Apartment renovation in Jelgava - for RAF blocks and 464 series apartments

Post-war Jelgava: RAF blocks and the 464 series

After the Second World War, Jelgava's historic buildings were hardly restored at all. The district of blocks of flats is the RAF neighbourhood between Pērnavas iela and the Loka maģistrāle (the ring road). The town also has 464 series buildings: in a Ministry of Economics study they were surveyed in Jelgava and found safe for continued use. The study assessed the structures, not the inside of the apartments, where pipes, wiring and finishes may still be original.

464 series buildings are five-storey buildings of grey reinforced concrete panels with gypsum-concrete partitions, and their kitchens are small. The portal nopo.lv names waterproofing, worn risers and electrical wiring as typical problems of this series, and also that panel walls are hard to replan. If the wiring and pipes in the apartment are original, in a full renovation they are replaced together with the bathroom. See 464 series apartment renovation and full renovation in Jelgava.

The Lielupe, the Driksa and the bridges: what to put in the request

The Lielupe and the Driksa divide the town, so traffic concentrates on the bridges, while the A8 and the railway link Jelgava with Riga. In the request, write the exact address and the bank of the river.

• the building series, if you know it, or the year of construction and the number of floors;
• the apartment's floor and whether there is a lift;
• the area in m² and the number of rooms;
• whether the bathroom and toilet are separate or combined;
• whether you will change the risers, wiring or radiators;
• a short description of the condition of the rooms; you can send photos or a plan to the specialist when they contact you.

If you are renovating the apartment after buying it, also add the seller's or manager's information on what has already been changed in the building. Then the estimate will contain fewer assumptions.

Bathroom and waterproofing in a panel building

In apartment buildings, sanitary rooms are placed above similar rooms (LBN 200-21), and pipes run through the floor slab. So waterproofing the wet zone matters more than the choice of tiles. For Ceresit CL 51, the manufacturer recommends at least two coats so that the dry layer is 0.5 mm, pressing waterproofing tape into the wall and floor joints, and using collars around pipes and the drain.

If the room is small, the space has to be divided between the bath or shower, the washbasin, the toilet and the washing machine. If the bathroom and toilet in your apartment are separate, they can be combined, but then the partition wall has to be assessed like any other wall in a panel building. The bathroom is ventilated through a natural extract duct, so leave its grille unobstructed. See small bathroom renovation and bathroom renovation in Jelgava.

Risers in a block of flats and talks with the building manager

The owner owns the utility lines in the apartment only up to the common-property risers; the riser itself is the common property of all apartment owners. If you replace it in your apartment's section, the work affects common property, so the association's consent and agreement with the building manager, who shuts off the water, are needed. Costs for the building's systems are usually divided according to the shares of the common property.

If the riser is to be replaced in the whole building following an association decision, it is advantageous to plan the bathroom renovation after it or at the same time, so that the new tiles do not have to be opened a second time. Ask the manager whether such work is planned in the building.

In the renovation, leave a hatch or a removable panel by the riser, because the owner must allow specialists authorised by the manager access to the building's utilities. Read riser replacement in Jelgava and who pays for risers.

Loggia or balcony in the RAF neighbourhood

The external structures of loggias are common property, so joining a loggia to a room affects common property and requires the association's consent. No documents are needed for glazing a loggia if a facade glazing sketch or passport has been agreed with the building board, or the work matches the municipality's model sketch.

In Jelgava, approval of reconstruction takes place at the Jelgava City Building Board, and the documents are submitted in the BIS. If your work needs an approval, write that in the request. See loggia renovation in Jelgava and approval of replanning.

Detached houses with small gardens in the neighbourhoods of Jelgava

In many neighbourhoods of Jelgava, detached houses with small gardens line the streets. The renovation questions there are different: there are no common-property risers, but there is your own heating and electrical distribution. If structures are changed or the house is extended, the documents are submitted to the Jelgava City Building Board. See private house renovation in Jelgava and attic renovation.

Prices for a Soviet-era apartment in Jelgava

• Full renovation: from €280/m² of apartment area
• Bathroom renovation (the whole job): from €3,000
• Replacing a riser section in an apartment: from €100 per riser
• Waterproofing in a bathroom: from €6/m²

Prices are for labour. Materials are calculated separately in the estimate. Example: a 1-room apartment of 33 m², full renovation: 33 × €280 = from €9,240 (labour). The total depends on the area and the number of rooms, the condition of the walls and floors, whether the wiring, pipes and risers are changed, and the finish chosen. An exact estimate can be made after seeing the apartment. Other work: rewiring in Jelgava and kitchen renovation in Jelgava.