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 70+ Google reviews
South Auckland bathroom services
South Auckland Bathroom Renovations for State Houses, Bungalows and Rentals
Six bathroom jobs matched to South Auckland houses, from 1930s Ōtāhuhu bungalows to newer Takanini homes.
Full Bathroom Renovations
We strip South Auckland bathrooms to the framing for a full renovation.
New linings, a waterproofing membrane, a ducted fan, shower, vanity, toilet and tapware follow.
Keep the layout and the drainage stays put. Moving fixtures means new drain runs, so decide before the site visit.
Rental Bathroom Renovations
We renovate rental bathrooms across South Auckland, where most households in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu and Ōtara-Papatoetoe rent.
At the 2023 Census only 40.8% and 41.7% of households there owned their home.
We plan the job into the gap between tenancies, with a fan that meets the Healthy Homes ventilation standard.
Family Bathrooms for Big Households
Family bathrooms we build in Māngere and Ōtara take more daily use than most, because households here are large.
Māngere West averaged 4.7 people per household at the 2023 Census.
We use hard-wearing fittings, a larger extractor and a shower screen that stops water reaching the floor.
Separate Toilets and Second Bathrooms
We build second toilets and shower rooms that take pressure off one South Auckland bathroom.
A small shower room fits in a spare bedroom or a corner of the laundry. A separate toilet beside the bathroom can also be merged into it.
Nick checks the drain route first, because it decides where a second room can go.
Bungalow Bathrooms in Ōtāhuhu and Papatoetoe
Bungalow bathrooms we renovate in Ōtāhuhu and Papatoetoe sit in some of the south's oldest established housing.
Timber floors under these bathrooms can be soft from years of water, so Nick checks the subfloor once the linings are off.
Parts of both suburbs sit in the Special Character Areas overlay, which covers exterior changes such as a new window.
Bath-to-Shower Swaps
Replacing a bath with a tiled walk-in shower is a change we make for older owners and young families alike.
A level or low-step floor and a frameless screen make the room easier to use and to keep dry.
A tiled wet-area shower needs a building consent in Auckland, which you or your designer lodge.
What happens when you call
Five Steps Planned Around Your Household or Tenancy
Five steps, planned around the household or the tenancy.
Free Visit, Damp Checked
Nick measures the room, checks for damp and asks whether the house is lived in or between tenants. No charge.
Every Trade Listed in Writing
Every trade, every fixture and the build order are listed before the job is booked.
Back to the Framing
Day one of the build strips the room to its framing. Any hidden damage is priced and agreed with you before new work starts.
Waterproofing Membrane and Ducted Fan
The waterproofing membrane cures, then the tiles, fixtures and ducted extractor go in.
Handover and 15-Year Cover
Every fixture is run with you. The waterproofing carries a 15-year guarantee.
Free, no-obligation site visit
Request a South Auckland Bathroom Price
Nick prices South Auckland bathrooms in writing after he has seen the bathroom, so the figure you get reflects your floor, pipes and layout.
South Auckland bathroom prices
Bathroom Renovation Prices for South Auckland Homes and Rentals
$15,000 to $65,000+
Most South Auckland bathrooms cost between $15,000 and $40,000. A state-house or unit bathroom in its existing layout sits at the lower end.
Half the floor area does not halve the cost, because a small room still needs every trade and a full waterproofing membrane.
Treat the bands as a budget guide. Nick's written quote after the site visit is the price.
| South Auckland bathroom | Range | What sits in it |
|---|---|---|
| State-house, unit or small bathroom, same layout | $15,000 to $28,000 | Strip-out, new linings, waterproofing membrane, tiles, vanity, shower, toilet and a ducted fan |
| Family bathroom, including a bath-to-shower swap | $22,000 to $40,000 | Everything above plus a tiled walk-in shower and subfloor work under a bungalow bathroom |
| Merged toilet, added bathroom or premium finish | $40,000 to $65,000+ | Walls moved, new drainage runs, a second room built, or premium tiles and fittings |
| Rental bathroom between tenancies | Quoted per job | Priced on scope and the time available between tenants |
What moves a South Auckland price
Five Things That Move a South Auckland Quote
Five factors shift South Auckland bathroom quotes, and most of them start with the age of the house.
Bungalow subfloor
Soft timber under an Ōtāhuhu or Papatoetoe bathroom is replaced before the new floor and waterproofing membrane go down.
Pre-2000 materials
Bath panels, cisterns and wet-area linings in older South Auckland homes can contain asbestos. Testing and removal add cost.
Merging the toilet
Removing the wall to a separate toilet adds framing, lining and drainage work to the job.
Tenancy timing
A short gap between tenants can mean more trades on site at once to finish in time.
Healthy Homes fan
A rental bathroom fan must meet the Healthy Homes standard and vent outside, which can mean a new duct route.
Why South Auckland homeowners and landlords call Alchemy
Why South Auckland Owners and Landlords Book Alchemy
Six things that matter to both owner-occupiers and landlords.
A Licensed Building Practitioner on every job
Nick McKelvie holds LBP number BP1021390 and does or supervises the restricted building work.
Fans that meet Healthy Homes
Every extractor is ducted outside, which is what the Healthy Homes ventilation standard asks of rental bathrooms.
15-year waterproofing membrane cover
South Auckland owners and landlords get a 15-year guarantee on the waterproofing membrane, counted from handover.
Producer statement for consented showers
Nick is a registered producer statement author, PSA127420, and issues the PS3 for the waterproofing.
