Plumber in Batumi: pipework, pipe replacement and fixture installation

What a plumber does in an apartment

The plumbing jobs we get fall into three kinds, and the kind decides whether one plumber comes for an hour or a crew comes over several visits. The first kind is small jobs on existing fixtures: replacing a mixer, a supply hose, a trap or a toilet, or finding where water is escaping. The second is water and drain pipework when a bathroom or kitchen is being renovated. The third is replacing old pipes that are rusting or leaking at the joints.

Fitting a basin, toilet or mixer to existing outlets usually takes us one visit. We run bathroom pipework to an outlet layout in two visits, before and after tiling, and this job is described in full on the page about turnkey bathroom plumbing. We replace old pipes from the apartment's main valve to every fixture. What gets opened up in the process, and what replaces steel and multilayer pipe, is explained in the article on pipe replacement with removal of the old pipes.

Plumber in Batumi: where every call-out starts

The first thing we look at is the valve on the apartment's water inlet. If it has seized or doesn't shut off fully, any work on the pipes has to be done with the riser shut off. The riser is shut off by the building's technician, and only by arrangement with the management company, so the work is moved to the agreed time. It is better to find this out before the old mixer comes off.

Next we check what the pipes are made of and how they are joined: heat-fused polypropylene, PEX (cross-linked polyethylene), multilayer (metal-plastic) pipe on compression fittings, or old steel. This decides whether we can tap into the line or whether it is simpler to replace the whole section. For example, we don't put a new tee inside a wall on multilayer pipe with compression nuts.

We measure the pressure with a gauge at the nearest tap. Weak flow, humming pipes and weeping washing machine hoses are often explained by the pressure rather than the fixture. Whether a pressure reducing valve is needed, we decide by the gauge reading, not by how hard the water comes out.

How to tell which job you need

A photo often shows whether one visit will be enough. As a guide:

Small jobs are best grouped into one visit: the call-out is then charged once, if this is agreed in advance. Work that involves opening up a wall is priced from an estimate, and we agree the timing with the tiler, because once the plumber is done, the tiling has to be restored.

The order of work when a bathroom is being renovated

During a renovation the plumber comes to the site twice, and other crews work between the two visits. Our order is:

1. Before the strip-out, we choose the fixtures and decide where the shower or bath, washing machine and water heater will go. From these decisions we draw the outlet layout.
2. We buy everything that goes into the wall: the frame for a wall-hung toilet, the concealed mixer bodies, the floor drain for a shower without a tray.
3. The plumber runs the water and drain pipes, and on the same days the electrician runs circuits to the water heater, heated towel rail and washing machine. Both work from one layout, so that a cable and a pipe don't end up in the same chase.
4. We pressure-test the pipes, run water through the drains and photograph everything, and only then hand the bathroom over for screed, waterproofing and tiles.
5. After tiling the plumber comes back, fits the fixtures and tests each one with water.

The chain most often stalls because of built-in parts bought later than they were needed. Without the installation frame, the concealed mixer body and the floor drain, the crew either waits or sets the outlets by guesswork. With a bath, we decide together with the tiler: the bath goes in before the tiling, so that the tiles sit over its rim, or after it, with silicone along the junction.

Water heater, filter and leak protection

Hot water in an apartment comes from a gas boiler or an electric water heater, and this decides where the hot water line starts. A boiler usually hangs in the kitchen or on the balcony, a water heater closer to the bathroom. We mark the place for the tank on the outlet layout before the pipes go into the wall: after that, moving it means cutting a chase. How to choose the capacity and what is fitted between the tank and the pipe is covered on the page about water heater installation.

Straight after the inlet valve we fit a mesh filter, which protects the mixer cartridges and the washing machine valves. A filter housing, a reverse osmosis unit under the sink or a water softener is not needed in every apartment, and how to choose between them is explained in the section on water treatment in an apartment.

We fit a motorised leak-protection valve on the inlet, after the filter and before the manifold, so that it shuts off the whole apartment. It needs power, so we mark the place for its control unit and socket on the same layout as the water outlets.

Plumber prices in Batumi: per point, per fixture and per call-out

The basic unit in our estimates is the plumbing point: one cold water, hot water or drain outlet. Labour costs from 96 to 145 ₾ per point, and pipes, fittings and fixtures are not included in this price. A turnkey plumbing point with pipes and fittings comes to 210–310 ₾.

We price small jobs per fixture. A plumber call-out costs 84–120 ₾, and fitting a basin or bath mixer costs 66–96 ₾ for labour. The other items, from a floor-standing toilet to a water heater with installation, are in the price table on this page.

The price goes up when fixtures move far from the riser, when tiles have to be opened up in an apartment that is lived in, and with concealed mixers and built-in parts for an installation frame. It comes out cheaper when the fixtures go onto existing outlets and the pipes can be reached through a hatch or under the basin. The final cost is set after the inspection and once the estimate is agreed: a photo doesn't show whether the inlet valve holds or what the pipes in the wall are made of.

What you are left with after the work

Before the pipes are closed up, we photograph them with a tape measure showing the distances from the floor and corners, and we also photograph the pressure gauge during the pressure test. The photos, the routing diagram and a list of fixtures with their models go into the handover file. The diagram shows where it is safe to drill, and with the model it is easier to find a mixer cartridge or a cistern valve a few years later.

The warranty on concealed pipes is 5 years and on fixture installation 2 years, running from the date of the completion certificate. A leak in the building's shared riser is not covered, but the photos in the handover file help show the management company quickly where our work ends.