Brett Field
A house renovation in Australia costs about $50,000 to $150,000 for a cosmetic refresh, $150,000 to $350,000 for a mid-range job and $350,000 to $550,000 or more for a full gut, according to What's The Damage. For the Gold Coast, its local page puts a full home renovation at $150,000 to $600,000, with $300,000 typical.
Below is the cost per m2, what each level of renovation includes, the Gold Coast figures, what each room costs, what pushes the price up and the Queensland rules. These are market prices from cost guides, checked on 10 November 2026. They are not a quote from us. To add up your own rooms, try our free renovation cost calculator.
How much does a house renovation cost per square metre?
About $1,600 to $3,900 per m2 for renovation work inside an existing home, according to Archicentre Australia's 2026 cost guide. That figure includes GST. It assumes the rooms are in sound condition, need no structural upgrades and are easy to get to.
An extension costs more per m2, because it is a new structure with a new roof. Archicentre puts new construction, including extensions, at $2,700 to $5,100 per m2 for the basic shell only. Kitchens, bathrooms and laundries in an extension cost extra on top, because of their fittings.
| Area renovated | At $1,600 per m2 | At $3,900 per m2 |
|---|---|---|
| 50 m2 (a few rooms) | $80,000 | $195,000 |
| 100 m2 | $160,000 | $390,000 |
| 150 m2 | $240,000 | $585,000 |
The table is our sum, using the Archicentre CostGuide 2026 range. Archicentre says to allow extra for removing hazardous material, such as asbestos cement sheet, and for somewhere to live or store furniture while the work is done.
What does a cosmetic, mid-range or full renovation cost?
A cosmetic refresh costs $50,000 to $150,000, a mid-range renovation $150,000 to $350,000 and a full gut $350,000 to $550,000 or more. Those are What's The Damage's national figures, updated November 2026. The difference between the levels is how deep the work goes.
| Level | Price range | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmetic refresh | $50,000 to $150,000 | Paint, floors, fixtures, landscaping. No structural changes |
| Mid-range renovation | $150,000 to $350,000 | New kitchen and bathroom, rewiring, replumbing, some layout changes |
| Full gut | $350,000 to $550,000+ | Stripped to the frame, then new structure, plumbing, wiring, layout and finishes |
Source: What's The Damage, full home renovation cost in Australia, November 2026.
A full gut is for a house where the frame, wiring or layout has to change. If those are sound, the mid-range band covers a new kitchen and bathroom, fresh paint and floors. That is the part of the house you notice every day.
What does a house renovation cost on the Gold Coast?
About $150,000 to $600,000 for a full home renovation, with $300,000 typical, according to What's The Damage's Gold Coast page. Its prices include GST. They are its national figures adjusted for local costs, not a survey of Gold Coast jobs.
| Job (What's The Damage, Gold Coast page) | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full home renovation | $150,000 | $300,000 | $600,000 |
| Kitchen renovation, whole job managed | $20,000 | $35,000 | $70,000 |
| Bathroom renovation, whole job managed | $15,000 | $25,000 | $45,000 |
| Deck or pergola, whole job managed | $5,000 | $12,000 | $40,000 |
| Single storey extension, per m2 | $2,500 | $3,500 | $5,000 |
Source: What's The Damage, Gold Coast renovation and building costs, updated November 2026.
The national page does not list the Gold Coast. It puts Brisbane at the national average, Sydney 15% above it and Adelaide 8% below it. Within any one city, the big swing is still the size of the job and the finishes you pick.
How much does each room cost to renovate?
The kitchen and bathrooms cost the most, and paint and floors the least for the space they cover. Here are What's The Damage's national ranges for each part, plus Archicentre's laundry figure.
| Room or job | Price range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | $15,000 to $80,000+ | What's The Damage, 2026 |
| Bathroom | $10,000 to $35,000 | What's The Damage, 2026 |
| Laundry | $10,000 to $19,000 | Archicentre, 2026 |
| Paint inside a 3 bedroom home | $4,000 to $12,000 | What's The Damage, 2026 |
| New floors through the house | $8,000 to $25,000 | What's The Damage, 2026 |
| Rewire | $8,000 to $20,000 | What's The Damage, 2026 |
| Replumb | $10,000 to $30,000 | What's The Damage, 2026 |
| New roof | $10,000 to $40,000 | What's The Damage, 2026 |
| Deck | $5,000 to $25,000 | What's The Damage, 2026 |
For the detail on the two big rooms, see our guides to kitchen renovation cost and bathroom renovation cost on the Gold Coast. They break each one down by finish and by part.
What pushes the cost of a renovation up?
Hidden problems, moving wet areas and structural work push it up the most. What's The Damage names these:
- Hidden problems. Asbestos, subfloor damage or old wiring that only shows up once the walls come down. It says to add 15 to 20% on top as a contingency.
- Moving the kitchen, bathroom or laundry. Shifting plumbing and wet areas is where costs climb fastest.
- Structural changes. Moving walls is what separates a mid-range job from a full gut.
- Paying one main contractor to manage it all. That adds 15 to 25% in margin, it says.
- Timing. Summer is the busy season, with longer waits and higher prices.
Age matters too, because of asbestos. The Queensland Government's asbestos website says a house built before 1990 has a good chance of containing it, including wall sheeting in kitchens, bathrooms and laundries. If you are not sure about a material, treat it as asbestos until an accredited lab has tested a sample.
So plan the budget in three parts: the work you want, a contingency for what the walls hide, and anything the asbestos test turns up. A quote that leaves out the last two will look cheap and finish dear.
Do you need council approval or a licensed builder?
Some parts of a renovation need building approval, and every contractor over $3,300 needs the right QBCC licence. On the Gold Coast, building approval comes from a private building certifier. The City of Gold Coast says approval is needed when you replace more than 20% of the roof, build a new timber deck (unless it is under 10 m2 and under 1 m high), or change how a room is used, such as turning a garage into a bedroom, even with no building work. Our guide to council approval for renovations on the Gold Coast goes through each case.
Licences are set by the QBCC. Any building work over $3,300 needs a contractor with a QBCC licence, and the QBCC says they must hold the class for the whole scope of work they take on. A whole-house renovation crosses many trades, so it is run by a licensed builder. The QBCC also caps deposits: 10% of the price for work from $3,301 to $19,999, and 5% for work over $20,000.
We are carpenters, so we do not take on whole-house or structural renovations. We do kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovations, decks and carpentry across the Gold Coast, from stairs and built-in wardrobes to doors and repairs. We book the licensed trades for each job and give you a timeline with the proposal. See our carpentry work for the jobs we take on.
Where do these prices come from?
Checked on 10 November 2026: What's The Damage, full home renovation cost in Australia (updated November 2026) and its Gold Coast renovation and building cost page (updated November 2026, prices include GST); Archicentre Australia's CostGuide 2026 (prices include GST); the Queensland Government's asbestos website, homeowners look, check and prepare (undated); the City of Gold Coast's page on whether your building works need approval (undated); and the QBCC's pages on who must hold a licence (April 2026), when you need a licence (August 2021) and deposits and progress payments (June 2025). The cost per m2 table is our sum. We will check the prices again every three months.
See our carpentry work, or check what your job will cost.
