A lot of the housing on these streets went up between roughly 1906 and 1940: Federation cottages, California bungalows and Art Deco houses, a good deal of it still carrying its original detail. That is most of what makes the area look the way it does.
It also means many of these bathrooms and laundries have been renovated two or three times in a century, and renovation in practice often meant working over the top of what was there rather than stripping back to the frame. The tiles are new, the fittings are new, and behind them sits an arrangement that was laid out for a very different house.
In housing of this era the visible bathroom is frequently the newest of several layers, and the pipework behind it can still be original: cast iron stacks, lead-jointed connections, and rough-in positions set out for the fittings of the 1920s. That is why a modern fitting sometimes will not land where it should, and why a small job in these houses occasionally turns into a larger one.
- Find out what is actually behind the wall before committing to a design
- Expect original rough-in positions not to suit modern fittings
- Treat cast iron stacks and lead-jointed connections as a question, not an assumption
- Do the pipework while a wall is open, not afterwards
- Keep the paperwork, because the next owner will be asking the same questions
On this page
1. What "renovated" has often meant in these houses
A full strip-out is expensive and disruptive, and for most of the last century the practical thing to do with a tired bathroom was to improve what was visible. New tiles over the old ones. A new vanity in the same position. A modern tap set on the existing rough-in.
Every one of those decisions was sensible at the time. The cumulative effect, three renovations later, is a room where the finish is from the 2000s, the layout is from the 1960s, and the pipework is from whenever the house was built.
Nobody set out to create that. It is simply what happens when the cheapest reasonable option is taken several times in a row, and it is extremely common in housing of this age.
Finish and infrastructure are on completely different clocks in these houses, and the one you can see is not the one that will cost you money.
2. What tends to be behind the wall
- Cast iron stacks. Heavy, long-lasting and eventually corroding from the inside. They can serve for a very long time and they do not last forever.
- Lead-jointed connections. A perfectly normal method in its era. Worth knowing about because it changes how a connection is dealt with, not because it is alarming in itself.
- Narrow original rough-ins. Waste and supply positions set out for the fixtures of the day, which are not the positions a modern vanity, pan or shower expects.
- Layers of substrate. Tiles on tiles on the original wall, which changes wall thickness and where a fitting can physically sit.
- Improvised fixes. Somebody solved a problem in 1974 with what they had. It has probably worked ever since, and it is not what anybody would do now.
None of this is a reason for alarm. It is a reason to find out rather than assume, because every item on that list changes a quote, and finding out is far cheaper before the design is fixed.
3. Why a modern fitting will not always land where you want it
This is the single most common surprise in a bathroom job in these houses, and it catches people who have done renovations elsewhere.
Modern fixtures assume standard positions: a set height for a wall-hung basin, a set-out for a back-to-wall pan, a particular relationship between the waste and the wall. Those standards did not exist when the room was roughed in, and the fittings of the time had different requirements.
So the fitting you have chosen either needs the rough-in moved, which is real work inside a wall or a floor, or it needs to be a different fitting. Both are perfectly workable answers. What causes the problem is discovering the choice after the tiles are ordered rather than before.
4. What to establish before the design is fixed
- What the waste and supply positions actually are, rather than where they appear to be.
- What material the stack is, and roughly what condition it is in.
- Whether the floor is timber or concrete, because it decides what can be moved and at what cost.
- How many layers of tile and substrate are on the walls and floor.
- Whether the room has ever had a waterproofing membrane to a modern standard.
- Where the isolation is, so that a simple repair does not mean shutting the house off.
Six answers, obtainable in one visit, and they decide whether the bathroom you have drawn is a straightforward job or a structural one. That is worth knowing while it is still a drawing.
Planning a bathroom in a house of this era?
We will look at what is actually behind the wall and tell you what your design costs.
5. If the property is in a conservation area
Parts of this area sit within conservation areas, and where that applies it constrains external change in particular. That is mostly a question for the outside of the building rather than the inside of a bathroom, but it can reach plumbing.
The places it usually shows up are anything visible externally: a new flue position for a hot water unit, a vent, external pipework, or a unit relocated onto an external wall. Those are exactly the sort of upgrades a bathroom renovation tends to trigger.
Council is the authority on what is permitted for a specific property, and it is worth asking them rather than assuming either way. What we will do is tell you plainly when we think a proposal has crossed from a plumbing decision into one that needs their answer first.
6. Do the pipework once, while the wall is open
This is the practical conclusion and it is worth stating plainly. The moment a wall or floor in one of these rooms is open, everything behind it is reachable for a fraction of what it will cost to reach again.
Renewing supply lines, dealing with a section of stack that is near the end of its life, adding isolation valves and putting the waste where a modern fitting actually wants it are all cheap at that moment and expensive at any other.
The alternative is what created the situation this guide is about: another layer of new finish over infrastructure that is now one renovation older. It works, for a while, and it hands the problem to whoever is next.
- Much of this housing is 1906 to 1940 and has been renovated over the top more than once.
- The finish can be recent while the rough-in and the stack are original.
- Expect cast iron stacks, lead-jointed connections and rough-ins set out for 1920s fittings.
- Modern fixtures assume standard positions that did not exist when the room was built.
- Establish what is behind the wall before the design is fixed, not after tiles are ordered.
- Anything visible externally may be a Council question in a conservation area. Ask first.
Renovated over the original FAQs
Is a cast iron stack a problem?
Not automatically. Cast iron lasts a very long time and plenty of it is still doing its job perfectly well. It does corrode from the inside eventually, so in a house of this age it is worth knowing its condition rather than assuming it either way.
Can I keep the existing layout to save money?
Frequently yes, and it is usually the cheapest good decision available. What is worth checking is whether the fittings you have chosen actually suit the existing set-out, because keeping the layout only saves money if the fixtures agree with it.
How do I know how many layers of tile are on the wall?
A plumber or a tiler can usually tell from an edge, a penetration or the depth at a doorway. It matters because it changes where a fitting can sit and how much has to come off before anybody reaches the substrate.
Do I need Council for a bathroom renovation?
Council is the authority and they are the right people to ask about a specific property, particularly in a conservation area. Internal work is generally a different question from anything that changes the outside of the building, and a new flue or external pipework is the sort of thing worth checking before it is installed.
Is lead in old joints a health risk to me?
Lead-jointed connections on waste pipework are a jointing method rather than something in your drinking water, and dealing with them is ordinary work for a licensed plumber. If you have concerns about drinking water specifically, that is a different question and worth raising directly rather than guessing.
Should I replace the stack while I am renovating?
It depends on its condition and on how much of it the renovation exposes. What is certain is that the decision is far cheaper while a wall is open than at any point afterwards, so it deserves to be an actual decision rather than something that gets skipped.