Bathroom Renovation in Dubai: What to Keep, What to Cover and What to Rip Out

A bathroom renovation in Dubai comes down to one decision before any other: are the existing tiles and waterproofing sound enough to keep or cover, or do they have to come out? If the tiles are well bonded, the shower has never leaked and you are not moving the drains or the toilet, you can refresh the room without demolition — new fittings, regrouting, or a seamless surface such as microcement laid straight over the tiles, typically in under a week. If tiles sound hollow across whole areas, the shower has leaked into the next room, or the layout is changing, the room is stripped to the slab, the plumbing and waterproofing are redone, and only then does any finish go on. Choosing the finish is the easy part; getting this first call right is what decides the cost, the noise and how long you are without the room.

We do one part of a bathroom renovation: the surfaces — seamless walls, floors and showers in microcement, tadelakt and Venetian plaster. We do not do plumbing, electrics, sanitaryware, glass, joinery or tiling, and we do not supply tiles. This guide covers the whole job anyway, because the surface only lasts if the work before it was right.

Bathroom renovation in Dubai: the first check

Before anyone talks about colours, find out what is behind the tiles. Four checks tell you most of it, and you can do the first three yourself:

1. The tap test. Tap the wall and floor tiles with a coin or the handle of a screwdriver. A solid, dull knock is a bonded tile. A hollow, drummy sound means the tile has let go of the wall or floor. One or two hollow tiles can be re-fixed; whole areas of them mean the tile bed has failed.
2. Signs of leaks. Look at the wall on the other side of the shower, the ceiling of the flat below if you can, and the skirting outside the bathroom door. Bubbling paint, swollen door frames and dark patches point to water escaping the shower — a waterproofing problem no finish on top can fix.
3. The grout and the silicone. Black grout that comes clean is a cleaning job (grout cleaning covers it). Grout that is cracked or missing, or black that returns within days, means water has been getting into the joints.
4. The layout. Moving the shower, the toilet or a basin to a new wall means new drains and supply pipes. That is always a strip-out: the pipes run in the floor and the walls.

Keep, cover or rip out: the three routes

Route	When it fits	What it involves	Who does it	Typical disruption
Keep and refresh	Tiles you still like, sound and dry	Deep clean, regrout or epoxy grout, new silicone, new fittings and mirror	A tiler, a plumber	Days, with the room partly usable
Cover the tiles	Tiles sound and dry, but you are done with the look or the grout	Microcement over the tiles: hollow tiles re-fixed, glaze ground, mesh, membrane across the room, base and colour coats, sealer	RBS for the surface; a plumber to take off and refit fittings if needed	About 6–7 working days with the room closed
Rip out	Hollow tiles over whole areas, leaks, a new layout, or a finish that needs a mineral base (tadelakt)	Strip to the slab, new plumbing and electrics, screed to falls, waterproofing, then the finish of your choice	A fit-out contractor or several trades; RBS for a seamless finish at the end	Usually weeks, with demolition noise and rubble

The middle route is the one most people do not know exists. Microcement over existing tiles adds about 3 mm, so doors still close, thresholds still line up and the sanitaryware can usually stay where it is. In an occupied apartment it removes the jackhammering and the rubble in the service lift — which is often why it is chosen.

The order of work in a full bathroom renovation

When the room is stripped, the order matters more than the materials. Each trade has to finish before the next one covers its work:

1. Approval. Most Dubai towers and communities ask for a renovation or work permit from building management before a contractor starts, and many limit working hours, noisy work and lift use. Rules differ by building, so ask your management office first. If you rent, get the landlord’s agreement in writing.
2. Strip-out. Tiles, old screed, fittings and the old waterproofing come off.
3. First fix. Plumbing (supply and drains) and electrics (the extract fan, lighting, shaver points) go in while the walls and floor are open. This is the moment to fit a proper extract fan: a weak or light-switched fan is behind most black grout and peeling paint in UAE bathrooms.
4. Screed and falls. The floor is laid so water runs to the drain — essential for a walk-in shower with no tray.
5. Waterproofing. A membrane across the shower floor and up the walls, with reinforcement at corners and pipe exits, left to cure. Ask to see it before it is covered.
6. The finish. New tiles, or a seamless surface: microcement, tadelakt in the shower, Venetian plaster on the dry walls.
7. Second fix. Sanitaryware, taps, glass screen, mirror, accessories — then silicone where the finish meets the tray, the bath and the basin.

Skipping or rushing step 5 is the most expensive mistake in a bathroom, because nobody sees it until the flat below does.

Which finish for each part of the bathroom?

The wet zone and the dry walls are two different jobs, and the best bathrooms treat them differently.

