Flat refurbishment Vienna every empty day costs rent.

Why time costs more than materials

In a refurbishment, two blocks of cost are set against each other: the construction work and the lost rent. The second is regularly underestimated because it does not appear on any invoice.

This gives a clear priority: a sequence that saves two weeks is worth around €500 for a 62 m² flat – and those two weeks almost always arise from waiting times between trades, not from the work itself. The painter waits for the floor layer, the floor layer for the electrician, the electrician for an appointment. That is why coordination is the real service.

If the flat is still full, the work begins with clearing it: house clearance Vienna – on request commissioned together with the refurbishment.

The three packages – and what sets them apart

To keep invoicing transparent for property managers, we work with three packages. They do not differ in quality, but in scope.

Why this tiering? Because the decision almost always comes down to the same point: is sanding enough or does the floor have to come out, and is the bathroom still lettable. Everything else is similar in every package. Anyone who already knows the flat before it is returned can make the decision at the handover itself – which saves further days.

Unit prices: what the items cost

Normal wear and tear or damage: why the distinction matters

When a flat is returned, the same discussion arises time and again: what must the tenant pay, and what does the landlord bear? The legal assessment depends on the individual case and is a matter for a lawyer or the property manager – but the technical basis can be prepared properly. Three things are decisive: the documented condition, the length of the tenancy and whether the damage goes beyond what normal use produces.

Mould at handover: the most common point of dispute

No other finding leads to disputes as often. The reason: mould can have a structural cause or a cause related to use, and both look the same. From a construction point of view, however, it can be narrowed down.

If the infestation goes back to water damage, every refurbishment is preceded by building drying with a clearance measurement – only then is anything rebuilt.

What is wrong in every case: painting over it. A coat of paint over mould does not remove the infestation, it makes it invisible until the next heating season – and then the discussion is with the new tenant. The right way: clarify the cause, remove the affected material, treat the substrate, and only then seal it. Details on the mould remediation page.

The process, day by day

Using the Standard package as an example, 62 m², eight working days:

The one point at which this sequence regularly tips over is sealing the parquet: it needs drying time, and during that time nobody may enter the flat. Anyone who schedules other trades in parallel loses exactly these days twice over. That is why the floor is either done at the very end or the flat is closed off for two days.

For property managers: the framework agreement

If you hand over flats regularly, you do not need individual quotes but fixed terms and predictable processes. What a framework agreement with us includes:

• Fixed package prices per square metre for Refresh, Standard and Upgrade – calculable as soon as the tenancy is terminated.
• Fixed response times: site visit within five working days, if needed on the day of handover, quote within two working days.
• Consistent documentation: before and after photos, cost breakdown split between maintenance and damage, ready to transfer straight into your accounts.
• One point of contact for all properties, even with several flats running in parallel.
• Final clean included, carried out by our partner company, with no second contract needed.
• Defect rectification window: if the new tenant raises an issue, it is dealt with in the same week.

In numbers, a framework agreement above all saves time: the coordination that would otherwise be repeated for every flat falls away. With fifteen flats a year, that means several weeks less vacancy – and that is the item that appears on no invoice and yet costs the most.

Category upgrade: when doing more pays off

With very old fittings, the same question arises at every handover: just refurbish or upgrade straight away? Technically the answer is simple – if the bathroom, electrics and heating are at the end of their service life anyway, the handover is the only time this can be done without a tenant in the flat. Under tenancy law the question is more complex, because the permissible rent can depend on the fittings category; this has to be checked in each individual case.

Floors: what pays off when

In almost every refurbishment, the floor is the second-largest item after painting and the one where most wrong decisions are made. The reason: sanding is cheaper than relaying, but only works as long as there is wear layer left.

A common misconception concerns engineered parquet: it looks like solid parquet but has only a few millimetres of usable wood. If it is sanded for the second or third time, the backing board shows through and the floor is ruined. That is why the thickness is checked at a concealed spot before every sanding – a few minutes' effort that prevents thousands of euros of damage.

In economic terms: sanding and sealing costs €28 to €45/m², relaying with vinyl or laminate €45 to €80/m². So the difference is smaller than many people assume – and a new floor gives a uniform look that pays off immediately at viewings. With old floorboards and herringbone parquet, preserving them is almost always the better decision, because that very floor is the selling point of a period flat.

Painting: why the substrate determines the result

Painting is the item where most corners are cut and the one that costs money again the fastest. The reason almost never lies in the paint, but in the substrate.

This explains why a quote with the item “painting, lump sum” tells you little. Two quotes for the same flat can differ by a factor of two, and the difference lies in the preparation, which you can no longer see after completion – but certainly will four weeks later.

Bathroom and kitchen: refurbish or renew

At viewings, both rooms have a disproportionately strong influence on lettability, and both are the most expensive items. That is why a sober assessment is worthwhile, rather than renewing everything or leaving everything as it is across the board.

The most important point is in the second-to-last row: uncertain waterproofing is not a cosmetic issue but a risk for the flat below. Water damage from a leaking shower costs many times the renovation and also causes vacancy in two flats. So when in doubt, it is opened up and checked before new tiles go on. More on this on the bathroom renovation page.

