An older house in Qatif rarely needs knocking down to feel new again. More often the frame is sound and only the skin is tired: plaster blistering near the floor, old windows that let in dust and heat, faded tiles, wiring that has had its day. As a finishing contractor in Qatif our job is to bring that kind of house back to comfortable living in the right order, and to finish new homes and villas from shell as well. Behind it is Aemar Al-Maryam General Contracting, whose crews travel out from Dammam to Qatif, Tarout, Safwa and the towns around them. A house still at shell stage is priced per square metre of floor area: SAR 650 to start at the economy grade, SAR 830 at mid grade and SAR 1,100 at the upper grade, with materials and labour together. For an older home we list and price each job separately after looking round. No number is final until the visit and the agreement. Call or WhatsApp 0547879578.
Three situations fill most of our Qatif diary, so this page is organised around them: a two-storey older home being re-finished with its windows replaced by aluminium, a new villa whose concealed AC lines have to be run before the gypsum ceilings close, and a men’s majlis floored in marble that is polished after laying. Each comes with its order of work, its prices and, for the majlis, a costed example.
Finishing in Qatif at a glance
- Older houses: damp at the foot of the walls treated first, then new plaster, floors, paint and aluminium windows, room by room if the family stays in.
- New villas: priced per m² of floor area from shell at SAR 650, SAR 830 or SAR 1,100 depending on grade.
- Air-conditioning: condensate line from SAR 90 per run; copper lines checked with the AC technician before any gypsum.
- Majlis marble: laying from SAR 92/m² labour, polishing from SAR 14/m².
- Travel: assessed on the visit day; it weighs less when more work is grouped into one trip.
- Not ours: kitchen cabinets, appliances, furniture, AC units, and listed heritage buildings.
Re-finishing older houses in Qatif: where do we begin?
We begin an older Qatif house at floor level, not with the paint. Across large parts of the Province the water table is shallow and saline, and dissolved salts can creep by capillary action to around 75 cm above ground, swelling plaster and peeling paint. New finishes laid over that source without treating it soon look as tired as the old ones.
- 1Find the damp and salts
We open up the lower wall on the ground floor and pin down the source: water rising from the soil, a leaking bathroom, or rain getting in from the roof. - 2Treat the source
Before any plaster, with roof and wet-room work on roof waterproofing and insulation in Qatif and cracking on crack repair in Qatif. - 3Strip what has failed
Blown plaster and hollow tiles come off back to a sound layer. - 4Renew the services
Old two-wire circuits or circuits without earth are replaced, and corroded pipes are changed before anything is closed. - 5Windows
Old frames out, double-glazed aluminium in, before the new plaster goes round them. - 6Plaster, ceilings, floors
Fresh sand-cement plaster, gypsum where needed, tiles or porcelain. - 7Paint and fittings
Filler and paint on dry plaster, then sockets, lights and mixers.
A lived-in house is done in sections
If the family stays at home, we split the house: upstairs bedrooms first, for example, then move on, sealing the area we are in with screens and covering floors so dust does not travel.
Re-finishing, renovation or finishing from shell in Qatif?
Re-finishing renews the visible layers and the worn-out services of a house whose structure is sound. Renovation deals with damage to the structure itself, and finishing from shell starts from a house that was never finished. Diagonal cracks or exposed rebar in a slab mean renovation contractor in Qatif comes first. Owners starting from bare land who want one contract up to the keys need a turnkey building job instead, explained on building contractor in Qatif.
| The house | What we do | How it is priced |
|---|---|---|
| Older, structurally sound | Plaster, floors, paint, windows, renewed services | Item by item after the visit |
| Older with structural cracks or exposed steel | Engineer-supervised repair, then finishing | Repair first, then items |
| New shell | Full finishing in sequence | Per m²: 650 / 830 / 1,100 |
| Empty plot | Build and finish under a turnkey contract | Building contract |
Heritage buildings are outside our work
Old quarters on Tarout and in Darin include traditional houses of heritage value, and work on them involves the specialist authorities. We re-finish modern concrete houses and do not work on heritage buildings.
Finishing contractor in Qatif: what we do and what we don’t
Our scope as finishing contractor in Qatif runs from frame to move-in: the concealed electrics, water and drainage, preparation for air-conditioning, waterproofing and insulation, plaster, gypsum ceilings, tiles and marble, filler and paint, doors and windows, and at the end sockets, lights, mixers and water heaters. One general contractor takes off the quantities, lines up the crews and signs off every stage before the following one starts; the short description is on the finishing service page.
