The laundry is the most-used room nobody budgets properly for. It gets a load a day, holds the mess the rest of the house does not want, and is usually the last space in a renovation plan. So when homeowners ask how much does a laundry renovation cost in Australia, the honest answer is that most people underestimate it by a few thousand dollars, then get a shock when the quote arrives.
This guide sets out what a laundry renovation actually costs in 2026, where the money goes, and which decisions move the number most. No vague “it depends” answers, and no numbers pulled from a 2019 cost calculator.
How Much Does a Laundry Renovation Cost in Australia in 2026?
Across Australian renovation specialists, a laundry renovation generally lands somewhere between $3,000 and $30,000. That is a wide band, so it helps to think in three tiers.
| Tier | Typical Cost | What You Get |
| Cosmetic refresh | $3,000 to $7,000 | New benchtop, tapware, splashback, paint and flooring. Existing cabinetry and plumbing stay where they are. |
| Full standard renovation | $7,000 to $15,000 | Strip out and rebuild. New cabinetry, benchtop, sink, tiling, lighting and minor plumbing adjustments. |
| Premium custom build | $15,000 to $30,000+ | Bespoke joinery, stone benchtops, relocated plumbing, integrated appliances, mudroom or butler-style layouts. |
Most complete laundry renovations in Australia settle between $7,000 and $15,000. If your laundry is under 5 square metres, which describes a lot of Gold Coast apartments and older brick homes, expect roughly $4,000 to $8,000 for a small laundry depending on materials and whether the layout changes.
It is worth knowing that renovation demand is not slowing down. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded $3.98 billion of alterations and additions work to residential buildings in the March 2026 quarter alone, up 10.2% on the same quarter a year earlier. Trades are busy, and busy trades price accordingly.
Laundry Renovation Cost Breakdown: Where the Money Goes
Understanding the line items is what stops a quote feeling like a mystery. Here is how a typical Australian laundry budget splits out.
| Component | Typical Range |
| Cabinetry and storage | $1,500 to $10,000+ |
| Benchtop | $600 to $3,500+ |
| Tiling and splashback | $800 to $4,000+ |
| Plumbing | $500 to $2,500+ |
| Electrical | $300 to $2,000+ |
| Sink and tapware | $250 to $1,500+ |
| Waterproofing | $500 to $1,000 |
| Flooring | $300 to $2,500+ |
| Painting | $250 to $1,000 |
| Appliances (if replacing) | $700 to $4,000+ |
Labour typically accounts for 40% to 50% of the total. Current Australian trade rates sit around $100 to $150 an hour for plumbers, $80 to $150 an hour for electricians, and $45 to $150 per square metre for tiling. A laundry is a small room with a high density of trades passing through it, which is why the cost per square metre often looks higher than a bedroom or living area.
What Actually Drives the Price Up
Moving the plumbing
This is the single biggest swing factor. Keeping the tub, washing machine outlet and floor waste exactly where they are keeps you in the lower tier. Relocating them means new pipework, possible slab work, and a licensed plumber on site for longer. In Queensland this also brings compliance into play: plumbing and drainage work requires a licensed contractor at any value, and most laundry fixture relocations fall under notifiable work, which the plumber must register with the QBCC using a Form 4 within 10 business days.
Cabinetry: flat-pack versus custom
Flat-pack keeps the invoice down but rarely fits an awkward laundry footprint, so you lose usable storage to filler panels and dead corners. Custom joinery costs more upfront and returns that space as drawers, pull-out hampers and a broom tower that actually holds a broom. In a room this small, the difference in day-to-day function is significant. It is the same principle behind custom wardrobes and bespoke cabinetry, where a millimetre-accurate fit is what makes a small space work.
Benchtop and finish selections
Supply-only benchtop pricing gives a clear picture of how quickly finishes escalate. Laminate runs about $30 to $100 per square metre, engineered stone and granite $100 to $250, and stainless steel $150 to $350. A laundry benchtop is small enough that stepping up a tier often adds only a few hundred dollars, which makes it one of the better value upgrades on the list.
Room size and layout complexity
A galley laundry with a single run of cabinetry is straightforward. An L-shaped layout, a laundry and mudroom combination, or a European-style cupboard conversion all add design time, joinery complexity and trade coordination.
