Full House Renovation
In North Shore
Milford, North Shore
Completed on June 2019
RENOVATION
Project Managed By
Kevin Yang
Managing Director
kevin@superiorrenovations.co.nz
0800 199 888
Before and After Photos
Full House Renovation in Milford, North Shore
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
Inside this full house renovation in Milford, North Shore
This was a full renovation of an older Milford home on Auckland’s North Shore, completed in June 2019 and project-managed by our Managing Director, Kevin Yang. The house had good bones but a tired interior: a cream kitchen with a blue laminate benchtop and leadlight cabinet doors, an almond bathroom suite behind a folding shower door, patterned vinyl floors and dated wall colours throughout. The before-and-after photos above tell the story better than we can. Nearly every interior space was reworked.
Because it is a whole-house project, the work ran across the entire home rather than a single room. Here is what that covered, based on the finished spaces you can see in the gallery.
Two kitchens, both rebuilt
The main kitchen is the heart of the renovation. We fitted handleless gloss-white cabinetry with a shadowline finish, a light engineered stone benchtop and a glass splashback that keeps the whole run easy to wipe down. An induction cooktop sits alongside an under-bench wall oven, with an undermount double sink beneath the window and a freestanding stainless dishwasher. A full-height cabinetry bank holds the tall pantry and integrated storage, including a vertical wine rack, and new timber-look flooring runs straight through into the open-plan living and dining area.
There is also a second, simpler kitchen in the home, finished in white cabinetry with a laminate benchtop and a single sink, opening onto its own living space with a soft neutral feature wall. If you want to see how the crew approaches a build like this, here is the way we design and build a bright, open-plan kitchen.
Tiled bathrooms and a separate toilet
The bathrooms were stripped back and rebuilt with large-format marble-look porcelain tiles run floor to ceiling. One bathroom pairs a drop-in bath with a wall-hung timber vanity and a wide mirror, while the shower carries a chrome rail set with both a rain head and a handheld. Chrome tapware and glass shelving keep it clean and simple, and there is a separate toilet finished in the same marble-look tile. It is a long way from the almond suite and folding shower door that were there before.
Living areas, bedrooms and the stairs
The living spaces were opened up and finished with timber-look flooring, recessed downlights and sliding doors out to the garden. Bedrooms gained built-in sliding wardrobes and fresh carpet. An internal timber staircase links the home’s levels, lit by a high-level window that looks out over the North Shore rooftops, and the whole interior was repainted in soft off-whites and greys to tie the rooms together.
What sits behind those bathroom tiles
The part of a bathroom you never see is the part that matters most. Before any tile goes on, the wet areas are waterproofed so moisture cannot reach the framing behind them. New Zealand Building Code clause E3 Internal Moisture requires that surfaces in wet areas are impervious and easily cleaned, with provision for the disposal of overflow water. The Acceptable Solution E3/AS1 sets out one accepted way to meet that, using a waterproofing membrane under the tiles across the shower, floor and splash zones. Get this right and a tiled bathroom lasts for decades; get it wrong and the damage stays hidden until it is expensive to fix. Anything involving consents or Restricted Building Work should be confirmed with a Licensed Building Practitioner or Auckland Council for your own project.
Milford sits among the North Shore’s older housing stock, and homes of this vintage often reward a full renovation rather than a piecemeal one, because the wiring, layout and finishes all date from the same era. See how our North Shore team handles a full home renovation like this one, or read our guide to renovation costs in Auckland if you are working out a budget. For the wet areas specifically, this is how we tile and waterproof a full bathroom from the substrate up.
➡ Book a free in-home consultation with Superior Renovations
➡ See our full home renovations on the North Shore
➡ Request a free feasibility report for your renovation
How much does a full house renovation cost on the North Shore?
It depends on the size of the home, how many rooms are involved and the finish level you choose. A whole-house project that covers kitchens, bathrooms, flooring and repainting sits well above a single-room renovation, because you are paying for many trades working across the whole home at once. The most reliable number comes from a proper scope and quote, so use our renovation cost tools or book a consultation for a figure based on your own house.
How long does a full house renovation take?
A whole-house renovation runs longer than a single room because the trades move through the home in sequence, from strip-out and framing changes to waterproofing, tiling, cabinetry, flooring and painting. The timeframe depends on the size of the house, the scope of work and whether you stay living in it during the build. We map out a realistic programme during the design stage so you know what to expect before anything starts on site.
Do I need council consent for a full house renovation?
It depends on the work. Like-for-like cosmetic updates often do not need building consent, but anything structural, any change to plumbing or drainage, or any Restricted Building Work usually will. Because it is specific to your property, confirm your consent path with Auckland Council or a Licensed Building Practitioner before you commit. We handle consent applications in-house for our clients so nothing gets missed along the way.
Can you renovate more than one kitchen in the same house?
Yes. This Milford project included two kitchens, a full main kitchen and a second simpler one, both rebuilt as part of the same renovation. Homes with a second living area or a self-contained space often have a second kitchen or kitchenette, and there is no reason both cannot be updated together while the trades are already on site and the home is opened up.
Why does bathroom waterproofing matter so much?
Because it is what keeps water out of the timber framing behind your tiles. New Zealand Building Code clause E3 requires wet-area surfaces to be impervious and easily cleaned, and a waterproofing membrane under the tiles is the accepted way to achieve that. Skipping or rushing it is the most common cause of hidden bathroom damage, and it is invisible once the tiles are on, so it has to be done properly the first time.
Do you take on full house renovations across the North Shore?
Yes. Superior Renovations works right across Auckland, including Milford, Takapuna, Devonport, Albany and the wider North Shore. We run the whole project from the first design meeting through to the final coat of paint, with our own in-house design team and project managers. You can see more of our North Shore work on our home renovation page for the area.
What is the best order to renovate a whole house?
Generally you plan and design first, then work from the structure outwards: any framing or layout changes, then wiring and plumbing, waterproofing and tiling, cabinetry and benchtops, flooring, and painting last. Doing it in that order stops finished surfaces being damaged by later trades. On a full-house job we sequence the rooms so the home stays as liveable as possible while the work moves through it.
