Engineered wood flooring in Batumi, glued to the subfloor
We lay engineered wood flooring in Batumi on adhesive across the whole area, directly on prepared screed or on plywood. Boards with a factory lacquer or oil finish go down at the end of the renovation, once the walls have dried and the dusty work is over, and we cover them straight away to protect them from the other crews. Labour costs from 51 ₾ per m², with the boards and adhesive extra. Before laying, we measure the moisture of the screed and its flatness under a two-metre straightedge, because a wide board doesn't forgive waves in the base.
from 51 ₾/m²labour for laying on adhesive; boards and materials extra. The final price is confirmed once agreed.
- Timeline: 3–5 days for a one-bedroom (1+1) apartment of about 40 m² on ready screed, plus 2–3 days for the boards to acclimatise
- Warranty: 2-year warranty on laying engineered wood flooring
Who it’s for
You want a wood floor in an apartment by the sea but aren't ready to take the risk with solid wood
The renovation is going ahead without you, and you need a wood floor with no sanding or lacquering on site
You have already bought factory-finished boards and are worried they will be damaged during the finishing work
There will be underfloor heating under the boards, and its settings need checking against the board specification
You are replacing old laminate or parquet in a resale apartment with boards glued to the base
What’s included
- checking the screed: moisture with a carbide tester, strength, flatness under a straightedge
- levelling with self-levelling compound or plywood if the base doesn't pass
- priming the base for the adhesive
- opening and inspecting the packs in front of you or on video
- mixing boards from different packs by shade
- laying on adhesive across the whole area, checking the adhesive coverage
- cork expansion strips and profiles where the floor meets tiles
- protecting the finished floor with cardboard until the end of the renovation
- fitting skirting boards and threshold strips
When to lay engineered wood during a renovation
Boards with a factory lacquer or oil finish go down towards the end of a renovation. By then the ceilings are up, the walls are filled and have at least a first coat of paint, and the tiles are laid and grouted. The factory finish is already the final surface: a scratch from a stepladder can't be sanded out along with the whole floor, as it can on parquet that is still to be sanded on site.
Once the boards are down, only clean work is left in the apartment: interior doors, skirting, the final coat of paint and furniture assembly. If we pour the screed ourselves, we build the height of the boards plus adhesive into its level, otherwise a step will appear at the doors and where the floor meets the tiles. Why we more often recommend engineered boards rather than solid wood by the sea is explained in our comparison with block parquet.
Subfloor: screed, self-levelling compound or plywood
We glue engineered wood directly to the screed if it is strong, dry and flat. A long, wide board is stiff and won't bend to follow waves in the base: over a dip there is a void with no adhesive under it, and the board sounds hollow underfoot. We take the flatness tolerance from the board instructions, and it is usually 2 mm under a two-metre straightedge. The straightedge goes along and across the future rows, and we look separately for short dips about half a metre long: under a long board, these are the ones that create voids.
If the screed is strong but uneven, we pour a self-levelling floor over it, and once that has dried we measure the moisture again with a carbide tester, taking the limit from the adhesive instructions. A self-levelling layer won't save a weak, crumbling screed: that kind is impregnated with a consolidating primer from the adhesive system or covered with plywood glued and fixed with anchors. If there will be underfloor heating under the boards, it is run through its warm-up schedule before laying, and we check the maximum surface temperature against the board's specification.
Checking the batch before laying
The packs are delivered a few days before laying and stay unopened until work begins. The manufacturer states how long they should lie. Then we open several packs in front of you or on video and look at the boards: chipped bevels, cracks in the lacquer, mismatched shades, bowed boards, delamination at the ends.
The manufacturer's warranty terms usually say that visible defects must be reported before laying, so we set doubtful boards aside straight away and photograph them. The rest, from different packs, we mix together so that the floor doesn't split into light and dark stripes.
Adhesive over the whole area
We glue the boards to the base over the whole area, using a polyurethane or silane adhesive from those the board manufacturer approves. It is spread with a notched trowel and each board is pressed down, and at the start of the job we lift one back up: the adhesive should cover its underside completely, with no dry strips along the edges. Bowed boards are weighted down until the adhesive sets.
Adhesive squeezed onto the face of a board is wiped off immediately, while it is still soft. Cured polyurethane can't be removed from a factory lacquer without a trace, and spot-sanding such a finish so that the patch doesn't stand out almost never works.