Kitchen cabinets and their worktops, appliances, furniture and the AC units themselves are not ours to supply. We give the kitchen its floor, walls and service points and leave the cabinet wall true for the cabinet maker. Anything else outside this list we name during the visit rather than promise it.
A finishing company or separate tradesmen in Qatif?
In an older house the trades knot together. The electrician needs his chases before the plaster, the plasterer is waiting on the aluminium to close up round the windows, and the painter is waiting on everyone. With a separate tradesman for each trade, the owner becomes the coordinator without meaning to and carries the cost of every sequencing mistake. A single contractor holds the order, the checks and the handover in one contract and one snag list.
Turnkey in Qatif: what the contract means and who carries what
A turnkey contract starts from an empty plot and ends with a home ready to occupy, so the contractor carries both the building and the finishing; it is a building contract at heart, which is why it has its own page. If your shell is already standing, the contract is a finishing contract, and our obligations in it are the quantities, the materials at the agreed grade, the sequence, the tests before closing up, and handing over the house with its snag list and file. In both cases the contract should spell out what is excluded, such as cabinets, appliances and AC units.
Replacing old windows with aluminium in Qatif homes
Swapping old windows for double-glazed aluminium changes an older Qatif house more than almost anything else, because it cuts heat, dust and street noise at once. We schedule it inside the finishing rather than after it: the old window comes out, the reveals are repaired, the new frame is set on a true sub-frame, and the plaster and paint are then brought up to it. If the aluminium came after painting, the painted edges would be broken.
- ✓Opening size: measured after the reveals are scraped back, because old openings are seldom square.
- ✓Widening an opening or adding a window: a block wall needs a lintel, concrete is sawn using diamond blades; see concrete cutting in Qatif.
- ✓Sealing: sealant round the frame on the outside, and a sill that falls outwards so rain does not run in.
- ✓Hardware: hinges and handles that do not rust quickly in coastal humidity.
- ✓Price: aluminium supply and installation is quoted once we have seen the openings, since profile, glass and dimensions all change it.
Running AC lines before gypsum ceilings in Qatif
AC lines are run and checked before the gypsum ceiling is closed, because opening a painted ceiling to fix a dripping condensate pipe or a short copper run costs more than laying them properly in the first place. We see this often in new Qatif villas, where concealed ceiling units are the norm.
■ Copper lines
Laid by the AC technician fully insulated on metal hangers; we ask for a pressure test before anything is closed.
■ Condensate pipe
Plastic pipe with a steady fall to the drain point and no sag in the middle; a run starts at SAR 90.
■ Power
A dedicated circuit and breaker per unit; a split-unit circuit with its breaker starts at SAR 120.
■ Access hatches
Openings in the gypsum near each indoor unit and drain trap, positioned before the ceiling, not after.
- ✓Order: AC power at first fix, then copper and condensate, then the test, then the gypsum hangers.
- ✓Holes through concrete walls and slabs: core drilled, never hammered; see core drilling in Qatif.
- ✓The AC units: we do not supply them; the owner or the AC company does, and we arrange the space and the timing.
- ✓Gypsum: moisture-resistant in bathrooms and kitchen, flat or stepped in living areas; see gypsum board installation in Qatif.
Pour water into every drain before the ceiling closes
We pour water into each unit’s tray and watch it come out at the drain point before the ceiling is closed. A condensate line without fall shows up after the first summer as a wet patch in the gypsum.
Finishing stages in order in Qatif
The sequence in Qatif is the one we use everywhere. Anything that will end up concealed is proven while it is still exposed; the plastering and tiling follow; the visible surfaces come next; the delicate items close the job. The table lists what we confirm before moving to the following step:
| Stage | Confirmed before moving on |
|---|---|
| Drain lines | Filled to a head of three metres or more and watched for fifteen minutes without the level dropping |
| Water supply | Holding tight at no less than the pressure it will work at |
| Electrical first fix | Routes photographed, nothing energised before inspection |
| AC lines | Pressure tested, and water poured into the condensate reaches the drain |
| Wet-room waterproofing | Flooded 2.5–10 cm deep and left for one to three days |
| Plaster | True to a straightedge, and kept wet for about a week |
| Tiles and marble | Large pieces sit within three millimetres of a three-metre rule |
| Second fix electrics | A 30 mA RCD that trips, and insulation not below 1 MΩ |
First-fix details are on electrician in Qatif and plumber in Qatif, and plaster on plastering contractor in Qatif.
