Most of the requests we receive for bathroom renovation in Saihat come from flats in occupied apartment buildings and from family homes where elderly parents live. In both cases it isn’t enough for the bathroom to come out looking good. In a flat the work has to pass without damaging the corridor, upsetting the neighbours or letting water through to the flat below; in a home with elderly parents the bathroom has to end up safer than it was, with a floor that doesn’t slip and grab bars fixed the way they should be. Aemar Al-Maryam General Contracting renovates bathrooms in Saihat from strip-out and corridor protection through waterproofing and flood testing to tiling, anti-mould silicone and fixture installation. Prices for a small flat bathroom, provided the floor is within roughly 4.5 m², start at SAR 2,300 using economy materials, and we fix the price after visiting the flat and agreeing the items. Our number for calls and WhatsApp: 0547879578.
Saihat is a city close to Dammam with older districts of closely packed houses and newer districts where apartment buildings, flats and duplexes have multiplied. The bathroom in a flat there is usually small, sometimes internal with no window, and connected to a soil stack shared with the flats above and below. Those details decide how the renovation is done, and we explain them here before we get to prices.
Saihat bathroom renovation in points
- Flat bathrooms: light breaking tools, corridors protected with boards, rubble in sealed bags, and working hours agreed with the neighbours.
- Bathrooms for elderly parents: matt anti-slip tiles, grab bars fixed into solid wall, a shower with no high step, and hot water at a safe temperature.
- Against mould: anti-mould sanitary silicone in the corners, low-absorption grout, and a fan that sends steam outdoors.
- Cost: a small flat bathroom from SAR 2,300, larger ones from SAR 4,600 and then SAR 6,400, with economy materials; a square metre of flood-tested membrane from SAR 26 and of tiling from SAR 36.
- Travel: the trip from Dammam to Saihat is assessed at inspection.
- To order: photos of the bathroom and corridor plus the bathroom dimensions on WhatsApp 0547879578.
When does a flat bathroom in Saihat need renovation?
A flat bathroom usually sends its warnings to other people before its owner notices: the neighbour below sees a stain on their ceiling, or the next room’s paint starts flaking along the shared wall. The signs we hear about most often from Saihat residents are:
- ✓A yellow stain or flaking on the bathroom ceiling of the flat below, growing after each use of your shower.
- ✓Black mould returning to the shower corners a few days after cleaning.
- ✓A drain smell from the floor gully, especially in bathrooms not used every day.
- ✓Floor tiles near the shower that move or sound hollow.
- ✓Steam that sits on the mirror and ceiling long after a shower, a sign that the fan isn’t working or isn’t venting outdoors.
- ✓A bathroom that no longer suits an elderly relative living with you.
Each points to a different fault, so we ask you about them one by one before proposing any scope.
Renovating a flat bathroom in an occupied building in Saihat
Renovating a flat bathroom in Saihat begins, before any breaking, with protecting the route to it. We cover the corridor floor from the flat’s front door to the bathroom door with corrugated plastic boards, wrap the bathroom door frame and the flat’s door frame in protective tape, and hang a dust screen at the bathroom door so the dust doesn’t reach the other rooms. Breaking out is done with a small electric chisel hammer; a heavy breaker on an upstairs floor can crack the ceiling of the flat underneath.
- ✓Rubble: sealed into sacks in the bathroom itself and taken down through the day, never left in the hallway or stairwell.
- ✓Lift and stairs: we ask about the building’s rules on using the lift for rubble; if it isn’t allowed, we use the stairs at times that don’t disturb residents.
- ✓Working hours: noisy breaking in the daytime hours agreed in advance, quieter work such as plumbing and waterproofing afterwards.
- ✓Shared soil stack: we locate it before breaking out and keep the breaker well away from it, and cap any open drains throughout so rubble can’t fall in and block the stack for the whole building.
- ✓Water: we shut the bathroom’s own valve if there is one; if there isn’t, we fit a dedicated valve so the flat isn’t left without water for days.
Taking up tiles and bedding costs from SAR 14 a square metre and each load of rubble from SAR 90, with travel to Saihat assessed at inspection. If the breaking out goes beyond the bathroom, see our guide to a demolition contractor in Saihat.
