Long ownership, original rooms
Revesby is one of the more settled parts of Canterbury-Bankstown. A lot of the housing has been in the same families for a long time, and the practical effect on bathrooms is distinctive: rather than being renovated repeatedly, they tend to have been maintained and then left.
That produces rooms that are genuinely original — which is useful, because there is only one layer of history to get through rather than three, and what is behind the tiles is more predictable than in a house that has been reworked twice.
What it also means is age. A bathroom that has been in continuous use since the 1960s has absorbed water somewhere, and the framing behind the shower is the first thing worth looking at on strip-out.
What we usually find
Asbestos cement sheeting is likely on anything pre-1990, and it is handled the same way every time — survey, licensed removal, clearance, then general work resumes. Beyond that: framing that has been quietly taking shower water, cast-iron waste pipe at the end of its service life, and floor timbers that may need attention where the old floor waste sat.
None of it is unusual. All of it is why the quote needs a written variation method rather than a hopeful silence.
The two changes worth making
Combine the bathroom and the separate toilet. The standard post-war arrangement, and the suspended timber floor means the drainage can move without cutting concrete. It produces one room that works instead of two that do not.
Add a second bathroom. These houses generally have the floor area, whether off the main bedroom as an ensuite or by converting a bedroom that is no longer used as one. In a household where the only bathroom is also the only toilet, this changes daily life more than any finish will.
Access
Mostly straightforward — conventional blocks with driveways make skip placement and delivery simple, which keeps labour down compared with the tighter streets in Punchbowl.
The exception is the sloping blocks toward the Georges River, where the house may sit well below the street. That adds carrying to every delivery and should be priced from the site.
Living through it
If it is the only bathroom in the house, make arrangements for the whole period. Three to four working weeks keeping the layout, four to five if a wall is coming out, and longer again if asbestos needs removing first.
This is consistently the part people underestimate, and it is much easier to solve before the strip-out than during it. How a renovation runs sets out where the days actually go.
What it costs
Like-for-like sits at $15,000–$24,000; combining rooms or moving drainage runs $22,000–$34,000 and up. See the 2026 bands.
Nearby
We also work in Padstow, Bankstown and Greenacre, plus Panania, East Hills and Picnic Point.
Call 02 4404 0504 or send the room details through.
From first call to hand-back
- Measure — half an hour at your place, no cost, evenings and weekends included.
- Survey where the age warrants it, before the price is finalised rather than after.
- Written quote — fittings named, tile allowance stated, variation method set out.
- Build — 15 to 20 working days, with the waterproofing cure time shown.
Questions people ask before they commit
What is the typical Revesby bathroom?
Original or updated once. Post-war brick veneer and fibro on a suspended timber floor, a compact bathroom, and the toilet in a separate room next door. Many of these houses have had long single ownership, which tends to mean deferred rather than repeated renovation.
Is a second bathroom feasible?
Usually. These houses generally have the floor area and a drainage route with fall to an existing stack is normally achievable on a timber floor. An ensuite off the main bedroom or a conversion of an underused bedroom are both common here.
Does being near the river change anything?
Not for an internal bathroom renovation. Some properties toward the river sit on sloping blocks, which affects access for skips and deliveries rather than the work itself. Anything touching the outside of the house or the ground is a separate conversation with council.
How disruptive is it if it is the only bathroom?
Plan alternative arrangements for the full three to four weeks rather than most of it. This is the part people consistently underestimate, and in a household without a second toilet it is worth solving before the strip-out rather than during.