Cosmetic renovation
Walls, floors, doors and lighting without replacing pipes or wiring: what's included, what we check before the estimate and how…
from 210 ₾/m²
Cosmetic vs full renovation of an apartment in Batumi
A cosmetic renovation is enough when the wiring, pipes and screed are sound and only the surfaces are worn: paint, floors, doors, grout. You need a full renovation if the apartment has old pipes and cables, signs of leaks and mould, or you are changing the layout and moving wet areas. In a Batumi resale apartment you can only tell after an inspection: the damp climate quickly finds whatever fresh paint has covered up.
Updated 17 October 2026
Comparison by criteria
| Criterion | Cosmetic renovation | Full renovation |
|---|---|---|
| What gets replaced | Surfaces: paint, floors, doors, grout | Pipes, wiring, screed, plaster, sometimes windows |
| Hidden systems | Stay as they are | New, photographed before closing up |
| Layout and wet areas | No changes | Can be moved within riser and drain slope limits, load-bearing walls stay |
| Time | Short, fits into the off-season | Longer: the apartment is off the rental market |
| Noise and dust | Little | Noisy demolition, work follows the building's rules |
| Cost of the work | Lower | Higher: more stages and materials |
| Warranty | 2 years on the work done | 2 years on the work, 5 years on concealed services |
| Mould and damp | Doesn't cure it if the cause is in the wall | Removes the cause: a leak, weak ventilation |
Cosmetic vs full renovation: where the line runs
The line runs along the surface of the wall. A cosmetic renovation deals with what you can see: paint, wallpaper, flooring, grout and silicone, doors, light fittings and taps. A full renovation goes deeper, down to the pipes, cables, screed and plaster, and sometimes to the windows and the layout.
So the choice between a cosmetic and a full renovation depends first of all on the state of the hidden systems. Budget and taste come second. If the wiring and pipes are many years old and nobody has replaced them, fresh tiles over them will last until the first leak.
Neither type needs a permit as long as the work doesn't affect load-bearing walls, slabs and columns. This rule, as of autumn 2026, also covers removing partitions and cutting openings in them.
When a cosmetic renovation won't do
With a resale apartment, we inspect first and only then talk about the type of renovation. A full renovation is needed if we find even one of the following:
- Aluminium wiring, an old fuse box with screw-in fuses, or sockets that get hot
- Rusty risers and steel pipes in the walls, or traces of leaks on the ceiling
- Mould in the corners of external walls, behind wardrobes and on window reveals
- Cracks and uneven levels in the screed, or tiles that sound hollow
- A bathroom where nobody knows anything about the waterproofing
- A plan to move the kitchen, the bathroom or walls
Mould in Batumi is a subject of its own. Outdoor humidity here is 70–80%, higher in winter, and mould appears where a cold wall meets the warm, damp air of the apartment and there is no ventilation. A patch that is painted over comes back within a season. We first look for the cause (weak ventilation, a cold bridge, a leak) and only then do the finishing.
A rental apartment: what to do in the off-season
For an apartment you rent out, a cosmetic renovation has the advantage of fitting into the winter. Short-term occupancy drops in winter, since most tourists come to Batumi between July and September. In the quiet months, walls are touched up, the grout and silicone in the shower are redone, and swollen floor planks and broken fittings are replaced.
A full renovation of a rental is planned once, ideally right after you buy on the resale market and before the first season. If you put it off, it will eat into the summer: while the pipes, screed and wiring are being replaced, the apartment earns nothing. After that, though, the off-season goes on small jobs.
Then there are the neighbours. Breaking out screed and tiles is noisy, and in a building where people live all year round it is done during permitted hours and according to the building's rules. If the building has many short-term rentals, summer noise hurts other owners' reviews, so it is safer to schedule the loud stages for winter.
Warranty and documents
In a full renovation, we photograph the pipes, cables and waterproofing before they are closed up and give you a handover file with the routing diagrams. Concealed services carry a 5-year warranty, and the rest of the work 2 years.
