Renovating apartments in Salaspils - for multi-storey microdistrict blocks from the 1950s and 1960s

The HPP village, Budeskalni, Silava: five microdistricts with their own history

Salaspils has several separate microdistricts: the HPP village, the Agrofirma village, Budeskalni, the Academy of Sciences village and Silava. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, various Soviet ministries quickly built factories, institutions and residential districts here, and new buildings were added later: in 1971 a five-storey building with 120 apartments was built for the Riga HPP builders; the residents' association renovated it with an Altum ERDF grant, with the work planned to be completed in 2019. So in an apartment renovation it is useful to know not only the street but also the microdistrict, the year the building was built and whether it has already been renovated.

In Soviet-era panel and large-panel buildings, a renovation takes two things into account. The first is the load-bearing walls: which walls may be touched is determined by the building's design or by a structural engineer. The second is the shared risers, which are the common property of all the apartment owners. Both questions must be settled before the finishing, because later changes mean damaging the new finish. If the installations and the layout stay, a cosmetic renovation in Salaspils is enough; if everything is changed, it is a full renovation.

Salaspils also has private house areas. There are no common-property questions there, but changing structures still needs documents. See private house renovation.

The A6, the railway and the Daugava: what the request needs

The A6 and the electrified railway connect Salaspils with Riga and Ogre. The railway, the Daugava and the main highway make a linear town, and the way between separate parts can be longer than it looks on the map. Write the exact address.

• the microdistrict, the street and the year the building was built;
• the floor, and whether there is a lift;
• the apartment area in m² and the number of rooms;
• whether you plan to change walls, risers or wires;
• whether there is a balcony or a loggia;
• the condition of the rooms; you can send the inventory plan, if there is one, to the specialist when they contact you.

If you will live in the apartment during the renovation, note that in the request.

Layout change: a BIS notice and the Salaspils municipality building board

The regulations have no separate type of construction called “replanning a room group”; the type is chosen according to the content of the work. If a non-load-bearing partition is demolished or built without changing load-bearing structures, it is a simplified renovation. Before the work, a construction notice is submitted in the BIS, with a floor plan of the room group showing the changes and an explication with room heights, prepared and confirmed in the BIS by a registered construction company or a construction specialist. A notice cannot be used to create a new apartment.

If an opening is made in a load-bearing wall, an explanatory memorandum with the structural solution for the opening is needed, and the consent of more than half of the apartment owners, which can be formalised as a general meeting decision or a voting record. Approval of reconstruction in Salaspils is handled by the Salaspils municipality building board. After the work, the owner updates the cadastral survey file. See replanning approval, creating a door opening in Salaspils and do you need a permit.

A balcony, a loggia and windows in a multi-storey building

The external structures of balconies and loggias are common property. Adding a loggia to a room affects common property, so the association's consent is needed, and first consult the building board and the building manager.

No documents are needed for glazing a loggia if the building board has approved a facade glazing sketch or passport for this building, or the work conforms to a standard sketch approved by the municipality. See balcony renovation in Salaspils and loggia renovation.

Salaspils municipality binding regulations No. 12/2016 provide municipal co-financing for energy efficiency work in apartment buildings put into service by 31 December 2004, and also support replacing whole window units in apartments, glazing balconies and loggias, and insulating external walls, the basement and the attic floor. This is a project for the whole building, decided by the apartment owners' association. If one is being prepared in your building, plan the interior finishing of windows or the loggia, the window sills and the reveal edges for after the building's work is complete.

An apartment for a tenant or a buyer

If you are preparing an apartment in Salaspils for rent, you can choose a simple, durable finish and renew the bathroom and the kitchen, while before a sale a cosmetic renovation may be enough: skimming and painting the walls, the floor covering, adjusting the doors. If the apartment has been replanned, a buyer can ask for documents, so check that it was approved. See rental apartment renovation and renovation before selling in Salaspils.

In an apartment for rent it is worth checking the smoke detector: the Fire Safety Regulations currently in force require an autonomous smoke detector in an apartment in an apartment building, at least one on every floor of the apartment, placed on the ceiling in the room where people mostly sleep or stay.

Prices in Salaspils

• Cosmetic renovation: from €100/m² of apartment area
• Full renovation: from €280/m² of apartment area
• Plasterboard partition wall: from €12/m²
• Replanning documents and approval: price by estimate

Prices are for labour, and materials are calculated separately in the estimate. Example: a 2-room apartment of 50 m², cosmetic renovation: 50 × €100 = from €5,000; the same apartment in a full renovation: 50 × €280 = from €14,000 (labour). The price of documents is affected by the type of work and the specialists needed. An exact estimate can be made after seeing the apartment. Other work: bathroom renovation in Salaspils, kitchen renovation in Salaspils and rewiring in Salaspils.