Apartment renovation in Āgenskalns - for wooden houses and Āgenskalna Priedes buildings

About 600 wooden buildings and two urban planning monuments

Āgenskalns has about 600 wooden buildings, and two of Riga's five state-protected urban planning monuments are in this neighbourhood: the wooden houses of Kalnciema iela and a fragment of Vecais Āgenskalns (Old Āgenskalns). The area between Nometņu iela and Smiļģa iela is a monument with an irregular street layout that formed after the fire at the start of the 19th century. The smallest lanes are dominated by low-rise apartment buildings with relatively spacious, green gardens.

In such buildings, the job may be restoring floors, walls and electrical wiring; the buildings are old, and the floor slabs may be wooden. The interior finish in an apartment is the owner's part, but windows and doors in external structures are common property. If the building is a cultural monument, the solution is agreed with the National Heritage Board or the cultural heritage unit of the City Development Department. So before work on windows or external doors, find out the building's status.

Kalnciema iela, Slokas iela and what to write in the request

Āgenskalns is linked with the centre by Kalnciema iela, Slokas iela and Raņķa dambis, and the neighbourhood has a market, Arkādijas Park and Māras dīķis. In the old part, many buildings have a courtyard and a garden, so a few words in the request about how to reach the entrance are useful.

• type of building: wooden house, pre-war masonry building, 1-316 or 464 series; the year of construction, if you know it
• the floor and whether the building has a lift
• the apartment area in m² and which rooms to renovate
• the type of floor: boards, parquet or screed, and whether it can be felt swaying under the covering
• whether you plan to change the wiring, pipes or riser

Apartment in a wooden house: floors and floor slab

In a wooden apartment house, the floor may be a plank deck on a wooden floor slab. Before laying a new covering, you need to see what is under the old linoleum or laminate: the boards can be restored, sanded and varnished, or levelled with sheet boards. A wet screed on a wooden floor slab is not an obvious solution, and it must be assessed in the particular building.

The floor slabs between apartments and the load-bearing walls are common property. If the work affects them, the consent of the apartment owners' association is needed. As an example of restoring a wooden apartment building, Riga cites a building in Kuldīgas iela: windows and doors were replaced, water supply and sewage repaired, but the finishing elements were kept. More on the pages wooden house renovation and restoring wooden floors in Āgenskalns.

If in a wooden house the bathroom is moved to another place or built anew, write in the request where it is now and where it will be. The pipe route to the riser, the floor base under the tiles and the amount of waterproofing depend on this. Wet rooms above a neighbour's living rooms are permitted if the requirements for soundproofing, waterproofing, thermal insulation, fire safety, ventilation and safety are met.

Āgenskalna Priedes: 1-316 and 464 series

The Āgenskalna Priedes housing estate was built in 1958–1962. It began with 1-316 series brick buildings, and the 464 series was built in the second phase. 316 series buildings have silicate brick walls and 2 to 5 floors; the apartments are small, often with walk-through rooms. The 464 series is five-storey buildings of reinforced concrete panels with gypsum-concrete partitions, and series surveys name worn risers and electrical wiring.

In a small apartment, every centimetre in the bathroom matters: the bath or shower, the place for the washing machine, the riser recess. The riser is common property, so its replacement is agreed with the building manager. See 316 and 318 series apartment renovation, 464 series apartment renovation and small bathroom renovation in Āgenskalns.

Old wiring in wooden and masonry buildings

In many homes the electrical wiring was installed in Soviet times, and the wires are 30 to 50 years old. The Fire Safety Regulations currently in force require an inspection of the electrical wiring every 10 years, with an inspection report. If the installation is rebuilt, since 01.07.2025 it must be fitted with residual current protection. The installation is carried out under the direction of a certified construction specialist.

In a wooden house, the wiring route has to be planned together with the wall finishes: where the cable ducts run, where new sockets are needed, whether the old switches are kept. See rewiring in Āgenskalns and old electrical wiring in an apartment.

What a renovation of an apartment in Āgenskalns costs

Full renovation: from €280/m² of apartment area. Rewiring in an apartment: from €20/m² of apartment area, socket, switch or light point: from €12 per point. Parquet sanding and varnishing: from €23/m². Bathroom renovation (the whole job): from €3,000. Prices are for labour. Materials are calculated separately in the estimate.

Example for a 1-316 series one-room apartment: a full renovation of 33 m² is 33 × €280 = from €9,240 (labour). In a wooden house, the sum is changed most by the condition of the floors and walls. An exact estimate can be made after seeing the apartment.