Bathroom renovation in Al Khobar is work we carry out at Aemar Al-Maryam General Contracting on one principle: whatever ends up hidden behind the tiles is repaired and tested before the finish goes on. We break out the old tiles far enough to expose the cause, lay new plumbing and pressure-test it while the walls are still open, waterproof the floor and walls and prove the membrane with standing water, then form the falls, tile, and fit the fixtures, ceiling and extract fan. Our Al Khobar jobs range from turning an unused bathtub into a level-entry shower in a villa master bathroom to rebuilding a cramped bathroom in a flat in Al Thuqbah or Madinat Al Ummal, plus majlis washrooms and annexes. Compact rooms begin at SAR 2,300, mid-sized ones at SAR 4,600 and master bathrooms at SAR 6,400, with economy finishes, and none of these numbers is final before a site visit and a signed-off scope. Ring or message 0547879578.
In this city the building shapes the job more than the décor does. Villa master bathrooms in Al Hizam Al Akhdar or Al Olaya usually come with a tub nobody climbs into any more and an owner who wants a wide, step-free shower. Flats in Al Thuqbah or Al Hada blocks mean breaking out inside an occupied building, with a shared lift, a neighbour underneath and corridors that must stay clean. Narrow bathrooms in older flats need every centimetre back, which is where a wall-hung WC on a concealed frame earns its place. And the sea air that hangs over all of them is already damp, so a bathroom with poor extraction ruins its own ceiling. Below we take each case in turn, then give the price table and a worked villa example.
Al Khobar bathroom renovation at a glance
- Scope: old tiles out, new hot, cold and waste pipework, a membrane tested with water, screed falling to the drain, porcelain or ceramic, sanitaryware fitted, a ceiling that tolerates steam, and a fan and electrics on protected circuits.
- Starting prices: SAR 2,300 (small, up to about 4.5 m²), SAR 4,600 (medium), SAR 6,400 (over 9 m²), economy materials included. Single items: tile stripping SAR 14 a square metre, membrane SAR 26, tiling SAR 36, a full bathroom pipework set SAR 460.
- Common Al Khobar requests: tub-to-shower in villas, flat bathrooms in occupied blocks, ceilings spoiled by condensation, big porcelain formats, and wall-hung WCs where space is tight.
- Nothing is covered until: the pipework passes its tests, the membrane is inspected, and the floor has held water for one to three days.
- Duration: a day or three for a small repair; a full standard bathroom usually takes one to two weeks.
- Where: all of Al Khobar, from Al Thuqbah and Madinat Al Ummal to Al Olaya and the Green Belt, and from Al Hada to Al Aqrabiyah and South Khobar.
- Next step: WhatsApp photos and dimensions to 0547879578.
Bathroom renovation in Al Khobar: a villa bathroom is not a flat bathroom
Bathroom renovation in Al Khobar starts with three questions we ask on the first visit: where is this room, what is underneath it, and who uses it every day? The answers change how we break out, what order we work in and even which drain we fit. Most of the bathrooms we see in the city fall into one of four groups:
■ Villa master bathroom
Medium to large, often with an old tub to be swapped for a walk-in shower, and enough floor build-up to make a step-free entry possible.
■ Flat in an apartment block
Noisy work fitted around residents, rubble carried down a shared lift or stairwell, and a neighbour below who depends on our flood test.
■ Small or guest bathroom
Space decides everything: a wall-hung WC on a hidden frame, a wall-hung basin and a door that swings clear.
■ Majlis or annex washroom
The waste outlet and its fall come first, then ventilation, because many of these were put up quickly.
Whatever the group, the look comes last. A new floor laid over a dead membrane or a rusting supply line will be lifted again within a few years, together with the money you spent on it. Our bathroom and kitchen renovation service page gives the overview; this page covers how the work is done in Al Khobar.
Bathroom renovation company in Al Khobar: one team from strip-out to handover
A bathroom renovation company in Al Khobar earns its fee by keeping every trade under one roof. The plumber has to know the finished floor level before setting outlets; the person applying the membrane needs the pipes already fixed so it can be sealed around them; and the floor has to be sloped correctly before tiling starts. Split those jobs between three firms and the gaps between them are exactly where water escapes.
So we run the whole sequence ourselves: survey and measuring, a written scope, strip-out and rubble removal, pipework and testing, waterproofing, screed and tiling, ceiling, fan and wiring, then sanitaryware and handover. Every stage is photographed before it disappears, which leaves you with a record of what sits under the new finish.