The neighbour below you
Any water that escapes from your bathroom during or after the work shows up first on your neighbour’s ceiling. So we never leave the bathroom unwaterproofed overnight once the drains are open, and we don’t tile until the flood test has passed and we, or the neighbour, have looked at their ceiling.
Bathroom renovation company in Saihat: what the work includes
A bathroom renovation company in Saihat should take on the whole bathroom with one team, because a small flat bathroom can’t take four people from four different firms arriving at different times. Our work includes:
■ Clean strip-out
Removing fixtures, tiles and bedding, with the corridor protected and rubble carried out in bags.
■ Plumbing and drainage
New supply and a bathroom valve, a sound connection to the shared stack, and testing.
■ Waterproofing and testing
A flexible coating turned up the walls, proved with standing water before tiling starts.
■ Tiles and finishing
Matt floor tiles, low-absorption grout and anti-mould silicone.
■ Safety
Grab bars, a shower without a high step, good lighting and protected electrics.
■ Ventilation
A fan ducted outdoors in internal bathrooms, and a moisture-resistant ceiling.
Bathrooms in Saihat’s newer duplexes
The newer districts of Saihat are full of duplexes, and their upstairs bathrooms usually sit above a living room or majlis with a suspended gypsum ceiling. The first sign of any leak shows in that gypsum as a stain or a bulge. In these bathrooms we open the suspended ceiling under the bathroom where needed, so we can see the source of the water with our own eyes, repair it from above, and restore the gypsum once everything is dry. We plan it so the majlis ceiling is opened only once.
Washroom renovation in Saihat
Washroom renovation in Saihat covers the small toilet near the guest lounge or in the annex, and many in the older houses still have a squat pan. We convert it to a western WC on request, laying a graded 110 mm branch to the new pan, then sealing and tiling the floor; the conversion is priced after inspection.
Bathroom maintenance technician in Saihat
Not every bathroom needs a full renovation. A bathroom maintenance technician deals with a trap that lets smells back, a dripping mixer, black grout or a WC seeping at its base. A mixer costs SAR 75 upwards to fit; a basin complete with mixer, SAR 90 upwards. If we find a bigger problem behind the small one, we tell you before we start. Wider plumbing work is covered in our guide to a plumber in Saihat.
A safe bathroom for elderly parents in Saihat
A bathroom for elderly parents is the request that comes up most in Saihat family homes: the parents have grown older, and the bathroom that used to suit them has become the most dangerous room in the house. We renovate it to reduce the risk of a fall and make movement easier, without it looking like a hospital bathroom.
A floor that doesn’t slip
The floor is the first thing we change. We choose matt or textured porcelain, because the American tile standard asks wet indoor floors for a wet DCOF reading of 0.42 or higher. We stay away from glossy tiles however good they look. And we lay gentle falls to the drain so water doesn’t sit on the floor, because a steep fall unsettles an older person’s footing.
Grab bars: where they go and how they are fixed
A grab bar is useless if it can’t take the weight of someone who leans on it suddenly. International accessibility references set horizontal grab bars between 840 and 915 mm above the finished floor, leave a 38 mm gap between bar and wall so a hand can’t get trapped, use a bar diameter between 32 and 51 mm, and require the bar to resist a force of about 1,112 newtons without working loose. In practice we apply that like this:
- ✓We mark the grab bar positions before tiling: beside the WC, in the shower and at the shower entry.
- ✓We fix them into solid block or concrete, or put backing into the wall before tiling where it is weak, and never fix them into gypsum board alone.
- ✓We use screws and anchors suited to the wall material, and seal around them with silicone so water can’t get through the holes behind the tiles.
- ✓We choose stainless steel with a textured grip so a wet hand doesn’t slide.
A shower without a step, and water at a safe temperature
Stepping into a bath is hard for an older person, so we convert it to a shower with a low or level threshold, add a fixed or fold-down seat if requested, and fit a hand shower on a riser rail. Mixers get lever handles rather than knobs that need a strong grip. With hot water we look after two things together: water stored in the heater at about 60 °C so bacteria don’t grow, and water that doesn’t reach the skin hot enough to burn, since water above about 44 °C can scald elderly people; so we suggest a thermostatic mixer.
- ✓Lighting: good light over the basin and the shower, with a switch by the door that someone coming in at night can reach.
- ✓Door: we suggest it opens outwards where possible, so a person who has fallen behind it doesn’t block it.
