Apartment Renovation in Dubai: What to Keep, What to Cover and What to Replace

An apartment renovation in Dubai is decided by the building before it is decided by you: start with the building management’s approval, its working hours and its rules on noise, lifts and hard floors. Then check what is hidden — leaks under the bathrooms, hollow tiles, an AC that never cools a room — because every finish sits on top of those. Once the flat is known to be sound, each room can be kept, covered or replaced on its own. In a tower, covering usually wins: sound floor tiles can take a seamless surface such as microcement at about 3 mm, with no jackhammer, no rubble in the service lift and no complaints from the flat below. A full strip-out is the right answer only where something underneath has failed, or where the layout is changing.

We do one part of an apartment renovation: the surfaces — seamless floors and walls in microcement and lime finishes such as Venetian plaster, marmorino and limewash. We do not do plumbing, electrics, AC, joinery, kitchens or tiling, and we do not supply tiles, paint, wood, vinyl or panels. This guide covers the whole job anyway, because the surfaces only last if the work under them was right. If your home is a villa rather than a flat, read villa renovation in Dubai instead — the roof, the driveway and the outside walls change the order of work.

Apartment renovation in Dubai: what to check first

Walk the flat with a notebook before you call anyone, and start with the rooms that hold water. An apartment has neighbours on every side, so a hidden leak is never only your problem.

1. Under and behind the wet rooms. Look at the walls behind showers, the skirting next to the bathroom door and the kitchen sink cabinet. Damp patches, swollen door frames, blackened silicone that keeps coming back and a musty smell point to failed waterproofing or a leaking pipe. Ask the neighbour below whether their ceiling has ever been stained.
2. The floors. Tap the tiles with a coin or a screwdriver handle. A solid knock is a bonded tile; a hollow sound over whole areas means the tile bed has let go, and those tiles come up whatever finish you choose. One or two hollow tiles can be re-fixed.
3. The AC. Ask how old the fan-coil units are, when the ducts were last cleaned and whether any room never gets cool. In many towers the chilled-water system is the building’s, but the units and ducts inside the flat are yours — and new ducting means opening ceilings, so it comes before new finishes.
4. Walls and ceilings. Fine hairline cracks in plaster are common and cosmetic. Long cracks along the joint between a wall and the ceiling, or ones that keep growing, should be looked at by the building’s engineer before anyone covers them.
5. The heights. Measure the gap under your front door and the step onto the balcony. Every new floor that is thicker than the old one eats into those gaps — which is why the build-up matters more in a flat than in a villa.

That list, room by room, is your scope — and it makes quotes from different trades comparable.

Do you need approval to renovate an apartment in Dubai?

Almost always, yes — and you should have it before you sign with any contractor. Most Dubai towers and communities ask the owner to apply to building or community management for a renovation or work permit (often called an NOC) before any work starts. Many restrict working hours and noisy work, ask contractors to book the service lift, set rules on removing rubble, and some have rules about hard floor finishes and sound. Changes to plumbing, electrics, AC or walls usually need more than cosmetic work does. The rules differ from building to building, so ask your management office what they need for your plans, and in what time. If you rent, get the landlord’s agreement in writing before any permanent change — a microcement floor or a lime-plaster wall is permanent.

We do not quote fees or timelines for approvals: they are set by each building and each authority, not by us.

Keep, cover or replace: room by room

Element	Keep and refresh when…	Cover when…	Replace when…	Who does it
Floor tiles	You still like them and they are sound	Sound and dry, but you are done with the look or the grout	Hollow over whole areas, cracked from movement, or the levels are changing	A tiler to keep or replace; RBS for microcement over tiles
Walls	Paint is the look you want	You want a lime or seamless finish on sound plaster	Plaster is loose, damp or badly cracked	A painter; RBS for lime plaster or microcement walls
Bathroom	Tiles sound, shower never leaked	Tiles sound, you want them and the grout gone	Leaks, hollow tiles, a new layout	Several trades; RBS for the seamless finish
Kitchen	Carcasses dry and solid	Sound floor tiles and splashback	Swollen carcasses, a new layout, services moving	A kitchen company; RBS for floors and walls
Balcony	Tiles sound and draining well	Sound tiles, normal foot traffic	Water sits, tiles hollow, the waterproofing failed	A tiler or waterproofer; RBS for microcement in the outdoor-rated colours
Built-in wardrobes and doors	Frames square, doors close	—	Swollen, sagging or a new layout	A joiner

The middle column is the one most apartment owners do not know exists, and in a tower it saves the most: no breaking out, no rubble down the lift, no days of noise for the neighbours. Microcement over existing tiles adds about 3 mm, so the front door still swings and the threshold to the corridor still lines up; new tiles over a fresh screed would add several centimetres.

