Cottage construction in Batumi and the Adjara suburbs

For us, cottage construction in Batumi and its suburbs means a family country house of 150–300 m², with a garage, a boiler room and a plot with space for a garden. What sets a cottage apart from a private house in town is above all the plot: the utilities are further away, there is more land, and the road for machinery is worse. So we start the design with the site plan and the building services, and then draw the house itself to fit them. The client's path from the registry extract to the keys is described on the page about private house construction; here we cover only what a plot outside the city changes.

A plot outside the city: what to check before paying a deposit

The general procedure for checking land, from the land category in the extract to the zoning and access, is described on the house construction page. Outside the city it is the same, but a few points carry more weight, because they decide how much money goes into the plot and how much into the house itself:

• the land category: in villages, plots are often registered as agricultural, and for a foreigner this usually rules out the purchase;
• the municipality: Chakvi and Kobuleti are no longer part of Batumi but belong to Kobuleti Municipality, and we confirm which authority handles the permit before applying;
• how many metres it is to the nearest power line pole, and whether a gas main runs through the village;
• whether the plot has enough fall for the septic tank to sit below the house and the borehole above it and further away;
• whether a concrete mixer truck and a long lorry with blocks can get along the village road.

If the plot suits you, the documents and registration of the purchase can be handled with our partner lawyer as part of transaction support. It is convenient to run the build preparations and the purchase in parallel: we do the ground survey and the topographic survey while the documents are being prepared.

Utilities at the plot: electricity, water, gas, sewerage

In Batumi gas is supplied by SOCAR Georgia Gas, and water and sewerage are run by Batumis Tskali (Batumi Water), but outside the city we find out separately who owns the water main and the gas pipe, and whether they exist at all. Electricity is connected by the network company. We don't set the terms, timelines or connection fees, and we won't promise a connection until the network owners have replied. Our part is the electricity, water and drainage runs from the plot boundary to the house, and the service entries in the foundations.

Outside the city the issue is more often distance than capacity. If the nearest pole is several hundred metres away, the network company runs the line to the plot on its own terms and timeline. Water is similar: a main in the next street doesn't mean you will be allowed to connect to it. Until there is an answer, we price the house in two versions, with a connection and with its own water supply and a septic tank, so the difference in the estimate is clear before you buy.

Your own water supply and wastewater treatment

If there is no water main, drilling the borehole is one of the first jobs on the plot. It supplies water for the concrete, masonry and plaster, and a test pumping and a water analysis show how much water it gives and of what quality. The pump, the tank size and the filter stages depend on this, so we order the water equipment only after drilling. Nobody can tell the depth or composition of the water in advance, so before drilling we ask the neighbours how deep their water is and whether it comes out rusty.

We place the septic tank downhill from the house and as far as possible from the borehole, with a standing area for the emptying truck right by the manhole. We size the tank for the whole family plus summer guests, not for two people. Which system to choose where the groundwater is high, and when it makes more sense to connect to the city network, is covered in our comparison of a septic tank and a mains sewer.

The boiler room and plant room of a cottage

A house without mains services has so much equipment that its plant room comes out noticeably larger than in a town house. It holds:

• the boiler or the heat pump's indoor hydraulic unit, an indirect hot water cylinder and the underfloor heating manifolds;
• the borehole booster pump set, the pressure vessel, the filter stages and a reserve tank for outages;
• a consumer unit with a separate group of circuits for the heating and pumps, and a generator inlet with a changeover switch;
• the control unit for the sewage treatment plant, if there is one on the plot.

We allow spare space for things that may be added later, such as a second filter stage or a backup boiler. The best place for the room is next to the garage: the service engineer comes in through the garage without walking through the living areas, and the runs from the borehole and to the septic tank are shorter. The gas pipe to the boiler is brought in and connected by the gas company; we don't touch it. Whether to heat the house with gas or a heat pump is compared on the page about a heat pump vs a gas boiler.

The garage and the utility zone of the house

In a cottage the garage is rarely just a place for the car. Shopping, garden tools and firewood are carried in through it, bikes are washed in it, and wet clothes are left there after gardening. So we group the garage, plant room, storeroom and a second entrance to the house into one utility zone: from the car you step into a boot room with coat hooks and a sink, not straight into the living room.

We size the garage for the cars, the shelving and room to walk around them with the doors open. An integral garage is separated from the living rooms by a solid wall and floor slab, and the door into the house gets a threshold and a seal, so the smell of petrol and exhaust doesn't reach the hall. How the garage itself is built, with its doors, ventilation and inspection pit, is covered on the page about a garage on your plot.

Site plan and construction on a plot outside the city

We draw the cottage's site plan before the house design. It shows straight away where the house will stand, where the car drives in, where the borehole, septic tank and emptying area are, where water drains off the plot, and where a bathhouse or outdoor kitchen will appear later. We lay the pipes and cables to all future buildings in shared trenches while the plot is open, even if the buildings themselves come a year later.

A build outside the city has its own logistics. Concrete comes from the nearest plant, and we allow for the travel time when ordering: the mix has to arrive on the plot still workable. The site needs electricity from day one, and until there is a permanent connection we work from a generator or a temporary supply board. Materials are delivered in large batches, and in the first week we make a covered storage area for them. The lawn, planting and paths come after the build, following the landscape design for the plot.

How much it costs to build a cottage in Batumi

A turnkey cottage at mid-range level costs from 1,680 ₾ per m² of total floor area. The price covers the masonry shell, roof, windows, heating, insulated facade and finishing. Priced separately are the design, the landscaping of the plot (lawn, planting, paths and garden lighting, from 89 ₾ per m² of plot), and, on a plot without utilities, the borehole and septic tank as well.

Two items within this price weigh more for a cottage than for a house in town, so they appear as separate sections in the estimate. A house of 200–300 m² has a lot of wall, and an ETICS facade (insulation finished with render) with materials costs from 205 ₾ per m² of facade. Outside the city the heating runs all winter, and a system with a boiler, radiators, underfloor heating and controls costs from 145 ₾ per m² of the house. Both amounts are already included in the turnkey price; we show them as separate sections so you can see what your chosen facade and heat source cost.

It costs more on a plot without utilities, where a borehole, a septic tank and backup power are added to the house, and also with an integral garage, a long access road and a heat pump with underfloor heating on every floor. It costs less when gas and water reach the plot boundary and the plot itself is level. The final cost is set on the basis of the design, after a visit to the plot and once the estimate is agreed.