Do-it-yourself cheap repair in an apartment

Many people panic at the word repair. First of all, because this phenomenon is directly associated with high costs. Yes, after the renovation, many feel as if they had been robbed. It is impossible to exclude expenses, but it is in your power to reduce them, not to the detriment of the quality of the repair. So, how can you make your apartment stylish with a minimum of savings?

The most important thing in the repair is a high-quality base. This means that the floors must be even, the walls must be smooth and even, and the corners must be strictly 90 degrees. What is the threat of such disproportion? Everything is learned in little things. So, if you have uneven walls, this means that the baseboards will not adjoin them completely, there will be ugly gaps that will definitely spoil the appearance. Further, problems with uneven corners will appear when you install cabinet corner furniture. Well, on the crooked floor, the lockers will stand wobbly. In general, if you decide to rely on independent forces for repairs, your work should be perfect. Pouring floors, leveling and plastering walls, decorating walls, installing stretch ceilings - all this should be done by professionals. Believe me, by saving on the base, you run the risk of spending a much larger amount later on correcting errors. Do not forget that it is very important to correctly lay the wires through the apartment, pipes in the bathroom. A lot also depends on the quality of the finish, namely its practicality and appearance. Even the most expensive ceramic tiles, laid out crookedly or cut off, will spoil the entire interior of the room.

For some reason, we mistakenly believe that expensive building and finishing materials look better, and as a result of which they are a 100% guarantee of successful repairs. Unfortunately, this is not so. Of course, we do not put before you a choice between the cheapest and the most expensive material. This is not entirely true, because first of all it should be about quality and reliability, be it a building mixture, finishing material or an interior item. Quality is above all, the rest is a matter of your choice. And he must fall for the most profitable options for the wallet. Renovation is a serious business, so take it seriously. Compare different options, read reviews on finishing materials on the Internet.

We will not go into details about which building material is better to choose, because as mentioned above - the main quality. Consider the interior elements that form the basis of the design.

Let's start with the design itself. It's not worth spending money, I hire a designer to tell you which corner to put the sofa in and which TV. Today, a lot of interesting options for the design of apartments of various sizes and designs can be found freely available on the Internet. It's easy to do, you just need time to choose one or another design option. It is not necessary to repeat it exactly, you can just see what color variations are combined, what is more suitable for a particular type of finish, and finally, how the upholstered furniture looks in the interior of the room.

The main components of the interior are wall decoration materials, furniture, decor items and the floor.

Let's start with the floor. Many cover it with linoleum, which is quite justified. This material is cheap, relatively practical, but if we are talking about a stylish apartment, this is definitely not linoleum that should decorate. Options: laminate, self-leveling floors.Laminate is cheaper than self-leveling floors and looks very nice. This is a versatile material that can be matched in style to any interior.

Wall decoration - there can be a lot of variations on this theme. Cheap options are wallpaper. But, you have to really work hard to find cheap wallpapers of decent quality and with a pattern not like "I'm visiting my grandmother." Did you know that many designers offer their clients not to cover the walls with anything at all, leaving the brick for everyone to see. The idea is very interesting, but requires a style specification (combine this with a fireplace - it will be perfect). Expensive decorative plaster can be replaced with a regular one applied with a relief roller, all this splendor can then be painted in any color, but just choose the paint carefully.

Interior items - it is on them that a huge part of the funds goes. Minimalism style to help you. Buying cabinet furniture is not cheap. However, as practice shows, it is much cheaper and more practical to buy interior items separately.

Pay attention to the old stuff that remains from the old furnishings. Now it is called vintage, and if you skillfully play with this style in the interior (including wallpaper, buy a couple of antiques, hang black and white photographs), then you won't have to buy anything. A rocking chair will perfectly complement the interior; as a rule, they are cheaper than ordinary soft chairs.

Renovation of an apartment is an expensive pleasure these days. Some save up for it for years, while others give up their last savings and end up in a hole in debt. Regardless of the financial situation, everyone is trying to save money, but in practice, not everyone succeeds in doing this. We will analyze what materials you can save on, and which ones are better not, and we will learn how to expose hired repairmen who are trying to cash in on the ignorance of the owners.

