Planning a bathroom renovation in a Dubai villa or apartment
A bathroom renovation is a short job with a long list of ways to go wrong, because everything that matters is covered by tiles before you see the result. This guide covers what decides the scope, the order the trades work in, the step you cannot inspect later, and what to ask before the strip-out starts, for a villa en-suite or a tower apartment bathroom in Dubai.
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Decide which kind of renovation this is
The first decision in a Dubai bathroom renovation is whether anything moves. If the WC, basin and shower keep their drain positions, the work is new waterproofing, tiles, fittings and a vanity. If something moves, the floor has to be opened to re-route a drain. Many en-suites in the older villa communities, in The Springs, The Meadows, Arabian Ranches and The Villa, are still on their original pipework, so even a cosmetic refit tends to become a full strip-back once the tiles are off. A tower apartment adds a limit of its own: the fittings are tied to the building's drainage stacks, and the building management has a say in anything that touches them. Our bathroom design ideas and small bathroom ideas cover layouts and finishes; this guide is about the build, and our bathroom renovation service starts it with a free site visit to look at the drainage, the ventilation and any signs of past leaks.
What decides the scope
A few things in the existing room fix how big the job is. Check them before you choose a tile.
Whether the plumbing points move
A WC needs a wide waste pipe with a steady fall to the stack. Moving it a short way along the same wall is usually possible; moving it across the room means a new waste route, which in a villa means breaking out the floor and in an apartment is often not allowed, because the slab and the stack belong to the building. Our renovation plumbing works page explains what can move and what cannot.
The drain position
Dubai bathrooms are wet rooms in practice: the floor gets wet from the hand spray beside the WC and from a shower that is often open on one side, so the floor drain matters more here than in a drier climate. Where it sits decides how the floor can fall, and a level shower needs a drain of its own. Keep the drain where it is unless there is a strong reason not to.
The ceiling void, the AC duct and the heater
In many Dubai homes the void above the bathroom ceiling carries the AC supply duct, the extract duct and the water heater. A new ceiling has to leave room for all of them, with an access panel for the heater and the fan, so find out what is in the void before asking for a higher ceiling; our false ceiling page covers what a bathroom ceiling has to hide. In summer the cold supply from a roof tank usually arrives warm, so hot water in Dubai is mostly a winter question.
What the strip-out finds
Behind the old tiles there may be corroded pipes, a failed membrane or a screed laid without a fall. None of it shows until the tiles come off, so a good plan leaves room to put it right.
The order of works, and why it cannot change
A bathroom is built in layers, and each layer covers the last, whether it is a villa en-suite or the only bathroom in a flat.
- Strip-out and protectionOld tiles, fittings, vanity and ceiling come out, with the rest of the home sealed off and the AC grilles in the room covered so fine dust does not travel through the ducts.
- Plumbing and electrical first fixNew supply pipes, wastes and cable routes go into the open walls and floor, with the points for the mixer, shower, heater and mirror light where the drawings put them. The pipework is tested while it can still be seen.
- WaterproofingA membrane over the floor and up the wet walls, detailed around the drain, the corners and every pipe that comes through.
- Flood testThe floor is flooded and left, and the ceiling below is checked. Nothing goes over it until it has passed.
- Screed and fallsA screed shapes the floor so water runs to the drain from every corner, with a separate fall inside a level-access shower.
- TilingWalls and floor, set out so the cuts fall where they are not noticed and the lines run through the niches and the drain.
- CeilingA moisture-resistant false ceiling with its access panels, downlight cut-outs and the fan housing.
- Second fixMixers, the shower, the flush plate of the concealed cistern, lights, the fan and the heater connections.
- Sanitaryware, vanity and glassThe WC, basin and bath, then the vanity, then the shower screen measured against the finished tiles. Glass is last.
- FinishingSilicone at the joints, grout sealed where the tile needs it, paint on the ceiling and any untiled wall, and a clean before handover.
Waterproofing: the step you cannot see later
Membrane, detailing and the flood test
Dubai has little rain, but a bathroom is where water sits on the floor every day, and a failed membrane shows up as a stain on the ceiling below or tiles that lift because the screed under them stays damp. Tiles and grout are not waterproof on their own. The membrane beneath them does the work, and only if it is continuous: turned up the walls above splash height, carried over the shower walls, bonded into the drain body and wrapped around every pipe through the floor. Most failures are at those details, not in the middle of the floor.
Because the membrane disappears under the screed and the tiles, the only chance to check it is before they go on. The floor is flooded to above the drain, left, and the room below is inspected; in an apartment that ceiling belongs to a neighbour. Our waterproofing for wet areas stays with the same team that does the plumbing and the tiling, so nobody drills through a finished membrane to fix a screen or a pipe, and the wet area is tested before anything covers it. Our bathroom design service settles the falls and the drain position before the strip-out, so the waterproofer works to a drawing rather than to the old floor.
