Top 10 Expensive Mistakes People Make When Renovating Their Kitchen & Bathroom Together in Vancouver

You’d think the hardest part of a major renovation in Vancouver would be picking a tile that you won’t hate in 5 years.
Sadly, no.

The real budget killers are the invisible decisions you make before demo day, especially when you’re doing a kitchen and at least one bathroom at the same time in a Vancouver-area home or condo.

Let’s walk through the 10 big, pricey mistakes and how to dodge them.

Mistake 1: Are you treating your kitchen and bathroom as two separate projects?

Doing the kitchen this year and the bathrooms “later” feels sensible. It’s not.

What actually happens:

• You pay for demo, setup, cleanup, permits, and project management twice.

• Trades have to re-mobilize: electrician back, plumber back, tiler back = more minimum charges.

• You live in chaos twice (your future self is already tired).

When you plan kitchen + bath together, you can:

• Run plumbing and electrical efficiently in one go.

• Order cabinets, counters, tile, and fixtures together and often get better pricing.

• Make layout decisions that work across the whole floor, not just one room at a time.

💡 Smart move: Even if you can’t afford to finish every bathroom now, get a whole-home plan drawn and rough in what future-you will need while the walls are open.

Photos Source: Pinterest.com

Mistake 2: Are you starting without a full design & specification package?

“Let’s just get a quote and choose finishes later” is the fastest way to blow your budget.

In Vancouver, especially, pricing swings wildly depending on:

• custom vs semi-custom cabinetry

• porcelain vs stone vs slab backsplash

• standard vs luxury fixtures

• basic vs “spa” shower systems

If your contractor is guessing, they will either:

• under-allowance you (cue painful change orders later), or

• over-allowance you (you think they’re expensive and start shopping for cheaper, possibly sketchier options).

A proper design + specs package before quoting means:

• Every major item is selected or at least defined (category, quality level, supplier).

• Contractors can give realistic apples-to-apples pricing.

• You’re not making rushed decisions at Rona while someone texts “We need the faucet choice by 2 pm.”

💡 Smart move: Treat design as Phase 1 of construction, not “optional pre-planning.” It will save you thousands in rework and “I didn’t know that cost extra” surprises.

Mistake 3: Are you underestimating Vancouver-specific costs (permits, strata, trades)?

Renovating here is not the same as renovating in random-cheap-labour-town-on-YouTube.

Hidden Vancouver (and nearby) costs:

• Permits & inspections - kitchen and bathroom work often triggers building, electrical, and plumbing permits.

• Strata approvals - condo renos in Yaletown, Kits, Mount Pleasant, North Van, etc. often need formal applications, noise restrictions,

  elevator bookings, and

  specific waterproofing or underlay requirements

• High-demand trades – good electricians, plumbers, tilers, and millworkers are in demand. Rush jobs cost more.
  

If your budget doesn’t have room for any of this, the project will either:

• stall midway, or

• get quietly downgraded in quality to “make the numbers work.”
  

💡 Smart move: Build in 10–20% contingency, plus a real line item for permits/strata. If you don’t need it, great. If you do, you’re not panicking.

Photos Source: Copacabana House by Polly Harbinson Design

Mistake 4: Are you ignoring what’s behind the walls?

Older Vancouver and North Shore homes, plus parts of Vancouver Island, love to surprise you with:

• ancient plumbing

• cloth or aluminum wiring

• zero insulation

• moisture damage from decades of steam and not-great fans

You can absolutely slap a pretty kitchen and bathroom over that. You will absolutely regret it.

The expensive mistake is pretending your reno is only “cosmetic” when you know the house is older or has quirks.

What you actually want to plan for:

• Plumbing upgrades while the kitchen + bath walls are already open

• Electrical capacity (especially if you’re adding induction, more lighting, or a heated floor)

• Insulation and air sealing in exterior walls

• Proper ventilation in bathrooms and over the cooktop

💡 Smart move: During design, ask directly:

“What are the likely behind-the-walls issues for a home/condo of this age in this neighbourhood?”

Then budget for at least some of that reality up front.

Mistake 5: Are you blowing the budget on pretty finishes and skimping on the boring stuff?

The quickest way to regret your reno is to splurge on the terrazzo you saw on Instagram and then cheap out on waterproofing, ventilation, underlay/soundproofing, lighting layout, and storage solutions.

In a damp coastal climate, water management and air flow are not “nice to have.” They’re “do this or redo the bathroom in 5 years.”

Places to spend smart:

• quality waterproofing in showers & wet areas

• properly sized, quiet bathroom fans that actually vent outside

• durable flooring suitable for coastal humidity

• thoughtful lighting levels (task, ambient, accent)

Then choose finishes that work with your budget and are easy to maintain in real Vancouver life (rain, pets, mud, sand, snowboarding gear dumped in the entry…).

