15 Years
Waterproofing guarantee
BP1021390
Licensed Building Practitioner
PSA127420
Producer statement author
30 Years
Renovating Auckland bathrooms
1,200+
Bathrooms completed in Auckland
4.7 ★
From 71 Google reviews
15-year waterproofing guarantee
On every waterproofing membrane Alchemy applies. The person who signs off the waterproofing is the person who stands behind it.
About Alchemy
Auckland Bathroom Renovators Who Sign Off Their Own Waterproofing
Auckland bathrooms fail at the waterproofing, and that is the one part you never see once the tiles are on. With Alchemy, the person who signs off your waterproofing membrane is the person who runs your job, and the waterproofing carries a 15-year guarantee. Nick comes out for a free site visit, talks through the layout with you, and you get a written quote that lists every trade and every fixture. One team then builds it, from strip-out to handover. Call 09 884 6535.
A written quote before any work starts
The quote lists each trade, each fixture and the build order. A variation happens only when the strip-out uncovers something the site visit could not see, and you approve it before the work continues.
One team from strip-out to handover
Carpentry, waterproofing membrane, plumbing, electrical, tiling and painting are sequenced by Alchemy. You book no trade yourself and the tiler is never waiting on the plumber.
Our services
Bathroom Renovation Services Across Auckland
Every job below is run by the same team, under the same Licensed Building Practitioner, with the same waterproofing sign-off. Each one has its own page, and the full list of bathroom and laundry jobs is on our services page for Auckland bathroom work.
Complete Bathroom Renovations
A complete renovation from Alchemy is the right call when the waterproofing, the plumbing and the layout all need attention at once. We strip the room to the framing, fix what the old bathroom hid, and rebuild it in one run.
You get a new waterproofing membrane under the wet areas to Building Code clause E3, new plumbing and wiring, tiling, vanity, shower or bath, and an extractor ducted outside. Most jobs take two to six weeks.
Tell us at the site visit if the toilet or shower is moving. New drainage changes the price and the consent picture.
Luxury Bathroom Renovations
The luxury bathrooms Alchemy builds in Auckland suit homeowners who want a freestanding bath, a double vanity, stone surfaces and underfloor heating in one room.
Nick details the waterproofing membrane for stone and large-format porcelain himself, because a heated floor and a bath full of water put more load and more movement on it than a standard floor does. Expect a longer build and the top of the price range.
Bring your fixture list to the site visit. Lead times on imported tapware set the start date.
Ensuite Renovations
Ensuites we renovate are short on floor space and long on moisture, because the bedroom door stays shut and the extractor was an afterthought.
We fit a wall-hung vanity and a frameless screen to open up the floor, and size the fan for the room so the mirror clears. A level-entry tiled shower needs a consent in Auckland and Nick supplies the PS3 for it.
If the ensuite shares a wall with the main bathroom, say so. Shared plumbing shortens the job.
Small Bathroom Renovations
Choose a small bathroom renovation with Alchemy when the room is under four square metres and the layout has to work harder than the finishes.
Our small bathrooms get a walk-in shower in place of the bath, recessed shelving in place of a cabinet, and large-format tiles so the floor reads as one surface. Fewer square metres means fewer days on site.
Measure the door swing before the visit. A cavity slider often solves the problem.
Villa Bathroom Renovations
Auckland villas in Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Devonport and Mt Eden get a villa bathroom renovation from us that keeps the high ceiling and the timber floor, and deals with what a century of moisture did to both.
We level and re-sheet the floor before the waterproofing membrane goes down, keep the high skirtings and window proportions, and pair them with a tiled shower the house never had.
Let us know if the house sits in a special character area. It changes what can happen to the exterior wall.
Laundry Renovations
Laundries come to Alchemy alongside a bathroom renovation, or on their own when the room is becoming a mudroom or a second toilet.
The floor gets the same waterproofing membrane and a floor waste, because a washing machine hose fails eventually and the water has to go somewhere. A tiled shower can go in if the laundry doubles as a wet room.
Tell us where the machine drains today. Moving it decides the scope.
Commercial Bathroom Renovations
For a commercial bathroom in Auckland the first question our clients ask is whether the site can stay open. We stage the work around your hours and keep one facility running where the layout allows.