Choices that change how the room wears
The finishes are chosen for a wet, warm room that is cleaned often. These decisions affect how long the bathroom lasts, not only how it looks.
Floor tiles and slip resistance
A bathroom floor in Dubai is wet more often than not, so the floor tile needs grip, especially in the shower and around the WC where the hand spray is used. Polished porcelain and honed stone look good dry and are treacherous wet; a matt or textured porcelain is the safer floor, and a smaller tile or mosaic in the shower lets the floor fall to the drain without lipping. Our tile fixing for bathrooms page covers layout, falls and large formats.
Niches
A recess in the shower wall for bottles is framed during the first fix, waterproofed with the wall and tiled so the lines match. Decide its height and position with the shower, because it cannot move later. At Project Celine in Mudon the redesigned bathrooms have warm-lit horizontal wall niches with a column of small niches between them.
Concealed cisterns and frames
A wall-hung WC and a concealed cistern need a steel frame fixed to the floor and the wall, and a built-out section of wall to hide it. That wall takes space from the room, and the frame is usually set before the screed, so it is a first-fix decision. Ask for an access panel behind the flush plate.
Shower glass
A fixed panel or a hinged screen is measured after tiling, because toughened glass is made to the finished opening and cannot be trimmed on site. A fixed panel with no door is easy to keep clean, and it usually sits in a channel rather than being screwed through the floor membrane; our shower screens and glass works page covers fixings, seals and glass types.
Ventilation, ceiling and paint
Steam has to leave the room, and in a Dubai summer the bathroom is often damper than any other room in the house. An extract fan ducted outside, or to the building's extract riser in an apartment, is the minimum; a fan that runs on after the light goes off clears the steam, and a gap under the door lets replacement air in. The ceiling is a moisture-resistant board with a bathroom-grade paint on it and on any untiled wall; our interior painting page explains which finish suits a wet room.
Approvals, in general terms
A bathroom renovation that keeps the fittings in place is usually the simple case for approvals, but it is rarely none. In an apartment, the building management normally reviews works that touch the drainage stacks and the risers and gives its consent before the contractor starts; our apartment renovation page explains how we work within a building's rules. In a villa community the developer or community management may require a NOC where the work changes anything outside the villa, such as a new window or an extract outlet on the facade. Which body approves what depends on where you live; our guide to approvals by community sets it out, and we apply for the approvals a project needs.
Living through the works, and the questions to ask first
Dust, water and a usable bathroom
If you stay at home during the work, plan for dust, water and a working bathroom. Strip-out and tile cutting make a fine dust that the AC carries through the house unless the room's grilles are sealed and the doorway is screened, so ask how the rest of the house is protected. Water and sometimes power to the room are off for stretches of the job, and in a villa the whole house may lose water while a valve is changed, so agree when. If more than one bathroom is being done, keep one usable: on Project Majestic in Al Twar every bathroom in the villa was renovated, and when a family stays at home we plan the order so a bathroom is always in use. Our villa renovation service phases the rooms around how the household lives.
Before you sign, ask who waterproofs the room and how it is tested before tiling; whether the pipework is tested before the walls close; how the floor falls are set out; where the shower screen fixes; and who makes the vanity and when it is fitted. Ask to see the tile layout and the niche positions in a drawing, or in 3D, before anything is ordered. After handover the maintenance is small but regular: wipe the glass, keep the drain cover clear of hair and sand, renew the silicone when it discolours, run the fan after every shower in summer, and treat a new stain on the ceiling below as a call to make, not a wait.
Bathrooms from our projects
Project Celine
Mudon, Dubai · Approx. 340 sqm · Q3 FY24 to Q4 FY24A full-scale villa renovation in Mudon in which the bathrooms were completely redesigned with subtle detailing and practical wall niches: a black-framed glass screen, a ceiling rain shower, matte black fittings and a warm-lit niche in grey veined wall tiles.
View project →
Project Greens
The Greens, Dubai · Approx. 300 sqm · Q4 FY24A residential transformation in The Greens designed around a mosaic aesthetic, with mosaic detailing and refined finishes. A bath sits against a wall of small patterned tiles, with a decorative border strip on the plain tiles around it and a wood-look floor.
View project →More of our work: YouTube · Instagram · our Google reviews
Questions and answers
Can the toilet move to the other side of the bathroom?
Is a flood test really necessary?
Can I have a level, walk-in shower in an existing bathroom?
Do I need approval to renovate a bathroom in Dubai?
How do I stop a bathroom getting mouldy in Dubai?
What is in the ceiling void above a bathroom?
When is the vanity fitted?
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