Queensland Bathroom Claims Average About Three Times a Typical Tiling Job

What a new floor costs in Australia at Going Rate's prices

At Going Rate's prices, sanding and polishing existing boards ($4,350), a hybrid floor ($6,750) and a porcelain tiling job, supplied and laid ($8,250) sit at the cheaper end. Grinding and polishing a concrete slab ($10,000), an epoxy floor ($15,800) and a parquetry floor ($16,500) cost more. Each price is a typical job for that floor, and the typical job is a different size for each one, so the six figures do not price the same room.

Sanding is the cheapest line because the boards are already down and no new material goes in. CHOICE advised in 2021 that owners buff and re-coat high-traffic timber areas every three to four years.

Australians are spending more on this kind of work. KPMG says renovation spending is now worth $56.2 billion, 37% of all housing spending in 2025-26. The ABS put residential alterations and additions work at $4.119 billion in the June quarter 2026 (seasonally adjusted, chain volume), up 12.6% on a year earlier.

What a failed bathroom costs to fix in Queensland

The QBCC says residential bathroom claims finalised under the Home Warranty Scheme in 2024-25 averaged almost $25,000 in rectification costs. The figure sits in a QBCC warning about waterproofing, which the regulator says consistently ranks among the top ten most common defective work complaints. At Going Rate's prices, that average claim is about three times a typical porcelain tiling job ($8,250) and nearly four times a typical hybrid job ($6,750), although hybrid cannot go inside a shower at all. The claim average is a rectification cost, so it does not price the same work as a typical tiling job.

Shower recess waterproofing was Queensland's ninth most common defect in 2024-25, with 164 defect items across 91 cases, the QBCC says. In NSW, the 2025 strata defects survey by Building Commission NSW and Strata Community Association NSW found 53% of strata buildings had serious defects, and waterproofing defects were the most prevalent at 22%. The NSW Building Commission lists waterproofing among the defects that can count as major, which carry a six-year statutory warranty.

When cracked or drummy tiles count as a defect

Floor tiling was Queensland's fourth most common building defect in 2024-25, with 465 defect items across 233 cases, according to the QBCC. Only internal paint application (1,875 items), steel roof cladding and flashing (540) and joinery and timber door and window installation (524) ranked higher.

The NSW Guide to Standards and Tolerances treats tiles as defective when the builder's workmanship makes them crack, chip or come loose within 24 months of handover, and grout that comes loose in that time is defective too. The finished floor must be flat to within ±4 mm over 2 m. Joints should be no wider than 3 mm for pressed tiles and 6 mm for extruded tiles. AS 3958:2023, as summarised by the HIA, calls for movement joints no more than 4.5 m apart on internal floors once any dimension passes 9 m. The older AS 3958.1-2007, quoted by ARDEX, said small hollow-sounding areas do not necessarily mean imminent failure, but cases where more than 20% of the tile sounds hollow when tapped would have to be considered suspect over the long term.

In Cooper v McGaveston, a 2019 QCAT case, a homeowner paid an unlicensed tiler $14,705 for a limestone floor that cracked, and the expert found the substrate had not been properly prepared. The tribunal awarded $14,158 in damages plus $3,153.18 in costs. A straightedge and light tapping across the tiles will pick up flatness and drummy problems before the final invoice on a porcelain tiling job ($8,250) is paid.

Hybrid flooring is waterproof, with exclusions

Godfrey Hirst sells its hybrid as waterproof, but its 25-year warranty does not cover flooding, leaking pipes, household mechanical failures, appliance leaks or mould. It does not apply at all in rooms with built-in drains, such as showers. The company's installation instructions allow its Metropol hybrid only in Category 3 wet areas under AS 3740:2021, which means bathroom areas outside the shower, WCs and laundries without a shower, and never where there is a floor waste.

