How much does a renovation cost in Leipzig in 2026?
With us, renovating in Leipzig costs 10–20 €/m² for two coats of paint on the walls, 6–8 €/m² for ceilings, 5–20 €/m² for wallpapering and 15–35 €/m² for laminate. That is labour only, without materials. Below are three fully worked examples so that you can estimate the total beforehand.
With a renovation the uncertainty is usually greater than with a move: with a move you at least know how many rooms you have. Here everything depends on areas that nobody has in their head. That is why below you will find not a flat rate but the way to the figure — prices per square metre, the rule of thumb for wall area and three complete calculations. After that you will know whether a quote is fair, even if it does not come from us.
The rule of thumb you can use to calculate yourself
Almost all renovation prices refer to wall area, not to floor area. That is the most common mistake: an 18 m² room has around 45 m² of wall. The rule professionals use for quick estimates:
Wall area ≈ floor area × 2.5 — in old buildings with their usual ceiling heights more like × 3. Do not subtract windows and doors as long as it is only an estimate; the effort of clean edges around the window frame eats up the saved area anyway.
Ceiling area = floor area. Ceilings are priced separately and are cheaper than walls because there is less cutting-in to do.
What the price really depends on
Four things decide whether you end up at the lower or the upper end of the range:
- Condition of the surface. Smooth walls that have already been painted are the cheap case. Cracked old-building plaster, old wallpaper remnants or water stains mean filling and priming — and that is the item that most often blows a calculation.
- Colour and number of coats. White on white often covers with one coat. Dark blue that is to become white again needs three — so for the same area almost twice the work.
- Empty or lived in. In an empty flat you can work straight through. With furniture there is moving it out, covering and putting it back, which quickly adds up to two to three hours per room.
- Room layout and details. A large open room goes quickly. Hallways with many doors, niches, radiators and reveals take noticeably longer for the same number of square metres.
Prices 2026 in Leipzig
These are our guide prices for labour. They come from the same price list that determines our quotes — if a price changes, it changes here automatically too.
| Service | Guide price |
|---|---|
| Painting walls (2 coats) | 10–20 €/m² |
| Painting ceilings, reveals and junctions | 6–8 €/m² |
| Filling / preparing the surface | 3–9 €/m² |
| Wallpapering | 5–20 €/m² |
| Removing old flooring (carpet, laminate) | 2–10 €/m² |
| Levelling the floor | 5–9 €/m² |
| Laying laminate | 15–35 €/m² |
| Vinyl / click vinyl | 12–18 €/m² |
| Laying tiles (wall) | 25–40 €/m² |
| Laying floor tiles | 30–40 €/m² |
| Removing old tiles | 15–20 €/m² |
| Plasterboard partition wall (1-/2-layer) | 7–19 €/m² |
| Plasterboard ceiling lining | 10–22 €/m² |
| Sanding & lacquering a door | 100–150 € |
| Installing an interior door | 250–350 €/pc |
| Small repairs (per hour of work) | 40–60 €/hr |
Labour only, without materials. The full list with a search box is on the prices page.
Three examples, fully worked out
One room, 18 m², wall painting and a new floor. Wall area around 45 m², ceiling 18 m². Painting the walls 45 × 10–20 € = 450–900 €, ceiling 18 × 6–8 € = 110–145 €. Removing the old carpet 18 × 2–10 € = 35–180 €, levelling the subfloor 18 × 5–9 € = 90–160 €, laminate 18 × 15–35 € = 270–630 €. Together that makes about 950–2,000 € in labour. The range is so wide because “painting a wall” on a smooth surface is something completely different from painting on cracked old-building plaster.
Two rooms, 55 m², cosmetic repairs (Schönheitsreparaturen) before moving out. Wall area around 140 m², ceilings 55 m². Walls 140 × 10–14 € = 1,400–1,960 €, ceilings 55 × 6–8 € = 330–440 €, filling smaller holes and plug holes, about 15 m² × 3–9 € = 45–135 €. In total around 1,800–2,500 €. Here we deliberately calculate with the lower part of the wall-painting range: with woodchip wallpaper (Raufaser) that is only painted over, the expensive part of the preparation falls away.