The Costs Most Quotes Leave Out
Four items catch homeowners out more than any others:
- Waterproofing: Budget $500 to $1,000. It is not optional in a wet area, and cutting it is how you end up paying twice.
- Contingency: Allow 10% to 20% on top of the quoted figure. Old homes hide surprises behind laundry walls, particularly rot around floor wastes and outdated wiring.
- Rubbish removal and make-good: Skip hire, patching and painting adjoining walls, and reinstating cornices are frequently excluded from headline quotes.
- Appliance upgrades: Deciding to stack the washer and dryer, or switch to a front loader, mid-project changes the joinery. Lock appliance dimensions in before cabinetry is manufactured.
One compliance note for Queensland homeowners: building work valued over $3,300 must be carried out by a QBCC licensed contractor. Using an unlicensed operator can void your access to Queensland Home Warranty Insurance, which is a poor trade for a slightly cheaper quote.
What a Realistic Gold Coast Laundry Budget Looks Like
For a typical Gold Coast home with a laundry between 4 and 8 square metres, a full renovation with custom cabinetry, a stone benchtop, new tiling, upgraded tapware and lighting, and plumbing staying broadly in place, generally lands in the $10,000 to $16,000 range. Relocating fixtures, adding a mudroom function or specifying premium finishes pushes it toward $20,000 and beyond.
Timeline matters to the budget too. A well-planned laundry renovation runs roughly one to three weeks on site, which is short enough that most households manage without moving out. That efficiency depends almost entirely on whether cabinetry is ready when demolition finishes. At Hasl Renovations, cabinetry is manufactured in our own Biggera Waters factory rather than ordered in, which is one of the reasons our laundry renovations avoid the four-week joinery lead times that stall a lot of small projects. You can see how the stages fit together on our process page.
How to Get More Laundry for Your Money
- Keep the plumbing where it is unless the layout genuinely does not work. This one decision can save several thousand dollars.
- Spend on storage, save on surfaces. A well-designed cabinetry run delivers more daily value than an expensive floor tile nobody looks at.
- Bundle the work. If a bathroom or kitchen renovation is on the horizon, doing the laundry at the same time shares trade mobilisation, waterproofing and tiling setup costs.
- Get one quote that covers everything. Comparing a fixed all-inclusive price against a quote that excludes waterproofing, rubbish and make-good is not a fair comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a small laundry renovation cost in Australia?
A laundry under 5 square metres typically costs $4,000 to $8,000 for a full renovation. A cosmetic refresh that keeps existing cabinetry can be done for $3,000 to $5,000. Custom joinery and stone benchtops push a small laundry toward $10,000.
Do I need council approval for a laundry renovation?
Usually not. A like-for-like renovation with no structural change and no new wet area generally does not require development approval. Plumbing work must still be done by a licensed plumber and, in Queensland, registered as notifiable work. Apartment owners should check body corporate requirements before starting, as work affecting common property often needs approval.
How long does a laundry renovation take?
Most laundry renovations take one to three weeks on site. Demolition and preparation take a couple of days, plumbing and electrical rough-in another one to two, then waterproofing, tiling, cabinetry installation and finishing. Design and cabinetry manufacture happen before that, so allow four to six weeks from first consultation to completion.
Is a laundry renovation worth the money?
For most homeowners, yes. A laundry renovation is one of the lower-cost rooms to transform, it is used daily, and a tired laundry is noticeable to buyers during inspections. It also pairs well with a bathroom renovation, since the two rooms often share plumbing walls.
What is the most expensive part of a laundry renovation?
Cabinetry is usually the largest single line item, particularly when it is custom-made. After that, relocating plumbing is the most expensive decision you can make, because it adds licensed trade hours, possible slab work and compliance paperwork to the job.
Planning Your Laundry Renovation
The gap between a $6,000 laundry and a $20,000 laundry is not mystery pricing. It is plumbing, joinery and finish decisions, made in that order of impact. Once you know which tier your project sits in, the quote stops being a surprise and starts being a plan.
Hasl Renovations has been renovating Gold Coast homes since 1993, across two generations of the same family. Design, cabinetry manufacture and construction all sit under one roof, which means one quote, one team and one point of contact from concept through to handover. We are QBCC licensed (15613707) and HIA members (582688).
Have a look at our recent projects to see what these budgets deliver in real homes, or get in touch for a fixed quote on your laundry.
