North Shore
Luxury Bathroom Renovation
in Redvale, North Shore
Two bathrooms, a separate toilet and the laundry, reworked in warm, dark tones for a North Shore family home
Completed November 2019
RENOVATION
Project Managed By
Kevin Yang
Managing Director / Project Management
kevin@superiorrenovations.co.nz
0800 199 888
Quick answer: We completed a luxury bathroom renovation in Redvale, North Shore — two bathrooms, a standalone toilet and the laundry — built around warm, dark large-format tiling, custom double vanities and a freestanding bath. Completed November 2019.
| Location | Redvale, North Shore — Auckland |
| Completed | November 2019 |
| Scope | Two bathrooms, standalone toilet and laundry — full project management |
| Project lead | Kevin Yang — Managing Director / Project Management |
| Design | Superior Renovations in-house design team |
| Project type | Owner-occupier — modernise and add resale value |
Why a North Shore Family Modernised Two Tired Bathrooms
Sarah’s bathrooms were fourteen years old and showing it. Laminate flooring, dated fixtures, and a wall splitting the shower off from the vanity. The family wanted them modern again — and they had one eye on resale.
The brief was value without cutting corners. Sarah put it plainly:
“Our main reason to renovate the bathrooms was to modernise them — they were 14 years old — and to enhance the appeal and value of our home. Of key importance was value without compromising the quality.”
— Sarah, Redvale
Redvale sits on the rural-residential edge of the North Shore, where homes tend to be larger and built to be lived in for the long haul. Doing two bathrooms, a separate toilet and the laundry in one run made sense here — get the wet areas sorted properly, once, rather than coming back to them in stages.
What Sarah remembers most isn’t the tiling. It’s how the job ran. Plenty of Auckland firms can lay a tile straight and hang a vanity. The harder part — the part that decides whether you’d do it again — is how the months in between actually feel: who’s on site, whether the place is tidy at the end of each day, and whether the small problems get sorted before they become big ones. That’s where this project earned its keep, and it’s what our Auckland bathroom renovation team sets out to get right every time. See our North Shore bathroom renovation service for more information.
The Design Brief: Warmth and Function in a Smaller Footprint
The old bathrooms had laminate flooring, a wall dividing the shower from the vanity, and dated fixtures. We demolished everything inside the spaces, including that wall. The win was what the rooms already had going for them: good natural light and high ceilings.
Sarah wanted warmth, so she steered away from the light, safe palette most people reach for in a small bathroom and went dark instead. It’s the opposite of the usual advice, and it worked:
“The tiles we chose were dark. Having the high ceilings and masses of natural light allowed us to play with colour. The rooms were not large, but the darker tiles have opened the space up — contrary to popular belief. They’ve added warmth and a sense of intimacy that’s not as easy to achieve with a lighter palette.”
— Sarah, Redvale
Same Layout, More Room to Move
The footprints were small but had real potential, even without shifting a single wall. So we left the layouts alone and went after function instead — longer vanities, larger showers, smarter storage. Sarah noticed the difference straight away:
“Whilst the layout of the bathrooms stayed the same, small changes increased the functionality of the rooms incredibly. Longer vanities and larger showers have maximised these spaces. It’s now too easy to lose track of time in the shower!”
— Sarah, Redvale
Once everything was stripped out, we custom-built a double vanity for each bathroom and the laundry, sized to suit each room rather than ordered off a shelf. Where the old shower had been, we built a larger tiled one. Our in-house design team worked the scheme so the three spaces read as one.
Main Ensuite: A Freestanding Bath and a Custom Tiled Shower
Custom Vanity
• Custom-designed and built vanity using MDF board from Bestwood
• 30mm marble-look engineered stone benchtop
• Open, spa-style basins to suit the relaxed feel
Bath, Toilet and Tiled Shower
• Large freestanding bath set below the window
• Custom-built tiled shower, fully waterproofed walls and floor
• Double waterfall shower
• Shower niche for shampoos and toiletries
• Two heated towel rails
• New toilet tucked into the corner behind the door
• Round LED mirror
Smart Heating and Lighting Control
• 3-in-1 unit on the ceiling — fan, heat lamp and light
• 600 x 600 Pirano grey matt glazed porcelain floor tiles, R10 anti-slip, from The Tile Depot
• 600 x 600 MI Incarico wall tiles, also from The Tile Depot
• A touch-screen system controlling the lights, exhaust fan and underfloor heating
Second Ensuite and Standalone Toilet: One Cohesive Scheme
- Custom-built vanity in the same colours and materials as the main ensuite
- Made narrower to suit this bathroom’s dimensions
- Spa-style sinks
- Custom marble-look engineered stone benchtop
- Tiles, vanities and fixtures kept consistent with the main ensuite
- 600 x 600 light grey R10 anti-slip tiles on the floor
- 600 x 600 darker grey tiles on the walls
- Two heated towel rails beside the vanity
- Round LED mirror
- Touch-screen control for underfloor heating, ceiling lights and fan
- Custom-built, waterproofed tiled shower in the corner, with a waterfall shower and a niche
Laundry: Custom Cabinetry Built Around the Washer and Dryer
- Custom-built vanity to house the washer and dryer underneath
- Cabinets in MDF board from Bestwood
- Stainless steel sink
- Custom white marble-look engineered stone benchtop
- Storage cabinets above the bench
- CALX Aquamarine 100 x 300 splashback tiles from The Tile Depot
The Part You Never See: Waterproofing Behind the Tiles
A luxury bathroom is judged on the finish. Whether it lasts is decided by the layer underneath. Before any tile goes on, every wet area gets waterproofed: the shower floor and walls, and the zones around the bath and vanity where water ends up whether you plan for it or not.