In a cosmetic renovation, the 2-year warranty covers what we did: the painting, the floors, the tiles. Old pipes under new tiles are still old, and we give no warranty on them, because we didn't replace them. So before a cosmetic job, we show you in photos and video what state the pipes and wiring are in, and the decision whether to replace them is yours.
Full renovation for part of the apartment
There is a middle way between the two. A full renovation is done where it is risky to leave the old systems: the bathroom with its waterproofing, the electrics with the consumer unit (fuse box), the kitchen pipes. The other rooms get a cosmetic renovation: walls, floors, doors, lighting.
This plan costs less in labour than a full renovation of the whole apartment and takes less time, but it still deals with the main risks. The order matters here: the full renovation part first, then the cosmetic work. Otherwise dust from cutting cable channels and stripping out the bathroom will settle on the fresh paint in the rooms.
We itemise the estimate, so you can see what each part costs and what can wait until next winter. From photos and a plan you'll have a preliminary estimate within 24 hours on business days, and the detailed one after we measure on site.
Which to choose
When to choose: Cosmetic renovation
A cosmetic renovation suits an apartment with a sound base where only the surfaces are worn. Even so, we look at the wiring, pipes and screed first, so as not to paint over a problem.
- The building is new, or the pipes and wiring have already been replaced, and there are no signs of leaks.
- The apartment is rented out and needs freshening up between seasons.
- You are preparing the apartment for sale and don't want to open up the walls.
- You are happy with the layout, and the wet areas stay where they are.
When to choose: Full renovation
A full renovation is needed when the problem is inside the walls and floors. It takes longer and costs more, but afterwards the hidden systems are new, you have photos of them before they were closed up, and there is a 5-year warranty on concealed services.
- The apartment is in a Soviet-era building, and the pipes and wiring have never been replaced.
- There are visible leaks, rusty risers, mould or cracks in the screed.
- You are changing the layout or moving the kitchen and bathroom.
- You bought a resale apartment to rent out for years without emergencies.
Questions and answers
How do I know what kind of renovation a resale apartment needs?
Start with an inspection. The estimate can wait. The foreman checks the consumer unit and wiring, the risers and pipes, the screed, signs of leaks and mould, and whether the ventilation draws air. If the hidden systems are in good order, a cosmetic renovation is enough. If not, you need a full renovation, at least for the bathroom and the electrics. It is easier to buy after an inspection like this: the renovation estimate then goes into your calculation of the purchase price, and unpleasant discoveries don't come up after registration.
Is it cheaper to do a cosmetic renovation now or a full one straight away?
In labour, a cosmetic renovation costs less. It only works out cheaper overall if the apartment's base is sound. When old pipes stay under fresh tiles, the first leak means opening up the new finish, repairs at the neighbours' below and a rental apartment standing idle. That is why we price both options item by item and show where full renovation work is essential and where a cosmetic job is enough. Send photos and a plan, and within 24 hours on business days you'll have a preliminary estimate for both options.
Do you need a permit for a full apartment renovation in Georgia?
Under the rules as of autumn 2026, renovating and finishing an apartment needs no permit, even if you remove partitions, put up new ones or cut openings in them. There is one condition: the work must not affect load-bearing structures. The walls, slabs and columns that hold the building up are only altered with design documentation and a permit. Before demolition, we find out from the building's documents which walls are load-bearing, and we plan noisy work according to the building's internal rules.
How often does a rental apartment need a cosmetic renovation?
There is no fixed interval. Wear sets it. An apartment let short-term wears out faster because of suitcases, sand and cleaning after every guest. It helps to inspect it after each season and deal with small things in winter: silicone, grout, chipped paint, fittings. A complete cosmetic renovation is due when the apartment no longer matches its photos in the listing. If leaks or damp show up in the off-season, that is already a reason to look at the pipes and ventilation.
Both services in detail
Full renovation
Pipes, wiring and screed replaced together with the finishes: the scope block by block, test openings before the estimate, the…
from 570 ₾/m²
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