Complete bathroom and laundry renovations on the Central Coast

ZC Plumbing & Bathroom Solutions renovates about 40 bathrooms and laundries a year across the Central Coast, from Terrigal and Avoca through Erina to Gosford.

They're complete renovations, done by our own licensed plumbers and our own carpenter, with demolition, framing, waterproofing, tiling, plumbing and fit-off in one all-inclusive quote.

You choose and buy the fittings, we do everything else, and the work carries a lifetime warranty. Call 0476 000 533 for a free quote.

One of our team member comes out, looks at the room and what's behind it, and talks through what you want and what the house will let you do. You get one all-inclusive quote with the price at the bottom, covering demolition, framing, waterproofing, tiling, plumbing, carpentry and fit-off. You choose and buy the fittings, the vanity, the tiles and the tapware, most of our clients pick them at Reece, Tradelink or Beaumont Tiles, and we take it from there.

Payment is 10 percent on acceptance, 50 percent at the halfway point and 40 percent when it's finished and you're happy with it. A complete bathroom takes three to four weeks from demolition to the last fit-off. The compliance certificate is lodged when the plumbing is done, and the lifetime warranty on our labour and workmanship applies from that day, in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

Across Australia the average bathroom renovation costs about $26,000, according to the Housing Industry Association, and most land in one of three brackets. A full renovation of a standard family bathroom runs $15,000 to $35,000. Where the layout changes or the finishes are high end, it's $35,000 and up.

A cosmetic refresh that keeps the plumbing where it is comes in under $15,000. The most expensive part is the labour, and within that the plumbing, which together take 40 to 50 percent of the budget, with tiling and waterproofing the biggest single hands-on job. With ZC, most complete bathrooms land between $22,000 and $30,000, quoted in person as one price, not including the fittings, tapware and tiles you choose and buy yourself.

Two things move the price more than anything else. The first is moving fixtures, because relocating a toilet, shower or vanity means opening walls and floors and rerouting drainage, which adds anywhere from $1,500 to $8,000 for the plumbing alone across NSW. The second is the age of the pipework behind the walls, which on the Coast's 1960s to 1990s housing often needs replacing while the walls are open. Leave a buffer of 10 to 20 percent for what's found behind the tiles. A $10,000 budget buys a refresh with the fixtures in the same place, new tapware, vanity and paint, not a full renovation.

The renovations that go wrong on the Coast go wrong behind the tiles, not in front of them. Waterproofing done in a hurry or by whoever was free that day, ventilation left as an afterthought, plumbing moved without the drainage fall to carry it, and pipework from the 1960s tiled over because nobody wanted to open the wall. The cosmetic mistakes people write about, harsh lighting, glossy floor tiles that turn into a skating rink, a vanity with doors instead of drawers, cost you money once. The ones behind the wall cost you the renovation.

Because the plumber and the carpenter on a ZC job are the same crew from demolition to fit-off, the waterproofing is done by people who'll be fitting off on top of it, the drainage is set before anyone thinks about tiles, and every service inside the room is renewed while the wall is open. That's why the work carries a lifetime warranty, and it's the reason we'll tell you when moving a fixture is worth the cost and when it isn't. As he puts it, we don't build things for a warranty period, we build them to last.

ZC is based in Terrigal and works across Terrigal, Wamberal, Avoca Beach, Erina, Kincumber and Gosford, the peninsula out to Killcare, and the rest of the suburbs on our areas we serve list, with property managers and retirement villages further up the Coast.

Most of the homes ZC renovates around Terrigal, Avoca, Kincumber and Gosford went up between the 1960s and the 1990s, and behind the tiles the pipework is usually original. Galvanised steel that's rusting from the inside and choking the pressure, copper that's pitted, earthenware drains that tree roots have found, and a hot water unit that's older than it looks.

On the beachside strip from Wamberal to Avoca, salt air does the same to anything metal outside. In the Springfield job we found wiring that should have been replaced years ago once the walls came down, and in the Forresters Beach house, five bathrooms in a seven-year-old build, defects the original trades had covered over. Renewing all of it while the room is open is the difference between a bathroom that looks new and one that is.

If you've already got a builder, we do the plumbing side on its own, which we do for 60 to 80 renovations a year for other Central Coast builders. Rough-in once the room is stripped, fit-off after tiling, quoted as two stages and invoiced after each, working to your builder's program and lodging the compliance certificate.

Across NSW the plumbing on a full bathroom usually runs $3,000 to $8,000. If it's a kitchen, we do the plumbing, the sink, the dishwasher, the fridge line and the gas point, but not the kitchen itself.