Bathroom renovation contractor in Al Khobar or individual tradesmen?
With a single bathroom renovation contractor in Al Khobar there is one name to call if damp shows up a year later. With individual tradesmen, each answers for his own slice and points at the next man. A single contract also forces the details onto paper before work begins: how far the breaking-out goes, the pipe system, the membrane height wall by wall, how long the water test lasts, which adhesive and grout go on, and who carts the rubble away.
Bathroom repair technician in Al Khobar for one-off faults
Some bathrooms need a technician rather than a project: a WC weeping at its base, a gully that lets smells back, or shower grout that has cracked and gone black. We take on these jobs as well, and if the real fault turns out to be deeper we say so before charging for a cosmetic fix.
Washroom and toilet renovation company in Al Khobar
People also search for a washroom or toilet renovation company in Al Khobar, and for us the work is the same; only size and use change. The washroom types we meet most in the city:
- ✓Majlis washroom: guest use, rarely a shower, so floor waterproofing with a short upturn is normally enough. The real design work is fitting the WC, the basin and the door into the space.
- ✓En-suite: a daily shower, so the membrane goes up the shower walls to head height, the grout there must resist water, and a fan stops steam drifting into the bedroom.
- ✓Annex or roof washroom: we check the outlet, its fall and how it joins the network before anything else, then deal with ventilation and ceiling.
- ✓Shops and offices: work can be scheduled after hours, with slip-resistant flooring and grout that stands up to daily mopping.
Bathtub to shower conversion in Al Khobar
A bathtub to shower conversion in Al Khobar is the job villa owners ask for most, and larger flats are not far behind. The tub installed long ago has become dead space in many homes, awkward for older relatives to step into, while a walk-in shower is roomier and quicker to clean. Yet the conversion is more than swapping one item for another: the floor under a tub was never meant to take running water, and whatever membrane exists there sits well below shower height.
The conversion, in order:
- 1Cut out and lift the tub
The tiles around it are cut along a clean line where the remaining wall tiling will stay, the tub is lifted without hammering adjacent walls, and the corridor outside is covered. - 2Open up the old waste
Once the tub is out its waste pipe is visible, and we decide whether it can serve the shower drain or a new branch with a proper fall is needed. An abandoned branch is either reused with a trap or capped at the stack, never left open in the wall. - 3Set the shower floor level
We measure the layers above the structural slab to see whether a step-free entry works, or whether a low kerb or a linear drain is the better route. - 4Raise the mixer
Tub mixers sit low, so the concealed body is moved to shower height and fixed before waterproofing. - 5Waterproof the entire wet zone
Flexible membrane on the floor and up the shower walls to about 1,800 mm, with tape in every internal corner and a collar at the drain. - 6Screed and tile
Roughly a 2% fall to the drain inside the shower area, then matte, slip-resistant porcelain and a water-resistant grout.
Level-entry shower: when can the step disappear?
A shower with no step works when the floor build-up lets the shower area sit lower than the rest of the room by the depth of its fall. Many Al Khobar villas have a sand-and-mortar bed over the slab that is deep enough, so we recess the shower within it and leave the rest of the floor alone. In flats where that bed is thin, we will not chase into the structural slab. The options then are a kerb of a few centimetres, a linear drain along one edge that needs less depth, or lifting the whole bathroom floor slightly and adjusting the threshold.
Thinking about an open shower?
Measure from the shower head to the door. If the distance is short, a fixed glass screen or a steeper fall keeps water off the threshold. We settle it with you on site.
Linear drain or centre drain?
A square drain in the middle needs the floor to slope in from four sides, which means cutting tiles along each slope and suits mid-sized tiles. A linear channel along one wall lets the floor fall one way, so large tiles stay whole and the height difference is smaller. Which one we fit depends on where the waste runs, how deep the bed is and the tile you choose, and we decide once the floor is open.
Bathroom renovation in Al Khobar flats: working in an occupied building
In an Al Khobar apartment block you share the building, and that changes everything. The flat below suffers first if water escapes, the lift and stairs belong to everyone, and the management or owners’ association sets its own hours. So in flats the planning starts before the first tile comes off.
Before the breaker comes out: management and neighbours
- ✓Building management: we ask about permitted hours for noisy work, whether the lift can carry rubble, and where sacks or a skip may stand.
