Apartment renovation in a Batumi residential complex: house rules, timing and prices

Apartment renovation in a Batumi residential complex follows two sets of rules: building codes and the house rules. The complex's management company decides when noisy work is allowed, how materials come in and debris goes out, and what may be changed on the façade and balcony. If the rules are not known in advance, the crew may be turned away on the very first day. So we start the estimate with the rules of the specific complex and plan the work around them.

Apartment renovation in a Batumi residential complex: what the building decides

In a separate house the owner answers only to the neighbours, while a complex has a management company, security and reception. They usually want to know who works in the apartment and when, which works are noisy, who removes the debris and how the lift and lobby are protected. Some buildings issue passes to the crew and ask for a deposit or a written undertaking to cover damage to common areas.

For the renovation all this means a schedule. Noisy work, demolition and chasing go into the permitted hours, quiet work into the rest of the time, and large deliveries are agreed with the management company. If the building is new and dozens of apartments are being renovated at once, there may be a queue for the service lift, and we build it into the timeline.

Approval from the management company

Before work starts we request the renovation rules from the management company and send it a plan: the scope of work, the timeline, the crew and who is responsible for debris. If partitions change, wet areas move or risers are touched, we show a layout. We do not touch load-bearing walls and columns in the apartment without a design and a structural engineer's calculation: the building was designed for earthquakes as a whole, and one wall cut out changes how the whole frame works.

If the apartment has not yet been accepted from the developer, we first carry out the handover with a list of defects. Defects the developer must fix under the contract are better closed before the renovation, otherwise they are hard to prove later. How handover works is explained on our page about finishing the developer's renovation.

Work hours, the lift, debris and common areas

Before the first delivery we protect the lift car and the floor at the apartment entrance, and keep the corridor clean every day. We do not leave debris on the floor or throw it into the building's shared bins: we remove it in bags on a schedule agreed with the management company. If the building has several lifts, we agree which one the crew may use.

Neighbours below suffer from renovation more than anyone. So we waterproof the bathroom and kitchen before the tiles and test it by flooding with water, and pressure-test new pipes before they are closed in. In a complex a leak into a neighbour's apartment quickly turns into a claim through the management company, and it is cheaper to prevent it.

Façade, windows, balconies and air conditioners

The façade of a complex is shared, and almost everything visible on it is governed by the house rules. Balcony glazing, frame replacement, the colour of reveals and the places for outdoor air conditioning units are often fixed in advance. We install units only in the designated places or where the management company has allowed them, and plan the pipe route to them at the rough works stage.

Windows and the balcony door in a new building are usually under the developer's warranty. If they are removed or altered before the warranty ends, the developer may refuse responsibility for leaks and draughts. So we keep the windows, and replace sills and reveals carefully without touching the installation joint.

What condition the renovation starts from

Apartments in Batumi complexes are most often handed over as a black, white or green frame, and each developer writes the specification of each frame itself. First we check the apartment against the specification in the contract, then decide what to keep and what to redo. How renovation from a white frame differs from a black frame is described on our pages about white frame renovation and black frame renovation.

If the apartment is meant for short-term letting, we plan the renovation for guests: durable surfaces, clear lighting, sockets by the bed, room for suitcases and for drying towels. How such a renovation works is explained on our page about renovating apartments for short-term rental.

How much apartment renovation in a complex costs

Renovation from a black frame starts from 750 ₾ per m², from a white frame from 570 ₾, from a green frame from 510 ₾: labour and rough materials, with finishing materials priced separately. A turnkey renovation with mid-range materials starts from 900 ₾ per m², and a cosmetic renovation of an apartment that has been lived in from 210 ₾ per m². Accepting an apartment from the developer costs from 480 ₾ per property, and post-renovation cleaning from 835 ₾.

The price depends on the apartment's condition, the house rules, corrections to the developer's work and the choice of finishing materials. The final cost is set after measuring and agreeing an estimate broken down by stage.