Most shower membranes fail at 10 to 15 years, and around 55 to 65 per cent of Australian showers leak. A shower does not leak through the tile. It leaks at a junction the membrane was meant to seal, and the tile is only the part you can see.

Those two numbers explain why this is the most common wet area job in Berwick, and why it usually arrives as a damp skirting board in the next room rather than as water on the bathroom floor.

What we check before quoting anything

A quote written without a diagnosis is a guess, so the site visit comes first.

Where the damage is showing. Damp skirting on the far side of the shower wall, lifting vinyl in the hallway, a stain on the ceiling below an upstairs bathroom, or paint blistering above the tile line.
Whether the water is coming from the shower or from the plumbing. A leaking tap body or a failed waste connection behaves differently to a failed membrane, and it is a much smaller job.
Moisture readings in the adjoining wall and floor.
Grout and silicone condition at the wall to floor junction and the internal corners, which is where movement cracks the seal.
Falls. Water sitting on the floor after the shower is turned off means the fall is not running to the waste.
The age of the house, the age of the bathroom, and whether there has been a previous repair.

Will regrouting fix it?

Regrouting and resealing is worth doing when the grout has worn but the membrane underneath is sound and the falls are correct. It is a maintenance job and it is priced as one. It does nothing where the membrane has failed, because grout is not waterproof and was never the barrier. Where the shower has been patched once already, the substrate is usually saturated, and sealing the surface traps the water rather than removing it.

The honest position is that a shower which has been leaking long enough to damage an adjoining room needs the tiles off, the screed out and the membrane replaced. Anything short of that is buying time, and it is fair to buy time deliberately if a full renovation is planned in a year or two. What is not fair is selling a surface treatment as a repair. Signs your shower is leaking sets out what to look for before you call anyone.

Where do these jobs come from in Berwick?

Timbarra is the volume case. Building there started in 1990, so those showers are two to three times past the usual membrane life. The rest of the bathroom in a Timbarra house is generally fine, with the room a sensible size and the plumbing in a workable position, so the work is a strip out and rebuild of the shower where it stands rather than a reconfiguration.

The 1970s and 1980s brick veneer belt around the village core is the other common source, and there the shower is usually over an enamelled steel bath. Removing the bath to build a walk in shower is a popular change. In a pre 1990 house the wall sheet is sampled before the tiles come off, and the handling rules are on what the law requires.

Upstairs showers in Bellbird Park, Bryn Mawr, Parkhill and Eden Rise cause the most damage before anyone notices, because the water runs into the ceiling cavity below and shows up as a stain in the lounge room long after the membrane went.

How a shower rebuild is done

Protection of the room and the route in, then isolation of the water.
Tiles, screed and old membrane removed back to the frame and the structural floor. The old membrane always comes out.
Substrate inspection. Rotted bottom plates, damaged studs or a soft floor sheet are dealt with here, and this is where the cost of a long running leak turns up.
Any plumbing corrections by a licensed plumber, including the waste and the falls, with the compliance certificate issued for that work.
New wet area rated sheeting, then a screed with the falls set to the waste.
Waterproofing to AS 3740 in its 2021 edition. Victoria moved to NCC 2025 on 1 May 2026, and the membrane is carried 1800 mm up the shower walls measured from the floor substrate.
Cure time, then a flood test before any tile is laid. The membrane is photographed at each stage.
Tiling, grout, screen and silicone.

Waterproofing on its own is not a permit trigger. Removing a loadbearing element, underpinning or changing the floor area is, and only a building surveyor can settle that for a particular job. The tests, and who issues the permit in Casey, are on the permit page linked above.

Level entry showers in the village core

A level entry shower or a linear grate removes the hob, which looks better and is easier to clean and to walk into. On the concrete slabs of Timbarra and the newer estates it is a screed exercise. In the heritage core along High Street, where the floors are timber and the levels vary across the room, the floor structure has to be dropped to make room for the fall. That is carpentry, it may touch structural members, and it is priced with a contingency rather than as a flat line. It is worth doing where the household needs it, and accessible bathrooms covers the reasons it is usually asked for.

Cost, and what the warranty actually is

A shower rebuild is priced on the work it needs rather than as a fixed product.

Line	Rate
Waterproofing	$50 to $85 per m2
Wall tile	$75 to $165 per m2
Floor tile	$90 to $190 per m2
Replacement screen	$1,200 to $3,500

Where the leak has damaged the rest of the room, rebuilding the shower alone stops making sense and the job becomes a full bathroom renovation in the $10,500 to $21,000 to $21,000 to $36,750 range.

On warranties, Victoria sets a statutory period in which a building action can be brought, and nobody extends it by printing a longer number on a quote. Treat a lifetime waterproofing warranty as a marketing line. What we will put in writing is the scope, the fixed price and the fact that the work is done by registered and licensed trades. Send photos of the damage, the age of the bathroom and what you can see in the next room through the quote form.

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