- ✓Neighbours: we suggest letting the flat below and the flats either side know before the noisy days, since vibration carries through slabs and walls.
- ✓The flat’s own stop valve: we check the flat can be isolated alone, so the rest of the block keeps its water while we work.
- ✓Shared stacks: a vertical waste pipe serving several flats inside the bathroom wall is not cut or rerouted without the management’s agreement.
Getting rubble down without upsetting anyone
Stripping an ordinary bathroom produces a surprising number of heavy sacks. We fill strong bags inside the bathroom, cover the corridor floor, line the lift if we are allowed to use it, carry the bags down in batches at agreed times and take everything off site the same day. A rubble load within Al Khobar starts from SAR 90. Larger breaking-out work in a flat is covered on our demolition contractor in Al Khobar page.
The flat underneath: why the flood test is not optional
When waterproofing fails in a villa, you find the damp yourself. In a flat your downstairs neighbour finds it on their ceiling, and a repair becomes a dispute. That is why the sealed floor holds water for at least a day and up to three, and where possible we look at the ceiling below before and after. Only a dry ceiling lets us move on to screed and tiles.
Find the source of the neighbour’s stain before breaking anything
If there is already a damp patch on the ceiling below, it may come from your bathroom, a shared pipe or a different bathroom altogether. We trace it first, using the leak detection approach on our waterproofing and insulation in Al Khobar page, and size the breaking-out from what we find.
When does a bathroom in Al Khobar need renovation?
A bathroom needs renovation when something you can see points to something you cannot. Reading the sign early keeps the job small. The table lists what we meet most often in Al Khobar:
| What you notice | Usual cause | Our response |
|---|---|---|
| Damp or blistering paint on the wall beside the shower | Membrane failed on the shower wall, or a joint seeping inside it | Trace the source, then open up the wet area as a minimum |
| Water marks on the ceiling of the flat below | Floor membrane broken down, or drain no longer sealed to it | Locate the leak, strip the floor, re-waterproof and flood test |
| A drain smell that keeps coming back | Trap dried out or cracked, WC seal loose, or waste laid with the wrong fall | Plumbing repair; open the floor only if the fall is the problem |
| Tiles that ring hollow or come loose | Bond gone, often because water found its way behind | Lift the area, let it dry, then re-bed |
| Ceiling sagging or paint peeling | Steam trapped with no outlet, or a board not rated for damp | Damp-tolerant ceiling plus a fan venting outside |
| Low pressure or brown water | Old iron pipework rusted from inside | New supply pipework, usually as part of a full job |
Ground-floor bathrooms in Al Khobar villas: rising damp and salt
In much of the Eastern Province saline groundwater sits shallow, often under one and a half metres down. It wicks up through the bottom of walls and brings dissolved salt with it, leaving white crusts, swollen plaster and hollow tiles along the base of ground-floor bathroom walls. New tiles alone will not stop that. The moisture source and its route are dealt with first, then fresh cement render, membrane and tiles. The treatment of salts in buildings is covered on our renovation contractor in Al Khobar page.
Partial or full bathroom renovation in Al Khobar?
Some bathrooms need stripping to the slab; others only need one fault put right. The cause decides, not the appearance:
- ✓A local repair will do when the trouble is grout, sealant, a mixer, a WC, a trap or a handful of loose tiles in a dry area, with no damp showing outside the room.
- ✓The wet zone has to come up when damp appears behind the shower or below the room, because only a new membrane fixes that, and membranes cannot be renewed through tiles.
- ✓A full renovation makes sense with old iron pipes, a new layout such as tub to shower or a relocated WC, or tiles hollow in several places.
Complete bathroom remodel in Al Khobar
A complete bathroom remodel in Al Khobar takes the room back to bare concrete and rebuilds it with tested pipework, a new membrane, falls, tiles, sanitaryware, ceiling and extraction. When several faults coincide it is the cheaper route over time, because patching them one by one means opening the floor again and again.
Renovating old bathrooms in Al Khobar
Older blocks and houses in Madinat Al Ummal, Al Aqrabiyah and South Khobar tend to bring three problems together. Galvanised iron supply pipes have rusted inside, so pressure drops and the water discolours. The original membrane, if there ever was one, has gone brittle. And ventilation is poor: a tiny window kept shut, or none at all.
