Full house renovation cost: Bathroom, kitchen, & the rest

Your single best weapon against cost blowouts and uncertainties when renovating is an air tight fixed price contract. Before they do any work your builder should provide you with one and your lawyer should check it in detail to make sure it’s in your benefit - and that you understand it.

Here’s a list of what your contract should include from Building Performance NZ.

A hot tip on PC sums: Your contract will include something called PC sums or budget allowances. These are allowances in your contract for work or items that have not been specified yet, often including stuff like taps, door handles, floor tiles, or paint. Cost blowouts in fixed price contracts often come via PC sums, so it’s best to reduce these by specifying as much as possible early on (i.e. picking taps, and finalising all designs).

The cost to renovate a home is almost entirely made up of two categories - labour and materials. To achieve a cheap renovation the trick is choosing affordable materials (like for example vinyl flooring and kitset kitchens) and doing as much of the labour as you possibly can.

Most Kiwis will spend somewhere between $100,000 to $200,000, and achieve a mid-range to premium finish - whereas builders and handy people might get away with spending much less. The majority of these costs will come from kitchens, bathrooms, and structural changes, but flooring and painting can easily blow out too.

A new mid-range bathroom will cost you around $36,000 to $65,000 or maybe a little less. Where you sit in this range depends on the size of your bathroom, the materials you use, the changes you make, and whether or not you need building consent.

For this price you can install mid-range to luxury fittings, finishes, and custom cabinetry, hire professionals for all work, and make small structural changes. If you’re on a tight budget, look to spend around $20,000 for a full reno, or less if you DIY. 

Read more about bathroom renovation costs

Expect to spend around the $30,000 to $50,000 mark for a nice, new kitchen. For this price you can update everything in your kitchen, include custom cabinetry, and make minor structural changes. You should also be able to afford premium appliances, and tiling.

Spending above that $50,000-$60,000 mark you start to get into luxury level, with imported tiles, top of the range appliances, and other good stuff. Under $20,000 you’ll need to DIY and repurpose existing cabinetry, or you may be able to afford an off-the-shelf kitset kitchen. 

Read more about kitchen renovation costs

Most people will spend around $25 to $100 per sqm on flooring materials, then $50 to $100 per sqm for installation labour. Assuming you’re somewhere on the lower side of these ranges, you should spend around $15,000 to $20,000 for all your flooring. For example, for cork throughout, limited large format tiling, and wool carpet in the bedrooms of my $180sqm house I spent $20,000. 

Timber or tiles are usually the most expensive flooring - most of the cost for tiling comes from the installation. Vinyl is by far the most affordable, but it needs to be used carefully to avoid looking cheap.

These costs can vary hugely depending on the material you choose, the size of your house, and the ease of installation - but here’s a list of average ranges from Forte NZ, Archipro, and Direct Tiling.

According to Hauraki Services the average 4 bedroom house in Auckland costs around $15k-$20k to paint all interior walls and ceilings. That tracks - the cost to paint the interior of my four bedroom was around $16,000.

You may pay more or less depending on where you are, who you hire, and the condition and nature of your home. If your walls are rough and uneven and require a lot of prep work, expect to pay more. You can paint the interior of your home, but it’s a more difficult, skillful job than the exterior - if you’ve never painted before it may be best left to the pros.

An average 3 bedroom weatherboard exterior in Auckland costs around $15,000 to paint, according to Hauraki Services. If your home requires lots of prep you’ll pay more, and other types of cladding may cost more or less. Multi-storey homes, or properties with difficult access may also cost more.

If you’re physically able you can paint the exterior of your home. Most homes less than 20 years old won’t require much prep, and painting itself is easy.

Russel Curtains reckons that blinds and curtains for a medium sized home with around 10 windows should cost just over $4k. You could spend less with budget brands like Bargain Blinds, but if you’re getting custom work, luxury materials, and installation included expect to pay more - up to $15,000+.

Rewiring, installing a new switchboard, and installing new LED lighting throughout a basic 3 bedroom home costs around $8-$10k. If you do anything fancy or if your wiring is old and needs a full replacement you might end up spending a bit more.

You can expect to spend around $150 to $500 for a door knob plus installation. If you’re replacing all the door knobs in your house you can expect to spend $2,000 to $5,000, depending on how many doors you have, and what type you choose.

Glass wool is the most common type of insulation in NZ and costs around $12-$14 per sqm to install in ceilings, and $15-$18 in underfloors, according to Kaiser Property. Assuming you aimed to simply meet building code you’d pay the following for the average 156 sqm house:

• Ceiling: $1,872.00 - $2,152.80
• Underfloor: $2,418.00 - $2,776.80

If you were aiming to insulate your walls, you can expect to spend more. The problem is, you’ll need to remove interior linings or exterior cladding, install the insulation, then reinstall the lining and/or cladding. This can add significantly to cost, and it’s why many older homes only have ceiling and underfloor insulation.

Hot tip: There is a product called Insulmax that can be ‘pumped’ directly into walls so that cladding doesn’t need to be removed. It had generally good reviews, but it can be expensive - expect to spend over $5,000 for insulating the average home’s walls. 

Read more about insulation R-Values

Retrofitting double glazing, or adding double glazing to an existing building, is very expensive, but many would say it’s worth it. According to retroGlaze’s calculator, adding retrofit double glazing to the average 3 bedroom home, replacing standard aluminum windows would cost $5,000 to $12,500.

Costs will increase if you’re replacing or repairing frames, or replacing larger windows, and if installation is complex, or if you install triple glazed windows.

A new heating system can change your property completely, making every minute at home more comfortable. You’re looking at $2,500 to $6,000 for a standard heat pump for small to large rooms, and extra for installing smaller heaters in each room.

If you’re willing to invest a bit more you can install a ducted heat pump from $6,000 to $15,000. These provide the ability to heat or cool every room in your home, and some even allow you to select the temperature for each room individually. 

Read more about choosing a heat pump

Platinum Pacific Builders say the average cost of recladding a house in Auckland is $330k to $380k, but that amount will depend on several factors including the type of material you’re using, your location, the condition of the existing cladding, and whether the house is single or double level. 

Adding a basic bedroom should cost anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 depending on the nature of materials used, site conditions, consents required, and the size of the bedroom. Costs will vary when adding different rooms:

• Bathroom: $50,000 to $120,000
• Garage: $75,000 to $120,000
• Multi-room: $150,000 to $250,000+
• Double story: $200,000+

Read more about the cost of house extensions and the process

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is general in nature. While facts have been checked, the article does not constitute advice. The article is only intended to provide general information about renovation costs. Nothing in this article constitutes a recommendation.We cannot assess anything about your personal circumstances, your finances, or your goals and objectives, all of which are unique to you. Before making decisions about renovations, we recommend you seek professional advice.