Waterproofing, tiles and paint in older Qatif houses
In an older house we re-waterproof every bathroom whose tiles come up, because the old layer has usually cracked or was never there, and we flood test it before the new tiles; bathroom waterproofing with its flood test starts at SAR 26 per m². On floors we check the old bedding: if it is firm we level it and tile over; if it is loose or salty, it comes out. Paint goes only onto dry plaster with sanded filler, and in damp-prone rooms we use a moisture-tolerant paint. Each trade has its own page: tile installer in Qatif, painting contractor in Qatif and roof waterproofing and insulation in Qatif.
Finishing grades and price per square metre in Qatif
For a shell in Qatif the metre of floor area has three starting points: SAR 650 at the first grade, SAR 830 at mid grade and SAR 1,100 at the upper grade, covering both the materials of that grade and the labour. These are estimates that firm up on the visit, and the cost of bringing the team over from Dammam is judged on that day.
| Grade | In one line | Opening price per m² of floor |
|---|---|---|
| First grade | Full wiring and plumbing with fittings, sealed bathrooms, cement plaster, locally made ceramic, sensibly priced paint, stock doors | SAR 650 |
| Mid grade | First grade plus porcelain near 60×60, a flat gypsum ceiling in the halls, nicer paint and doors | SAR 830 |
| Upper grade | Marble or wide porcelain, stepped gypsum with lighting you cannot see, premium paint, solid timber doors | SAR 1,100 |
| Designs made to order | Stone from abroad and room-by-room details | Set on the visit |
| Hands only | The owner buys the materials | Set on the visit |
Cabinets, appliances, furniture and AC units sit outside every grade. An older house is seldom priced by grade, because part of its plaster and services is fit to stay; we price it with the items below after seeing it.
Re-finishing item prices in Qatif
| Work in an older house | Unit | Opening price |
|---|---|---|
| Breaking up old floor tiles and screed | per m² | SAR 14 |
| Correcting floor level before new tiles | per m² | SAR 14 |
| Porcelain up to 60×60, labour | per m² | SAR 32 |
| Majlis marble or granite, labour | per m² | SAR 92 |
| Skirting along wall bases | per linear metre | SAR 14 |
| Polishing marble, materials included | per m² | SAR 14 |
| Re-plastering with materials | per m² | SAR 13 |
| Filler and sanding before paint | per m² | SAR 14 |
| Premium paint with materials | per m² | SAR 32 |
| Gypsum ceiling, flat or stepped for a majlis | per m² | SAR 46 or 110 |
| AC condensate line | per run | SAR 90 |
| Carting debris | per load | SAR 90, trip set on the visit |
| Aluminium windows and doors with supply | — | Set on the visit |
Majlis finishing in Qatif: marble laid, then polished
A men’s majlis in Qatif is typically floored in light marble with matching marble skirting under a stepped gypsum ceiling. The marble is laid first to a precise level and polished after laying, in stages with diamond pads from coarse to fine, until the small steps between slabs disappear and the shine comes up.
- ✓Before the marble: gypsum ceiling, concealed lighting and the first coat of paint, so nothing falls onto the stone and scratches it.
- ✓Laying: marble floor labour starts at SAR 92 per m², skirting at SAR 14 per linear metre.
- ✓Polishing: from SAR 14 per m² with polishing materials, and SAR 9 on large jobs of two hundred square metres or more.
- ✓Afterwards: keep acids such as lemon, vinegar and harsh cleaners off it, because they dull the surface.
- ✓The stone itself: chosen by the owner; we approve a sample piece together before ordering.
If the majlis is an annex not yet built, start with annex and majlis builder in Qatif; for all marble and tile detail see tile installer in Qatif.
Worked example: floor and ceiling of a 6 × 7.5 m majlis in Qatif
An existing men’s majlis in Qatif measures 45 m². The owner wants a marble floor with skirting, polishing after laying and a stepped gypsum ceiling. The perimeter is 27 m; taking 1 m off for the door leaves 26 m of skirting:
| Item | Calculation | From |
|---|---|---|
| Marble floor laying (labour) | 45 m² × 92 | SAR 4,140 |
| Marble skirting | 26 m × 14 | SAR 364 |
| Polishing after laying | 45 m² × 14 | SAR 630 |
| Stepped gypsum ceiling | 45 m² × 110 | SAR 4,950 |
| Approximate total | — | SAR 10,084 |
The total leaves out the marble itself, which varies widely by type, the lighting and the paint; travel to Qatif is set at the visit. Adding premium paint on walls and ceiling is charged on the painted area at SAR 32 per m².