Nick issues the PS3 producer statement for the waterproofing, which is what the building owner hands Auckland Council at the Code Compliance Certificate stage on a consented fit-out.
Send the floor plan and the accessibility requirement before the visit.
Bathroom Design
Bathroom design with Alchemy is for homeowners who know the room has to change and do not yet know how.
You get a measured layout, a fixture schedule and a finishes board, worked out by the people who will build it. Decisions made this way do not get re-quoted halfway through the job.
Tell us at the visit whether the design is for us to build or for another builder. We do both.
Blackened sealant on a 1990s ensuite before the strip-out, and the same room after a new waterproofing membrane, tiled shower and vanity.
The part you cannot see once the tiles are on
Waterproofing and Consent in Auckland Bathroom Renovations
The Building Code sets the moisture rule for bathrooms in clause E3, Internal Moisture. Surfaces in wet areas must be impervious, easily cleaned and ventilated. On a tiled shower that rule is met by the waterproofing membrane under the tiles, its upturns at the walls and the way it is dressed into the floor waste. Tiles and grout are not waterproof. Nick's guide to waterproofing an Auckland bathroom walks through each layer of the system and the places it fails. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says showers are subject to very significant water splash, and that shower penetrations must be waterproofed with a proprietary system or a sealant compatible with every adjacent building element. The documents the trade builds to are E3/AS1 second edition amendment 7 and E3/AS2 first edition, both in force since 5 November 2020.
Whether your renovation needs a building consent depends on what changes. Auckland Council says a consent is typically not needed to re-position or replace a bath, basin, shower or toilet pan within an existing bathroom, and that a consent is required to install a tiled wet-area shower, because it involves carpentry and a waterproof membrane. Work that affects floor joists or wall framing may also need one. Alchemy does not lodge consents for you. What we do is tell you at the site visit which parts of your job fall on which side of that line, build to the consented plans, and have Nick issue the PS3 producer statement for the waterproofing that Auckland Council asks for before it issues the Code Compliance Certificate. Alteration of primary structure is restricted building work under the Building Act, and Nick does or supervises it as a Licensed Building Practitioner.
Auckland had 542,343 occupied private dwellings at the 2023 Census, and they are not the same house. In Upper Harbour and Papakura, where occupied dwellings grew 27.1% and 26.4% between 2018 and 2023, we check the silicone joints and the fan first, because the waterproofing membrane is usually young. In Orakei and Devonport-Takapuna, where growth was 1.5% and 2.1%, we lift the floor covering and check the framing first, because the bathroom under it is often 40 years old.
Auckland's humid summers and closed-up winters make ventilation part of waterproofing. We duct every extractor to the outside and size it for the room, because a fan vented into the roof space puts the moisture back into the house.
What happens when you call
How an Alchemy Bathroom Renovation Runs
Five steps, the same on every job, and the first one costs nothing.
1. Free site visit
Nick measures the room, checks the floor substrate, the falls to the waste, the extractor and the existing plumbing, and tells you which parts of the job will need a consent. Free, no obligation.
2. Written quote and design
The quote lists every trade, every fixture and the build sequence. If the layout is changing, the measured layout and fixture schedule are done here.
3. Strip-out and repair
The old bathroom comes out to the framing. Rotten timber, corroded pipe and unlined showers are fixed before anything new goes in. Structural framing work is done or supervised by Nick as a Licensed Building Practitioner.
4. Waterproofing membrane, then build
The waterproofing membrane goes down and cures, then plumbing, electrical, GIB, tiling, vanity, shower, paint and accessories. On a consented job Nick issues the PS3 for the waterproofing.
5. Handover
Final inspection with you in the room, every fixture run, and the clean done. The waterproofing is covered by Alchemy's 15-year guarantee from this day.
Published pricing
Bathroom Renovation Cost in Auckland
$15,000 to $65,000
A bathroom renovation in Auckland with Alchemy costs between $15,000 and $65,000. Where your job lands depends on the size of the room, whether the layout changes, and what you choose to put in it.
A very small room does not scale the price down in proportion, because the trades still have to turn up, and the waterproofing membrane and the tiler still need their days.
