Apartment and house renovation in Vecdaugava - for cottage-type houses from the 1950s and 1960s

Cottage-type houses built in the 1950s and 1960s

Vecdaugava is a northern waterfront neighbourhood between Vecāķi, Mangaļsala and Vecmīlgrāvis, included within Riga's administrative boundaries in 1960. In the 1950s and 1960s the neighbourhood was built up with cottage-type residential houses. The private house development covers 38.7 ha and lies in the eastern and south-eastern part of the neighbourhood near Vecāķu prospekts and around Atlantijas iela.

In a house built 60 or 70 years ago, the wires, pipes and floors may date from the time of construction or from a later renovation. In private houses and low-rise buildings, typical work is renewing interiors, installing bathrooms and kitchens, and reconstructing or extending the living area. If the cottage has two floors, you must also decide about the stairs and the upstairs rooms.

The Riga neighbourhoods portal writes that in most of Vecdaugava there are layers of loose sand and silt up to 5 m deep and the groundwater is shallower than 1.5 m; if you plan an extension or a new ground-bearing floor on the ground floor, take this information into account in the design. In many homes the wiring was installed in Soviet times, and these wires are 30–50 years old and worn; if you are replacing the finish completely, it is worthwhile to include rewiring in the same job. More on the page full renovation in Vecdaugava.

Vecāķu prospekts: what to state in the request

Vecdaugava is reached by Vecāķu prospekts and local roads. In the request, write whether the house is on Vecāķu prospekts, around Atlantijas iela or elsewhere, and from which street the access is.

• the year the house was built and whether it has already been reconstructed
• the number of floors and whether there is an attic or loft space
• the total area and the rooms you will renovate
• how the house is heated and whether there is gas
• whether someone lives in the house who needs an adapted bathroom or thresholds
• the condition of each room, the stairs and the bathroom

An older house and the City Development Department

Cottages from the 1950s and 1960s are already more than 50 years old. In Riga, for such buildings, if they are not under state protection, the City Development Department, when examining a construction proposal, can determine the cultural and historical value and the permitted action. This becomes important if you plan an extension or a facade reconstruction that needs a construction proposal. At Airu iela 79.a there was a state-significant archaeological monument, "Daugavgrīvas klosteris - viduslaiku nocietinājums" (Daugavgrīva Monastery, a medieval fortification), and the Skanstinieku houses now host the Vecdaugava Fishing and Local History Museum. If the house is near these places and you plan groundworks or an extension, ask the National Heritage Board before the proposal whether the plot has protection conditions.

For interior work that does not include renovation, reconstruction or demolition (painting, wallpaper, floor covering), construction proposal documents are not needed. Approval of reconstruction in Vecdaugava is handled by Riga municipality's City Development Department (until 1 September 2021, the Riga City Building Board); the documents are submitted in the Construction Information System. If you do not know which document is needed, see replanning approval.

Kitchen and living room combined in a small cottage

If in a small cottage the kitchen and the room are separate rooms, combining them creates one living space on the ground floor. First you need to find out whether the partition is load-bearing. For demolishing a non-load-bearing wall, according to the Riga municipality's explanation, an architect prepares a plan and a construction notice is submitted in the BIS, while a new opening in a load-bearing wall is a simplified reconstruction, for which an explanatory memorandum with the structural solution for the opening and an assessment of the effect on the strength of the building is submitted to the building board.

If the kitchen has a gas hob, it may be replaced or moved within the same room in agreement with the gas supplier. An appliance with a flue needs the supplier's permission even in the same room, and a report on the condition of the flue and ventilation ducts; moving it to another room needs the supplier's technical conditions, a report and a building design. More on the pages kitchen and living room combined in Vecdaugava and load-bearing wall.

Upstairs and the attic

If the cottage's upper floor or attic is under a sloping roof, renovation there differs from the ground floor: the ceiling planes are sloped, and the thermal insulation is in the roof structure. If you want to turn the attic into a bedroom or a children's room, first assess the roof insulation and the wiring, then the plasterboard lining, skimming and painting.

For new roof windows, find out from the building board before the work which document is needed. In an attic with sloping walls a smoke detector is also useful: in apartment buildings the Fire Safety Regulations currently in force require one on every floor of an apartment. See attic renovation in Vecdaugava and plasterboard ceilings.

A home for an older person: thresholds, shower and benefit

If older people live in the cottage, during the renovation the thresholds can be removed, the bath replaced with a floor-level shower with a drain and the door openings widened. Riga municipality can grant a benefit for adapting the home to a person whose declared place of residence is Riga who has group I or II disability and uses a wheelchair, or has group I or II visual disability: up to €6,000 for a person in a wheelchair and up to €2,250 for a person with visual disability.

The benefit is granted by the Riga Social Service on the basis of an application and a medical extract, and the work is done by a company registered in the Commercial Register. The benefit is not granted if unauthorised construction has previously been carried out in the home. This benefit is intended only for the groups of persons named. See renovation for older people and walk-in shower with floor drain.

What a renovation costs in Vecdaugava

• Full renovation: from €280/m² of apartment area
• Floor drain installation: from €100 per drain
• Interior door installation: from €100 per door
• Demolition of walls, floors and finishes: from €6/m²
• Plasterboard or suspended ceilings: from €15/m²

Prices are for labour, and materials are calculated separately in the estimate. For a house renovation the price is by estimate. Example for an apartment: a 2-room apartment of 50 m², full renovation: 50 × €280 = from €14,000 (labour). For replanning documents the price is by estimate. The total changes with the condition of the walls and floors, whether the wires and pipes are replaced, and the chosen finish. An exact estimate can be made after seeing the apartment.