- ✓Threshold: we remove or lower a high door threshold as far as the waterproofing and drainage allow.
Converting a bath to a shower and fitting grab bars are priced after inspection, because they vary with the bathroom and what it needs.
Before you ask for the renovation
Ask the people at home who will use this bathroom most, and what they find hard today. The answer changes the choice of tile, the position of the grab bars, the basin height and the type of shower, and saves you alterations after handover.
Anti-mould silicone and grout in Saihat bathrooms
Black mould in the shower corners is one of the most common complaints from flat residents in Saihat, and the cause is usually ordinary grout where silicone should be, plus steam with nowhere to go. So we distinguish between the two: grout fills the joints between tiles, while the wall-to-floor junction, vertical corners and the edges around the tray, basin and WC are movement joints that take a flexible, anti-mould sanitary silicone, because rigid grout cracks there as the joint moves and lets water in.
- ✓Before the silicone: we rake the grout out of the joint, clean the corner and let it dry completely, because silicone doesn’t bond to a damp surface.
- ✓Running the bead: one continuous bead with no breaks, then tooled with a plastic profile so it fills the joint and sheds water.
- ✓Afterwards: the shower isn’t used until the silicone has cured as the product sheet says.
- ✓Grout in the shower: a low-absorption cement grout or an epoxy grout, which takes up less water and so leaves mould nowhere to settle.
If your bathroom only needs this, resealing and regrouting without breaking any tiles, it is a job we take on, priced after inspection by length and area.
Ventilating internal bathrooms in Saihat flats
An internal bathroom with no window needs an extract fan, no question. The reference is about 50 cfm if it runs when the room is used, or 20 cfm if it runs continuously, and above all it must exhaust outdoors through a duct, not into the suspended ceiling void where steam condenses and ruins the ceiling. Where the duct has to pass through concrete, we drill it as explained in core drilling in Saihat. Wiring the fan starts from SAR 65. The ceiling goes up in moisture-resistant plasterboard at SAR 74 a square metre upwards, with a hatch under the heater, or from cement board where steam is heavy; see gypsum board installation in Saihat. Materials that get wet and dry out within a day or two don’t usually grow mould, so we deal with any leak at once rather than days later.
Plumbing and waterproofing a flat bathroom in Saihat
A flat bathroom’s plumbing is roughed in from the bathroom valve to every point, and joined to the shared soil stack with a sound connection that isn’t forced into place. Plumbing rough-in starts from SAR 460 labour, and we test the drains with a column of water and the supply under pressure before anything is closed. Then we waterproof the floor and walls with a flexible membrane under the tiles, with fabric tape bedded into every corner and a collar at the gully, taking it up the shower wall to about 1,800 mm; the membrane is priced from SAR 26 a square metre, flood test included. In a flat we extend the flood test to 72 hours where possible, and ask the neighbour below to tell us if they see any mark on their ceiling. More on waterproofing and leak detection is in roof waterproofing and leak detection in Saihat.
Bathroom electrics and the water heater in a flat
Bathroom electrics are reviewed in every full renovation, because many older bathrooms have a socket close to the shower or a heater with no switch outside the room. We protect bathroom circuits with a 30 mA residual current device, use lights and fittings rated at least IPX4 near water, and keep sockets out of the shower zone. The heater switch goes outside the bathroom, and the relief valve gets a safe discharge. Heater installation starts from SAR 140; the wider detail is in our guide to an electrician in Saihat.
Small bathroom renovation in Saihat
A small flat bathroom in Saihat needs decisions that win back space: a shower instead of a bath, a wall-hung basin or a slim vanity, the WC in the corner where it doesn’t foul the door, and a sliding door or one that opens outwards if the inside is tight. We use light, large-format wall tiles with few joints, which makes the room look bigger and leaves fewer joints for mould to collect in. But moving the WC in a flat is limited by where the shared stack runs, so we won’t promise a layout the drainage can’t support before we’ve seen it.
Changing bathroom tiles in Saihat
Changing a flat bathroom’s tiles starts with removing tiles and bedding from SAR 14 per square metre, followed by tiling from SAR 36 per square metre. New tiles over old ones are possible on dry walls only, when the old tiles are completely sound; on the floor it raises the level at the door and buries the old waterproofing unchecked, so we don’t recommend it in a bathroom with any damp. More in our guide to a tile installer in Saihat.
