Laundries are the forgotten room of Melbourne renovating, usually last on the list and first to be cut when a budget tightens. Yet a well-built laundry changes daily life in a way few rooms match, and because the space is small, the cost of doing it properly is far lower than most owners assume. The trap runs the other way too: a laundry is a wet area with plumbing, cabinetry and often external access, so a careless renovation can quietly absorb money.
This guide sets out realistic 2026 pricing for Melbourne laundry renovations across three tiers, shows where the money actually goes, and flags the hidden items, from floor wastes to relocated services, that separate an accurate quote from an optimistic one.
In this guide
Laundry Budget Tiers for 2026
Laundry pricing follows the same logic as any wet area: the tier is set by how much is replaced, moved or rebuilt, not by the room's size alone.
- Cosmetic refresh ($6k-$12k): Keep the layout and plumbing positions. New cabinetry or trough unit, new benchtop, splashback, tapware and paint. Suits laundries that function but look tired.
- Standard full renovation ($13k-$25k): Strip-out, new cabinetry and benchtop, new trough and tapware, new flooring, tiled splashback, updated lighting and power, plumbing fit-off in similar positions. The most common scope for Melbourne family homes.
- Premium or reconfigured laundry ($25k-$45k+): Services relocated, walls or doors changed, full-height joinery, stone benchtops, drying cabinets, quality appliances integrated, sometimes conversion to a combined laundry-mudroom. Pricing climbs with each moved service.
These bands assume a dedicated laundry room. European laundries concealed in cupboards run on their own logic, driven by joinery and ventilation detail, and often land between the first and second tiers despite their small footprint.
Cost Breakdown Table
| Item | Typical Range | What Drives It Up | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demolition and disposal | $500-$1,500 | Tiled walls, concrete troughs, poor access | Old in-situ concrete troughs are heavy and slow to remove |
| Cabinetry and benchtop | $3,000-$10,000 | Full-height joinery, 2-pac finishes, stone tops | Usually the largest single line item |
| Plumbing | $1,200-$3,500 | Moving the trough or machine taps, new floor waste, old galvanised pipe replacement | Licensed plumber and compliance certificate required over the threshold |
| Electrical | $600-$2,000 | New circuits for dryers, extra GPOs, lighting upgrades | Heat-pump dryers and washers on one circuit need checking |
| Waterproofing and tiling | $1,500-$4,500 | Floor tiling extent, full-height splashbacks, wall condition | Laundries are wet areas with waterproofing requirements |
| Trough, tapware and accessories | $600-$2,500 | Undermount stainless units, quality mixers, hanging systems | Wide quality spread; cheap troughs date fast |
| Painting and finishing | $500-$1,500 | Ceiling condition, door and architrave replacement | Often excluded from cheap quotes, check yours |
Add the ranges and you can see why an honest full renovation rarely lands under $13k, even for a compact room. Quotes meaningfully below that are usually missing waterproofing, painting or disposal, and it pays to ask which.
What Moves a Laundry Quote the Most
Three decisions dominate the spread between a $14k laundry and a $30k one, and none of them is the tapware.
- Moving services: Relocating the trough, machine taps or floor waste triggers plumbing work under the floor. On a slab, that can mean cutting concrete; on stumps, it is cheaper but still real money. Keeping wet points where they are is the single biggest cost-control lever.
- Joinery ambition: A run of base cabinets with an overhead is one price; full-height cabinetry with integrated hampers, appliance towers and a folding station is another. Every additional cabinet carcass, drawer runner and 2-pac door compounds.
- External access changes: Many Melbourne laundries open to the yard, and owners often want a better door, a window changed or a dog door integrated. Anything touching the external wall brings glazing, flashing and sometimes permit considerations into scope.
A useful discipline when briefing builders: state clearly which services can stay put and which must move. Quotes converge quickly when that is defined, and diverge wildly when it is left open.
Cabinetry and Benchtops: Where the Money Concentrates
Cabinetry is to laundries what it is to kitchens: the biggest line and the biggest quality spread. The choices scale from flat-pack carcasses with laminate doors through to custom moisture-resistant board with 2-pac finishes and stone tops.
- Laminate doors and benchtop: The workhorse standard. Modern laminates are convincing and hard-wearing, and suit most laundry budgets.
- 2-pac doors: A painted, seamless finish that lifts the room noticeably, at roughly 40-80% over laminate door pricing.
- Stone or solid surface tops: Beautiful and durable, though laminate tolerates laundry chemicals well and many owners direct the difference into better storage instead.
