Get three quotes for the same patch of mould in a Melbourne bathroom and you can easily be handed $800, $2,200 and $4,500. That is not one company ripping you off. It is three companies scoping three different jobs, and the gap between them is the most useful thing on this page.
Here is what the Melbourne market currently charges, why the spread is that wide, and, if you are renting, who is legally on the hook for it.
What Melbourne providers are quoting in 2026
These are ranges across the Melbourne market, taken from published pricing from local specialists and national cost guides as at August 2026. They are deliberately wide, because the market is.
| Size of the problem | What you will be quoted |
|---|---|
| Isolated patch, under 1 square metre, surface only | $200 to $1,500 |
| A full wall, a bathroom, or one room, 1 to 10 square metres | $800 to $5,000 |
| Multiple rooms, subfloor, wall cavities or roof space, 10 square metres and up | $2,500 to $15,000+ |
| Inspection with a written report | $150 to $800 |
| Air sampling, per sample set | $250 to $300 |
Most figures in this industry are quoted excluding GST. Check which you are being given.
Why the same job varies by thousands
The single biggest reason is that cheap quotes and expensive quotes are usually for different work. Both companies looked at the same wall. One priced cleaning it. The other priced finding out why it happened.
- Surface treatment versus remediation. Wiping and treating visible growth on a painted wall is a couple of hundred dollars of labour. Opening that wall up, removing wet plasterboard and insulation, drying the cavity and replacing the lining is a different job with a trade component.
- Whether the moisture source is included. A quote that does not include finding the leak is a quote to repaint the problem. It will come back, usually within weeks, and you will pay twice.
- Containment. Proper containment and HEPA filtration costs money and time. Skipping it is cheaper and spreads spores through the rest of the house, which is how a one-room job becomes a whole-house job.
- Verification. Post-remediation air sampling to prove the area is clear is a separate line item. Landlords, owners corporations and insurers usually want it. Homeowners often do not know to ask.
Our honest advice: get the cheap quote and the expensive quote, then ask each of them the same question. What is causing the moisture, and is fixing that included? The answers will separate them quickly.
If you rent in Victoria, this may not be your bill
This is the part most cost guides skip, and for a lot of Melbourne searchers it matters more than the price.
Victoria’s rental minimum standards are explicit. Each room in a rental property must be free from mould and damp caused by, or related to, the building structure. That standard applies to leases that began on or after 29 March 2021, and it is the rental provider’s responsibility, not the renter’s.
So if the mould is coming from a leaking shower recess, a failed vapour barrier, blocked guttering, rising damp or a roof leak, that is structural, and the landlord is responsible for fixing it.
The standard does not cover mould caused by how the property is being used. If there is a working exhaust fan and openable windows and neither gets used during showers, that sits with the renter.
Which is precisely why an independent inspection report is worth its fee in a rental dispute. It puts a cause in writing, and the cause decides who pays. We report what we find either way, whether the person paying us is the renter, the owner or the agent.
Why Melbourne homes get this so often
Melbourne’s problem is condensation as much as leaks, and the housing stock does not help.
- Pre-1990s brick veneer and weatherboard. Inadequate or missing vapour barriers mean moisture moves into wall cavities and stays there. You often cannot see it until it comes through the paint.
- Subfloors without a vapour barrier. Common in older Melbourne homes, and a steady moisture source under the whole floor.
- Leaking shower recesses. The single most common cause of bathroom mould we see, and it is usually well established behind the tiles before anything shows on the surface.
- Newer, well sealed homes. Airtight construction without adequate mechanical ventilation traps moisture that older draughty houses used to lose naturally. Newer does not mean safer here.
- Cold winters, warm interiors. Moist indoor air hitting cold south-facing walls and single-glazed windows condenses, and it does it every night for months.
Before you accept any quote
- Ask what the moisture source is. If nobody has measured it, nobody knows.
- Ask whether the inspection fee comes off the job if you proceed. Some providers credit it, some do not.
- Ask whether containment is included, and what happens to the material that comes out.
- Ask whether you get a written report, and whether it will stand up with an insurer or at VCAT.
- Check the technicians are certified. IICRC accreditation is the standard in this industry.
How we price it
We do not quote mould over the phone, because that number would be wrong and you would end up disputing it later. An inspection comes first. You get a written report covering moisture readings, which materials are affected and air quality, and the quote follows from that. If the honest answer is that it is a small surface job you could handle yourself, we will say so.
Insurance work welcome, and we bill insurers directly where the policy allows. Call AllAces Cleaning & Restoration on 1800 00 1010, or read about mould removal in Melbourne and mould inspection and testing.
Related reading: mould remediation cost across Australia, mould in rental properties, and when condensation starts causing mould.