A single written quote
Plumber, electrician, tiler and fixtures all appear on a single written quote.
Rated 4.7 from 70+ Google reviews
Sabir wrote that Nick answered every question with patience and gave advice through the decisions.
South Auckland housing
Bathrooms in South Auckland Homes, Bungalow to New Build
Much of South Auckland grew after the Second World War, including large areas of state housing. The era of each street shapes the bathroom Nick finds there.
Bungalows and Early State Houses in Ōtāhuhu
In an Ōtāhuhu bungalow with a small bathroom and a separate toilet next door, we check the timber subfloor, merge the toilet where it helps and duct the fan outside.
Auckland Council's Ōtāhuhu heritage survey says bungalows make up most of the suburb's established housing, and state housing began there in 1937. Parts of Ōtāhuhu sit in the Special Character Areas overlay.
Ōtara State Housing
In a compact Ōtara state-house bathroom, the gain comes from the layout, a walk-in shower and ventilation that clears the room. BRANZ describes early state houses as solidly built and well suited to renovation.
Te Ara records state housing for 20,000 residents built in Ōtara after 1945, and by the early 1970s over 40% of Ōtara's houses were state houses.
Māngere State Housing From 1962
Māngere bathrooms carry heavy daily use from large households, and Māngere-Ōtāhuhu recorded 30.1% of homes with mould larger than an A4 sheet. We size the fan for the room, duct it outside and use linings rated for wet areas.
Central Māngere was chosen for large-scale state housing in 1962, according to Auckland Council's Māngere town centre heritage survey.
Papatoetoe and Manurewa Suburbs
Papatoetoe and Manurewa homes from the 1950s and 1960s are pre-2000, so suspect linings are checked before demolition. WorkSafe NZ lists bath panels and wet-area linings among materials that can contain asbestos.
Papatoetoe's heritage survey records a population boom after the Second World War, and Te Ara says new housing turned Manurewa from a semi-rural area into a suburb in the 1960s. Station Road in Papatoetoe and Hill Park in Manurewa sit in the Special Character Areas overlay.
Newer Homes in Papakura and Takanini
Bathroom work in newer Papakura and Takanini homes is often an upgrade. Homes from the late 1980s to mid-2000s with monolithic cladding carry a leaky-building risk, so Nick checks for staining or soft linings near the shower first.
Te Ara notes land in Papakura set aside for new housing in the early 2000s, and Takanini was rezoned for growth in the 1990s. The Papakura local board grew 25.5% between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses.
Era dates come from Auckland Council's heritage surveys for Ōtāhuhu, Papatoetoe and Māngere, Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, and BRANZ.
32.6%
Damp homes, Māngere-Ōtāhuhu
30.1%
Damp homes, Ōtara-Papatoetoe
What the census says about South Auckland homes
Damp Homes, Rentals and Healthy Homes in South Auckland
Three South Auckland local boards have the highest damp rates on the Auckland mainland. At the 2023 Census, 32.6% of homes in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu, 30.1% in Ōtara-Papatoetoe and 26.8% in Manurewa were damp always or sometimes. Mould larger than an A4 sheet was reported in 30.1% of Māngere-Ōtāhuhu homes.
Many households rent. Only 40.8% of households in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu and 41.7% in Ōtara-Papatoetoe owned their home or held it in a family trust, which puts many bathrooms under the Healthy Homes rules for rentals. Large families add more showers per day to the moisture load.
Tenancy Services' Healthy Homes ventilation standard requires a bathroom fan installed since 1 July 2019 to have at least a 120 mm diameter or extract 25 L/s, and to vent outside. Every South Auckland rental bathroom Alchemy renovates gets a fan that meets it.
Recent Alchemy jobs
Finished Bathrooms From Recent Alchemy Jobs
These bathrooms are from jobs in Botany, Cockle Bay and Epsom. South Auckland bathrooms get the same waterproofing membrane, fixtures and finish. The nearest finished job is the Botany family bathroom renovation, just east of Ōtara.
Bath Under the Window, Botany
A bath under the window with a stone-look tiled splashback in a Botany family bathroom.
Pebble Shower Floor, Cockle Bay
A river-pebble shower floor with a linear strip drain in a Cockle Bay walk-in shower.
Twin Vanities, Epsom
Two wall-hung vanities with round mirrors in an Epsom bathroom.
From the Google Business Profile
What Auckland Homeowners Say About Nick
Sabir Chigri
Edited 2023
Our bathroom underwent a complete renovation and we could not have been more pleased with Nick's services. His professionalism and approach-ability made the project a breeze. He provided answers to all our queries with patience and offered invaluable advice during the decision-making process.
Ani Tij
2023
Our home's bathroom is now brand new thanks to Nick's exceptional professionalism and high quality workmanship. Every step of the process was handled with care and precision, and Nick remained responsive and communicative throughout the entire project.
Wendy Mariaca Castellon
2024
The best decision when hiring their services, our bathroom was remodeled with the best professionalism and quality.
Before you book the site visit
South Auckland Rental and Family Bathroom FAQs
Most South Auckland bathrooms cost $15,000 to $40,000, and a toilet merge, second bathroom or high-spec finish runs to $65,000 or more. Nick puts your price in writing after a free site visit.
Book Nick Between Tenancies or Around Your Family
Send the form below or call to book a free site visit anywhere in South Auckland. Landlords can book it for the gap between tenancies.
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.
All of Auckland
North Shore, West, East, South and Central Auckland.
Mon to Fri, 8am to 5pm
Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. Free site visits across Auckland.
