Apartment and house renovation in Berģi - for Jugla Park houses and new projects

Jugla Park: plots and houses of the nineteen-twenties

The development of the Jugla village, or Jugla Park, began in the 1920s, when the neighbourhood was divided into plots of 1,500–2,000 m². Today Berģi is mostly low-rise residential development, and multi-storey blocks of flats are found only in a few places. The development includes detached houses, newer private house projects, low-rise buildings and commercial sites along the roads.

For an older house, one more rule is important. In Riga, for buildings older than 50 years that are not state-protected, in examining a construction proposal the City Development Department may determine the cultural and historical value and the permitted action. If you plan an extension, new window sizes or facade work, bear in mind that the intention may also be assessed from this point of view.

In detached houses and low-rise buildings, a renovation may be restoring interiors, fitting out a new bathroom or kitchen, and sometimes also rebuilding or extending the living area. More on this: private house interiors and attic renovation in Berģi.

Brīvības gatve and what to describe about the house in the request

Berģi is linked with the centre and the Vidzeme highway by Brīvības gatve and the A2 direction, but the houses themselves are in quieter side streets. On large plots, the house may be far from the street, so in the request write the exact address.

• the year or period of construction: a Jugla Park-era house, a Soviet-era house or a new one
• the wall material and the number of floors, whether there is an attic or a cellar
• for a new house: what finish is already there, for example screed, plaster, windows
• which rooms to renovate and the approximate area in m²
• the type of heating and the water supply
• a short description of the condition of the rooms; you can send photos or a plan to the specialist when they contact you

If there will be a lot of demolition before the renovation, for construction waste removal see buvgruzuizvesanariga.lv.

A new private house project: the first finishing

A newer private house project may be handed over with partial finishing, and then the renovation continues the work from where the builder stopped. Before tiling and flooring, you need to know the condition of the base. The manufacturer of Ceresit CM 17 adhesive states that a cement screed and plaster under tiles must be at least 28 days old and have a moisture content below 4%. Under laminate and parquet, according to Ceresit data, the moisture of a cement base must be up to 2.0% without heating and up to 1.8% with underfloor heating.

So in a new house the order is usually: a moisture check, floor levelling where needed, bathroom waterproofing and tiles, skimming and painting the walls, flooring and doors. In the request, write when the screed was poured. See new-build apartment fit-out and grey or white finish.

Bathroom: tiles, grout joints and silicone

In a detached house the bathroom may be larger than in an apartment, and then it can fit both a bath and a separate shower. The quality of the work depends on details: the manufacturer of Ceresit CM 17 requires the adhesive to cover at least 65% of the underside of the tile, and in corners, by the floor and by the plumbing the joints are filled with silicone, not grout. For Ceresit CE 40 grout, water load is permitted after 24 hours, and full strength is reached after 5 days.

In an old Jugla Park-era house, the bathroom may have been built later, and the pipes may run along an unusual route. This shows up in demolition. See bathroom renovation in Berģi, bathroom tiling and shower with a floor drain. If the bathroom is moved to another floor, write which room it will be above, because the pipe route, the ventilation duct and the floor base under the tiles depend on it.

An apartment in one of the few blocks of flats

If your apartment is in one of the multi-storey blocks of flats in Berģi, the rules are different from those in a detached house. The apartment owner owns the finishes, non-load-bearing partitions, doors and utility lines up to the common-property risers. Load-bearing walls, floor slabs, risers and the building's utility systems are common property, and work that affects them needs the consent of the apartment owners' association.

In practice this means: in a bathroom renovation, changing the riser affects common property and the association's consent is needed (turn to the building manager), while for demolishing a non-load-bearing wall, according to the Riga municipality's explanation, a plan by a certified architect and a notice in the BIS are needed. In the request, write the building series or year, the floor and whether there is a lift. See riser replacement and full renovation in Berģi.

What work in Berģi houses costs

Bathroom renovation (the whole job): from €3,000. Replacing or installing a bath: from €130 per bath. Tiling: from €24/m². Painting walls or ceilings: from €4/m². Prices are for labour. Materials are calculated separately in the estimate.

Example for a 15 m² room in a new house with 40 m² of walls: skimming 40 × €10 = €400 and painting 40 × €4 = €160, in total from €560. For a whole house, the price is set by the estimate, because it is affected by the number of rooms, the condition of the walls, floors and ceilings, whether the wiring and pipes are changed, and the finish chosen. An exact estimate can be made after seeing the house.