Partial or full renovation for a Saihat bathroom?
- ✓Partial: stained or cracked joints, tired sealant, a dripping tap, a smelly trap, or the odd drummy tile away from the shower.
- ✓Partial, with one area opened: damp on the neighbour’s ceiling under the shower only, with the source confirmed by leak detection.
- ✓Full: damp in more than one place, old pipes, adapting the bathroom for elderly parents, or a change of layout.
Bathroom renovation without breaking tiles in Saihat
A flat bathroom can be renewed without breaking tiles when the waterproofing is sound: regrouting and resealing, changing the basin, mixers and WC, fitting grab bars on sound tiles over solid wall, and renewing the ceiling, fan and lighting. A coating over tiles won’t do in the shower or on a wet floor. And if water is reaching the neighbour’s ceiling, there is no avoiding opening up the wet zone and waterproofing it.
How much does bathroom renovation cost in Saihat?
Bathroom renovation in Saihat is SAR 2,300 and up for a small flat bathroom whose floor is no bigger than about 4.5 m², rises to SAR 4,600 for bathrooms of roughly 5 to 9 m², and to SAR 6,400 for larger ones, with economy materials counted throughout. The crew’s trip from Dammam to Saihat is estimated at inspection, as is anything a high floor without a lift or a long corridor needing more protection adds. Every figure is an estimate until we have seen the flat and agreed.
| Unit | Work in a flat bathroom | Price from |
|---|---|---|
| Bathroom up to about 4.5 m² | Strip-out to handover, economy materials | SAR 2,300 |
| Bathroom of roughly 5 to 9 m² | The same work over a larger area | SAR 4,600 |
| Bathroom over 9 m² | The same work in a spacious room | SAR 6,400 |
| Square metre | Lifting tiles and bedding into sealed bags | SAR 14 |
| One bathroom | Water and drain runs to the shared stack | SAR 460 |
| Square metre | Flexible membrane and a flood test that protects the neighbour | SAR 26 |
| Square metre | Fixing matt floor tiles and wall tiles | SAR 36 |
| Square metre | Rendering the wall before tiling, where needed | SAR 18 |
| Square metre | Suspended ceiling that copes with steam | SAR 74 |
| Mixer | Lever-handle or standard mixer fitted | SAR 75 |
| Basin | Basin together with its mixer | SAR 90 |
| Heater | Heater with relief valve and discharge | SAR 140 |
| Point | Power to the fan or heater | SAR 65 |
| Load | Carrying rubble bags out of the building | SAR 90 |
| Per bathroom | Grab bars, shower in place of bath, renewing silicone and grout | After inspection |
Leak detection has no row because it is diagnosis, done first and agreed to suit the symptoms. Our other prices are on the estimated prices page.
Worked example: a 1.6 × 2.5 m flat bathroom adapted for elderly parents
Picture a flat bathroom 2.5 m long and 1.6 m wide (4.0 m²), tiled 2.4 m high, with its bath giving way to a shower:
- ✓Tiles: an 8.2 m perimeter at 2.4 m high gives 19.68 m²; less 1.68 m² for the doorway, that is 18.0 m² of wall, or 22.0 m² with the floor.
- ✓Removal: 22.0 × 14 = SAR 308.
- ✓Waterproofing: 4.0 m² of floor, 3.24 m² for the two shower walls up to 1.8 m, and 1.68 m² for a 300 mm strip along the other 5.6 m of wall; 8.92 m² at SAR 26 comes to about SAR 232.
- ✓Plumbing: SAR 460. Tiling: 22.0 × 36 = SAR 792. Moisture-resistant ceiling: 4.0 × 74 = SAR 296.
- ✓Fixtures: two mixers SAR 150, basin SAR 90 and fan wiring SAR 65. Debris: two loads SAR 180.
- ✓Total: about SAR 2,573 in labour, plus economy materials, with the grab bars, the bath-to-shower work and travel assessed at inspection.
The example is illustrative; the final figure is written after we’ve seen the bathroom, the corridor and the building.
