Flat renovation cost per square metre: what drives the price

Why one per-square-metre price does not fit every flat

A per-square-metre figure only holds meaning once two things are fixed: what work is being done, and where. Painting and changing light fittings in a 55 m² flat costs a fraction, per square metre, of stripping the same flat to the concrete and rebuilding it. Quoting one number across both is misleading, even though both are called 'renovation'.

Size matters too, but not in a straight line. A one-room flat carries the same kitchen and bathroom regardless of its floor area, so those fixed costs are spread over fewer square metres and the per-m² figure looks higher. A larger flat dilutes the same fixed items and often looks cheaper per square metre, even though the total invoice is bigger.

For a genuine estimate, describe the flat's size, its current condition, and the finish you want, and ask for a fixed quote. We give these after seeing photos or a description, valid for 30 days, so the figure you plan against is the figure you pay.

What the building itself adds to or takes off the price

A Soviet-era panel flat usually has straight walls, concrete floors and known service runs, which makes measuring, tiling and levelling more predictable. Plumbing and wiring risers are typically shared and accessible, so isolated repairs tend to go faster than in an older building.

A pre-war wooden house in Kalamaja or Nõmme is a different job. Floors are rarely level, walls can be timber-framed rather than load-bearing masonry, and wiring or plumbing behind old panelling is often original and unpredictable until it is opened up. Work that would take an hour in a panel flat can take half a day here once you factor in packing out uneven surfaces or working around old joinery.

New developments bring their own variable: underfloor heating and mechanical ventilation mean more care around floor buildup and duct routes, and any change there should be checked against the building's systems before work starts, not after.

What is usually included in a per-square-metre price, and what is extra

A per-square-metre figure normally covers labour for the finish work itself: painting walls, laying flooring, tiling, fitting skirting. It usually assumes surfaces are already reasonably flat and sound, and that the flat is otherwise ready for that trade to start.

Materials sit outside that figure unless stated otherwise. If we buy them, a 10 % handling fee applies on top of the purchase price, or you buy the materials yourself and we work with what arrives. Skips, disposal of old flooring or kitchen units, and any electrical work by a qualified electrician are typically priced and invoiced separately as well.

Smaller jobs within a renovation, an extra socket, rehanging a door, patching a wall, are usually billed as hourly work from 39 € an hour rather than folded into the square-metre rate, since they do not scale with floor area the way flooring or painting does.

• Labour for the main finish (paint, flooring, tiling) is usually in the per-m² figure
• Paint, tiles, flooring and fittings are usually priced separately, whether bought by us or by you
• Electrical and plumbing changes are quoted and invoiced as their own item
• Skip hire and disposal of old materials sit outside the base figure
• Small extras (an added socket, a patched wall) are usually hourly work, not per-m²
• A fixed quote, valid 30 days, is what turns all of this into one number you can budget against

How access and the flat's condition move the total

A flat with lift access on a wide street lets materials and rubble move in and out quickly. A fifth-floor walk-up on a narrow Kalamaja street with no parking nearby adds time to every delivery and every skip run, and that time appears somewhere in the final figure even if it is never itemised as 'stairs'.

Condition matters as much as access. A flat that is empty and already stripped is straightforward to quote. One that is still furnished, or where old flooring has to come up before anyone can see the subfloor underneath, carries more unknowns, and a fixed quote given before that is uncovered will usually assume the more likely scenario rather than the worst one.

This is also where surprises live: a wooden floor that turns out rotten under old carpet, wiring that is not to current standard once a wall is opened. We flag this kind of finding before continuing rather than absorbing it silently into the bill.

Where to start if your budget is still taking shape

If you do not yet know whether you are looking at a cosmetic refresh or a full strip-out, start by walking the flat room by room and writing down what genuinely needs replacing versus what could be refreshed. That distinction alone moves the likely per-square-metre figure more than almost anything else.

From there, a flat renovation with us starts from 180 € per job for smaller, well-defined work, with larger jobs quoted as a fixed price after we have seen the flat or your photos. For the odd tasks that come up alongside a renovation, an extra fixture, a repair, a fitting swapped, hourly work from 39 € an hour covers it without needing a separate project.

We work across Tallinn and Harju county, and either route, fixed quote or hourly work, gives you a real number to plan with rather than a per-square-metre figure borrowed from someone else's flat.