Home renovation advice: Australian mum shares awkward fail in her bathroom

A mum has shared her frustration after builders placed her bathroom cabinet in a ‘completely non-functional space’ twice and damaged it on the third try.

The Australian homeowner, Emma, spent $150,000 on a building contract for her dream reno and shared snaps of the ‘fail’ on Facebook.

‘Our renovation has been one stuff up after another,’ she said, alongside photos of the very low, off-centre cabinet that hit the towel rail when opened and all but touched the tap when it was on.

‘It’s been eight months of complaining from our end of continuous sh*t work. The builder still argues that the shaving cabinet is high enough but it needs to go more than one inch higher in my opinion as my grandchildren will be able to reach the cabinet .

‘Plus looks silly with low ceilings.’

The cabinet is also cracked and held together by silicone after the multiple fixes.

She begged thousands in the Facebook group to help her with trying to fix the builder’s mistake and asked where they thought it should go.

‘They also messed up the wall by ordering feature wall tiles for the majority of the bathroom,’ she added.

The cabinet is also cracked and held together by silicone after the multiple fixes

Hundreds came to her aid, with many agreeing with her about the poor quality of service provided by her contractors.

‘I would not be paying for that – it’s such a shame that you’ve spent all that money and are still unhappy,’ said one man.

‘Why is the heated towel rail cord sticking out?’ another asked. ‘Normally, an electrician would’ve wired the cord into the wall and added a switch onto the powerpoint or light switch.’

A few people suggested having the cabinet in-set into the wall – or completely removing and replacing it with a mirror.

‘I think the cabinet takes focus away from the sink and tap – I would use a large round mirror to soften the edges everywhere else,’ said one woman.

‘Why is the heated towel rail cord sticking out?’ another asked. ‘Normally, an electrician would’ve wired the cord into the wall and added a switch onto the powerpoint or light switch,’ one asked 

Some provided some advice for the next time she planned on renovating her home. 

‘I like my cabinets to be the same height as my window and door architraves – as it creates a balance in the room.’ 

‘I always draw a plan of install heights prior to my builds,’ revealed another. ‘The trades don’t choose where I want things put.’ 

The mum later updated her post and said she had asked her own electrician to assist with some of the issues.

‘He will put the towel rail cord through the wall and into the power point, which he will move over to where it use to be pre-reno. [That way] the towel rail can come up so the door of the cabinet can actually open.’