- Moisture-resistant board: Non-negotiable around the trough and machines regardless of door finish. Standard board swells at the first leak.
One planning note that saves money later: design cabinetry around actual appliance dimensions, including door swing and hose clearance behind machines, before joinery is ordered. Rebuilding a cabinet because a new washer is 40mm deeper than the old one is an avoidable variation we still see regularly.
The Wet-Area Rules People Forget Laundries Have
Laundries are wet areas under the National Construction Code, and Victorian requirements bring several compliance items into even modest renovations.
- Waterproofing: Wet-area waterproofing requirements apply to laundry floors and wall junctions in defined zones around fixtures. If your renovation strips the floor, waterproofing goes back in before tiles, with a certificate.
- Floor wastes: Not universally mandatory in Victorian laundries, but strongly recommended and often required depending on the situation. With flexible hoses feeding machines under mains pressure, a floor waste is the difference between a nuisance and an insurance claim, particularly in apartments and two-storey homes.
- Licensed trades: Plumbing work above the cost threshold requires a compliance certificate from a licensed plumber, and new circuits or GPOs need a licensed electrician and certificate of electrical safety. Keep both documents.
- Ventilation: A dryer without external venting or condensing capability pumps litres of moisture into the room. Vented dryers need ducting to outside; heat-pump dryers solve the problem at the appliance level.
None of this is expensive in the context of the project, but all of it distinguishes a renovation that protects the home from one that just decorates it.
Hidden Costs That Surprise Laundry Renovators
Because laundries are often the oldest untouched room in a Melbourne house, strip-outs regularly reveal conditions that quotes based on a walk-through could not price.
- Old galvanised or corroded pipework behind walls that should be replaced while everything is open
- Asbestos sheeting in laundries of pre-1990 homes, requiring licensed removal and disposal
- Rotted floor structure around decades-old troughs and machine positions on timber subfloors
- Unsealed external walls behind old cabinets, needing repair before new joinery covers them
- Switchboard limitations when adding circuits in homes with older boards
A sensible contingency for laundry renovations in older homes is 10-15% of the contract price. In post-2000 homes it can be lower. Either way, prefer a builder who names these risks up front over one whose quote is silent on them; silence does not make the asbestos sheet disappear, it just makes it a mid-project variation argument.
Where to Save and Where It Costs You Later
Laundries reward a specific spending pattern: put money into the bones and the storage, and be relaxed about the glamour items.
- Worth the spend: Waterproofing done properly, a floor waste, moisture-resistant cabinetry, a deep quality trough, generous power points and a hanging rail positioned over drainage-safe flooring.
- Save comfortably: Laminate benchtops over stone, standard tile formats over feature mosaics, and mid-range tapware, which in a laundry does the same job as the designer version at a third of the price.
- False economies: Skipping the floor waste, reusing tired plumbing because it still technically works, and cabinet internals without a single deep drawer for powders and pegs.
Priced honestly and built once, a Melbourne laundry renovation sits among the best value-per-dollar projects in the house: a modest budget, a daily-use payoff and a strong showing at sale time, since buyers read a functional laundry as a sign the whole house has been cared for.
Take these ideas with you.
- A genuine full laundry renovation in Melbourne typically costs $13k-$25k, and quotes far below that are usually missing scope
- Keeping wet points in their existing positions is the single biggest cost-control lever available
- Laundries are wet areas with waterproofing requirements, and a floor waste is cheap insurance against machine hose failures
- Design cabinetry around actual appliance dimensions before ordering joinery to avoid mid-project rebuilds
- Older Melbourne laundries hide asbestos, corroded pipes and rot, so carry a 10-15% contingency in pre-1990 homes
A few more answers
Questions about your next step.
How much should I budget for a kitchen renovation in Melbourne?
Budget depends on layout changes, cabinetry level, benchtop choice, appliance scope and trade complexity. Fixed-layout refreshes sit much lower than structural redesigns with new services.
What kitchen upgrades usually add the most practical value?
Better drawer storage, smarter appliance placement, durable benchtops, layered task lighting and a well-sized rangehood tend to outperform cosmetic-only upgrades.
How long does a kitchen renovation usually take?
Most kitchens run over several weeks. Cabinetry manufacturing, stone templating and trade sequencing usually matter more than the demolition day.
Put your ideas into a plan
Check feasibility before you lock a quote
Council overlays, access and existing services change the job. Bring the property constraints in before finish selections harden.
Want an itemised laundry quote that prices the waterproofing, the joinery and the hidden risks honestly? That is how we quote every project. Explore our laundry renovation service.
