Bathroom Renovation in South Dublin

Around 10-20% is normal, sometimes more where custom vanities or imported fittings must be ordered up front — in that case pay the supplier invoice share, not a round 50%. Hold 5-10% back until the room has been used for a week or two and the snag list (grout gaps, silicone, door alignment) is closed.

Strip-out, then first-fix plumbing and electrics (pipes and cables in walls), then substrate preparation and waterproofing, then tiling, then second-fix (toilet, vanity, taps, shower screen, lights), then silicone and snagging. If a quote or schedule doesn't follow this order, question it — out-of-sequence work is how leaks and redone tiles happen.

Not the one being renovated — water is disconnected and the floor is out of service for most of the project. If it is your only bathroom, ask the contractor to sequence works so the toilet is usable overnight where possible, and plan for gym showers or neighbours for the tiling and waterproofing week.

Walk-in showers cost less to build than bath-plus-screen setups, use less space, and suit ageing-in-place. Keep at least one bathtub in the home if you may sell to families — in most markets a home with no bath at all narrows the buyer pool. If you have two bathrooms, the common answer is one of each.

Keep the existing layout, choose mid-range fittings from stocked lines rather than special orders, use large-format tiles only on feature areas, and paint rather than tile ceilings and upper walls. Do not economize on waterproofing, drainage falls, or the tiler's labour — those are the items whose failure costs multiples later.

A like-for-like refit usually needs no permit in South Dublin, but moving drainage, altering walls, or adding a new bathroom typically does under your local building rules — and electrical and plumbing work must be done by qualified or licensed trades in most countries. Ask your contractor to name the specific approval needed; see the country checklist on this page for what applies where you live.

A standard full renovation typically runs €9,000-€16,000, with budget refreshes from about €4,000-€6,000 and high-end projects €16,000-€40,000. Dublin prices sit toward the top; labour shortages keep quotes firm and lead times long.

Many Irish homes rely on electric showers because of low-pressure gravity-fed hot water systems. Replacing one like-for-like is a small job, but upgrading to a pumped or mains-pressure mixer shower means plumbing changes and possibly a new cylinder — budget for that decision early because it swings the total meaningfully.