Types of apartment renovation in Batumi and when you need each

Types of apartment renovation in Batumi by scope of work

The deeper you open up an apartment, the bigger the job. A cosmetic renovation changes what you can see. A full renovation goes down to the pipes, wiring and screed, while the rough and pre-finishing stages get an apartment in black or white frame ready for finishing. The other types of apartment renovation in Batumi describe the conditions of the work: a deadline, a budget, a design project or an emergency.

The name of the renovation type is not the main thing in the contract. What matters is the itemised list of work, which shows exactly what the price includes.

Black and white frame apartments: rough, pre-finishing and finishing work

In a new build, renovation goes through three stages in a row, and the frame condition decides which one to start from. The rough stage puts in everything the finishes will later hide: partitions, plaster, screed, cable and pipe runs, waterproofing of wet areas. The pre-finishing stage makes walls and ceilings ready for paint and floors ready for the floor covering. The finishing stage gives you what you will see on the day you move in.

From black frame we start from scratch. In white frame the developer has already done part of the rough stage, and we check it: whether the walls are level, the height of the screed, where the water and drain outlets are. If the outlets don't line up with the future sink or shower, we move them now, because at the finishing stage that would mean redoing work.

The pre-finishing stage is the easiest one to underestimate. The skim coat and primer decide whether an uneven wall shows up when light from the window falls across it. The screed decides whether the floor goes down flat, without gaps at the joints.

Resale apartments: cosmetic or full renovation

In a resale apartment, the type of renovation depends on the pipes and wiring hidden behind the finishes. Before the detailed estimate, with your permission, we open up a couple of test spots: under the bath, by the riser and in a junction box. If we find rusty steel pipes, aluminium cable and twisted wire joints, and the screed sounds hollow when tapped, a cosmetic renovation will last only until the first leak.

A cosmetic renovation makes sense when the pipes and wiring are sound and you are happy with the layout. We then replace surfaces, lighting, doors and sanitary ware without moving the connection points. This kind of renovation is quicker and quieter, and it is easy to fit in between tenants.

In an old building, we start a full renovation by inspecting the risers and floor slabs. Replacing a shared riser affects the apartments above and below, so we agree it with the neighbours in advance. If you want to remove a wall, we first find out whether it is load-bearing. Under the 2026 rules a partition can be taken down without a permit, but a load-bearing wall is not touched without design documentation and a permit.

Apartments to rent out: budget, fast-track and partial renovation

A rental apartment is renovated with wear in mind: how many guest stays the floor will take, how many times a wall can be washed, how quickly a broken handle can be replaced. The photos in the listing matter, but guests have to live with the materials themselves.

A budget renovation saves on things that are easy to replace later, such as light fittings, doors and the bedroom flooring. We do waterproofing, wiring and ventilation properly whatever the budget. A mistake there shows up while the tenant is living in the apartment and costs more than everything you saved.

A fast-track renovation is tied to a date: the season, a tenant moving in or a sale. We shorten the timeline by running work in parallel and using materials that are in stock in Batumi. Screed and plaster can't be made to dry much faster, so in a fast-track renovation we choose solutions with short drying times, such as plasterboard where it is suitable.

A partial renovation covers one room, the bathroom or the kitchen. The difficult part is where new meets old: the new tiles have to meet the hallway floor, and the new sockets have to work with the existing circuits in the consumer unit (fuse box). We look at these places before the estimate.

Designer renovation and Euro renovation

Euro renovation is a term from the Russian-speaking property market, and you may come across it in Batumi listings. It has no fixed scope, but it usually means new pipes and wiring, flat walls and modern materials, in other words a full renovation with neat finishing. To avoid arguing about terms, we ask you to list what you expect from a "Euro" renovation and find each item in the estimate.

A designer renovation follows working drawings: where each socket goes, the height of each tap, how the tiles are laid out. It takes longer to get started, because the design has to be finished before demolition begins. In return, fewer decisions are made on the spot and there is less rework. For an apartment you will live in yourself, it is usually worth it.

Renovation after a flood or a fire

After a flood we dry first and repair second. If a wet wall is covered with new finishes, mould will grow underneath, and in Batumi's humid climate walls dry more slowly than you would like. We start the finishing when the moisture meter shows that the base is dry.

Before work starts, take photos and video of the damage and keep your messages with the neighbours. You will need them if the damage is to be compensated. We check the wiring in the flooded area, and we usually replace plasterboard and insulation that have soaked up water.

After a fire, the job is usually bigger than it looks at first. Soot gets into the ventilation ducts and the pores of the plaster, and the smell stays in the finishes and furniture. We replace all the wiring in the fire zone, and if the fire was serious, an engineer inspects the floor slab and walls first.