Since this thread started I've moved house and renovated two more bathrooms and this "step" issue is definitely becoming a headache. You know, we are such slavish followers of trends, I just have to wonder at times how much we are becoming victims of them too. When I built my first house over 50 years ago, most homes were built on piers with timber flooring and concrete was only used in bathrooms and laundries, but the levels were adjusted so when tiles were laid in wet areas the transition was minimal. Floor tiles were also thinner than today's tiles, in most cases they were smaller tiles too and not these great slabs we use today that obviously need to be thicker for strength. Now we are building more slab on ground homes, no provision is being made for the thickness of floor tiles to ensure a more seamless transition between areas. My front entrance is tiled and has a 2cm "step" down to the lounge and family room areas and even that 2cm I find people constantly tripping over. I plan on removing these tiles and replacing the whole entry/kitchen/family area with vinyl planking. Carpet in the lounge room helps offset that step a little but I was told recently by people who have addressed this issue this way that putting an extra layer of underfelt within the doorway area works very well to help offset this problem. When I renovated the ensuite I now have this step issue but the tiles had been glued down with an unknown product of super strength that gave my bathroom guy a lot of grief trying to jackhammer up - took him 2 days to remove them and screed the floor to his standard - and he decided he could not do the main bathroom in a realistic time frame to meet the price he quoted me, he felt he could not even guarantee the standard of work he wanted to achieve so his suggestion was to tile over the existing tiles and when he got to the doorway he would add an extra part tile sloping to down to the floor level similar to what pucciplan described with his timber. He assured me he had done it with many other renovations, it was barely noticeable and would solve the issue much easier and cheaper for me and far less time consuming. In the meantime as I have carpet in the hallway we heard of the idea of using an extra layer of underlay and I've chosen this option. My laundry is right opposite the bathroom and those tiles will be replaced too. On close inspection of the original construction, we discovered no waste drain was put into the laundry, the tiles were drained towards the external door, which is apparantly acceptable .............EXCEPT, they then put a dam across the floor inside the doorway to stop rainwater coming in under the external door!!!! Now the laundry tiles will be laid over the top of the existing ones as well to allow for any possible accident needing drainage. Fortunately I've had no weather issues but we will put a rubber flap at the base of the door, just in case, and I will again do the extra layer of underlay under the carpet and hopefully will achieve a satisfactory result. At least the two doorways will match. Quite frankly though, I'm finding so many design issues these days, I really think the whole home building industry needs a thorough overhaul. I think as I age too, so many more issues are coming to light BUT they are obviously issues that could affect anyone of any age. I think we need to forget "trends" that don't consider the big picture of things and come back down to basic commonsense. HU - I'm really at a loss as to how your builder managed to get a 6.5cm step to the bathroom, that is absolutely ridiculous. The only thing I can think of is there may have been a slope issue for drainage, but surely it could still not have been that much, anything that much out should have been picked up when the building was inspected during construction. "Normal" is a good excuse for laziness or shoddy workmanship. I think from reading your posts, you are in an apartment?? You would then have slab floors?? Therefore I can't see the need for the step to be above 2cm. Definitely take this further - Fair Trading should be able to help you, the standard heights for steps varies according to location and use - it is a bit of a minefield to work out. Good luck. Amanda - how did all your renos go in the end? Sounds like you are still sane. :)

Daniel, what's your budget? Depending upon what that is there may be better value options that execute the spend to both (a) functional/spatial improvements/expansion and (b) higher property value outcome for the investment. We deal with this stuff on a daily basis and it simply comes down to budget one way or another depending upon the scope thresholds. What I will say is don't underestimate how much it costs to refit these expensive aspects within existing space by a "rearranging the sock drawer" type of approach.. More often than not we prove that this is often false economy as an isolated exercise (depending of course on budget/property value etc) and that alternatively a well considered/designed complimentary extension coupled with strategic/minimal renovation scope is a way better bang-for-buck strategy, and when it's valued in cost/m2 for the overall residence's outcome, it's actually a far LOWER cost/input for the property when projects are managed in this way. You'll achieve increased/more spacious living amenity, higher property value, for overall lower cost/m2 - that's a Win-Win-Win that you can't argue with. The thing is labour KILLS in renos these days and there is a lot of hidden labour in wet areas and for relatively small spaces......sometimes it's absolutely warranted say in inner urban areas where space is limited and you don't have the option, but you clearly have a stack of external swing room to extend out if you wanted to....which is why when strategies for these types of projects are being tossed around, we always try to make sure our clients are maximising the opportunity for whatever $$ they are injecting into the property..... you have step back a bit and "think outside the square" - that's how we deliver in what we do...... Hope that makes some sense provides some relevant food for thought! Cheers PD :)

Thank you both for your comments. Sorry - I should have said that, whilst we are not looking to sell, there is always a chance with work commitments that we may have to move on and so we always try to renovate with an eye on needing to sell, even if it may not happen. The agent was the agent who sold the house to us, who later told us that one of the issues other potential buyers had was the location of the bathroom, which is in the centre of the house downstairs. At the moment the bathroom is safe and functional, just in the wrong place and dated. If we painted outside, we would paint the whole house.

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