The final estimate will depend on the type, size of the room and the complexity of the renovation. There are three types of renovation: cosmetic, major and European renovation. The cosmetic option is the most economical. These repairs usually include painting, wallpapering, and scrapping the floor. Such work is easy to do with your own hands, saving on calling a specialist. If you lack some specialized tool, you should not purchase it for one-time purposes. Rent it. Make a preliminary estimate for the renovation in order to adjust it in advance and find cheaper options. When deciding to hire a private specialist, redecorating an apartment will cost you, on average, 1,500 rubles per 1 m 2, and through a construction company - 2–2.5 times more.

It is much more difficult to carry out major repairs on your own, since many of the works require special skills and abilities. Stages of such repairs: rough finishing, floor screed, wall leveling, demolition and installation of partitions, dismantling of the old coating and finishing, complete replacement of water pipes, plumbing and electrical wiring, replacement of windows, doors, garbage disposal. The price for calling a foreman during a major overhaul increases to 6000-15000 rubles per 1 m 2. And that's not counting the cost of consumables.

Here are four tips to help you save money on your overhaul:

1. 1. Remove the old wallpaper, tiles, dismantle the flooring, remove and take out the garbage yourself. Such work does not require special skills and tools, and the savings are significant - 5000-8000 per 1 m 2.
2. 2. Do not rush to spend money on expensive ceiling decoration. Just line up and paint it with inexpensive chalk paint. When the money appears, walk around the ceiling with plasterboard or make a stretch ceiling.
3. 3. Do not completely remove the plaster. Remove it only where it flakes. However, consider the peculiarity of the finish. If you plan to apply photo wallpaper, the surface should be perfectly flat. It may be necessary to completely replace the plaster, in which case it will not be possible to save money.
4. 4.In order not to waste time on paperwork and extra funds for garbage disposal, collect waste in bags and send it to storage in the basement, shed, or leave it on the staircase in a specially designated place, it is provided. Throw out a bag every day in a common trash bin, there is nothing illegal in this.

Renovation practically does not differ from a major overhaul. The cost is increased by purchasing expensive and natural materials from well-known manufacturers. The price of materials is automatically reflected in the cost of the master's work, which starts from 25,000 rubles per 1 m 2. ...

If you decide to involve an experienced team of repairmen in the repair, be prepared that you can be deceived. To check this out for sure, pay attention to several important features. The information will be useful for both beginners and experienced homeowners who decide to start a renovation.

Preliminary estimate for apartment renovation

To obtain the exact cost of renovation work, the foreman measures the parameters of your room with his tape measure. It seems that everything is fine and there can be no catch. In this case, we recommend giving your own tape measure for measurements. Often, cunning repairmen cut the tape, for example, by 50 cm, and fasten it to another part of the tape, retreating 20-30 cm or more. From a real size, for example, 2 m, your room increases to 2.3 m and, accordingly, the price increases, because the cost of work is calculated on the basis of 1 m 2.

When receiving the estimate, carefully study all the positions. Repairers often duplicate the cost of services under the guise of other work. For example, leveling the walls - preparing the walls for wallpaper. Read each paragraph carefully so as not to overpay.

Pay attention to the price for 1 m 2. Compare it with other construction firms and individuals beforehand. Below average prices should alert you. Usually, in the process of work, the repairmen who initially offered you a low price raise it and ask you to pay extra for additional services. The owner finds himself in a dead end, as the work is already in progress, and the estimate is automatically increased by 2-3 times.

Saving materials and increasing the cost of work is another technique used by dishonest repairmen. For example, you can put a 1 cm layer of plaster at the price of 3-4 cm, shorten the planned route of laying electrical cables or plumbing pipes, and take the remaining material for yourself. In fact, you are overpaying for material that does not "work" for you. To avoid such mistakes when performing turnkey repairs, ask the repairmen to take a step-by-step photograph of the completed work process in detail and send it to you by mail.

If you decide to put a warm floor, remember that it is not placed around the entire perimeter of the room. An unscrupulous foreman will offer you to put underfloor heating under the furniture, where it is absolutely not needed, which will also increase the cost of the project.