Villa and flat finishing in Qatif
A new villa in Qatif is finished by grade and in full sequence, and the earliest thing we review there is the route of concealed AC units and where their access hatches go. In a flat our attention goes to flood tests in bathrooms with neighbours below, and to how materials enter the building. For damp-prone bathrooms in older houses read bathroom renovation in Qatif, and for kitchens kitchen renovation in Qatif, bearing in mind that we neither make nor fit cabinets.
One rule matters for every new Qatif villa: the utility will not energise a new building until its walls, roof and windows meet the thermal-insulation requirement and the coordination certificate has been issued after inspection, so insulated windows cannot be left until after painting. Aluminium and thermal insulation therefore sit at the front of our schedule alongside first fix, while interior doors wait until the wet trades are done. Many owners here choose the upper grade for the majlis and family hall and mid grade for bedrooms; each part is priced at its own rate.
Shop and office fit-out in Qatif
A small shop or office gets flooring that takes footfall, a ceiling that can be opened for the services, and lighting spread across the working area; it is priced on site according to the business and its requirements.
Interior expansion and merging rooms in Qatif
Joining two rooms or opening the kitchen to the hall is possible in a concrete-frame house when the wall between them is a non-structural partition; taking down a non-structural block wall costs from SAR 185 each, and then we make good the floor, ceiling and cabling it disturbed. Older houses, though, can hide a load-bearing wall where you least expect it, so we never judge a wall by its looks: we ask for the structural drawing if there is one, otherwise an engineer inspects on site.
| What you want in the older house | What it needs | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| A partition that carries nothing, or new tiles, paint and gypsum | Interior maintenance, usually no permit | Us |
| Restoring the house as it was, structure untouched | A Balady restoration permit | An engineering office files it |
| A load-bearing wall, a beam, or an opening in concrete | “Add and modify building components” with an engineer’s report | Engineering office, then us |
An opening in a concrete wall starts at SAR 140, with strengthening priced after the engineer’s report. For wall removal and debris see demolition contractor in Qatif.
Opening the kitchen to the hall in Qatif
Opening the kitchen to the hall changes how an older house is lived in, but it brings work that has to be counted with it: a stronger extractor because no wall holds the smell back, a continuous floor or a deliberate threshold between two different tiles, re-planned sockets and lighting, and repainting the whole joined space so the old wall leaves no trace. Kitchen detail is on kitchen renovation in Qatif.
New partitions in Qatif
Re-planning an older house sometimes calls for a new partition for a maid’s room, a store or to divide a large hall. The lightest option, plasterboard on both sides with mineral wool in the cavity, starts at SAR 165 per m²; insulated cement board on both sides starts at SAR 185 and suits spots beside wet rooms; a new block partition with plaster is priced on site. See cement board installation in Qatif.
After a wall comes out: floor, ceiling and wiring
Where the wall stood, a strip of floor is left without tiles, and a matching tile for an old floor is rarely available. We therefore recommend re-tiling the whole joined room, or a marble threshold that separates the two floors on purpose. The ceiling along the old wall line needs plaster or gypsum to hide the mark, switches on the removed wall move elsewhere, and lighting is re-planned for the new room.
Materials we use when finishing Qatif homes
■ Plaster
Sand-cement throughout, never gypsum plaster in bathrooms or kitchens.
■ Wet ceilings
Moisture-resistant board, which resists damp but is not waterproof, so it never sits over a leak.
■ Waterproofing
Flexible membrane in bathrooms, flood tested, and roof waterproofing before any tiles on top.
■ Floors
Ceramic or porcelain on a suitable adhesive, and marble for the majlis if chosen.
■ Aluminium
Double-glazed profiles with rust-resistant hardware.
■ Paint
Filler and paint on dry plaster, with moisture-tolerant paint in damp rooms.
