Independent Melbourne planner — not a contractor. General information only. Confirm licences, waterproofing, permits, and quotes with qualified trades and the Victorian Building Authority.
Brief
Kitchen vs bathroom — which to renovate first?
Plus the questions that make an underquote visible.
At a glance
Bathroom first
When the only wet room is failing, or the membrane is the risk
Kitchen first
When the household cannot lose the cook line and the bathroom still works
Together
When they share a stack — see /renovations/
FAQ
Direct answers
Kitchen vs bathroom — which to renovate first?
Renovate the bathroom first if waterproofing risk is high or you have only one working wet room after strip-out. Renovate the kitchen first if the bathroom is serviceable and the household will not cope without a cook line. Combine them only when services or structure force it.
How do I avoid underquoting?
Ask what is excluded, whether the membrane is a named system, whether tiling includes falls and niche, whether electrical and plumbing are provisional, and how latent defects are handled. Compare scopes, not bottom lines. See /posts/questions-before-you-sign-a-reno-contract/.
How do you sequence trades?
Design lock → demolition → first-fix plumbing and electrical → waterproofing (bathrooms) → tiling or plaster → joinery and benches → second-fix → paint and silicone. Kitchens insert joinery earlier relative to splashback. Do not let the tiler arrive before the waterproofer is finished.
Internal ledger
Keep reading
Next step
Take a written brief to a licensed trade
We do not quote, design, or install. Pair the cost-framing assumptions with the waterproofing questions, then verify the practitioner on the VBA register.