Complete wiring replacement is another service that almost every foreman will offer you without making sure you really need it. You can make good money on old copper and aluminum wiring.

And the last tip: buy materials yourself, do not entrust this business to the repair team. As a rule, they buy building materials from the market, where the storage conditions of many goods do not meet the standards. In addition, there repairmen can ask for an empty receipt with a stamp, write down the list of goods and their cost with a surcharge themselves.

It is better to start repairs in the off-season - in early or mid-autumn. This period is suitable for both external and internal repair work. It is still warm outside the window, and prices for building materials are gradually decreasing by the winter season. Savings on summer goods reach 15–20% without loss of quality.Therefore, if you were planning to spend 250,000 rubles on renovating a room, be aware that in the fall and winter you can save about 30,000 rubles, which can be spent on renovating the hallway.

Promotions and special offers are a special type of service where you can save money. Pay attention to illiquid assets. They have a limited shelf life and will not last until the next season. Hardware stores give good discounts on these items. If you are going to make repairs right now, take a closer look at putty, plaster, glue, sealant at a bargain price, below the market average.

Replacing plumbing affects a large part of the renovation budget. If it is in good condition, without chips, cracks and only a surface with an old coating makes you think about dismantling it, we advise you to clean and restore the plumbing. We replace expensive detergents with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar, which is good at destroying stubborn plaque. A budget version of the transformation is the restoration of the bath. You can cover the bathtub yourself with enamel, liquid acrylic, or order an acrylic insert for the dimensions of your plumbing. The restoration will cut the costs of purchasing a new bathtub by about 4 times and, depending on the option chosen, will extend the service life of the old bathtub from 5 to 20 years.

Replacement of plumbing elements

If you do decide to change your plumbing, consider the budget option of buying from the so-called landfill entrepreneurs. Often, when entering a new house, the owners change the faience and cast-iron plumbing, which is in good condition, and throw it into a landfill. Resourceful businessmen have come up with an easy way to make money quickly and easily. They take well-maintained plumbing from the landfill, wash it and put it in order. They do not expose their contacts directly, working on the principle of word of mouth. In the subsidiary warehouse of such entrepreneurs, you can pick up the right plumbing and save a third or even half of the factory cost.

Laying the floor is one of the most important stages in the renovation of an apartment.

To save money when cladding walls, we advise you to buy not edged (planed) lumber, but a slab (waste sawing wood). The croaker is sold raw and does not correspond to the quality of the usual materials. It is easy to fix this if you purchase it in advance in March-April and keep it in a dry room until autumn. In addition, slab cladding saves finances on leveling the walls. In 80% of cases, it completely hides all the irregularities. Not only to save money, but also to make wall decoration practical, the option of covering the walls with a crochet to the waist and pasting the walls to the ceiling with non-woven wallpaper will help. The lower part is resistant to wear and tear, while the upper complements the overall picture.

The most budget-friendly option for laying the floor in dry rooms is marmoleum. This material requires floor leveling only in 10% of cases. However, for rooms with high humidity (bathrooms), marmoleum is not suitable, you will have to lay classic tiles. An alternative to marmoleum is laminate. This option is also inexpensive, looks beautiful and is suitable for installation under plank floors. True, the floor will have to be leveled.

For wall decoration in the bathroom, choose laminated hardboard. Such material is less common than tiles, but cheaper. It is better to sheathe the ceiling with plastic panels. Don't skimp on waterproofing. The money spent on it will pay off and extend the service life of even the cheapest finishing materials. Instead of gypsum plaster, use a cement-plaster mixture to level the walls. It is not inferior in quality and is cheaper. When deciding to put tiles on walls and floors, buy a solid color finish. Such tiles do not need to be frequently adjusted and matched to the pattern; less material is consumed, which is automatically reflected in the purchase cost.

When carrying out major and European-quality repairs, you cannot do without replacing the electrical wiring. At this event, it is better not to save money and entrust the work to a professional. It is especially important to pay attention to the Soviet wiring due to the high power of modern devices, which the old cable sometimes cannot withstand. During the replacement, you will have to groove the walls with a chasing cutter in order to lay new wiring efficiently. Workers charge for this service from 100 rubles per square meter.