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Seeking laundry reno input

Hi all. My hubby and me are trying to do our house up to prep it for sale, hopefully in the next 12-18 months.

Neither of us have a trades background, so we are learning as we go.

I’d love some ideas that are budget conscious for doing up our awful laundry.

We aren’t planning to move any of the plumbing or power points, but definitely taking out the sink cabinet and removing the tiles on the wall.

At the moment I’m thinking of getting either a light grain laminate bench top or a white one, and also planning to install vinyl planks on the floor. The trims of the window and doors are going to be white but we are splurging and getting a painter to do that after several dummy spits having done it in the bedrooms ourselves.

I’m clueless in relation to cabinets and what to do with the wall. I can only use the side of the laundry that is pictured, as the door opens inward onto the other wall, which then also has access into the toilet.

I’ve attached pictures of the current laundry (please pretend you can’t see the utter mess it is at the moment!) and some measurements.

Any ideas, input, or advice would be super appreciated as I’ve looked at so many different setups online that I feel completely overwhelmed with choices.

Community manager's note: Check out How to plan a laundry renovation for expert advice.

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Jason

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @AprilGrim. It's great to have you join us.

Thanks for the photos and detailed plan. That will really help members to see what you are working with. Do you have any idea on budget at this stage?

You will get plenty of inspiration from our Top 10 most popular laundry renovation projects. Please have a good look.

Let me tag the wonderful @redracer01 to see if he might like to kick off the discussion with his thoughts. The amazing @prettyliving might also share her thoughts as she has completed two extremely popular laundry renovation projects, starting with basic rooms just like yours. @MitchellMc will also be more than happy to assist when he is back on the site on Friday. Many thanks for your patience in the meantime.

Don't hesitate to post anytime you have something to share with the community or need a hand with a project around the house and garden. We're pleased to have you join us and look forward to reading more.

Jason

AprilGrim

Hi Josh, thank you for the tags and your reply. I’m expecting to spend between $1000-1500 max but hopefully can do it for less.

my rough plan at the moment is to replace the laundry trough and instal a white laminate bench with a sink and cabinet underneath, the bench extending either the length of the wall with another cabinet at the end, or up until a tall cupboard that I’d place in the corner, depending on space.

Also would like to tile a splash back the length of the bench, so looking for tiles that would match. Considering wall cabinets too, which may force me to have the power point moved.

The hubby and I are disagreeing though on the floor. I would like to put vinyl planks down as I hate the dated small tiles, and extend it into the loo. Hubby thinks we should paint the tiles a light colour, as he is concerned about the difference in flooring compared to our bathroom, which has larger cream floor tiles and is located a metre down the hallway, with a built in cupboard between the two entries.

Thanks again for the reply and any input at all is hugely appreciated. I’ll be sure to take before and afters 🙂

redracer01

Hello @AprilGrim

Welcome to Bunnings Workshop. Remaking this laundry should be well within your allotted budget. My drawing below includes the following parts

1 x 600 base cabinet + 2 x 300 gloss white doors.

1 x 800 wall cabinet + 2 x 400 gloss white doors.

1 x 400 wall cabinet + 1 x 400 gloss white door.

1 x 150 gloss white door to be cut down and used as kickboard

2 x project panels ( bench top ) 2200 x 600 ( you will have to join them to make the length, the left over amount will be made in to the wall cabinets )

2 x boxes of your preferred tile - 1 box usually covers 1 square meter.

1 x small bag of tile glue

1 x small bag of grout

1 x set washing machine taps

1 x set laundry taps

1 x new power point

The floor area is not that big and can easily be covered by artificial click on flooring or laminate sticky tile. Just be sure of the floor area so that your calculation for the amount will be accurate. I've placed notes on the drawing and some general measurements to help you to identify what you might need. Please note that these are common sizes for flat pack cabinetry, always double check the sticker on the flat pack boxes to make sure of their sizes. I hope the drawings help.

Cheers,

Red

AprilGrim Laundry1.jpg AprilGrim Laundry2.jpg Please note that wall cabinet heights are adjustable.

Nham

Hi @AprilGrim

I did our laundry just last year, and ours looked very similar to yours. Even the taps look the same and they also came out of the wall. Our laundry was a narrow space with the side door leading to a pathway along the house to the hills hoist. My wife wanted the laundry to have a dual purpose, washing clothes and a walk-in pantry. I designed the laundry with clean lines with a minimalistic look and kept everything white as the space was really small. I am attaching our designs and a photo of our new laundry, it cost us around 2.5K. Let me know if you want more info. Good luck!

