Flat disinfection in Riga — from €55

When flat disinfection is ordered

mould or a damp smell has appeared;
after flooding or a sewage incident;
after illness in the household;
preparing a flat for letting or sale;
after previous occupants — smokers, or people with animals;
after the flat has stood empty for a long time;
if an unpleasant smell is coming from the neighbours or the ventilation.

There are three kinds of client, and it changes the conversation.

An owner living in the flat usually calls about mould or a smell and wants to know the cause.
A landlord calls between tenants, with a few days available and a flat that has to be clean and odour-free before the photos.
A tenant calls when the problem is already making the flat hard to live in — and there is often a question of who pays, them or the landlord.

We do not settle who pays, but our inspection notes set out what was found and where, so you have something concrete to discuss.

What is specific to flats

In a block of flats two conditions change the work compared with a private house.

Shared ventilation. A common riser connects the flats, so smells and damp travel. If the source of a smell is in another flat, treating yours will remove what has already soaked in, but it will not stop the transfer — and we say so plainly.

Shared structure. Mould on an external wall or on the ceiling is often not the flat's problem but the building's. Where that is the case, we note it in the inspection findings so it can be raised with the property manager.

Problem	Is it the flat's or the building's problem?
Mould in the bathroom	Usually the flat's — ventilation or use
Mould in an external-wall corner	Often the building's — insulation
Mould on a top-floor ceiling	Usually the building's — roof or floor slab
Smell from the ventilation	The building's — shared riser
Sewage smell in the bathroom	Often the flat's — a trap

If the patch is on an external wall or on a top-floor ceiling, it is almost never the flat's problem but the building's.

How the building type changes the job

The age and construction of the building decide where damp collects and how deep it has gone into the material.

1Pre-war buildingThick masonry walls, timber floors, natural draught through chimney flues. Damp moves slowly, but it stays in timber floors for a long time. Patches usually appear at window reveals and behind fitted wardrobes.

2Soviet-era panel blockThin panel joints, cold corners, one shared ventilation riser for the whole column of flats. This is where a smell from a neighbour's flat or from the basement turns up most often.

3New buildVery tight windows and mechanical ventilation. If the system is switched off or the filters have not been changed, moisture from the shower and the kitchen has nowhere to go and condenses on window frames and in cold corners.

A practical example

A 54 m² two-room flat in a panel block in Purvciems: a dark patch of roughly 0.4 m² in the external-wall corner of the bedroom behind a wardrobe, with the smell noticeable only in that room. A moisture reading on the wall in the corner is markedly higher than on the same wall halfway up in the middle.

That is condensation: the air behind the wardrobe does not move, and the corner is the coldest point in the room. Treatment removes the fungus, but if the wardrobe stays pressed against the wall and the bedroom is not aired, the patch will be back after the heating season. We say that before the work, not after.

Seasonality in Latvia is pronounced. From October to March, with windows shut and the heating on, moisture from cooking, showering and drying laundry stays in the flat and condenses on the coldest surfaces. That is why most calls about mould in flats come in November and February rather than in summer.

How to prepare

Preparation in a flat takes longer than the treatment itself, and it is where things most often stall. If the space is not ready, we either wait or work to a smaller scope than you had planned.

Remove food and medicines

Open food and medication must be taken out or sealed.

Deal with pets and plants

They must not be in the room during treatment. Cover an aquarium and switch the pump off.

Clear access

Pull furniture away from the walls that need treating.

Cover equipment and documents

If we are fogging, computers, papers and open cosmetics are covered or removed.

Plan to be out

After treatment the space must stand empty for a set period — we tell you exactly how long beforehand.

There are a few things worth doing yourself before we come out — sometimes they are enough on their own.

Run water through every drain, including the ones you rarely use. A dried-out trap is the commonest cause of a sewage smell, and it is not a disinfection question.
Hold a lit match or a thin strip of paper up to the ventilation grille in the kitchen and the bathroom. If the flame or the paper does not move, there is no draught — and that is the cause, not the symptom.
Pull wardrobes and beds away from external walls and look at the wall behind them.
Photograph patches and damp if they change with the seasons — it helps to tell condensation from a leak.

If the smell goes after a few days of airing and running water through the traps, and there is no mould anywhere, treatment is not needed. We say that too, even when it means there is no work for us.

What most often goes wrong in a flat comes down to three habits.

Painting over the patch before treatment. The paint seals the fungus underneath, and a few months later it pushes back through — only now it sits under a layer of paint and is harder to reach.
Leaving soft furniture and the mattress in the room when the problem was precisely the smell soaked into the filling. Wiping surfaces does nothing for that.
Drying laundry indoors with the windows shut all through the heating season. One machine load releases a considerable amount of water into the room, and it has nowhere to go.

What we do not do in this type of property

We do not insulate, replace windows, lay damp-proofing or install ventilation — those are building works, and a builder does them. We do not repair the shared ventilation riser; that is common property, and the property manager organises it. We do not strip plaster or repaint walls: cosmetic making good after treatment is for you or your decorator.

We also do not treat vehicle interiors — it is not a service we offer, and we say so up front rather than after a call-out. We do not assess the condition of load-bearing structures; if an inspection shows a crack is more than a finish problem, we recommend bringing in a building specialist.

And one more honest limit: if the cause of the damp is left unchanged, treatment is a half-solution with a limited lifespan. We always say so before the work. More on the mechanism: mould removal and odour removal.

Prices

One-room flat from €55, two-room from €65, three-room from €75, four-room from €85. Ozone treatment €1.20/m², minimum €60. Travel within Riga is included. All prices →

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to move out of the flat during treatment?

For surface treatment it is usually enough that you are not in the room being treated. For fogging and ozone treatment the flat must be left empty — we tell you the exact time beforehand.

The smell comes from a neighbour's flat — can you help?

We can remove the smell that has already soaked into your flat. The transfer itself through the shared ventilation is a building-level matter, and we say so openly.

Do you treat rented flats?

Yes, it is one of the commonest jobs we get. A flat is usually treated between tenancies or before a sale, and an empty flat is quicker and cheaper to work in.

Flat disinfection