Why renovation in Batumi drags on and how to keep to schedule

Apartment renovation in Batumi rarely fails because of one big disaster. More often it slips a week at a time: the building rules did not let the crew in on Saturday, the kitchen arrived late, the screed was not dry, the owner did not choose the tiles in time. Added together, these weeks turn two months into four. Let us look at where delays come from and what to do about them.

Renovation timelines in Batumi start before the first wall

The cheapest way to save time is to make decisions before work starts. Where the kitchen goes, how many sockets and where, what lighting, whether a partition is needed, where the air conditioners go and where their drainage runs. Every decision made on the fly stops the crew: the chase has already been plastered, and the socket needs moving.

So before starting we take measurements, draw a layout with socket and lighting positions and prepare an itemised estimate. This takes one to three weeks, but afterwards work goes on without pauses for thinking.

Building rules: hours, the lift, the season

In Batumi complexes, renovation follows the management company's rules. Noisy work is allowed at certain hours, materials go up the service lift on a schedule, and the contractor removes the waste. In new buildings where dozens of apartments are renovated at once there is a queue at the service lift. And in seaside resort complexes noisy work is often banned completely in summer so as not to disturb guests.

All this has to be known before the schedule is drawn up. If renovation starts in May and the building bans noise from June, demolition and chasing go first. Redevelopment is a separate story. If walls change, wet areas move or risers are touched, the management company may require a design and approval, and sometimes a permit from the city hall is needed too. This takes weeks, and such work goes into the schedule in advance. How we agree work with the management company is described on the page about apartment renovation in residential complexes.

Materials and furniture with long delivery times

Some materials are in stock in Batumi, some come from Tbilisi, Turkey or Europe. Tiles from a particular series, a specific model of sanitary ware, sliding systems, made-to-measure kitchens and wardrobes can take two to six weeks. If you order them when the walls are already done, the crew will wait. We buy a margin for breakage and cutting, about ten percent for tiles, at once: the same batch often cannot be bought a month later, and a different shade will show.

So long-lead items are ordered right after the design is approved, and the kitchen is measured on finished walls and sent straight to production. How ordering a kitchen works and how long it takes is described on the page about made-to-measure kitchens.

Drying: screed and plaster do not like haste

Batumi is humid, especially in autumn and winter, and wet processes take longer to dry than in a dry climate. Cement screed gains strength and gives off water for weeks. If laminate or parquet is laid on damp screed, in a couple of months the covering warps and a smell appears under it. So before laying we measure the moisture of the base and dry the room with dehumidifiers if needed. Plaster does not dry at once either: painted too early, it takes the paint in patches and the filler cracks. In winter, in an unheated apartment without dehumidification, this time stretches many times over.

Time can be saved by the choice of technology: semi-dry screed, thin self-levelling compounds, plasterboard instead of wet plaster where appropriate. What suits a specific apartment is decided at the design stage. More about screed and its drying time is on the page about floor screed.

The owner's decisions and absence

Many of our clients live abroad. For renovation this is not a problem if decisions are made quickly: photos of samples, a short call, an answer the same day. The problem is when an answer takes a week. Another source of delay is changes along the way. Moving a socket before plastering costs almost nothing; after painting it is a day's work and visible marks. So we record changes after the design is approved separately, with a price and a deadline, so that the owner sees what they cost. We collect in advance a list of what the owner must choose and the dates by which the choice is needed, and send options with prices. This is how our renovation for owners abroad works.

How we keep to schedule

We draw up the renovation schedule by stage, with a margin for drying and delivery, and tie payments to it. Once a week the owner gets photos and a short report: what has been done, what is next, what decisions are needed. If something slips, we say so at once and explain why, not on the day the renovation was due to finish. We do not hide the margin in the schedule: in Batumi it is eaten up by downpours, holidays, cargo held at customs and the queue for the lift.

Furniture assembly and appliances come last, after the final cleaning of construction dust, so that new fronts do not have to be scrubbed. How delivery and assembly are organised is described on the page about furniture delivery and assembly.