Covering vs replacing in an apartment: the honest comparison

	Cover the existing tiles (microcement)	Break out and re-tile
Noise	Sanding between coats; no jackhammer	Demolition — the noisiest part of any renovation
Rubble in the lift	Almost none	Bags of broken tile and screed
Height added	About 3 mm	Several centimetres with a new screed
Joints	None — one surface	Grout lines, as before
When it is wrong	Hollow or cracked tiles underneath, leaks, a changing layout	When the old tiles are sound and only the look is tired
Our role	We do it	A tiler’s job — we do not tile or supply tiles

The order of work in an apartment renovation

Work from the hidden to the visible, and let each trade finish before the next one covers its work.

1. Scope and approval. The list from your walk-through, the building’s permit, lift bookings and the working hours you have.
2. Protection. Corridor floor and lift protection, as the building asks, before anything comes in.
3. Strip-out. Only what is coming out — a kitchen or bathroom you are rebuilding, hollow tiles, damaged plaster.
4. First fix. Plumbing, electrics, AC ducting and data cabling while walls and ceilings are open.
5. Ceilings and plastering. Repairs and screeds, left to dry. Lime and seamless finishes need a dry, sound base.
6. Wet rooms. Waterproofing in showers and on the balcony, checked before it is covered.
7. Surfaces. Floors and walls: tiles, microcement, lime plaster, paint. Dusty work first, the most delicate finishes last.
8. Joinery and kitchen. Wardrobes, doors and the kitchen go in on the finished floor, protected.
9. Second fix. Sanitaryware, light fittings, sockets, AC grilles — then a deep clean.

The common mistake in a flat is choosing the floor first and the approval last, then losing weeks waiting for a permit with the trades already booked.

Which finishes suit each part of an apartment?

An apartment is a small number of rooms that each punish a surface differently, so choose by zone.

• Living room, bedrooms and corridors. Microcement runs joint-free across rooms and over sound tiles — floors from AED 250/m², supplied and installed. It is a hard mineral floor, like the tiles it covers: it does not change how footsteps sound to the flat below, so if your building has rules on hard floors, ask first. Good timber, vinyl or carpet with an acoustic underlay is softer underfoot (see our guides to wooden and parquet flooring, vinyl and SPC flooring and carpet in Dubai); we do not supply or lay them, and flooring options for UAE homes compares them honestly. Quiet floors explains the two kinds of floor noise.
• Feature walls. Lime finishes — Venetian plaster, marmorino, limewash — give depth paint cannot, and they breathe, which suits AC-cooled rooms. They are priced per project after a site visit.
• Bathroom. The room where an apartment gains most from going seamless: no grout to blacken in a humid, enclosed shower. It must be a full wet-zone system — waterproofing, finish, immersion-grade sealer — from AED 350/m²; see microcement bathrooms and the bathroom renovation guide.
• Kitchen. Cabinets, worktop, floor and splashback are separate decisions; the kitchen renovation guide sorts them. We coat floors, walls and ceilings — not worktops or cabinets.
• Balcony. Microcement can go outdoors in the outdoor-rated colours only — part of the range is indoor-only — on balconies and terraces with normal foot traffic. Check the drainage and the waterproofing first.
• Rented flat, small budget. Paint, a good deep clean of the grout and new silicone often do more for the money than any new finish. Grout cleaning shows how.

Microcement belongs to homes and normal-use rooms. In a building’s shared lobby, gym or any floor a trolley crosses, it is the wrong choice.

What does an apartment renovation in Dubai cost?