Steps to renovate a flat bathroom in Saihat
- 1Inspection
We measure the bathroom, locate the soil stack, and ask about the building’s rules and hours. - 2Protection
Boards on the corridor, tape on the door frames and a screen at the bathroom door. - 3Strip-out
Light tools, and rubble in sealed bags carried out daily. - 4Plumbing and testing
New supply and drains, tested before closing. - 5Membrane and flood test
A flexible membrane, then flooding for up to 72 hours while the neighbour’s ceiling is watched. - 6Tiles and silicone
Matt tiles, low-absorption grout and anti-mould silicone in every corner. - 7Safety and ventilation
Grab bars, fan, ceiling and fixtures. - 8Handover and clean-up
Every point tried, protection removed and the corridor cleaned.
Can I stay in the flat during bathroom renovation?
Usually yes, if the flat has another bathroom in use, since the one being renovated is out of service until handover. Water is cut for only a few hours when the new lines are connected. If it is the flat’s only bathroom, we agree a compressed schedule with you so you know in advance how many days it will be out of use. A full renovation of a small bathroom usually takes one to two weeks including drying times and the flood test.
Handover checklist for a flat bathroom
- ✓Shower water goes to the drain without standing in the corners.
- ✓The silicone is continuous in every corner and around the fixtures, with no gaps.
- ✓The grab bars stay rigid when pulled hard.
- ✓Not a drop under the vanity or round the WC foot.
- ✓The fan’s air leaves the building, and pressing the RCD test button cuts the power.
- ✓The neighbour’s ceiling is sound after the flood test, and the corridor is as clean as it was.
Mistakes we find in flat bathrooms after an earlier renovation
Many bathrooms we renovate in Saihat have been renovated once before, and these are the mistakes we most often find under the tiles:
- ✓Waterproofing on the floor only, not carried up the shower wall, so water escapes at the corner to the flat below.
- ✓A floor drain with no reinforcing collar, so the membrane cracks there as soon as the tiles move.
- ✓Grout in the shower corners instead of silicone, which cracks and lets mould in.
- ✓A fan duct ending inside the suspended ceiling, so the gypsum above the bathroom goes mouldy.
- ✓Grab bars or shelves drilled through the tiles without sealing the holes, letting water behind the tiles.
- ✓Glossy floor tiles, the most dangerous choice in a bathroom used by an elderly person.
Bathroom renovation before and after in Saihat
We photograph every stage: the bathroom after strip-out, the plumbing under test, the membrane and the water during the flood test, then the bathroom at handover. The photos are yours, so you know what sits under your tiles, and past jobs are shown in our project gallery. Renovating a bathroom inside usually needs no permit, but some buildings have rules on working hours and lift use, and we keep to them.
Saihat districts where we renovate bathrooms
We take bathroom requests from Saihat’s newer and older districts, including Al Khaleej, Al Kawthar, Al Nour and Al Deira; Al Fayha, Gharnata and Qurtuba; Al Naqa, Al Khassab and Al Zuhour; and Al Danah, Al Salam, Al Ghadir and Al Nimr. Our Saihat page gathers our services there. For older Qatif houses and their bathroom damp read bathroom renovation in Qatif, for villa bathrooms bathroom renovation in Dhahran, and the complete guide is bathroom renovation in Dammam. If the whole flat needs work, start with a renovation contractor in Saihat, and for the kitchen see kitchen renovation in Saihat.
Why Aemar Al-Maryam for Saihat bathrooms?
- ✓We respect the building: protected corridors, sealed rubble bags and agreed hours.
- ✓We protect your neighbour: no tiles before the flood test passes.
- ✓Bathrooms that suit elderly parents: an anti-slip floor and grab bars fixed into solid wall.
- ✓A finish that fights mould: silicone in every movement joint, low-absorption grout and a fan venting outdoors.
- ✓Clear starting prices: the final figure follows the visit.
How to order a bathroom renovation in Saihat
On WhatsApp (0547879578), please send:
- ✓Pictures of the entire bathroom, the ceiling, under the basin, and any stain on the neighbour’s ceiling if there is one.
- ✓The corridor from your front door to the bathroom, which storey the flat is on, and whether the building has a lift.
- ✓Length, width and height.
- ✓If the bathroom is for an elderly person, tell us what they find hard: sitting down, stepping into the bath, or standing for long.
- ✓The district and the building’s location pin.
A flat bathroom renovated without upsetting the neighbours
Send photos of the bathroom and corridor with the dimensions, and we’ll give you an outline and estimated cost, then book the inspection in Saihat.
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