In a strata building? Work involving waterproofing generally needs owners corporation approval before it starts. How approval fits in
Parramatta's small bathrooms
The red-brick walk-ups built through the 1960s and 1970s across Harris Park, Granville, Westmead and North Parramatta were designed to be affordable, and the bathrooms show it.
A typical one is under four square metres. It has a bath with a shower over it and a curtain or folding screen, a small pedestal basin or narrow vanity, a toilet squeezed beside it, and very often the washing machine and laundry tub as well. The walls are masonry, the floor is a concrete slab, and it has been renovated once, perhaps in the 1990s.
None of the walls can realistically move. The goal is to stop the room feeling as small as it is.
Remove what makes it smaller
The bath. A bath under a shower takes the whole end wall and works badly as both. Replacing it with a full-width walk-in shower is the most effective change in a small unit bathroom.
The screen or curtain. A single fixed glass panel instead of a folding screen or a curtain. Or, in a room where the shower can take the full width, no glass at all beyond a short return.
The exposed laundry. In a combined bathroom-laundry, the tub, the machine and the pipes are what make the room feel cluttered. A tall cabinet with a stacked washer and dryer, or a cupboard with a bench over a front-loader and doors that close, transforms it.
The pedestal basin. A wall-hung vanity with drawers gives storage and shows the floor underneath.
Half-height tiles. Tile to the ceiling and the room reads taller.
The limits of a walk-up
The slab. Wastes pass through the slab into the unit below. Moving the toilet or shower waste means core-drilling and opening the neighbour's ceiling. It can be done in older buildings, but it is rarely worth it.
Masonry walls. Brick walls cannot take a recessed niche or an in-wall cistern the way a stud wall can. Surface-mounted solutions are used instead, or a thin false wall built out where space allows.
Level entry. Older walk-up slabs are not set down. A walk-in shower needs falls built up in screed, so a truly level entry may leave a small threshold at the door. We show the actual heights before you commit.
Asbestos. Linings and floor underlays from before about 1990 can contain it. Sampling comes before pricing. Removal is by a licensed removalist. Because the boundary between your lot and common property is often the inner surface of walls and floors, the owners corporation may need to be involved.
For landlords
A lot of these units are rented. A rental small-bathroom brief is: durable, easy to clean, fast to turn around. Mid-range porcelain in a mid-tone with darker grout, robust tapware that is easy to service, a wall-hung vanity, and a good exhaust fan. We can schedule demolition to start as the tenancy ends, once strata approval is in place.
Strata approval
Even a small bathroom renovation involving waterproofing is generally a major renovation needing a special resolution. The approval is not smaller because the room is. See how a renovation runs.
Costs
Around $17,000–$26,000 for a small unit bathroom, before any asbestos removal. See the 2026 cost bands.
Call 02 4601 3371 or send the room details through.
Everything else we quote
Questions people ask before they commit
Can I remove the bath in a small unit bathroom?
Usually, and it is the most effective change available. The bath is replaced with a full-width walk-in shower. If you are a landlord, bear in mind that some tenant groups — families with young children — prefer a bath, so it is worth thinking about who the unit rents to.
My laundry is in the bathroom. Can that be improved?
Yes. A combined bathroom-laundry is common in older Parramatta units. A tall cabinet enclosing a stacked washer and dryer, or a laundry cupboard with a benchtop over a front-loader, removes the exposed tub and machine and gives the room back a sense of order.
Is there asbestos in older walk-up bathrooms?
It is possible in buildings or bathroom renovations from before about 1990 — in wall and ceiling linings or under old floor tiles. It cannot be identified by eye. A sample is tested before the job is priced, and a licensed removalist handles removal. Asbestos in common property may also need owners corporation involvement.
What does a small unit bathroom cost?
Around $17,000 to $26,000 in 2026 for a small apartment bathroom taken back to the slab, including strata logistics. Asbestos removal, if required, is priced separately. Small rooms are not proportionally cheaper, because approval, waterproofing and waste removal costs do not shrink with floor area.