Layout, joints and transitions
We choose the direction of the boards by the light from the window and the long wall. End joints in neighbouring rows are staggered, usually by at least half a metre for long boards, so that they don't line up into a staircase. Engineered herringbone is marked out from the centre line of the room in the same way as block parquet.
Glued-down boards move less than a floating floor, so they can run from a room into the hallway through the doorway as one continuous surface, without a dividing profile, if the instructions allow it. We leave a gap at the walls for the skirting. The joint with the hallway tiles or with the porcelain floor tiles in the kitchen is closed with a cork expansion strip flush with both floors, or with a threshold profile if the heights don't match.
What to check when you inspect the floor
We look at the floor in raking light from the window or with a torch held close to the floor. The lacquer should have no adhesive, scratches or tool dents left on it, the bevels along the board edges should be intact, and the light and dark boards should be scattered without stripes. We walk the whole area in soft shoes: a board with no adhesive under it sounds dull and gives slightly. That board is replaced straight away, while the neighbouring ones can still be carefully taken out.
A height difference between adjacent boards is acceptable only within the bevel. If a fingernail catches on the edge of a board above the bevel, there is a dip in the base under it or the board itself has a geometry defect. After inspection we cover the floor with cardboard, with no plastic sheet underneath, because condensation collects under plastic. The sheets are joined to each other with masking tape, which is never stuck to the lacquer: the tape's adhesive damages a factory finish within a few weeks.
How much engineered wood flooring in Batumi costs
Laying engineered wood flooring costs from 51 to 66 ₾ per m². This is labour only, and the boards and adhesive are not included. The boards themselves cost from 185 to 265 ₾ per m², depending on the thickness of the top layer, the width and the finish. Levelling with a self-levelling compound adds from 14 to 18 ₾ per m², and plywood from 30 to 42 ₾. In a resale apartment, removing old laminate or parquet is added to the estimate, from 12 to 18 ₾ per m².
You pay more for herringbone, for long, wide boards that need an almost perfectly flat base, and for an apartment with many doorways and joints with tiles. Straight laying in large rooms on ready screed costs less. The final cost is set after measuring up and agreeing the estimate, because the flatness and moisture of the screed can only be seen on site.
Stages and timelines
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Subfloor survey
1 day
Moisture, strength and flatness of the screed, heights at the doors and where the floor meets tiles.
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Subfloor preparation
2–7 days
Self-levelling compound or plywood where the screed fails the check, then primer for the adhesive.
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Batch inspection
2–3 days
The packs lie closed in the room where they will be laid, then we open them in front of you or on video and set aside defective boards.
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Laying on adhesive
1–3 days
Adhesive across the whole area, a check of the adhesive coverage on the back of a board, weights on bowed boards.
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Curing and protection
1–2 days
The adhesive gains strength, we cover the floor with cardboard, and nobody walks on it in outdoor shoes.
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Inspection and skirting
1 day
We check the lacquer and bevels in raking light and walk the floor listening for hollow spots, then fit the skirting and threshold strips.
Local specifics in Batumi
White frame apartments in Batumi sometimes come with screed whose top layer crumbles under a fingernail. Laminate on underlay will survive that, but the adhesive under engineered wood holds only as well as the top of the screed. So we check each room separately: we scratch it and tap it, and strengthen doubtful areas with primer or cover them with plywood.
We choose the range before the rough work starts, because the right width and shade are often made to order. The boards themselves are brought into the apartment only a few days before laying: while the plaster is drying, the air is damp, and even in their packaging the boards will take on extra moisture. In studios the kitchen is often open to the living room, so we draw the line between the boards and the kitchen tiles on the plan in advance. Gluing boards down is almost silent apart from the cutting, so it fits into the building's quiet-hours rules more easily than parquet sanding.
Materials and brands
Engineered wood has a top layer of hardwood on a multi-layer birch plywood base. Three-layer boards with a softwood core are usually called parquet boards, and they are more often laid floating, with click joints. For glue-down installation by the sea we choose a plywood base, which holds its shape better than a softwood core. In the board specification we look at the thickness of the top layer, the permitted air humidity, the approved adhesives and whether the board can go over underfloor heating.