The handover report: the basis for everything that follows

A good report saves more discussion later than any argument after the fact can win. These points belong in it, room by room:

• Condition of every surface – wall, ceiling, floor, doors, windows, each with a short description rather than just “fine”.
• Meter readings for electricity, gas and water, with date and photo.
• Number of keys handed over, including cellar, bin room and letterbox.
• Function check of boiler, drains, roller shutters and windows, with the date of the last service.
• Defects with photos, each with a scale and its position in the room.
• Alterations made by the tenant and whether reinstatement was agreed.

For the refurbishment, the last point is particularly relevant: fixtures the tenant leaves behind – lights, shelves, partition walls, a floor they laid themselves – must either be taken over or removed. Both cost money, and the decision belongs in the report, not in a later discussion.

What you can prepare yourself

If you want to keep the vacancy short, you can take care of a few things before the handover that would otherwise cost days:

The last point sounds trivial, but in practice it is the biggest lever: if the listing is only created after completion, another one to two weeks pass before the first viewing – the same time we painstakingly saved in the construction sequence beforehand.

How a flat ages – and what that means for planning

Every flat ages in stages, and anyone who knows the stages can anticipate the work needed at handover instead of discovering it. The following overview shows what typically appears after which length of tenancy.

For property managers this produces a simple planning rule: for tenancies of more than 15 years, the handover budget should be set at upgrade level as soon as notice is given, not at repainting level. Anyone who calculates it the other way round ends up either over budget or with a flat let well below its potential.

Why one contractor for all trades is cheaper than three

On paper, awarding each trade separately is cheaper: each firm only prices its own work, and the sum of the individual prices is below the package price. In the final account this is regularly reversed, for four reasons.

• Waiting days. In practice, every transition between two firms costs one to three days. With four trades that means up to two weeks of vacancy – around €450 to €650 for a 62 m² flat.
• Interfaces. If the painter comes after the floor layer, he has to cover everything and works more slowly. If he comes before, the floor layer has to wait for it to dry. Both cost money, and neither is noticed by anyone because it does not appear as an item anywhere.
• Responsibility. If there is a defect at the interface – paint on the new floor, scratches in the freshly painted wall – two firms point at each other. The client is left to sort it out.
• Coordination effort. Four firms mean four appointments, four access arrangements, four invoices and four contacts. This time is not billed, but it is incurred – by the property manager.

That is why a comparison between separate contracts and a package is only fair once vacancy costs and internal effort are included. In our experience the threshold is three trades: below that, separate contracts pay off; above it, almost never.

What happens to the costs if something turns up during the works

Refurbishments are more predictable than full renovations, but not free of surprises. The three most common:

We always handle this the same way: stop, take photos, submit a supplementary quote, wait for approval. Not because it sounds nicer, but because the alternative – carrying on and billing afterwards – regularly leads to disputes over items nobody approved.

What the landlord must maintain – and what not

From a construction point of view, the boundary can usually be clearly defined, even if the legal classification depends on the individual case. The landlord's maintenance obligation covers what keeps the flat usable: watertight windows and roof, working pipes, safe electrics, a usable bathroom, a working heat source. Anything beyond that which improves the fittings is a matter of choice, not obligation.

Why this matters in practice for the refurbishment: the breakdown we provide separates the items so that this allocation remains traceable. That makes accounting easier towards the owners, towards the reserve fund and – if necessary – towards the previous tenant. Which item is ultimately allocated to whom is decided by the property manager or the owner after legal review.

Materials: where quality matters and where it does not

A rented flat follows a different logic from an owner-occupied home. What matters is not the highest quality but the right balance between purchase price, service life and how easily it can be restored at the next handover.

The last point is often underestimated: anyone who chooses an eye-catching format will no longer find a matching replacement tile after five years. A single damaged tile then leads to replacing the whole surface. In such cases, neutrally chosen standard products are the cheaper decision, even if they seem less interesting at the moment of choosing.

Handover to the new tenant

The final stage decides whether the refurbishment turns into a smooth re-letting. Three points have proven their worth:

• Photo documentation after completion. It serves as proof of condition for the new handover – and saves discussion again at the next return.
• Short defect period. Whatever the new tenant raises in the first few weeks is dealt with immediately. That is cheaper than a complaint that drags on for months.
• Documents in one place. Electrical inspection report, boiler service, description of the floor build-up – collected at the property manager's, not scattered across several email inboxes.

This closes the circle: a documented refurbishment is not just a completed job, but the starting point for the change of tenant after next. Anyone who keeps this up has, after two cycles, a portfolio in which every handover can be planned – and that lowers costs more lastingly than any negotiated price per square metre.

Common mistakes in flat refurbishment

What you get from us

• Fixed price per flat after the site visit, broken down into items – not as a lump sum.
• Before and after photo documentation, every defect with its position and a scale.
• Separate cost breakdown for normal wear and tear and for damage.
• One point of contact for all trades, even with several flats at the same time.
• Final clean by our partner company, with no second contract needed.
• Electrical inspection report on request, issued by a licensed electrical engineer.

When you do not need us

If only repainting is needed and the flat will be empty for several weeks anyway, a painting firm is sufficient – and in that case it is also the cheaper solution. We are worth it as soon as several trades come together, the re-letting needs to happen quickly or you, as a property manager, need a permanent partner for all flats in your portfolio.

Frequently asked questions about flat refurbishment in Vienna

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