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Renovation
Over the last 10 years we have assisted over 50 purchasers of property in Slovenia with Slovenian property renovation and repairs. Our speciality is in helping owners who do not live in Slovenia and who need help understanding local practices and managing works in their absence.
Our projects span a wide range of property types, locations and renovation types from smaller projects where we are sourcing and managing individual contractors for the owners to much larger projects requiring building permission applications, building property from scratch or requiring EU Eco Fund Applications.
We aim to give clients total flexibility in terms of what they need from us and what they want to manage themselves with their renovation as well as saving money by helping to make the right decision and avoid misunderstandings with contractors.
Our role is first and foremost as facilitators and secondly as a presence in Slovenia for owners who are not in Slovenia full time. This means typically our work for clients on renovation projects first involves helping the client to understand processes in Slovenia, then finding the right partners / contractors for the project. Then bringing various parties together, overcoming any cultural and linguistic barriers on the way and managing parties to ensure complete clarity of communication and the smooth running of the project. We also translate correspondence and quotes and visit sites to inspect progress on works as required. Our services do not replace the need for technical expertise and especially on larger projects we strongly suggest that clients also engage the proper technical expertise in the form of structural engineers, surveyors, architects etc who we can help you to identify and manage.
As in all parts of the world property renovation is a challenging business. We aim to make it far easier than it otherwise would be for you, and make things run as smoothly and quickly as possible, however with any renovation project there can and will be delays and other unexpected frustrations, so we recommend that clients always retain a reserve in their budget / timing plans in case of delays or unexpected issues.
We endeavour to always obtain best market pricing for your works and always recommend obtaining multiple quotes for works where circumstances allow. A competitive tendering process is the best way to ensure best pricing. We also work alongside a firm of highly respected quantity surveyor who are able to break out and quantify renovations into minute details and comment on quotes given / recommend current market pricing.
Our list of case studies best demonstrates the breadth of renovations we can assist with. Here is an additional list of renovation works we have been involved with for our clients over the last 10 years.
| Examples of renovation works / types | |
| Converting single family home into a 4 apartment building | Converting 2 apartment building to a single family home |
| Loft & cellar conversions | Updating bathrooms and kitchens |
| Landscaping gardens | Turning garages into living space |
| Replacing old windows and doors with new | Energy efficient facade insulation / rendering |
| Changing septic tanks | Changing roof tiles and structure |
| Barn converstions / renovations | Rewiring |
| Changing heating systems | Painting and making walls good |
| Demolishing ceillings to increase head space | Building internal platforms and galleries |
| Building / renovating retaining walls | Adding bathrooms / ensuites |
| Moving / renovating staircases | Fitting woodburners and fireplaces |
Our renovation service is only as strong as our partners. Over the years we have built up a very good network of individual contractors all around the country but particularly in Ljubljana and the main tourist regions of the country. Many of these partners worked on several client projects for Think Slovenia.
| Our network of tried and tested partner contractors |
| Firm of highly respected quantity surveyors who can price works and help the tendering process |
| Several recommended architectural practices who can assist with design and buildig permission |
| Professional building project managers who are able to assist with management of technical aspects of larger building projects |
| Land surveyors who can arrange border corrections and all other requirements during building a new built |
| General building firms |
| Specialist tradesmen including: roofers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, heating engineers, tilers, wood flooring specialists, kitchen fitters, facade specialists, plasterers, painters and decorators. |
| Interior designers |
| Recommended suppliers for lighting, tiles, bathroom equipment, window and door specialists |
| Specialist suppliers of modern and antique furniture |
| Landscaping companies |
Total flexibility in what you need from us – anything from fixing appointments with individual contractors through to assistance project managing major build and renovation projects. A network of tried and tested partners to assist with your Slovenian property renovation anywhere in Slovenia - from structural surveyors to architects, general builders to heating engineers, chimney cleaners to satellite TV specialists.A network of tried and tested partners to assist with your Slovenian property renovation anywhere in Slovenia - from structural surveyors to architects, general builders to heating engineers, chimney cleaners to satellite TV specialists.
A solid understanding of working practices in Slovenia and, as a result, where misunderstandings most commonly arise between Slovenians and non-Slovenians in property renovations.
A solid understanding of when to get technical specialists (architects, surveyors etc) involved and when permissions are required for works and great contacts in those areas to assist as required.
A proven ability to put complex issues / decision making in to clear English - or into Croatian, Italian, French or Russian which are all spoken by our central office team and an understanding of the particular challenges of renovating in Slovenia for non-residents.
A track record of saving clients time and money by making the right decisions, avoiding misunderstandings between contractors and client, stopping project 'drift' and getting to the right solutions quicker than you might do alone.
Supporting the local economy to the location of the property by using local trades and craftsmen and women where possible.
Supporting use of Eco friendly materials and processes, in particular through EU Eco fund applications and correct disposal / recycling of waste materials.