• Shower walls and floor. Tiles, or a microcement wet-zone system: a waterproofing membrane, the microcement coats laid to falls on the floor with a fine anti-slip texture, and an immersion-grade sealer. Or tadelakt, the burnished Moroccan lime plaster, which sheds water through its soap-sealed surface — beautiful, but it needs a sound mineral base, so with tadelakt the old tiles come out. The trade-off is set out in tadelakt vs microcement for a bathroom.
• Dry walls outside the shower. Anything that handles humidity: tiles, microcement, tadelakt, or Venetian plaster when it is properly sealed and the room is ventilated. Venetian plaster in a bathroom explains where the line is. Gypsum-based finishes never go in a bathroom.
• The floor outside the shower. Tiles or microcement are the practical answers. Bath mats and wet feet are normal use; a home bathroom is well within what microcement is for. It is not a finish for heavy-use commercial floors.
• Shower niches and ledges. Built into the wall, they take the same seamless finish as the walls around them, so there is no joint between them.

What does a bathroom renovation in Dubai cost?

We cannot give you a total for a whole renovation, and nobody honest can without seeing the room — fittings, plumbing changes and the state of the waterproofing move the figure more than the finish does. What we can give is our part:

• A microcement bathroom starts from AED 350/m², supplied and installed — the wet-zone rate, which applies to the whole room because the membrane and the sealer run through all of it. A guest toilet with no shower can use the wall and floor rates, from AED 220/m² and from AED 250/m². No mobilization fee. The microcement cost guide shows what moves the figure.
• Tadelakt and Venetian plaster are priced per project after a site visit.
• Tiling, plumbing, sanitaryware and glass are priced by the trades who do them.

The cover-the-tiles route usually saves most on what surrounds the rate: no demolition, no rubble removal, no new screed and far fewer days of disruption.

How long does a bathroom renovation take?

Covering sound tiles with microcement takes about six to seven working days, most of it curing time between coats. The room is closed for that period, and we tell every client to keep the shower dry until the sealer has reached full cure. If it is your only bathroom, plan for another one that week. A full strip-out with new plumbing runs to weeks, set by the trades and the building’s working-hours rules. In both cases, a crew promising a finished seamless bathroom in two or three days is skipping a cure.

Which one should you choose?

• Tiles sound, you still like them: keep and refresh. Clean or regrout, new silicone, new fittings. It is the cheapest good bathroom there is, and we will tell you so.
• Tiles sound, but you want them gone: microcement over the tiles, wet-zone system in the shower. No demolition, about a week.
• You want the warmest hand-made finish in the shower: tadelakt, with the tiles removed and the waterproofing rebuilt first.
• Hollow tiles, leaks, or a new layout: strip it out. Fix the plumbing and the waterproofing first; choose the finish last.
• A rental: get written permission before any permanent change — or keep and refresh.

Send a few photos of the bathroom and its rough size on WhatsApp, or call +971 4 587 7086. Tell us whether the shower has ever leaked. We have worked on UAE homes for 8+ years — our microcement and lime finishes are applied by crews trained in-house — and if your tiles need a tiler rather than us, we will say that too. The microcement bathroom page shows how the wet-zone build-up is laid.

Related guides

• Can Microcement Go Over Existing Tiles?
• Microcement Installation in Dubai: What Happens, Day by Day
• Bathroom Walls Without Tiles: Grout-Free Options UAE
• Microcement vs Tiles: Which for a UAE Bathroom?
• Is Microcement Waterproof? Bathrooms, Showers & Pools
• Grout Cleaning in the UAE: What Works, and When to Stop
• Vinyl, SPC and LVT Flooring in Dubai: Which Plank Works?
• Home Renovation in Dubai: Where to Start and What Order

FAQ

Can you renovate a bathroom without removing the tiles?

Yes, if the tiles are sound and the shower has not leaked. You can regrout and change the fittings, or cover the tiles with microcement at about 3 mm: hollow tiles are re-fixed, the glaze is ground, the grout lines are filled by the base coats over a reinforcing mesh, and the shower gets a waterproofing membrane and an immersion-grade sealer.

Do I need permission to renovate a bathroom in a Dubai apartment?

Usually. Most towers and communities ask for a renovation or work permit from building management and set working hours and lift rules. Check with your management office before fixing a start date, and get your landlord’s written agreement if you rent.

How long does a bathroom renovation take in Dubai?

Covering sound tiles with microcement takes about six to seven working days including cure and sealing. A full strip-out with new plumbing and waterproofing takes weeks, depending on the trades and the building’s rules.

Is microcement good for a bathroom renovation?

For homes, yes — walls, floors and showers in one seamless surface with no grout, usually over the existing tiles. In the shower it must be the full wet-zone system, from AED 350/m². It cannot fix loose tiles or a leaking shower; those are repaired or removed first.

What is the most common mistake in a bathroom renovation?

Covering up a waterproofing problem. New tiles or a new finish over a shower that already leaks will fail the same way. Find and fix the leak, and see the membrane before it is covered.

Do you do the plumbing and fittings too?

No. We apply the surfaces — microcement, tadelakt and Venetian plaster. Plumbing, electrics, sanitaryware, glass and tiling are done by those trades; on an over-tile job, fittings that have to come off are taken off and refitted by a plumber.

Should I tile or go seamless?

Tiles are the better choice if you like them, want the lowest cost or rent the flat. Seamless finishes suit people who are tired of grout and want walls, floor and shower in one surface. Microcement vs tiles lays out the trade-off.