Laundry reno.001.jpeg Laundry reno.002.jpeg Laundry reno.003.jpeg Laundry reno.004.jpeg After 2 weeksDemo of old Laundry

MitchellMc

Hi @AprilGrim,

It's great to see you've received some awesome help from our members. I really like the design @redracer01 has provided and is something similar to what I would have recommended. Please let us know your thoughts.

I look forward to following along with your build and offering assistance.

Mitchell

AprilGrim

Hi again,

@redracer01 Thank you so much Red for the plans and information - it was exactly what I was chasing. Is our laundry sink used in your diagram? Is that something that is done, removing the sink from the trough cabinet? I was thinking of removing the sink we have now and replacing it with a new one. I would ideally like a square one, but looking at the prices of sinks and keeping costs low I think it will be a round one.

I'm trying to learn how to install a bench - will we need to buy brackets or DIY some at home?

@Nham your laundry looked almost identical! You did a fantastic job, it looks a million bucks and a hundred times better than it was.

Did you use a wooden bench from Bunnings? I think I prefer a white laminate bench, however with the help of the diagrams from yourself and @redracer01 I think a wooden bench will certainly be much more cost effective. It also allows for an under-mounted sink should we go that way. Can I also ask how much it cost to have any electrical sockets and taps moved? I live in a town in WA where demand far exceeds supply and even getting a tradie out to have a look for quoting purposes is almost impossible.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply, I am very grateful and also excited to get started 🙂

April

redracer01

Hello @AprilGrim

Yes I removed your old laundry tub and replaced it with a 600 base cabinet. Yes the round laundry tub is cheaper than the MonDella square sink. I placed everything in the same spot so you won't have to spend money on plumbing. Yes you May have to use brackets to fix the benchtop to the wall. Yes you May have to get a handy man to lower your power point. Yes! We look forward to the reveal when everything is done.

Cheers

Red

MitchellMc

@AprilGrim,

If you prefer the white laminate benchtop to the timber, I believe you'll find they come in at a similar price tag. Here's the Marquee 2400 x 600 x 25mm White Laminate Bench Top compared to a 2200 x 600 x 26mm Acacia Solid Oiled Hardwood Project Panel. The white laminate can also look fantastic, as seen in @prettyliving's $500 Bunnings laundry reno.

Here's a step-by-step guide which you should find useful: How To Prepare A Bamboo Benchtop. Although this is for a timber benchtop, similar principals apply to laminate.

Mitchell

Nham

Hi @AprilGrim,

The wooden bench was oak and bought from ikea ($399). Using solid wood has worked out for us really well and after you varnish, any water spills are wiped off easily. The whole laundry was a ikea build and affordable for us. Their cabinet systems are really easy and I managed to install the cabinets in about 2 days. I have not used the Bunnings cabinets and cannot really comment. Also, most kitchen tops are 600mm wide and you may need to trim your bench top. The distance between your back wall and the door architrave will determine your depth.

We used hipages.com.au to get a plumber and he charged $300 to close off the wall taps and move the pipes to underneath the sink. I saved money by preparing the site (see picture) otherwise it would have been $400. Moving the taps underneath the sink creates more space and looks cleaner. I also needed to waterproof around the sink area before the install, this will set you back by $80 and the supplies are from Bunnings. Moving the power socket cost us about $70-80 dollars as we had the electrician do other jobs around the house.

Prep the siteRepairs with gyprockwaterproofing

Mathy

Hi @AprilGrim - aren’t we lucky! My Laundry is of the same age and style. You’ve done some great drawings and others have offered some good advice.

My laundry is 1.5m wide and 1.2m deep, so tiny. I also didn’t want to move powerpoints or plumbing, due to cost. My place is brick walls - so before you think about moving anything, establish what sort of walls you have.

Back to your story. I put in a full width bench top, with cutout at the back, to allow the washing machine pipes and power cables to use the existing taps and PowerPoint.

I put in a round SS kitchen sink, which I dropped into the bench top and through the top of 600mm wide cabinet underneath. I’m not a fan of laundry sink/cabinets. I made my bench top from MDF and then did a 2 pack acrylic epoxy pour using dyes and spray paint for “artistic” effect.

