A suburb of settled households
Normanhurst sits between Thornleigh and Hornsby, with Pennant Hills Road along one side and bushland in the gullies nearby. Its streets are dominated by established freestanding homes on large, leafy blocks — brick houses from the post-war decades, some older homes, and seventies and eighties family houses with double garages and additions.
Normanhurst households tend to renovate rather than move. That makes a real difference to how a bathroom should be designed. The room is not being styled for a sale in three years. It is being built for a family that may still be there in twenty.
What we find in Normanhurst houses
The original main bathroom. In post-war houses, a bath with a shower over, wall tiles to around 1.5 metres, a separate toilet and often no exhaust. Mortar-bed floor and no membrane.
An eighties ensuite. Added to the main bedroom, frequently with a moulded shower base, a framed pivot door and a small vanity. These are now forty years old, and shower bases in particular are often leaking at the waste or the wall seal.
A laundry that also holds the second toilet. A common arrangement that makes sense until someone is doing the washing while a guest needs the toilet.
Larger rooms. Main bathrooms here are often more generous than in cottage suburbs, which gives genuine design options: a separate bath and shower, a double vanity, or a toilet screened off inside the room.
Planning for the long term
Because Normanhurst families often stay put, it is worth thinking about how the bathroom will be used over decades, not just now.
- Step-free shower with a linear drain, which is easier for everyone and essential if mobility changes
- Blocking in the walls behind the toilet, in the shower and beside the bath, so grab rails can be fitted later without opening the wall
- Slip-resistant floor tiles in a matt finish
- Comfort-height toilet and a handheld shower on a rail
- Lever mixers that are easy to use with wet or arthritic hands
- Wider doorway or a sliding door where the wall allows
- Good, even lighting without glare
None of this needs to look clinical. Most people visiting would never notice that a room has been planned this way.
Two rooms or one at a time
With a main bathroom and an ensuite both due, the question is whether to run them in one program. Doing both shares the site set-up, the plumber, electrician, waterproofer and tiler, and the skip. The cost per room goes down.
In a house with a separate toilet or a powder room, going without both showers for four to six weeks is usually workable with some planning. If not, staging them — ensuite first, main bathroom second — keeps one shower running. See ensuites and powder rooms.
Ventilation and the tree canopy
Normanhurst's large trees are one of its best features and one of its bathroom challenges. Bathrooms on the shaded side of the house dry slowly. A ducted exhaust fan to outside with a run-on timer, a heated towel rail and light-coloured finishes all help.
Heritage and older homes
A handful of houses in and around Normanhurst are older than the post-war stock, and parts of Hornsby Shire contain heritage items. If the house is listed, check with Hornsby Shire Council before changing windows or external walls as part of the renovation. Internal bathroom work in a non-heritage house is generally exempt development.
Costs in Normanhurst
As a 2026 guide:
- Larger main bathroom with separate bath and shower: $32,000–$50,000
- Standard main bathroom in an older house: $26,000–$42,000
- Eighties ensuite renovation: $18,000–$30,000
- Main bathroom and ensuite in one program: $44,000–$72,000
Asbestos removal and structural repairs are additional where needed. The cost guide explains what drives each figure.
Nearby
We also work in Hornsby, Pennant Hills, Waitara, Asquith and Berowra, plus Thornleigh, Westleigh and Wahroonga.
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 5926 2135 or send the room details through.
Questions people ask before they commit
Should I renovate the main bathroom and ensuite together?
It is often cheaper per room because trades, the skip and the waterproofer are shared. The drawback is being without both showers at once. In a Normanhurst house with a third toilet or powder room, doing both together is usually manageable.
What can be done to make a bathroom easier to use as we age?
A step-free shower, slip-resistant floor tiles, blocking in the walls for future grab rails, a comfort-height toilet, lever taps and good lighting. Most of these cost little during a renovation and much more to add later.
My house has a 1980s ensuite that was added on. What usually goes wrong?
Common problems are a shower base that has cracked or lost its seal, no ducted exhaust, an undersized room, and sometimes a floor built on old verandah framing. A renovation corrects the waterproofing, ventilation and layout together.