A bevel along the edges hides a slight height difference between boards, but dirt collects in it, so a shallow bevel is better for a hallway. We take the adhesive and primer from the list in the board instructions: if the adhesive isn't on that list, the manufacturer is entitled to refuse the warranty on the finish.
What makes up the cost
Timeline: 3–5 days for a one-bedroom (1+1) apartment of about 40 m² on ready screed, plus 2–3 days for the boards to acclimatise
- the board format and finish you choose
What raises the cost
- herringbone or long, wide boards that need a perfectly flat base
- levelling the screed with self-levelling compound or plywood
- removing the old flooring in a resale apartment
- many thresholds, doorways and joints with tiles
What lowers the cost
- flat, dry screed that the boards can be glued to straight away
- straight laying in large rooms without complicated cutting
We prepare the exact estimate from measurements and photos. It’s free and comes with no obligation.
Get an estimateGuarantees
2-year warranty on laying engineered wood flooring. If a board comes away from the base, hollow spots appear underfoot or a joint opens because of the adhesive or the preparation, we relay that area at our own expense. The factory finish and defects in the boards themselves are covered by the manufacturer's warranty, so we open the packs in front of you or on video and raise any defects before laying.
Questions and answers
How much does it cost to lay engineered wood flooring in Batumi per m²?
Laying engineered wood on adhesive costs from 51 to 66 ₾ per m². This is labour only, with the boards and adhesive extra. The boards themselves cost from 185 to 265 ₾ per m². Self-levelling compound under them adds from 14 to 18 ₾ per m², plywood from 30 to 42 ₾, and we fit skirting boards from 13 to 18 ₾ per linear metre.
We send a preliminary estimate from photos and a floor plan within 24 hours on business days. We fix the final cost after measuring up and agreeing the estimate: only on site can we see whether primer will be enough for the screed or it will have to be levelled.
Can one board be replaced in a glued-down floor?
Yes, though it is not a quick job. We cut the damaged board lengthways with a plunge saw and take it out in pieces without touching the neighbouring boards, then scrape the old adhesive off the base. On the new board we cut off the lower lip of the groove so that it can be dropped in from above, and bed it on adhesive under a weight.
Matching the shade is harder. That is why we suggest keeping a few boards from the same batch in a storeroom after laying: years later, a range with the same name may differ noticeably in colour. On an oiled floor, the replaced board is then touched up with oil, while a lacquered one goes in with its factory finish.
Is it better to glue engineered wood down or lay it as a floating floor?
If the boards have click joints and the manufacturer allows floating installation, they can be laid on an underlay from its approved list. Such a floor doesn't depend on the strength of the screed and can be taken up without damage.
In apartments by the sea we almost always glue. A floating floor expands and contracts as a whole with the seasons, it needs gaps at the walls and expansion joints in doorways, and heavy furniture and a kitchen island pin it down, so it buckles next to them. With glued-down boards, each board holds on to the base by itself, and the floor doesn't move as one sheet.
How many days should engineered wood lie in the apartment before laying?
The manufacturer specifies the period, most often two to three days in closed packs in the room where the boards will be laid. The conditions matter more than the timing: the windows are in, the plaster and screed have dried, the air humidity and temperature are within the instructions, and the dehumidifier or air conditioner is running in the mode it will use after the renovation.
We lay the packs flat on a level floor, away from the window and the airflow from the air conditioner. If the boards have been on a balcony or in a cold van, the count starts again from the day they came into the room.
Can engineered wood be laid in a kitchen?
In the dining area, yes, if the boards have a hard-wearing lacquer and spills are wiped up immediately. We don't lay boards under the sink, the dishwasher or a fridge connected to the water supply: in a leak, water gets under the floor, and it only becomes noticeable once the boards have already bowed.
Usually we run the boards up to the line of the kitchen units and lay porcelain tiles under the units and around the work area. The joint is closed with cork or a colour-matched profile. In an apartment let out for short-term rental, we recommend only porcelain tiles or SPC vinyl in the kitchen.
Further reading
Send photos of the screed and the name of the boards, and we'll tell you whether they can be glued straight away
We reply within an hour during business hours. Message us or leave a request: we’ll call you back, go over the details and suggest the next step.
Mon–Fri 10:00–19:00, Sat 11:00–16:00