My 2c worth, I’m sure you’ll do fine with your Reno, but always come back for answers and let us know how you go, cheers Deb 🙂

AprilGrim

@Mathy I would love to see a photo of your acrylic pour!

AprilGrim

@MitchellMc @redracer01 Thank you both again for your input, I certainly appreciate it and take what you say on board.

@Mathy also thank you for taking the time to reply, would definitely love to see what you’ve done.

@Nham Really appreciate the feedback on the costings. The photos you posted were super helpful and I will most certainly use them - I was quoted around $160 by the plumber to move the WM taps if we removed the wall sections like you have done in your picture, so I have saved it and will be referring to it in the future. Now just to learn how to install dry wall, I think something called Aquachek is going to be needed from having a quick look around the forum. Funny how it all turns into a big learning experience- going to have to watch some serious DIY videos on how to install a bench, how to do the drywall, how to hang cupboardS etc etc.

I think it’s a good thing we are tackling the laundry before we do the kitchen - I think making mistakes in the laundry will be easier to negotiate and learn from.

Kitchen plans are to turn the flat white laminate doors into ‘shaker style’ doors - essentially just an MDF trim around the outside. Glad we aren’t in a huge hurry to sell anyway 🙂

will keep updating as I progress. Irrigation getting installed this week, so once the coffers recover my hands will be itching to start the laundry 🙂

Thanks everyone again!

Mathy

Ok, so my laundry is currently my kitchen sink whilst I finish the Reno on my kitchen. I use Stonecoat Countertop Epoxy which is available from ColourObsession.com.au. I like simple, so just use spray paint, some additives and dyes. I’d really like to add/say more but they still haven’t fixed the posting from Safari via iPad issues. Send me a message if you’d like more info, cheers Deb 🙂

/END Part 1

MitchellMc

Hi @AprilGrim,

Here are some step-by-step guides you should find useful:

How To Install A Laminate Benchtop

How To Plasterboard A Stud Wall

How To Install Wall Cabinets

You are correct that Aquacheck is the correct type of plasterboard to use in a wet area.

Please let us know whenever you have questions. We're here to help.

Mitchell

AprilGrim

We had our retic put in yesterday so it’s time to start the laundry.
On a side note - wifi retic is the bomb diggidy!

You may notice the hole in the wall - the previous owners had used adhesive rather than grout and stuck the tiles directly to the plasterboard, so there was no way of keeping it intact.

You can see the less-than-ideal crater that was left behind once the laundry trough was removed. It has rough concrete on the bottom. I think our new cabinets should cover it, if not it’ll be a bag of cement I imagine.

So now I’ve done these steps I’m not 100% sure on what to do next.

I was going to ‘splurge’ and have the laundry taps moved (again, thank you @Nham for posting that picture of how you prepped your walls for the plumber), however it appears the wall that holds the taps is cement, so any suggestions would, as always, be appreciated.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what the next steps should be?

MitchellMc

Many thanks for the update on your project @AprilGrim, it's fantastic to see you making progress.

I'd imagine chasing new copper pipes into the cement wall will be a simple job for a plumber. Alternatively, they might offer some other solutions. Getting a quote for repositioning of the taps would be your next step. Once you know where the taps can be positioned, you can work on the rest of your plan.

I'll be looking forward to seeing your results. Please let us know if you have more questions or need assistance.

Mitchell

AprilGrim

Thank you @MitchellMc

We had a closer look at the wall and then remembered the walls are filled with this odd foam - picture attached.

I think the pipes will be within that foam and the time and expenses required to open the area up, remove said foam, and patch over it is too high. Plus the integrity of the wall would have changed so we are stopped before we get in too deep 😄

What is required of a wall to prep it for tiling after it has been patched and filled?

MitchellMc

@AprilGrim,

The first step will be to sand all the painted areas. You don't need to sand completely through the paint, just enough to remove the sheen level, and so it isn't super smooth. Using Flexovit 100mm x 1m 180 Grit Painted Surfaces Sandpaper Roll would be the best option. Next, you must prime all the areas you have sanded, including the patched and filled locations with Dunlop 1L Multipurpose Water Based Primer. You'll then be able to apply your tile adhesive and tiles.

Please let me know if you have questions.

Mitchell

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