Salt-laden coastal air speeds up corrosion of old iron and brass fittings, and we see it clearly whenever these walls are opened. For old bathrooms we therefore replace the supply runs completely with modern heat-welded plastic pipe, rather than splicing new to old inside a wall about to be tiled over. We also check the WC waste and its fall and the slab under the room; any crack is repaired first, as explained on our crack repair in Al Khobar page.
Bathroom plumbing rough-in in Al Khobar before the walls close
Rough-in is the part you will never see again after handover, so it gets the closest checking. New hot and cold lines go to every outlet, concealed mixer bodies and any WC frame are fixed before tiling, and the wastes are laid in standard sizes, 110 mm for the WC, 40 mm for shower or tub and about 32 mm for the basin, at an even fall so nothing lies in the pipe. Labour for a full set of standard bathroom points starts from SAR 460.
Pressure and drainage tests before tiling
No wall is closed until the waste has held a 3-metre (minimum) column of water, unchanged for a quarter of an hour or longer, or air at 35 kPa for the same period, and the supply has been held at not less than working pressure, following the Saudi plumbing code requirements. We photograph the gauge and the clock so you know what is buried behind your tiles.
Plumbing second fix in Al Khobar
Second fix comes after tiling: basin and mixer, WC, shower valve and head, hand spray, and the water heater with its relief valve, each tried in turn. Labour starts from SAR 75 per mixer, SAR 90 for a basin with its tap, and SAR 140 for an electric heater with its valve. Al Khobar’s mains supply is desalinated, so fittings and valves are chosen to suit hot water. For wider plumbing jobs see our plumber in Al Khobar page.
Bathroom waterproofing in Al Khobar before tiling
Bathroom waterproofing in Al Khobar goes onto the prepared floor, turns up the walls and is proved with water before a single tile covers it; the rate starts from SAR 26 a square metre with the flood test included. Coatings brushed over existing tiles do not reach a leak that is already underneath them.
Our waterproofing sequence
- 1Prepare
Old mortar scraped off the slab, holes and cracks repaired, surface left to dry. - 2Prime
A primer coat so the membrane grips concrete and walls. - 3Reinforce
Tape along every floor-to-wall joint, collars at the drain and at each pipe penetration. - 4Membrane
Two coats of a flexible under-tile product, cement-polymer or polymer type, built to the thickness its data sheet specifies. - 5Flood test
Drain plugged, floor flooded, water left one to three days while we watch adjacent walls and the ceiling below. - 6Cover
After a pass, screed with falls goes over the membrane, or tiles go straight on, depending on the system.
Membrane heights on bathroom walls
We work to established international wet-area references: about 1,800 mm up the shower walls, 150 mm above the rim around a tub, and roughly 30 cm around the rest of the room. In a screenless shower the wall facing the head gets membrane too, because spray reaches it.
Flood testing in Al Khobar bathrooms
The sealed floor sits under 2.5 to 10 cm of water at its deepest point for 24 to 72 hours, the method set out in the recognised American flood-test standard. A pass means a steady water line and dry walls and ceilings around and below. You receive photos of the level at the start and finish.
Bathroom floor falls and drains in Al Khobar
Falls are what carry water to the gully instead of into a corner. In the shower we work to roughly 2%, about 2 cm per metre, and keep under 4% so the floor stays comfortable to stand on; elsewhere a gentler 0.5 to 1% is enough. The gully goes at the low point with its trap kept full against smells. After tiling we pour water and watch it run, and the room is not handed over while any puddle remains.
Changing bathroom tiles in Al Khobar
Changing bathroom tiles in Al Khobar begins with stripping the old tiles and bedding, from SAR 14 a square metre, then preparing the surface and retiling floors and walls from SAR 36 a square metre. In a bathroom, retiling and waterproofing go together, because lifting the tiles shows you the membrane and pipes underneath, and worn tiles very often sit on a membrane that has already given up.
- ✓Floors: porcelain, which absorbs no more than 0.5% water, in a matte or slip-resistant finish for wet use.
- ✓Walls: ceramic or porcelain to taste and budget; in shower rooms we normally run wall tiles to the ceiling.
- ✓Adhesive: an improved cement-based adhesive rated for porcelain and wet areas, with at least 95% contact behind each tile so no pockets hold water.
- ✓Grout: epoxy in the shower, an improved low-absorption cement grout elsewhere.
