A man from Cluj refused to pay 24,000 euros to the craftsmen. He renovated his studio in Cluj by himself. How much did it cost?

Because renovations are increasingly expensive, many Romanians have ended up learning to manage on their own. It has already reached a double price per labor compared to 2020, which is absurd. In addition, good craftsmen are increasingly difficult to find, some have decided to take the tool kit in hand and take care of the finishes themselves.

Ciprian Neag chose to do the renovation of a 35 square meter studio apartment on the ground floor of a block in Floreşti, near Cluj-Napoca. He tried to hire a firm, but ended up going it alone.

“I come, see the work and bring the tools, start a wall, two and leave me exposed for a week or two“, he said.

The renovation costs him 12,000 euros. If he didn’t work alone, he would have paid the labor even more. Like him, there are more and more owners who want to move into a new house.

The best-selling apartments, especially in the new buildings, are in the semi-finished stage, or gray, as the builders call them. They only have the front door, the electrical installation pulled in positions, no sockets or switches, and the walls are covered only with plaster. Although it doesn’t seem like it at first, by the time it becomes habitable the owner has to invest even 30% of the price given on the home.

Another resident of Cluj, Raul Ciobanu, said that half of the budget was spent on the finishing touches alone. “Dad asked a few teams, somehow I had talked with them in the spring and they started the work on the apartment in September, because they had other works and it took a long time before they started on me. In the first phase, it cost me 10,000 euros just for the finishing touches, after which another 16,000 was added for furniture, appliances, and I suppose I still have 5,000-6,000 because the bedroom is not finished. So I’m going to hang on to 30,000 euros until the end“, he said

The builders admit – they increased the prices because there is high demand, but also because of the taxes.

Sergiu Rostas, builder: “An apartment with 3 rooms, bathroom and kitchen leads to 10,000 euros. Finishes, the part of fences, pavements, everything related to renovation“.

The most expensive renovations are in Bucharest and Cluj. When you choose a builder for renovations, look for reviews from other customers and sign a contract with clear clauses to protect you in case the company does not fulfill its obligations, according to observatornews.ro.