing in the shower at all, so water has been leaking through the grout into the wall and under the floorboards. Body corp stated that shower membrane is owners responsibility.”
Strata approval and a registered by-law
Because a bathroom touches waterproofing, it counts as major work under the Strata Schemes Management Act. That needs a special resolution at a general meeting and a registered by-law, which runs around $900 to $1,000 plus GST to draft, plus $175.70 to register with NSW Land Registry Services. Realistically that approval adds 6 to 12 weeks before a tool is lifted, and that holding time is a real cost most quotes never mention.
Access, acoustics and work hours
A bathroom strip-out is heavy, dusty and noisy. In a unit block that means service-lift bookings, floor and common-area protection, skip access, and work hours that are often 8am to 4pm on weekdays only. Acoustic requirements apply to any new tiled floor, usually a 4 or 5 star rating tested on site. None of this applies in a freestanding house, and all of it lands on the apartment number.
“Apartment means elevators stairs it's a nightmare I would say min 80k and up depending acess quality of fittings and what repairs are needed, trades are busy so there's a busy tax and a pain in arse tax.”
This is the part we handle. In 30 years and 1,000+ Sydney apartments, our strata approval rate is 100 percent. We prepare the by-law, book the lifts, protect the common areas, waterproof to AS 3740, and certify the work, so the leak liability is built out, not built in. The compliance sits with us, not with you.
Can I do it for $10,000?
Not for a real bathroom. At $10,000 you are buying a surface refresh: new tapware, a vanity, a toilet, fresh grout and a paint, with the original waterproofing left untouched. That is fine for a quick tidy-up before a sale. It is the wrong move in an apartment you live in, because the membrane is the one thing that fails quietly and expensively, and a patch-up leaves it in place.
The honest version of a $10,000 bathroom is a cosmetic job that skips the part that matters. When the old membrane fails behind your new tiles, you are not looking at a $700 fix. You are looking at the unit below, a body corporate dispute, and a full re-do. A done-right apartment bathroom starts around $15,000 because that is what it costs to do the waterproofing, the plumbing, and the strata sign-off properly.
2026 Sydney Apartment Renovation Price Guide
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How much does an apartment renovation cost in Sydney?
Full-apartment renovation costs by size, plus the strata layer that makes a unit cost more than a house.