- ✓Sealant: silicone at internal corners and around sanitaryware, because those joints move and grout would crack.
Large-format porcelain and tile levelling clips in Al Khobar bathrooms
Big porcelain such as 60×120 is now a favourite in Al Khobar villas and newer flats: fewer joints, a larger-looking room. It also shows every dip in the surface. The American tile installation reference tightens the flatness allowance for tiles with a side of roughly 38 cm or longer, to no more than 3 mm over 3 metres against 6 mm for smaller tiles. So walls and floors are trued up first, adhesive goes on both the bed and the back of each tile, and plastic levelling clips sit in the joints to hold neighbouring edges flush while it cures. Clips control the edges only; they cannot rescue a bowed wall, which is why levelling comes first.
Shower floors raise one more issue: a large tile cannot bend to meet falls coming from four sides towards a centre gully. It is either cut diagonally around the drain or paired with a linear drain so the floor falls one way and the tile stays whole. Rates for big formats and other sizes are on our tile installer in Al Khobar page.
Tiling over old bathroom tiles: is it acceptable?
Sometimes. The old tiles must be solidly stuck with no hollow spots, the walls true, and the extra thickness must still let the door open and the gully sit low enough. In a shower where the membrane is suspect we advise against it: it hides the fault and eats into the falls.
Bathroom ceilings in Al Khobar’s humid air
Al Khobar bathroom ceilings take daily shower steam in air that is damp to begin with. If the vapour has nowhere to go it condenses overhead, boards swell, paint lifts and dark spots creep into the corners. Ceiling material and ventilation are therefore designed as a pair.
Moisture-resistant gypsum or cement board overhead?
- ✓Moisture-resistant gypsum board: right for ventilated bathrooms away from direct spray, from SAR 74 a square metre. It tolerates damp but is not waterproof and is unsuitable for constant high humidity such as steam rooms. More on our gypsum board installation in Al Khobar page.
- ✓Cement board: for surfaces that get wet directly and as a tile backer in showers; joints and fixings in wet spots still need sealing. Priced on inspection; see our cement board installation in Al Khobar page.
- ✓Framing: galvanised channels, since untreated steel rusts quickly in local humidity.
- ✓Access hatch: left near the heater and valves so the ceiling is not broken at the first service visit.
Extract fans: where does the damp air go?
A bathroom without a large enough opening window needs a fan. Residential references size it at roughly 24 litres per second (50 cubic feet per minute) when switched on with the shower, or about 20 cubic feet per minute if it runs all the time. What matters more is that it vents outside. A fan blowing into the void above a suspended ceiling simply moves the moisture up and rots the board from behind. Where the duct must pass through concrete we core it, as described on our core drilling in Al Khobar page. Wiring a fan or heater point starts from SAR 65.
Untiled walls: render and paint for a steamy room
Any untiled wall area needs cement render, not gypsum plaster, which does not belong in wet rooms; render starts from SAR 18 a square metre. A bathroom-grade paint goes over it. See our plastering and painting pages for Al Khobar.
Safe bathroom electrics and water heaters in Al Khobar
Wiring is planned alongside the plumbing, not afterwards. The international standards behind the Saudi electrical code set clear zones around showers and tubs: fittings near water rated IPX4 or better, sockets kept out of spray zones, and every bathroom circuit on a 30 mA RCD. The heater’s double-pole switch normally sits outside the room. Wider electrical work is on our electrician in Al Khobar page.
Small bathroom renovation in Al Khobar
In a small bathroom, renovation is mostly about winning space. Older flats and guest bathrooms are often too narrow for a floor-standing WC, a pedestal basin and an inward-opening door all at once. Fully renovated, a compact bathroom begins at SAR 2,300 using economy finishes.
Wall-hung WC on a concealed frame
A wall-hung pan hangs on a steel frame bolted to floor and wall, which takes the load, while the cistern is hidden in the wall or behind a light stud panel and only the flush plate shows. You gain clear floor under the pan, a WC that sticks out less, and a room that feels bigger. The decision belongs before tiling: the frame is fixed and checked with a spirit level, connected to a 110 mm waste with a proper fall and to the supply, and tested before it is covered. The flush plate is the only access to the cistern, so it goes where you can reach it easily.
When a wall-hung WC is not the answer
If the wall is too thin to anchor the frame firmly, or the waste cannot reach the right height without cutting the structural slab, we fit a back-to-wall floor pan with a compact cistern instead, which still saves room.
