Apartment renovation in Riga

A full renovation reaches everything behind the finishes. Where the layout changes we build new partitions, then renew the wiring and the water, drainage and heating pipes, level the walls and floors, and only then finish every room. It suits an apartment without finishes or one that has not been renovated for many years.

A cosmetic renovation leaves the structure of the walls, the pipes and the wiring as they are and renews the surfaces: filling and painting, new floor coverings, ceilings, doors and fittings. It can cover the whole apartment or a few rooms. The inspection shows which level your apartment needs, and the two can be combined, for example a full renovation of the bathroom and cosmetic work in the other rooms.

We take on the bathroom and WC as a separate job or together with the rest of the apartment. The usual scope covers removing the old tiles and sanitary ware, renewing the water and drainage connections, waterproofing the floor and the wet zones of the walls, tiling, the ceiling and lighting, and fitting the bath or shower, the WC, the basin and the towel rail.

A walk-in shower or a wall-hung WC has to be planned before tiling: the floor falls, the drain position and the WC frame are set at the start. We check the waterproofing before the tiles cover it, because it cannot be inspected afterwards.

The engineering systems of an apartment are the water supply and drainage, the heating pipes and radiators, the electrical installation with the distribution board, sockets and lighting, and, if you want them, smart-home controls for lighting, heating or blinds. What Else organises these works and coordinates them with specialist professionals within the agreed scope.

We plan them together with the layout and the finishes, so that sockets, outlets and connections end up where the furniture and the kitchen need them. Concealed pipes and cables are checked before the finishes cover them. Work on the shared risers of the building is agreed with the management company in advance.

Finishing is the visible part of the renovation: new partitions where the layout changes, plastering and filling the walls, painting, floor coverings and ceilings. Floors can be tiles, parquet or laminate laid on a prepared, level base; ceilings can be plastered and painted or built in plasterboard with recessed lights.

Most visible defects start in the preparation, so we level the walls and check the floor base before any finish goes on, and give each layer the drying time it needs before the next one.

A kitchen and built-in wardrobes can be included in the project scope. They are made, delivered and installed by our partner makers. What Else does not make furniture; we coordinate its making and installation with the rest of the renovation.

In practice the rooms are measured once the walls and floors are ready, the water, drainage and electrical points are placed for the chosen kitchen, and the installation is scheduled so that it does not get in the way of the finishing works. The design and materials of the furniture are agreed with you before it is ordered.

We prepare the estimate after inspecting the apartment. Each item is priced per unit of work: a square metre of floor, wall or another treated surface. With the estimate you receive the sequence of the works and the expected timing.

Each line states what the price includes: the work itself, the preparation of the surface (removing the old covering, levelling, priming) and whether the materials are included or supplied by you. The final price follows the agreed scope and the condition of the apartment. Uneven walls, worn pipes or old wiring found at the inspection, common in older Riga buildings, are priced in; anything found later is agreed with you before we do it.

A renovation starts with an inspection and measurements, then we prepare the estimate and the schedule. Once the scope is agreed, we protect the surfaces that stay and begin with demolition, followed by the engineering works, the preparation of walls and floors, the bathroom and the finishing; the kitchen and wardrobes are installed at the end.

During the works you get regular updates and a list of decisions still to make, such as tiles, sanitary ware or socket positions. At the end we walk through the apartment with you, put right any remaining items and hand over the documents for the installed materials and equipment.