Your Local Wellington Bathroom Renovation Experts
Southern has been renovating Wellington bathrooms since 1982 — over 40 years, 29,000 jobs, from heritage villa ensuites in Khandallah to modern bathrooms in Paraparaumu new-builds. We handle the whole renovation: design, plumbing, tiling, electrical, carpentry, painting — all project-managed by one team.
Fixed-price quotes. Master Plumbers guarantee. Your Job On Time, or It’s Free. Call 0800 484 353.
Why Hire Southern for Your Bathroom Renovation?
A bathroom renovation touches six trades. Most renovation companies call themselves a “project manager” but actually sub-contract every step. We’re different — our in-house team does the plumbing, gasfitting and drainage, and we directly manage the tilers, sparkies, carpenters, plasterers and painters we’ve worked with for years.
- Master Plumbers — 25+ years
- Certifying Plumber & Gasfitter on staff
- Fixed-price written quote before work starts
- Your Job On Time, or It’s Free
- SuperGold discount available
Trust the Experience
There’s a reason the cheapest quote often costs the most — guesswork. Companies tackling a bathroom for the first time don’t know what’s behind that wall until they open it up, and then you’re paying for the surprises. After 40+ years and thousands of Wellington bathrooms, we can walk through your existing layout and accurately predict what’s behind the plasterboard.
That’s why we can give you a fixed-price quote up front, and stand behind it. We see every Wellington era — weatherboard villas with rimu framing, 1960s state houses, 80s brick-and-tile, modern insulation-filled cavities — and we price for what’s actually there, not what we hope is there.
Bathroom Product List — From Budget to Luxury
We stock and install every major NZ bathroom brand, and we’re a LeVivi stockist — tapware, toilet suites, shower enclosures and vanities, usually in stock and available quickly. That matters: specifying only what’s in stock keeps your renovation on schedule.
- Shower enclosures — $500 to $5,000. Framed, frameless, walk-in, corner, alcove
- Basin taps — chrome, brushed, matte black, coloured. Swivel and hi-rise
- Toilet pans — back-to-wall, wall-hung, close-coupled. Soft-close seats standard.
- Vanities — 600, 750, 900, 1000, 1050, 1200mm widths. Wall-hung or floor-standing. Drawer or cupboard.
- Bidet seats & European bidets (under-rim bidets require RPZ backflow protection — we handle that)
- Heated towel rails, heated floors, mirror demisters
- Bathroom fittings — all fixtures and accessories
Bathroom Renovation Cost — What to Expect
Wellington bathroom renovation costs depend on three things: size, fixture choice, and whether you’re moving plumbing. Rough guide:
- Budget refresh ($12k–$18k) — new shower, vanity, toilet, tapware, minimal tiling, fixtures stay in original locations
- Mid-range renovation ($20k–$35k) — full retile, new layout, LeVivi or similar mid-range fixtures, heated towel rail
- Premium renovation ($40k–$70k+) — frameless shower, European tapware, heated floors, custom vanity, stone tops, feature tiling
Every quote is fixed-price in writing before work starts. Download our Bathroom Renovation Checklist to plan your scope.
Affordable Bathroom Renovation — 7 Ways to Save
Real money-saving choices we recommend to Wellington clients:
- Specify in-stock LeVivi — avoids weeks of waiting on imported fixtures and the “urgent delivery” surcharges
- Minimise tiling — tile the wet area, paint the rest. Easy repaint in 5 years, fresh look.
- 900×900mm shower enclosure — the sweet-spot size, biggest drop from larger custom sizes
- 600×600mm floor tiles — fewer grout lines, faster to lay, easier to clean
- Drawer vanity — cheaper than custom joinery, better storage than cupboards
- Keep fixtures in original locations — moving plumbing adds $3k–$8k to most jobs
- Use our Customer Apartment — free short-stay accommodation if you only have one bathroom and need to live off-site during works
Bathroom Sub Trades — All Managed by Us
A bathroom renovation isn’t just plumbing — you also need an electrician for lights/heated rail/demister, a tiler for floor and wall, a carpenter for framing and mirrors, a plasterer for wet-area linings, and a painter for the rest. Five extra trades to book, chase and coordinate. Or, you hand us the project.
We’ve worked with the same sub-trades for years. One quote, one timeline, one invoice — we handle all scheduling. You deal with one project manager, not six. See our dedicated tilers, or jump to SPC flooring for waterproof luxury vinyl plank.
Bathroom Costs Under Control
Budget blow-outs usually come from three things: unexpected rot behind tiles, fixture back-orders, and last-minute scope changes. We defuse all three up front.
- Pre-strip inspection — we remove a couple of tiles first to see what’s underneath before locking in the quote
- In-stock fixture specs — we use brands we can get this week, not “in 6 weeks from Italy”
- Written scope in plain English — you see exactly what’s included, and what’s “optional extra” if you change your mind
- Fixed-price quote — signed before any tools come out
- Weekly site walk — you see progress and sign off at each stage
This is why our quote-to-actual variance is typically under 5%.
Bathroom Renovations on the Kapiti Coast
We do a lot of bathroom work across the Kapiti Coast — Paraparaumu, Waikanae, Raumati, Paekakariki — and it’s worth a separate note because Kapiti jobs have their own quirks. Sandy soil affects drainage installation, coastal corrosion is harder on fixtures, and many Kapiti properties are original 70s–80s builds where the bathroom hasn’t been touched in 40 years.
Our Kapiti projects deliver exceptional results through dedicated project management — we schedule sub-trades around the Kapiti Expressway commute so our team is on-site productive, not stuck in traffic. Fixed-price applies the same way. Call 0800 484 353 for a Kapiti bathroom quote.
What to Look For in Bathroom Fixtures
Our pick list for fixtures that hold up to Wellington conditions without blowing the budget:
- Wall-hung toilet pan with soft-close seat — easier to clean under, modern look
- 900×900mm shower enclosure with centre drain and low-threshold tray
- Drawer vanity 900mm wide — best storage-to-cost ratio
- Matte-black tapware if you’re in a new-build; chrome for heritage homes
- Heated towel rail on a timer — dries towels overnight, less mould risk in Wellington damp
- Extractor fan with humidity sensor — switches itself on in showers, off when dry
- LED mirror with demister pad — single-fixture upgrade that transforms the feel
One Bathroom, No Problem — Use Our Customer Apartment
Renovating a one-bathroom house means living without a shower for a week or two. We have a Customer Apartment available free of charge for clients whose only bathroom is being renovated — you stay in central Wellington while we work.
We serve every Wellington suburb — Karori, Johnsonville, Khandallah, Island Bay, Tawa, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Petone, Porirua, the Kapiti Coast, and the Wairarapa. Same fixed-price approach no matter where the job is.