Nobody honest can give you a total for a whole flat without seeing it, because the hidden items — leaks, AC, hollow tiles — move the figure more than any finish does. What we can give is our part, as starting rates:

• Microcement: walls from AED 220/m², floors from AED 250/m², wet zones from AED 350/m², supplied and installed. No mobilization fee.
• Lime finishes — Venetian plaster, marmorino, limewash — priced per project after a site visit.
• Everything else — plumbing, electrics, AC, joinery, kitchens, tiling — is priced by the trades who do it.

Two worked examples on those starting rates: a 40 m² living and dining floor in microcement over the existing tiles starts from around AED 10,000; a bathroom with 25 m² of floor and wall surface done as a full wet zone starts from around AED 8,750. The quote after the site visit can be higher if the floor needs levelling or cracks need bridging. The microcement cost guide explains what moves a quote, and the price calculator gives a quick figure for your own area.

How long does an apartment renovation take?

Our part is measured in days per room; the whole job is set by the slowest trade and the building’s working hours. Microcement over sound tiles takes about five to seven working days per room, most of it curing time between coats — adding people does not shorten a cure. A renovation with plumbing, AC and a new kitchen runs to weeks. You can usually stay in the flat if the work goes room by room, but a one-bathroom apartment is hard while its only bathroom is being done — plan for somewhere else to shower. Microcement in apartments vs villas covers living in the flat during the work.

Which one should you choose?

• The flat is sound and you want a new look: keep the services, cover the floors and refinish the walls. It is the quietest route, with the least rubble and the least for the neighbours to complain about.
• A shower leaks or the flat below has a stain: fix the waterproofing first and choose the finish last.
• Hollow tiles across whole rooms, or a new layout: strip those rooms out, put the services right, then cover or tile.
• Your building restricts hard floors: ask management before choosing microcement or tile; timber or vinyl on an acoustic underlay may be the honest answer.
• You rent: get written permission first, or keep and refresh.

Send a few photos of the rooms, the floor tiles and the bathroom, with rough sizes, on WhatsApp, or call +971 4 587 7086. Tell us what you found on your walk-through and what your building allows. We have worked on UAE homes for 8+ years — our microcement and lime finishes are applied by crews trained in-house, never subcontracted — and if part of your flat needs a different trade rather than us, we will say so.

Related guides

• Microcement in Apartments vs Villas: What Changes
• Bathroom Renovation in Dubai: Keep, Cover or Rip Out?
• Kitchen Renovation in Dubai: Keep, Cover or Replace?
• Villa Renovation in Dubai: Keep, Cover or Replace?
• Can Microcement Go Over Existing Tiles?
• Home Renovation in Dubai: Where to Start and What Order

FAQ

Can you renovate an apartment in Dubai without demolition?

Often, yes. Sound floor tiles can be covered with microcement at about 3 mm, sound walls can be refinished in lime plaster or a seamless finish, and a sound bathroom can be made seamless over its tiles as a full wet-zone system. Demolition is needed where something underneath has failed — hollow tiles over whole areas, leaks — or where the layout changes.

Do I need an NOC to renovate my apartment in Dubai?

Usually you need a renovation or work permit from your building or community management before work starts, and plumbing, electrical, AC or wall changes usually need more than cosmetic work. Rules differ by building, so ask your management office before you fix a start date. If you rent, you also need the landlord’s written agreement.

Can I live in my apartment during the renovation?

Usually, if the work goes room by room. The hard case is a flat with one bathroom while that bathroom is being done. Expect the work zone to be closed and some fine dust from sanding, even without demolition.

Will a microcement floor annoy the neighbours below?

It is a hard mineral floor like the tiles it covers, so it does not change how footsteps sound below — it neither helps nor makes it worse. If your building has rules on hard floors or sound, ask before you choose; a soft floor on an acoustic underlay is quieter.

Do you do the whole apartment renovation?

No. We apply the surfaces — microcement and lime finishes. Plumbing, electrics, AC, joinery, kitchens and tiling are done by those trades. We will work to their programme and tell you where our part fits.

How much does it cost to renovate a 1-bedroom apartment in Dubai?

We cannot give an honest total without seeing the flat, because leaks, AC and hollow tiles move the figure most. Our part starts from AED 250/m² for microcement floors, AED 220/m² for walls and AED 350/m² for wet zones; lime finishes are priced per project after a site visit.