Figures are a guide and not a quote. Your price is confirmed in writing after the site visit.
| Job | Range | What sits in it |
|---|---|---|
| Small bathroom or ensuite, same layout | $15,000 to $28,000 | New waterproofing membrane, tiling, vanity, shower, toilet, tapware, extractor, paint |
| Complete renovation, standard bathroom | $22,000 to $40,000 | Everything above plus strip-out to framing, new plumbing and wiring, a tiled shower, any structural repair |
| Luxury bathroom | $40,000 to $65,000+ | Freestanding bath, double vanity, stone or large-format porcelain, underfloor heating, designer tapware |
| Laundry | Quoted per job | Priced on the plumbing run, joinery and whether a shower goes in |
What Moves the Price of an Auckland Bathroom
Our projects
Recent Bathroom Projects Across Auckland
Finished bathrooms in Ponsonby, Epsom, St Heliers, St Johns, Botany and Bayview, each with the before photos, the scope and what the strip-out found. They are all on the Auckland bathroom projects page.
Credentials that matter on a wet job
Why Auckland Homeowners Choose Alchemy
A Licensed Building Practitioner runs the job
Nick McKelvie holds LBP number BP1021390. Where a renovation alters floor joists or wall framing, that is restricted building work, and Nick does it or supervises it.
Waterproofing signed off by a producer statement author
Nick is a registered producer statement author (PSA127420) for waterproofing. Where a consented job needs a PS3 for the waterproofing membrane, he issues it. Few bathroom renovators in Auckland can.
30 years and 1,200 Auckland bathrooms
The team has renovated more than 1,200 bathrooms, in villas in Ponsonby, 1970s homes in Bayview and townhouses in Botany, and the recent ones are on the projects page with photos.
A 15-year guarantee on the waterproofing
The waterproofing membrane is the part of a bathroom that fails, and it is the part Alchemy guarantees for 15 years. The same person applies it, signs it off and stands behind it.
A written quote before any work starts
The quote lists each trade, each fixture and the build order. A variation happens only when the strip-out uncovers something the site visit could not see, and you approve it before the work continues.
4.7 stars from 71 Google reviews
The reviews are public and named. Read them before you call, and ask for the suburb of a recent job near you.
From the Google Business Profile
Auckland Bathroom Renovation Reviews
★★★★★
We have been using our bathroom for over 4 years now which was renovated by Nick and his team in Hillcrest, North Shore. They did an amazing job. Nick gave us a reasonable quote. The whole team was professional and polite. The bathroom was renovated to a top quality standards. Nick also helped us with any decision making about the tiles, fixtures and fittings. The whole experience of bathroom renovation was flawless.
Neelam Sharma
Hillcrest, North Shore
★★★★★
Nick renovated our 2 old bathrooms so well that we get compliments from our friends and family whenever they visit us. We hired him because we live in Remuera and he is local to us in central Auckland. We wanted someone local and reliable for the job. We are so happy with the work and we have given his details to many of our friends.
Estaban Liz
Remuera
★★★★★
We had both our main bathroom and ensuite renovated by Alchemy Bathroom Renovations Auckland in Epson and the result speaks for itself every time we walk in. What stood out from the start was how clear they were about the timeline.
Santosh Darkshnar
Epsom
All 71 reviews are on Google. More are on the testimonials page.
Before you call
Auckland Bathroom Renovation FAQs
Between $15,000 and $65,000 with Alchemy. A small bathroom or ensuite in the existing layout sits between $15,000 and $28,000, a complete renovation of a standard bathroom between $22,000 and $40,000, and a luxury bathroom with stone, underfloor heating and a freestanding bath between $40,000 and $65,000 or more. The written quote after the free site visit is the number to plan on.
Contact us
One phone call books the free site visit. Nick comes to the bathroom, talks through the layout with you, and sends a written quote that lists every trade and every fixture.
Phone
Hours
Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm
Address
Suite 7646, 17B Farnham Street, Parnell, Auckland 1052
Service area
All of Auckland: North Shore, West, East, South and Central
Contact Alchemy
Alchemy Bathroom Renovations Auckland
Led by Nick McKelvie, Licensed Building Practitioner BP1021390 and producer statement author PSA127420. Complete bathroom, ensuite, small bathroom, villa, laundry and commercial renovations across Auckland, with a 15-year guarantee on the waterproofing.
Mon to Fri, 8am to 5pm
Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Free site visits across Auckland.