💡 Smart move: Protect structure and systems first. Tiles and faucets can be swapped; rotted subfloor is a bigger mood.

Photo Source: Pinterest.com

Mistake 6: Are you expecting to live normally through a full gut reno?

Technically, you can live in your home while your kitchen and bathrooms are being torn apart.
You’ll just also:

• eat out constantly (more hidden budget)

• shower at friends’ places or the gym

• breathe dust and listen to power tools at 8am

If your plan is “We’ll just set up a hot plate in the living room and it’ll be fine,” future-you is already side-eyeing you.

Real questions to ask:

• Will you have any functional bathroom during the reno?

• Do you have somewhere to cook/eat that’s not covered in dust?

• Are there kids, pets, work-from-home issues?

Sometimes the cheaper overall choice is:

• moving out for a concentrated period

• or doing a properly planned phased renovation that keeps one bathroom functional while the other is done.

💡 Smart move: Decide early: “live through it” vs “move out” — and cost that into the project so it’s not a last-minute emergency Airbnb.

Mistake 7: Are you forgetting about storage, outlets, and lighting?

Expensive mistake = gorgeous kitchen + bathroom… and nowhere to put anything.

Common misses:

• no outlets where you actually use small appliances

• not enough circuits for modern tech and undercabinet lighting

• shallow vanity storage that doesn’t fit real bottles

• zero thought for brooms, vacuums, bulk items

In smaller Vancouver homes and condos, storage is basically a second currency.

Design in:

• tall pantry storage, even if it’s narrow

• smart vanity interiors (drawers instead of giant black-hole cupboards)

• outlets in medicine cabinets/drawers for shavers, toothbrushes, hair tools

• a general “utility” zone somewhere on the floor

💡 Smart move: Before design is locked, walk through a typical day and list where everything lives and how you use it. If there’s no “home” for it, you’ll end up with clutter on every surface.

Photo Source: Pinterest.com

Mistake 9: Are you hiring every trade yourself and acting as your own GC?

On paper, organizing your own trades sounds like a great way to save money.

In reality, it often adds delays (one trade runs over, the next can’t start), gaps in responsibility (“That’s the plumber’s fault, not mine…”), budget creep because no one is watching the whole picture

Major kitchen + bathroom renovations in Vancouver touch:

• design

• demo

• framing

• plumbing

• electrical

• HVAC / ventilation

• drywall, tile, flooring, millwork

• paint, glass, finishing

Coordinating all of that around permits, strata rules, and inspections is a full-time job.

💡 Smart move: If the scope includes moving walls, changing layouts, and redoing multiple wet rooms, consider hiring a design-build team, or at least a designer + general contractor working together from the start.

You might pay a bit more in fees, but you’re likely to save in mistakes, delays, and “do-overs.”

How do you avoid all these mistakes in your own Vancouver renovation?

Short version:

• plan whole-home instead of room-by-room

• get design and selections done before quoting

• budget for Vancouver realities (permits, strata, older bones, climate)

• spend smart on structure, systems, function, then finishes

If you want to skip the chaos and “I wish someone had told me that” moments, this is where a good design-led team pays for itself.

👉 Learn more about our Vancouver kitchen & bathroom renovation services and how we plan whole-home upgrades that actually make sense long term.

Photo Source: Pinterest.com

FAQ

Q1: How much should I budget to renovate my kitchen and at least one bathroom in Vancouver?
It depends on size, age of the home, and level of finishes, but for a Vancouver-area full gut (kitchen + one main bathroom), expect at least a solid five-figure budget, often well into six-figure territory once you include design, permits, behind-the-walls upgrades, and quality finishes.

If that number feels wild, it’s much better to know now and adjust scope than pretend it can be done for half the cost and quietly strip quality later.

Q2: Is it cheaper to do my kitchen and bathroom at the same time or separately?
Almost always: the same time is more efficient.

You only pay once for permits and approvals, site setup and protection, trades mobilization, and project management

Doing them separately usually means more disruption and higher total cost, even if each phase feels smaller.

Q3: How long will a major kitchen + bathroom reno take in the Vancouver area?
Plan on months, not weeks.
You’ve got design & selections, permitting/strata approvals (for many projects), ordering materials (some items have long lead times), construction, inspections, and deficiency fixes.

The actual on-site work for a combined project might be several months of active construction, depending on scope and whether you’re in a condo or house. Your timeline will be very specific to your home, your municipality, and how much you’re changing.

Final Thought

If you’re planning a major kitchen and bathroom renovation in Vancouver, you’re already investing serious money, time, and patience.

The goal isn’t a “perfect Pinterest reveal.”
The goal is a home that works beautifully for real West Coast life, meaning rain boots, grocery hauls, foggy mornings, hockey gear, and all without leaving you muttering at your past self every time you step into the shower.

Ready to explore your own project? Check out our interior design services for design, planning and full-scope project support.