More ways to free up a small bathroom
- ✓A basin fixed to the wall with open floor beneath.
- ✓A shower in place of a tub, even in a compact room.
- ✓A door opening outwards or sliding.
- ✓A recessed niche in the shower wall, membraned like the rest.
- ✓Larger, paler tiles for fewer joints and a wider look.
Bathroom enlargement in Al Khobar
Enlarging a bathroom means borrowing from a neighbouring room or corridor, or moving a wall. It is often possible, but the first question is whether that wall carries load. If it does, nothing happens without an engineer and a permit; if not, it can go, and the plumbing and membrane extend into the new space. Enlargements are priced on inspection.
Squat toilet to western WC conversion in Al Khobar
To swap a squat pan for a western WC we lift the pan, break out its bed, run a 110 mm waste to the new position at the right fall, then waterproof, tile and fit. If the old pipe is in the wrong place or too shallow for the fall, the floor may need raising a little. This one is priced after inspection, since everything depends on the waste route below.
Renewing a bathroom without breaking tiles in Al Khobar: what works
Without breaking tiles, a bathroom in Al Khobar can still be refreshed when the faults are on the surface:
- ✓Cracked grout raked out and replaced with epoxy or a low-absorption grout.
- ✓Mouldy sealant cut out and renewed.
- ✓New mixers, basin, WC or hand spray, leaving the tiles alone.
- ✓A trap or pan seal fixed when it is behind the smell.
- ✓A new ceiling and fan.
A dead membrane under the shower, a pipe dripping inside the wall or a fall that holds water cannot be fixed from the surface. Epoxy tile paint can change colour in dry areas, but it is not waterproofing, and we keep it out of showers.
Bathroom renovation cost in Al Khobar
In Al Khobar a bathroom renovation costs from SAR 2,300 for the smallest rooms (up to about 4.5 m²), from SAR 4,600 for mid-sized rooms, and from SAR 6,400 for master bathrooms over 9 m², all with economy materials. We charge the same here as in Dammam and Dhahran, since Al Khobar is part of our everyday area. These are estimates until inspection and agreement, moved by the room size, what we find under the tiles, the tiles and fittings you pick, the floor level and access.
| Work in Al Khobar | Starting price | Charged per | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compact bathroom up to roughly 4.5 m², complete | SAR 2,300 | room | Breaking out, pipework, membrane, economy tiles and refitting sanitaryware, economy materials included |
| Mid-sized bathroom of roughly 5–9 m², complete | SAR 4,600 | room | The small-room scope, economy materials |
| Master bathroom larger than 9 m² | SAR 6,400 | room | The small-room scope, economy materials |
| Old tiles and their bedding removed | SAR 14 | square metre | Labour |
| New bathroom pipework | SAR 460 | room | Hot, cold and waste to the usual outlets, labour |
| Membrane and flood test | SAR 26 | square metre | Floor plus wall upturns to the needed height |
| Floor and wall tiles | SAR 36 | square metre | Labour |
| Cement render under tiles | SAR 18 | square metre | Labour |
| Green moisture-resistant gypsum ceiling | SAR 74 | square metre | Ceiling installed |
| New or replacement mixer | SAR 75 | mixer | Labour |
| Basin and its tap | SAR 90 | basin | Labour |
| Electric heater and relief valve | SAR 140 | heater | Labour |
| Electrical point for heater or fan | SAR 65 | point | Labour |
| Rubble removal inside Al Khobar | SAR 90 | load | Off-site haulage |
| Sealed cement board behind tiles | On inspection | — | Depends on the site |
| Tub to shower, squat to western, enlargement | On inspection | — | Depends on the waste route |
| New grout and sealant without breaking out | On inspection | — | Depends on the metres involved |
| Salt and damp at the foot of ground-floor walls | On inspection | — | Depends on the source |
Leak detection is not in this table because it is a separate job done before renovation; it is covered on our waterproofing and insulation in Al Khobar page. Sanitaryware itself is not priced either, since it depends entirely on what you choose. For our other services, see the price guide.
