Room renovation in Batumi: bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, balcony

In what order to renovate the rooms

When the whole apartment is being renovated, we do the strip-out, cable and pipe runs, plaster and screed across the whole floor area at once. Wet processes need time to dry: while the screed dries in the rooms, the tiler is already working in the bathroom. Only at the finishing stage does the work move from room to room.

Finishing starts with the wet areas and the ceilings, floors go down towards the end, and interior doors go in after the floors. We complete the rooms starting with the one furthest from the front door. The entrance hall and corridor are finished last, because materials come in and waste goes out through them for the whole renovation.

Bathroom and toilet

In a bathroom, two questions decide everything: where the water goes and where the steam goes. We waterproof the whole floor and take the waterproofing up the walls, higher in the shower area, and test it with water before tiling. Steam is taken out by an extractor fan, and in a bathroom without a window we fit a fan with a timer that keeps running for a few minutes after the light is switched off.

We leave access to the meters, valves and the drain inspection point through a hatch in the tiling or a removable panel. A washing machine in the bathroom needs its own circuit with an RCD and its own valve on the supply pipe, so it can be shut off without turning off the water to the whole apartment.

The building's shared risers often run through a separate toilet. We check their condition before tiling, because replacing a riser later, through finished tiles, costs much more.

Kitchen

We plan the kitchen around the appliances. We run water, drainage and separate electrical circuits to wherever the sink, dishwasher, hob and fridge will stand. The extractor hood is ducted into a separate ventilation shaft if there is one. If not, we fit a recirculating hood and improve the general ventilation of the apartment.

In a humid climate a kitchen has its own weak spots: the worktop edges by the sink, the base units next to the dishwasher, the splashback behind the hob. We seal cut-outs and edges, fit a leak sensor with an automatic shut-off valve under the sink, and make the splashback from a material that can handle steam and grease.

If the kitchen is open to the living room, make sure both areas have the sockets and lighting they need. In an apartment you rent out, a dishwasher noticeably cuts the cleaning between guests.

Room renovation in Batumi: bedroom, living room, children's room, study

In living spaces, the main threat in a humid climate is mould behind furniture standing against an external wall. We leave a gap between that wall and any wardrobe or bedhead, and give built-in wardrobes ventilation grilles at the bottom and top so that air can flow behind them.

In the bedroom we position the air conditioner so that cold air doesn't blow onto the bed. In a children's room we choose washable paint, sockets with safety shutters and window restrictors. A study needs sockets and a network cable by the desk, lighting that doesn't cause glare on the screen, and soft materials if you are often on video calls.

The living room has the most equipment: a TV, speakers, an air conditioner, sometimes a projector. We lay the cables for them at the rough stage, otherwise you end up with cable trunking running along the walls.

Entrance hall, corridor, walk-in wardrobe and storeroom

In rainy Batumi the entrance hall is where wet shoes and umbrellas end up, so we lay porcelain tiles by the front door. Next to the shoe cabinet we fit a socket for a shoe dryer, and we keep the consumer unit (fuse box) accessible, with no closed cupboards in front of its door.

The corridor ceiling is a convenient place to hide air conditioning pipes and ducts. The ceiling then needs an access hatch, otherwise the drainage and joints can't be reached later without taking the ceiling apart.

In a humid climate a walk-in wardrobe or storeroom must not be sealed off. Without air coming in and going out, the clothes inside start to smell damp within a season. We fit a ventilation grille in the door or a fan, and if the storeroom holds a washing machine or a water heater, we run a drain there and waterproof the floor.

Balcony

A balcony by the sea takes wind-driven rain and salt. First we check the slope from the door to the edge and the waterproofing under the tiles: water has to run away from the threshold and outwards. We use outdoor tiles with a textured surface, and outdoor tile adhesive and grout as well.

We inspect metal railings and brackets for corrosion, remove the rust and repaint them. If you want to glaze the balcony, we check this against the building's rules, because glazing changes the facade.

If the air conditioner's outdoor unit stands on the balcony, we leave room around it for servicing. We route its condensate drain so that water doesn't pool on the tiles or drip onto the neighbours' balcony below.