Timing and cost drivers in Qatif
Re-finishing an older house takes weeks to months depending on the number of rooms and what turns up behind the plaster; a villa from shell takes months. We give no figure before the visit, but a schedule after it, which includes the days that cannot be rushed: around a week of wet-curing new plaster, a day or more of standing water in each bathroom, and waiting for walls to dry before any paint. Cost moves with these factors:
| Factor | Pushes the cost up when | Brings it down when |
|---|---|---|
| Damp and salts | They run along many walls and need wider treatment | They are confined to one or two walls |
| Old services | All wiring and pipes are replaced | Part of them is sound and tested |
| Windows | Many, odd sizes, or openings to widen | Few, with similar sizes |
| Floors | Chosen marble with polishing over scattered small areas | Porcelain over one continuous area |
| Travel and visits | Small items spread over separate trips | Items grouped into one continuous visit |
| Changes | Materials swapped after delivery | Materials settled before ordering |
How a finishing budget splits across items
To see roughly where the money goes in finishing a whole house: floors take about a quarter, paint and gypsum about a fifth, first-fix electrics and plumbing about 15%, doors and windows about 15%, final fittings about 15%, and about 10% is held back for changes. In an older house the share for windows and services rises and the floor share falls if part of the floor is kept. Save on simpler tile sizes in service rooms and flat rather than stepped ceilings in secondary rooms, never on first fix, because fixing hidden services later means chasing into finished walls.
The visit before pricing in Qatif: what we check
In an older house we measure rooms and windows, tap the plaster to find where it has let go, look for the tide line of damp along the wall bases and for leak marks under bathrooms and on ceilings, open the distribution board to see the age of the wiring and whether there is an earth, and ask which walls you want removed. In a new villa we review AC routes, bathroom positions and how true the shell is. Then we write down what needs treating before finishing, what goes into the items, and what can only be priced after an engineer’s report.
Common mistakes when re-finishing older houses
- ✓Painting over rising damp without dealing with its source.
- ✓Fitting aluminium windows after painting, breaking the painted reveals.
- ✓Closing gypsum before testing the AC condensate.
- ✓Polishing the majlis marble before the dirty trades have left the room.
- ✓Leaving old, unearthed wiring behind fresh paint.
- ✓Removing a wall in an older house without knowing whether it carries load.
Receiving the work in Qatif
At handover, run a straightedge over the tiles and marble, tap gently and listen for a solid sound, pour water in the bathrooms and watch it head for the drain, run each AC unit and look at its drain point, press the RCD test button, and open and close every aluminium window. Take a file with photos of the routes before closing, the test results and the materials list. All of this belongs in a contract, ideally the unified contract on the “Muqawil” platform, which becomes enforceable once both sides accept it and sets out the items, schedule and payments against completed stages.
How to order a finishing contractor in Qatif
- 1Photograph the house
Every room, the wall bases, windows, ceilings, and the roof if you can. - 2Send the details
On WhatsApp 0547879578 with the rough area, the town or district, and what you want changed. - 3First figure
We come back with a rough estimate and flag what needs the visit. - 4The visit
We check damp, services, windows and any wall you want removed. - 5Items and contract
A priced list of items and a stage schedule. - 6Work and handover
Room after room, closing with the defects list and the project file.
Why Aemar Al-Maryam for re-finishing your Qatif house
- ✓We treat the cause of damp before finishing instead of covering it.
- ✓Aluminium and AC are scheduled inside the job, not bolted on after.
- ✓Published item prices, and “set on the visit” wherever we cannot yet know.
- ✓We work in occupied houses in sections, with floors and furniture protected.
- ✓Recorded tests before every close-up.
Finishing contractor across Qatif, Tarout Island and Safwa
In the city, requests reach us from Al Shati, Al Sawari, Al Sadafa, Al Fath and Al Rida; on the island from Sanabis, Tarout town, Darin, Al Rubaiyah and Al Zour; and beyond from Al Qudaih, Al Awamiyah, Anak and Safwa. Old quarters have narrow lanes, so before the visit we agree where the vehicle will stand and how materials will be carried in. The Qatif page gathers our services there, past work is on projects, and the broadest finishing guide is finishing contractor in Dammam. Next door: sea-facing flats and room merging on finishing contractor in Saihat, and villa sample boards and terraces on finishing contractor in Dhahran.
An older Qatif house that needs new finishes?
Photograph the rooms, the wall bases and the windows and send them with the area; we will tell you what needs treating first and give a rough cost.
Pages close to your Qatif house
Tags