Worked example: a 3.0 × 2.6 m villa master bathroom in Al Khobar, tub replaced by a shower
An illustrative master bathroom of 3.0 × 2.6 m with a 2.6 m ceiling, where the tub comes out for a 1.2 × 1.0 m shower corner and the walls are tiled full height:
- ✓Areas: floor 7.8 m². Wall perimeter (3.0 + 2.6) × 2 = 11.2 m; at 2.6 m high that is 29.12 m², less the 0.9 × 2.1 door (1.89 m²) = 27.23 m². Tiles in total: about 35 m².
- ✓Tile stripping: 35 × 14 = SAR 490.
- ✓Membrane: floor 7.8 m², the two shower walls (1.2 + 1.0) × 1.8 = 3.96 m², and a 30 cm upturn on the remaining perimeter after the shower walls and door: (11.2 − 2.2 − 0.9) × 0.3 = 2.43 m². Total 14.19 m² × 26 = about SAR 369.
- ✓Pipework: SAR 460.
- ✓Tiling: 35 × 36 = SAR 1,260.
- ✓Moisture-resistant ceiling: 7.8 × 74 = about SAR 577.
- ✓Basin with tap: SAR 90; shower mixer: SAR 75.
- ✓Heater refitted: SAR 140; fan point: SAR 65.
- ✓Rubble: 2 loads at SAR 90 = SAR 180.
Labour and related items total about SAR 3,706. Economy tiles and materials for some 35 m², with adhesive, grout, membrane and pipe, add roughly SAR 1,800 to 2,200, giving an approximate total of SAR 5,500 to 5,900. That sits above the SAR 4,600 start of the medium band, which is what you would expect for a full-height tiled room with a new ceiling and fan. A 60×120 porcelain or a linear drain would push labour and materials up a little.
What moves the price in Al Khobar
- ✓Tile height: full-height wall tiling is close to twice the area of half-height.
- ✓Layout changes: relocating the WC or drain, or taking out a tub, adds pipework and membrane.
- ✓Hidden condition: a cracked slab or rusted iron pipes add items.
- ✓Floor and access: an upper-floor flat with no lift for rubble takes longer to clear.
- ✓Tile format: large porcelain needs tighter levelling and more time.
- ✓Combining jobs: two bathrooms, or a bathroom and kitchen, in one mobilisation costs less per room.
Low-cost bathroom renovation in Al Khobar without cutting corners
Savings are possible without touching what matters underneath: keep a sound pipe layout, tile secondary bathrooms only to shower height, pick economy mid-size tiles, and refit sanitaryware that still works. The membrane, the flood test and the pressure tests are never trimmed; they are the cheapest lines in the job compared with doing it all twice.
Bathroom renovation steps in Al Khobar, in order
- 1Survey
Bathroom, next room and the ceiling below checked, measured and noted. - 2Written scope
Breaking-out limits, materials, membrane heights, test times and programme on paper. - 3Protection and strip-out
Corridors covered, sanitaryware removed, tiles broken out, rubble cleared. - 4Pipework and tests
New runs, mixer bodies and any WC frame, then waste and supply tests. - 5Render and levelling
True walls for big tiles, cement render where needed. - 6Membrane and flood
Primer, tape, membrane, then one to three days under water. - 7Screed and tiles
Falls to the gully, tiles with levelling clips, grout and silicone. - 8Ceiling, fan, wiring
Damp-tolerant ceiling with hatch, fan venting outside, protected circuits. - 9Fit-off and handover
Sanitaryware fitted, every outlet run, checklist done together.
Three hold points before anything is covered
Pipework tests on the gauge, a close look at the membrane at corners, gully and penetrations, and the one-to-three-day flood test: nothing is closed or tiled before all three, and each is photographed.
How long does bathroom renovation take in Al Khobar?
Small repairs such as a new mixer, regrouting or a trap take one to three days. A full standard bathroom is normally finished in one to two weeks, with curing time and the water test counted in. A large villa tub-to-shower job, or a flat where the building limits working hours, can run a little longer. You get a written programme after the survey.
Can you live at home during the work?
Yes, provided there is another usable bathroom. We screen off the room against dust, cover the corridor and tidy up daily. The water may go off briefly while connections are made, with notice. In a single-bathroom flat we sequence the work so the WC is back in service as early as possible.
Errors we find behind repeat leaks in Al Khobar bathrooms
- ✓Old pipes left behind new tiles.
- ✓No tape at the gully and corners.
- ✓Membrane stopping short on the shower wall, or no upturn elsewhere.
- ✓Flood test skipped to save two days.
