Renovation and finishing in Jūrmala - for wooden summer houses and Kauguri multi-storey buildings

More than 4,000 historic buildings and multi-storey districts

Jūrmala has 414 buildings on the list of architectural monuments, and its historic buildings number more than 4,000. The historic summer house districts are in the neighbourhoods of Dubulti, Majori, Dzintari, Bulduri and Lielupe, while the summer house districts of Vaivari, Asari and Melluži are elsewhere in the town. Wood is Jūrmala's historic building material for seasonal dwellings, while districts of multi-storey residential buildings have formed in Kauguri and Dubulti.

Two kinds of renovation follow from this. In a wooden house or summer house built for the season, the job may be adapting it for year-round living: heat, bathroom, kitchen, floors and electrical wiring. In a Soviet-era multi-storey building in Kauguri or Dubulti, the job may be renovating the bathroom and installations. Before an estimate, you need to know which situation is yours.

Jūrmala is a long, polycentric town, and Majori, Bulduri, Kauguri and Ķemeri are not a single point. So in the request, not only the street but also the name of the neighbourhood is useful.

Wooden house or summer house: windows, floors, approvals

In a historic wooden house, first find out whether the building is an architectural monument. If it is, the solution is agreed with the National Heritage Board (for monuments of national or regional significance); first ask the Jūrmala City Building Board. In other cases (second- and third-group buildings), no documents are needed for restoring or replacing windows if the existing window division, proportions and frame colour are kept. In a wooden apartment building, windows are external structures; the owner replaces them in agreement with the manager.

Wooden floors in an old house may be possible to restore rather than replace: a plank floor is levelled, sanded and coated, and parquet is sanded and varnished. If the floor base is damaged, you need to check what has to be replaced. Approval of reconstruction in Jūrmala takes place at the Jūrmala City Building Board. See wooden house renovation and restoring wooden floors in Jūrmala.

From a summer dwelling to a home for the whole year

When a summer house built for the season is converted into a permanent home, several rooms may be changed. It needs a bathroom with waterproofing, a kitchen with water and sewage connections, sufficient electrical capacity and a heating solution. When the electrical wiring is rebuilt, since 01.07.2025 it must be fitted with residual current protection, and the installation is led by a certified construction specialist. Converting to a permanent home may be a change of use, so before the work find out from the Jūrmala City Building Board which document is needed.

A bathroom in a wooden house needs special attention to the base. For waterproofing, the manufacturer of Ceresit CL 51 requires a dry, load-bearing, stable and clean base, so on a wooden floor or a frame wall the base must first be made rigid and stable. Wooden structures and their condition differ, so the solution depends on the particular house.

If the building's type of use, volume or load-bearing structures are changed, you must find out before the work which document is needed, and the documents are submitted in the BIS. For finishing work only (painting, wallpaper, flooring), no documents are needed. In the request, write what the house has at the moment: whether there is water, sewage and heating. Read summer house renovation in Jūrmala and internal wall insulation.

Bathroom in a Kauguri or Dubulti multi-storey building

In a multi-storey building, a bathroom renovation includes demolition, waterproofing, tiling and installing the plumbing. The manufacturer of Ceresit CL 51 recommends two coats with a 0.5 mm dry layer and tape in all wall and floor joints. The riser is common property, so if it is replaced, the work affects common property and the association's consent is needed. Leave a hatch by the riser for access.

The bathroom and toilet are ventilated through natural exhaust ducts, and if they are connected to a shared ventilation system, each room's air duct is connected to its own duct. See bathroom renovation in Jūrmala, installing a shower with a floor drain and riser replacement.

The A10, the railway and the season: what to write in the form

The main links with Riga are the A10 and the electrified railway line with several stations. In summer, traffic and parking by the beach and in parts of the centre can be significantly different from winter, so in the request write the exact address.

• neighbourhood and address;
• wooden or masonry building, approximate year, and whether it is a monument, if you know;
• an apartment or the whole house, the floor and lift;
• area in m² and rooms;
• whether there is water, sewage and heating;
• the condition of the building inside and the condition of the facade.

If you use the house only part of the year, write when it can be accessed and whether there is heating in winter, because paints and adhesives have a minimum working temperature (for example, Ceresit CL 51 is used from +5 to +30 °C).

Prices in Jūrmala

• Bathroom renovation (the whole job): from €3,000
• Full renovation: from €280/m² of apartment area
• Cosmetic renovation: from €100/m² of apartment area
• Parquet sanding and varnishing: from €23/m²

Prices are for labour. Materials are calculated separately in the estimate. For restoring a wooden floor, the price is by estimate, because it depends on the condition of the boards. Example in a bathroom: tiling 18 m² × €24 = from €432, waterproofing 5 m² × €6 = from €30, installing a shower drain from €100, in total from €562 for these three jobs only; the whole bathroom renovation is from €3,000. An exact estimate can be made after seeing the apartment. Other work: full renovation in Jūrmala and rewiring in Jūrmala.