This was one of our most involved North Shore renovations. We took a 20-year-old 8×3.5m concrete pool in Waiake and rebuilt it into a proper outdoor centrepiece, adding an infinity-edge tiled spa and a schist stone water feature wall along the way. Total project value was around $63,000 + GST.
Artisan Stone & Tile handled the whole job in-house, from the demolition through to the final fill. Mario ran it personally, which is how a project with this many moving parts stays on track.
After two decades the pool worked but looked its age. The interior was worn, the edge details were dated, and the client wanted more than a resurface. They wanted a spa they could actually use year-round and a feature that gave the whole area some presence.
That turned a straight renovation into a small build. We had to tie a new spa into the existing pool, add a stone feature wall, and upgrade the plumbing to run both bodies of water cleanly. The concrete shell was our starting point, and everything else got designed around it.
The spa is the standout. We built an infinity edge so the water spills over a knife-edge into a hidden catch basin, then set the whole spa in Ezarri glass mosaics for a smooth, fully tiled finish.
An infinity edge only works if the levelling is right to the millimetre, so this stage takes patience. We plumbed the spa on its own heating circuit while sharing filtration with the main pool, which is the cheaper, tidier way to run a combo when you build it in from the start rather than retrofit later.
To give the pool area some weight, we clad a feature wall in schist stone. Schist is a natural New Zealand stone with warm greys and browns that sit beautifully against water and planting.
We fixed it over a prepared substrate with a proper mechanical and adhesive hold, so it stays put in an outdoor, splash-exposed spot. It’s the kind of detail that lifts a backyard from tidy to genuinely impressive. For more outdoor stone work, see our pool surrounds Auckland page.
We tiled the waterline and the spa in Ezarri glass mosaics, set with an epoxy grout system so the grout survives the chemistry at the waterline. Ezarri’s mounting keeps the bond strong, which matters on a pool you want to last another 20 years. More on our process on the swimming pool tiling page.
The pool edge got new premium porcelain drop-face copings. Porcelain is low-maintenance and stands up to salt and chlorine without sealing, and the drop-face profile gives a clean line into the water. See our pool coping stones guide for the options.
At the time, we finished the interior in Hydrazzo polished plaster. It gave a smooth, deep surface that suited the design.
We’ve since stopped using Hydrazzo. The supplier is winding down supply at the end of 2026, so we no longer recommend it. On a build like this today we’d specify one of our two current plaster finishes – Quartz Pool Finish by Oceania or Ultra Plaster by SSL Distributors – which are harder and more resistant to chemical etching than older plaster marble, or a fully tiled interior to match the spa.
Running a pool and a spa together needs the plumbing done properly. We upgraded the pipework and sanitation so both circulate cleanly, the spa holds temperature on its own circuit, and the client isn’t fighting algae or cloudy water. It’s the part nobody sees and the part that decides whether the finish still looks good in five years.
This was a bigger investment than a standard resurface, and the scope explains why:
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Pool size | 8m x 3.5m concrete, plus infinity-edge tiled spa |
| Tiling | Ezarri glass mosaics (pool and spa) |
| Coping | Premium porcelain drop-face |
| Feature | Schist stone water feature wall |
| Grout | Epoxy grout system |
| Upgrades | Plumbing and sanitation overhaul |
| Location | Waiake, North Shore, Auckland |
| Project value | ~$63,000 + GST |
Waiake sits on the North Shore where clay soils and coastal air are hard on older pools. Owners here tend to renovate rather than rebuild because the concrete shell has plenty of life left, and a renovation can add real features (a spa, a feature wall) that a like-for-like rebuild rarely justifies.
We work right across the Shore, including Castor Bay and Birkenhead. Every job is trade-certified, uses BRANZ-appraised materials, and is backed by our 35+ five-star Google reviews.
If you want more than a resurface (a spa, a feature wall, a full rework), we’ll design it around your existing pool. Get a free site visit and a fixed-price quote.
or call Mario on 021 123 8672.