Three rooms, 80 m², everything done before moving in. Walls around 200 m², ceilings 80 m², floors in three rooms around 60 m². Walls 200 × 10–20 € = 2,000–4,000 €, ceilings 80 × 6–8 € = 480–640 €, removing the old flooring 60 × 2–10 € = 120–600 €, laminate 60 × 15–35 € = 900–2,100 €. Total about 3,500–7,300 €. For a job of this size a site visit is worth it: after an hour on site the range becomes a fixed price.
Renovating cheaply without botching the job
“Cheap renovation” does not mean lower hourly rates but fewer hours. Six ways that really make a difference:
- Empty and clear the room yourself. Furniture into the middle, cover the floor, tape over the sockets — in a 2-room flat that is easily three working hours you do not have to pay for.
- Paint over woodchip wallpaper instead of re-wallpapering. As long as the wallpaper is firmly attached, painting over it is many times cheaper than tearing it off, filling and wallpapering anew.
- Buy the materials yourself. Paint, laminate and skirting boards cost the same in a DIY store as with us. You then pay only for the labour, and we tell you in advance exactly what quantity is needed.
- Do everything in one go. Starting twice means two trips, two set-ups, two rounds of covering up. Three rooms in one go are noticeably cheaper per square metre than three separate appointments.
- Click vinyl instead of tiles. In rooms without standing water, vinyl is only half as expensive to lay as a tiled floor — and in a rented flat the difference is hardly noticeable visually.
- Do only the walls that need it. Often it is two walls in the living room and the hallway that are the problem, not the whole flat. We say openly where painting is pointless.
Cosmetic repairs before moving out
The most common reason people get in touch with us is the handover of the flat. Typical jobs are painting walls and ceilings, filling plug holes, renewing silicone joints in the bathroom and cleaning or repairing the floor. It is rarely a big building site, but it has to be finished on time — and that is exactly where DIY efforts fail as moving-out day gets closer.
We plan such jobs around a fixed date: you tell us the handover date and we work backwards. If the flat is empty, we need two to three days for a 2-room flat. Whether you have to renovate at all is set out in your Mietvertrag (tenancy agreement) — more on that below in the questions.
What we do not do
So that you know straight away how it works: Electrical and water lines are always done by a licensed firm that we commission and coordinate. We do not touch them ourselves — no new sockets, no distribution boards, no pipes. Hanging a light fitting on an existing connection: yes. Laying a cable or pipe: no. Nor do we do roof work, load-bearing walls or facade rendering.
Everything else around walls, ceilings and floors is our everyday work: flat renovation, plasterboard work and floor laying, small repairs. Anyone who wants to get rid of old furniture when moving out can combine this with house clearance — one trip instead of two.
Frequently asked questions
Do I really have to renovate when I move out?
That depends on the tenancy agreement. The Bundesgerichtshof (Germany’s Federal Court of Justice) has declared many older clauses with rigid deadlines (“kitchen and bathroom every three years”) invalid, and anyone who took over an unrenovated flat often does not have to hand it back renovated either. The legal question is settled by your Mieterverein (tenants’ association) or a lawyer — we only tell you what the work would cost, so that you have a figure for comparison.
Is the material included in the price?
No. The prices above are labour. We buy the materials against a receipt — or you buy paint and laminate yourself, then you pay us only for the work. For a 2-room flat the materials usually come to between 200 and 600 €.
How long does it take to renovate a 2-room flat?
Painting walls and ceilings: two to three working days. If floors are added, it is four to five. We work in one stretch, not two hours a day.
Can I stay in the flat during the renovation?
Yes, if we work room by room. That takes a little longer overall, but you do not have to move out. With an empty flat we are faster and therefore cheaper.
Do you also do just a single room?
Yes. Painting one room, filling one wall, laying a floor — that is normal. For very small jobs we charge by the hour instead of by the square metre, which is cheaper for you.
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