New Zealand’s Building Code sets the standard here. Clause E3 Internal Moisture requires that surfaces in wet areas be impervious and easily cleaned, and Acceptable Solution E3/AS1 is the compliance path most bathrooms follow. In practice a waterproofing membrane (systems tested to AS/NZS 4858, the wet-area membrane standard) is taken up the walls, across the floor and into the shower, with the floor falls set so water runs to the waste instead of pooling. In the Redvale showers, that tiled floor pitched to a central drain is the visible half of the job; the reliable half happened before the tiling started.
Skip it or rush it and the damage shows up years later, behind the wall, as rot and mould. Done properly, you never think about it again. Where a bathroom renovation changes plumbing or drainage, building consent usually applies and the work is inspected before sign-off, so it pays to have it handled by an experienced team. For consent specifics on your own project, Auckland Council is the place to check.
💡 Quick tip: Ask any bathroom renovator how they waterproof and who signs it off. A straight answer about E3/AS1 and tested membranes is a good sign; a vague one is not.
What a Renovation Like This Costs in Auckland
Every bathroom is priced to its own scope — the size of the room, the materials, and how much sits behind the walls all move the number. A custom double vanity, a freestanding bath, full waterproofing and underfloor heating sit at a different level to a like-for-like swap. Rather than quote a figure that won’t match your home, run your numbers through our bathroom renovation cost calculator for a realistic Auckland estimate.
💡 Quick tip: Doing several wet areas in one go — like the two bathrooms, toilet and laundry here — usually works out better value per room than tackling them one at a time, because the trades, waterproofing and tiling all run in a single sequence.
Sarah’s Words
“We were a tad anxious when we embarked on this project. When you’re investing a lot of money, you can’t help but be concerned about every decision you make. You hear plenty of horror stories and not many with great outcomes. We did have a great outcome — the budget was stuck to, we received great value for money, the bathrooms (and the laundry) have exceeded our expectations, and Superior Renovations were professional and fun to deal with. Kevin and his team were brilliant. To say they all worked incredibly hard is an understatement.”
“Their presence around our home was always unobtrusive, their tidying at the end of every day was great, and their consideration for our pets was brilliant. Any queries we had were always matters Kevin was already on top of. We did have an issue in one of the bathrooms once the work was done, but Kevin’s speed and focus in resolving it was incredible — and it ultimately enhanced our opinion of the professionalism of Superior Renovations.”— Sarah, Redvale
Thinking About Your Own Bathroom?
Whether you’re modernising tired wet areas before selling or settling in for the long haul, the approach is the same one we took in Redvale: sort the function, choose materials that last, and run the job so it doesn’t take over your home. If that’s the kind of renovation you’re after, here’s where to start.
➡ Book your free in-home consultation with Superior Renovations
➡ Estimate your project with our bathroom renovation cost calculator
➡ Request a free feasibility report for your project
Frequently Asked Questions
What tiles were used in this luxury bathroom renovation in Redvale?
The floors used 600 x 600 Pirano grey matt glazed porcelain tiles with an R10 anti-slip rating, and the walls used 600 x 600 MI Incarico tiles — both from The Tile Depot. The laundry splashback used CALX Aquamarine 100 x 300 tiles, also from The Tile Depot. Large-format tiles on the floor and walls were a deliberate choice to keep the grout lines minimal and the small rooms feeling calm.
Can dark tiles really work in a small bathroom?
They can, with the right conditions. These bathrooms weren't large, but they had high ceilings and plenty of natural light, which let the owners go dark without the rooms feeling closed in. The dark palette actually added warmth and a sense of intimacy that a lighter scheme struggles to achieve. The usual advice to keep small bathrooms pale isn't a hard rule — it depends on the light you've got to work with.
Did the bathroom layouts change?
No. We kept the existing layouts and focused on function instead. Longer vanities, larger tiled showers and smarter storage made the rooms work far better without the cost and disruption of moving plumbing or walls. It's a good example of getting more out of a space without expanding it.
What went into the custom vanities?
Each vanity was custom-designed and built in-house from MDF board (Bestwood), topped with a 30mm marble-look engineered stone benchtop and finished with open, spa-style basins. The second ensuite vanity was made narrower to suit its room, and the laundry vanity was built to house the washer and dryer underneath — none of it off the shelf.
How is the heating controlled in these bathrooms?
Each bathroom runs on a touch-screen system that controls the underfloor heating, ceiling lights and exhaust fan from one panel. A 3-in-1 ceiling unit adds a fan, heat lamp and light. It's a small upgrade that makes a cold-morning bathroom far more pleasant to use.
How much does a bathroom renovation in Redvale cost?
It depends entirely on scope — room size, materials, and how much work sits behind the walls. A custom vanity, freestanding bath, full waterproofing and underfloor heating sit well above a like-for-like swap. Rather than guess, run your details through our bathroom renovation cost calculator for a realistic Auckland estimate, then we can firm it up at a free consultation.
Do you renovate bathrooms across the North Shore?
Yes. We work across the greater Auckland region, including Redvale and the wider North Shore — Albany, Silverdale, Torbay and the Hibiscus Coast. Our design studio and showroom is at 16B Link Drive, Wairau Valley, where you can see materials and finishes in person before you commit. Call us on 0800 199 888 to talk it through.
Luxury Bathroom Renovation in Redvale — Your Questions Answered
Further Resources
- More completed Auckland renovation projects
- Real client stories from across Auckland
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