- ✓Flat or back-falling screeds.
- ✓Plain cement grout on a shower floor.
- ✓Grout where silicone belongs.
- ✓Accessory screws driven through the membrane unsealed.
- ✓Gypsum products in the spray zone.
- ✓A fan venting into the ceiling void.
Bathroom handover checklist in Al Khobar
- ✓Photos of the pipework tests and the flood test, with times and levels.
- ✓Water from the shower runs to the gully with no puddles.
- ✓No hollow sound when tiles are tapped.
- ✓No lip you can feel between neighbouring large tiles.
- ✓Straight, full joints and clean silicone.
- ✓Dry under the basin and around the WC after use.
- ✓Hot water at shower and basin.
- ✓Fan air leaving the building.
- ✓RCD trips when its test button is pressed.
- ✓Hatch near heater and valves, flush plate easy to reach.
- ✓Spare tiles from the same batch handed to you.
Bathroom renovation before and after in Al Khobar
A before-and-after record means more than two pictures. The final photo shows tiles and taps; the real value is in the stages hidden beneath. We photograph each bathroom at bare slab, with pipes on test, with membrane before and during flooding, with tiles and clips in place, and at handover. Genuine jobs are on our projects page, and we never use pictures of bathrooms we did not build.
Does bathroom renovation in Al Khobar need a permit?
Work kept inside the room, retiling, waterproofing, new pipes and sanitaryware, with no wall, column or slab touched, is maintenance and normally needs no permit. If an enlargement takes out a load-bearing wall, a duct cuts through the concrete slab, or a new bathroom is added, a permit is issued through Balady: restoration when the structure stays as it is, addition and modification when it changes. In apartment blocks the management or owners’ association also has to agree working hours.
The bathroom as part of a bigger Al Khobar renovation
Bathrooms often come within a wider project, and doing them together saves money: one strip-out, one rubble run, one plumbing plan for bathrooms and kitchen, and the wiring checked for the whole home. See our kitchen renovation in Al Khobar page for kitchens, our whole-home renovation in Al Khobar guide, and the finishing works page.
A new bathroom in an annex or on the roof
A bathroom built from nothing in the courtyard or on the roof is construction: new walls, a roof, a waste line to the network and a permit like any annex. We build these within our annex and majlis work; details are on our Al Khobar annex and majlis page.
Al Khobar districts where we renovate bathrooms
We work across the city. In Madinat Al Ummal, Al Aqrabiyah and South Khobar, older buildings mean iron pipes and tight bathrooms. In Al Thuqbah and Al Hada, flats in apartment blocks mean planning around neighbours. In Al Hizam Al Akhdar and Al Olaya, villa master bathrooms and tub-to-shower conversions dominate. The city page is Al Khobar.
We also cover Dammam and Dhahran at Al Khobar rates, and the Dammam service is detailed on our bathroom renovation in Dammam page. For Qatif, Saihat, Jubail, Al-Ahsa and towns further out, travel is costed at the survey.
Why Aemar Al-Maryam for your Al Khobar bathroom?
Promises are easy, so here is what you can check while we work:
- ✓Cause before hammer: the source of the water or smell is found before we decide what to break.
- ✓Your building understood: a villa and a flat are planned differently, and we deal with management and neighbours.
- ✓A written scope: breaking-out limits, materials, membrane heights and test times.
- ✓Photo evidence: pipes on the gauge, membrane before tiling, water during the flood test.
- ✓One point of contact for the whole room after handover.
- ✓Clear starting prices, fixed after the survey and agreement.
How to order bathroom renovation in Al Khobar
One WhatsApp message with photos and dimensions is enough to start:
- 1Photos
Every wall, the floor and ceiling, the pipes below the basin, and any stain next door or downstairs. - 2Size and place
Length, width and height, district, villa or flat, floor number and lift access. - 3What is wrong and what you want
Leak, smell, hollow tiles or a full renovation; tub to shower or a wall-hung WC. - 4Survey visit
At an agreed time, ending with a written scope, price and programme. - 5Works
Stage by stage, nothing covered before it is checked and photographed. - 6Handover
Water, waste and electrics tried with you, and spare tiles left behind.
Your Al Khobar bathroom starts beneath the tiles
Send us photos and the size of your bathroom; we will suggest a scope and an estimated cost, then arrange a survey.
Related Al Khobar pages
Tags
