Ashfield Bathroom Renovations: Federation Houses and Flats

Houses on the side streets

Away from the station, Ashfield is a suburb of freestanding homes: Federation houses with tuckpointed brick, terracotta roofs and timber fretwork, and inter-war bungalows with deep front verandahs. Summer Hill has more of the same on a slightly smaller scale, and neighbouring Haberfield is known as an early planned garden suburb of Federation homes.

These houses tend to sit on wider blocks than the terrace suburbs, and that changes the bathroom conversation.

More room to work with

In a freestanding Federation house, the bathroom is often inside the main building — a converted back bedroom, or a room off the hallway near the kitchen — rather than a lean-to. Ceilings are high, the floor is timber over a ventilated subfloor, and there is usually side access down the driveway.

That opens up options:

• Keeping the bath comfortably, perhaps as a freestanding tub, alongside a separate walk-in shower
• Adding an ensuite into a large bedroom, or a sunroom that was enclosed decades ago
• A separate powder room near the living areas, which suits a family house
• Better logistics, because a skip can often go on the driveway rather than the street

The constraint is the floor. Timber floors over a subfloor need stiffening under a tiled wet area, and the old waste lines may be earthenware or cast iron that is worth replacing while everything is open.

Heritage in Ashfield and Haberfield

Inner West Council maps heritage conservation areas across parts of Ashfield and Summer Hill, and most of Haberfield sits within a heritage conservation area. Individually listed items are also common in the Federation streets.

Internal bathroom work is generally exempt development in a conservation area. External changes such as a new window in a side wall, a skylight or an addition are more likely to need consent, and a listed item needs checking even for some internal work. We flag that at the measure.

The walk-up flats

Ashfield has one of the Inner West's larger concentrations of walk-up flats, particularly around the station, Liverpool Road and the streets off Frederick Street. Many are three- or four-storey red-brick blocks from the 1960s and 1970s.

Their bathrooms are small, often with a pink, blue or green tiled bath-shower combination, a pedestal basin, and a window onto a light well. Renovating one involves:

1. Strata approval before any work that touches waterproofing or plumbing
2. Asbestos testing of wall sheeting, floor coverings and adhesives
3. Working within by-law hours and protecting common areas
4. Carrying everything up and down the stairs by hand
5. A membrane that protects the flat below, with a certificate for the strata manager

A shower in place of the bath, a wall-hung vanity and floor-to-ceiling tile in one pale colour usually does more for these rooms than any structural change. See small bathrooms.

Investor flats

Many Ashfield flats are rented. Landlords renovating between tenants want finishes that last and a program they can plan a vacancy around: porcelain tiles with a good slip rating, a solid vanity, a quality mixer and an exhaust fan that actually clears the room. We keep the scope tight and the timeline fixed for those jobs.

Cost and program

As a 2026 guide:

• Main bathroom in a Federation or inter-war house: $28,000 – $45,000
• New ensuite in a larger house: $35,000 – $55,000
• Walk-up flat bathroom: $20,000 – $32,000

A house bathroom takes four to five weeks. A flat bathroom is often similar on site but needs strata approval first. The cost page sets out how the bands are built.

Nearby

Five Dock, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Newtown and Enmore and Balmain and Rozelle, plus Summer Hill, Haberfield, Croydon and Dulwich Hill.

Renovation work is carried out in partnership with Coastal Renovation Group, a licensed NSW builder; licence and insurance details are provided on request. Call 02 5950 5195 or send the room details through.