Heat voids cover as well. Godfrey Hirst excludes damage above 55°C or below 0°C, and its undated care guide (the PDF file was created in 2021) says sun through floor-to-ceiling windows can push floor surfaces above 70°C. The NFD Abode Avenue warranty is tighter, excluding areas below 5°C or above 45°C, surface swings of more than 10°C within two hours, unprotected sun strike and steam mops.

Installation rules carry the rest. Godfrey Hirst requires the subfloor to be level within ±2 mm over 1,000 mm and expansion gaps of at least 10 mm, and says short gaps can make a floor buckle, peak or cup. Sound is another risk in apartments. In a 2025 NCAT strata matter summarised by PBL Law Group, a hybrid floor tested at LnT,w 50 against a required 45, and the owner was ordered to replace it with carpet or treat it to comply within three months. Check the strata by-laws before buying a hybrid floor ($6,750) for a unit.

What a 25-year hybrid warranty pays

Godfrey Hirst's 25-year hybrid warranty is pro-rated at 100% for years one to five, 75% for years six to 10, 50% for years 11 to 15, 25% for years 16 to 20 and 10% after that. The NFD lifetime residential warranty runs 100%, 75%, 45%, 30% and 10% over the same bands. NFD's commercial cover lasts 10 years and falls to 20% in years eight to 10.

Godfrey Hirst supplies replacement flooring only. The warranty says the owner pays the retailer the balance of the flooring and the installation costs, and it does not cover labour charges for rectification, although Godfrey Hirst may consider reasonable labour costs at its sole discretion. In years 11 to 15 it supplies half the replacement flooring, and unless Godfrey Hirst chooses to help, you pay the labour on a typical hybrid job ($6,750).

Engineered timber is similar. NFD gives its engineered boards a 20-year residential warranty, excludes wet areas, and says cupping, gapping and peaking after installation could be treated as site or installation problems the warranty may not cover.

Epoxy and polished concrete depend on the slab

Both floors depend on the concrete underneath. Dulux's Luxafloor datasheet says new concrete needs at least 28 days to cure at 24°C, a moisture meter reading should not exceed 6%, and, as referred to in AS 1884-2012, relative humidity in the slab should be below 75% before the epoxy goes down. Dulux adds that the testing cannot guarantee against future moisture problems, particularly in existing slabs where no one can confirm a vapour barrier underneath.

So the risk with an epoxy floor ($15,800) is highest on older garages and slabs laid without a known vapour barrier. CHOICE advised in 2021 that polished concrete is best done at construction stage, when it costs less than retrofitting, so grinding and polishing a slab ($10,000) suits a new build or a slab already exposed.

Going Rate found no regulator or industry-body lifespan figure for residential epoxy or polished concrete in Australia. The lifespan claims in circulation come from installers' own marketing.

Timber and parquetry defects, and how long you have to claim

The NSW Guide to Standards and Tolerances treats timber boards as defective when they cup by more than 1 mm per 100 mm, or show gaps over 2 mm that run for more than 1 m. Gaps caused by sun, heating or cooling are excluded. Floors that keep squeaking within 24 months of handover are defective too.

In one case reported by Insurance News in 2025, Hollard's builder laid a timber floor in May 2023 after its installer advised that the usual two to three weeks of acclimatisation was not required, and the boards cupped. The builder's scope was $13,198, and the homeowners' quote was $30,794. AFCA ordered Hollard to cash settle on two rectification quotes and pay each homeowner $4,000 for unsatisfactory claims handling. That one quote is about seven times sanding and polishing existing boards ($4,350) and nearly twice a parquetry floor ($16,500) at Going Rate's prices.

Time limits differ by state. NSW gives six years for major defects and two years for all other defects. Victoria's implied warranties transfer to new owners for up to 10 years from completion, Consumer Affairs Victoria says. Queensland home warranty covers structural defects for six years and six months, but non-structural defects for only six months, with claims lodged within seven months of completion. Cracked grout or lifting boards found in month eight fall outside that Queensland cover.

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