A friend in Karori rang me last autumn in a mild panic. She’d had one landscaper quote her $40,000 for a “tidy-up” and another quote $95,000 for what sounded, on paper, like the same job, and she wanted to know which one of them was having her on. Neither was. I’ve spent years building, rebuilding and re-grading sections around Wellington and the wider provincial North Island, and that $55,000 gap is the whole problem with “section makeovers” outside Auckland: the word means wildly different things to different people, and until you break the job into its parts, no number means anything. So here’s how I actually think about the money if you’re planning to redo a whole section outside Auckland in 2026.
What’s actually in a “full section makeover”
When I say full makeover, I mean everything: clearing and levelling the section, earthworks or retaining where the ground needs it, new lawn or planting, a patio or paths, fencing, and usually some drainage work, because the original section was rarely drained properly to begin with. On a standard 500 to 700 square metre suburban section, a genuine full makeover in the regions runs roughly $45,000 to $120,000 including GST. That’s a huge spread, and three things drive it: how much dirt has to move, how hard the site is to get machinery onto, and how much hard surface — concrete, paving, decking — you want.
Here’s roughly how that breaks down on a mid-range, sloping Karori-style section:
| Job component | Typical cost (incl. GST) |
|---|---|
| Site clearing and green waste removal | $2,500 – $6,000 |
| Earthworks and levelling | $8,000 – $25,000 (steeper Wellington hill sections push the top end) |
| Retaining walls | $400 – $700 per m² of wall face — a modest wall is $6,000 – $15,000 |
| Drainage and drivepath | $5,000 – $18,000 |
| Paving, patio or deck | $10,000 – $30,000 |
| Planting, topsoil and lawn | $6,000 – $20,000 |
Why the regions aren’t automatically cheaper than Auckland
People assume anything outside Auckland is a bargain. Labour genuinely costs less in places like the Manawatū or Otago, but two things eat that saving fast. First, access — plenty of provincial and Wellington hill sections have a single narrow drive, no side access and a slope, which means small machines, more hand-barrowing, and more hours on site. Second, cartage. If you’re on a lifestyle block near Rotorua or a rural section outside Palmerston North, every truckload of fill, aggregate or green waste costs more to shift because the depot is further away. I’ve seen cartage alone add $3,000 to $8,000 to a job that looked simple on the plan.
Wellington sections carry their own tax on top of that. A lot of the region’s older hill suburbs, Karori included, were subdivided and built out through the early-to-mid 1900s, and the sections still reflect it — narrow accessways, minimal retaining, drainage that was adequate for the standards of the day and not much else. Add the southerly wind, which pushes you toward solid fencing and hardy planting rather than anything delicate, and steep, often reclaimed or fill-heavy ground, and you can see why retaining and drainage aren’t optional extras up there. They’re the job. If you’re building or rebuilding on the hills, budget for the ground to surprise you.
Where the money quietly disappears
The line items above are the visible costs. The ones that blow budgets are the invisible ones. Ground conditions top the list: dig down expecting soil and hit clay, rock or old fill, and your excavation cost can double. Consents are the next one, and people forget them. Retaining walls over 1.5 metres, or anything carrying a surcharge like a driveway above it, generally need a building consent, and earthworks can trigger a resource consent depending on your council’s district plan. The government’s own guidance at Building Performance is worth reading before you commit, because a stop-work notice mid-project is the most expensive delay there is.
The third quiet cost is staging. Doing everything at once is cheaper per item, because the machinery and crew are already on site, but few of us have $100,000 spare. If you have to split the job across two or three years, factor in that mobilising a digger and crew twice costs more than once. I’ve written more about how to phase this sensibly in my piece on budgeting outdoor projects across a year, and it’s genuinely the difference between finishing and stalling half-done.
Getting a number you can actually trust
Don’t ask for “a quote for the backyard.” Give three or four landscapers the same written brief, with the same materials, and ask them to price it line by line. When the numbers come back itemised, you can actually compare them, and you’ll spot the one who’s left out drainage just to look cheap. Get an earthworks contractor to do a quick site look before you fall in love with a design, because the ground dictates the budget more than the plants do. And always keep a contingency of 10 to 15 percent. On a section makeover, something under the surface always costs more than the drawing suggested.
Questions people ask me about section makeovers
How much does a full section makeover cost in provincial NZ in 2026? A genuine full makeover on a standard 500 to 700 square metre suburban section runs roughly $45,000 to $120,000 including GST, with earthworks, retaining and hard surfaces driving most of the difference.
Do I need consent for a section makeover? Often, yes. Retaining walls over 1.5 metres, walls carrying a load like a driveway, and significant earthworks can need a building or resource consent, so check your district plan or ask your council before work starts.
Do I have to redo the whole section in one go, or can I stage it? You can stage it, and plenty of people do. It costs a bit more overall because you’re mobilising machinery and crew more than once, but it’s far better than trying to fund $100,000 in a single hit. Just plan the sequence up front so later stages don’t undo earlier work.
Does an older hill section need anything different from a flat new one? Usually, yes. Older Wellington hill sections — Karori is a good example — often have retaining and drainage built to decades-old standards, plus fill-heavy or reclaimed ground underneath. Budget more contingency and expect earthworks and retaining, not planting, to dominate the price.
How can I stop the budget blowing out? Get itemised quotes from three or four landscapers on the same written brief, have the ground assessed before finalising the design, and hold a 10 to 15 percent contingency for what turns up under the surface. Tree work is the line that moves most once machinery access is priced in, so have a Hamilton arborist quote it separately rather than leaving it inside a landscaping allowance.