FAQ
Questions, answered straight
The cost, consent and licensing answers here carry their source. The answers about us are the honest current position, including the parts that are not flattering.
About kitchens and costs
How much does a kitchen renovation cost in NZ?
About $35,000 is the typical New Zealand kitchen renovation, with most jobs between $25,000 and $45,000 (CheckMyBuilder, July 2026, which does not state a GST basis). Budget work runs $15,000–25,000 and premium jobs $45,000–90,000. The budget calculator puts your room somewhere in that spread and shows every source it used.
Why pay for a design when some stores do it free?
A free retailer design is a sales tool: it is drawn around that retailer's cabinet range and ends in that retailer's quote. Bunnings' in-home design is free and takes 1.5–2 hours. Our $595 consult produces two layouts drawn to scale and a line-item budget you own and can take to anyone. It is credited in full if you build with us. How that compares.
Who actually builds and installs it?
We design the kitchen and run the job. A partner joinery workshop makes and fits the cabinetry. An authorised plumber does the sanitary plumbing and a registered electrician does the fixed wiring and issues the certification. We are not a licensed plumber, electrician or Licensed Building Practitioner and we never do that work ourselves. Who does what.
Do I need a building consent?
It depends on what you are changing. Replacing fixtures where they already are is a different question from moving a waste or altering a wall. Check canibuildit.govt.nz and your council before you commit; we run that check as part of the consult and write the answer into your scope.
When do I pay?
$595 for the consult, and nothing else until you accept a fixed-price contract. After that our proposed schedule is 20% on signing (less your consult credit), 40% when the cabinetry goes into manufacture, 30% on delivery and 10% on completion, once the plumber's and electrician's compliance records are handed over. The schedule in full.
How long will I be without a kitchen?
Cabinetry manufacture takes about 4–6 weeks before anyone comes on site (Superior Renovations, 2026), and the on-site work runs 3–8 weeks depending on scope (CheckMyBuilder, July 2026). You lose the kitchen for the on-site part, not the whole programme. Where the weeks go.
About us
Are you licensed builders, plumbers or electricians?
No. We design kitchens and manage the job. Sanitary plumbing goes to a plumber authorised by the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, fixed wiring to a registered electrician, and restricted building work to a Licensed Building Practitioner. Who does what.
Can I see photos of your work?
Not yet, because we have not completed any jobs. Rather than fill the site with stock photography or somebody else's kitchens, we publish scaled plan drawings and say plainly that they are drawings.
Do you have reviews?
No. We have not earned any yet, so there is no reviews block on this site and no star rating in our search results. When we have real reviews from real customers, they will appear here with their source.
How do I know my deposit is safe?
Pay against a written contract with an itemised scope and a named legal entity, tie every payment to an event, and hold money back until hand-over. Ours is published: 20 / 40 / 30 / 10, with the last 10% released once the compliance records are handed over. The schedule.
What if I only want the design?
That is a perfectly good outcome. The two scaled layouts, the line-item budget and the written scope are yours to take anywhere. About a fifth of the value of a consult is discovering that the job you had in mind is not the job you should do.
Do you do bathrooms or whole-house renovations?
No. Kitchens only. A company that does everything usually does none of it particularly well, and our partner joinery workshop makes kitchen cabinetry.
Can I use my own appliances or joiner?
Your own appliances, yes: we record model numbers at the measure so the cabinetry is built around them. Your own joiner, no, because the contract warranty and the programme sit with the workshop we contract.
What happens if the job runs late?
The contract sets the programme and what happens if it slips. Ask that question of anyone quoting you, and be wary of a contract that is silent on it. What to look for in a contract.
Do you charge for a quote?
No. We charge for a design: a measured plan and a line-item budget. Once you have that, pricing it is part of the contract process and costs nothing.
Where do your cost figures come from?
Published New Zealand sources, named on every page with the date we checked them: CheckMyBuilder for tier ranges and regional typicals, Superior Renovations for per-square-metre and benchtop rates, FBD Interiors for design fees. Nothing on this site is a figure we invented.