How to cheaply make repairs in a room with your own hands

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.

Few people have the opportunity to order turnkey renovations and spend large sums on finishing the apartment. Fortunately, today there are many ways to save money on renovation repairs by doing it yourself. In this article, we have selected the best recommendations for those who want to make inexpensive but high-quality repairs at home.

The budgetary renovation mainly includes finishing works, ceiling and floor renovation. If the estimate allows, windows, interior doors, and plumbing elements are also subject to replacement. It is not recommended to make major changes in the space of the apartment in the mode of saving money. Such work should be carried out by professional craftsmen with experience in repair work, otherwise there is a risk of spoiling the appearance of the room, making mistakes in calculations or running into low-quality building materials.

How to make an inexpensive DIY repair? First you need to determine what work will need to be done in the process. The standard stages of a budget room decoration are as follows:

• Drawing up a work plan and estimates based on your budget;
• Selection of building materials;
• Preparing the room for renovation work;
• Rough wall decoration and floor filling (if work is being carried out in a new apartment);
• Wallpaper gluing, flooring installation, ceiling decoration;
• Arrangement of furniture, lamps, decor elements.

As you can see, all these works can be done independently, with a little skills in the field of construction and repair.

Following the instructions above, repairs should begin with an estimate and selection of suitable building materials. An estimate should be drawn up sequentially for the decoration of each room and for a specific type of work. You should not buy materials with the hope that they will someday come in handy - you should proceed solely from the repair plan and budget.

The first stage of the renovation also includes the release of the future room from furniture, decor elements and part of the decoration. Nothing should remain in the room that will interfere underfoot or deteriorate during repairs. If old wallpaper hangs in the room, it is necessary to remove them and carry out preparatory measures for finishing the walls, the same applies to the floor and ceilings.

When purchasing building materials, do not limit yourself to visiting one store - you should take into account all the inexpensive centers in your city. The assortment in them can be strikingly different, as well as the prices for the same type of product. Of course, in case of budget repairs, it is better to turn to the most advantageous offers.You can greatly facilitate your task and save money by ordering building materials in online stores with delivery.

When choosing budget building materials, it is worth remembering one rule: what looks expensive is not always of high quality. You shouldn't buy cheap materials that imitate wood, stone or tiles just because of their appearance. It is imperative to pay attention to the technical and operational characteristics of the goods.

The decoration in different rooms of the house has its own characteristics. Therefore, before starting the repair, you need to decide which rooms are in particular need of updating the appearance. In the living room, bedroom, nursery and hallway, inexpensive DIY repairs can include the following types of work:

• Plaster and wall plaster;
• Pasting new wallpapers;
• Wall painting;
• Assembly or installation of flooring;
• Ceiling decoration.

In the kitchen and in the bathroom, finishing work also includes:

• Floor and wall decoration with ceramic tiles;
• Surface treatment with water-repellent compounds.

Here we have listed those types of repair activities that you can carry out on your own with some construction skills. However, it is often necessary to do such work indoors, which should be handed over to professional craftsmen:

• installation of suspended ceilings;
• replacement of plastic windows;
• repair of electrical and plumbing.

Although the listed works cannot be classified as economical (due to the use of additional labor and building materials), if necessary, they can also be carried out as part of an inexpensive repair.

In addition to giving up complex installation work and saving on building materials, there are other tricks that will help reduce the cost of repairing an apartment. At the same time, the decoration and the interior will have an excellent appearance.

Still think that a budget do-it-yourself finishing option cannot look stylish and expensive? In our gallery, we have selected photos of inexpensive repairs, which convincingly prove the opposite.

If you want to better understand how to make inexpensive repairs in an apartment in practice, we suggest watching a video with the process of finishing work on a real object.

Making repairs on a limited budget with your own hands is quite difficult, but doable. The main thing is not to be afraid of bold decisions, to use modern and high-quality materials, to act according to the plan. And thanks to the tips listed above, you can reduce the estimate for expensive repairs.

1. A good mine with a bad game.

Silk made from 100% polyester. Tiles “like stone”, linoleum “like parquet”, laminate “like onyx”, “Trekhgorka” like Ralph Lauren. Porcelain stoneware "python". There is something "artificially aged" ... It's embarrassing to even think about it. Alas, the number will not work. Flip through good interior magazines. There, everywhere, stone is stone, tiles are nothing more than tiles, and wood is just that tree. If you don't have the money for parquet, and plain laminate is beneath your dignity, look for a good engineered plank. The result is a floor that looks much more expensive than the money spent on it. Cement tiles are a good alternative to porcelain stoneware for kitchens, bathrooms and hallways. The result will look a hundredfold more expensive.

2. Leave the ceiling alone.

Everyone has become obsessed with ceilings! If you think sensibly, riveting attention to the ceiling, you only remind everyone of its existence. And according to its height. Ceilings two-sixty high will not turn, even if they crack, into majestic vaults melting somewhere in the unthinkable heights. This cannot be, no matter what "decorator's tricks" promise you. Just accept it. Tall doorways can do much more for your home than a ridiculous five-layer neon-lit ceiling. Let the interior doors be two, say, twenty high. And lower the door handles a little, by five to seven centimeters. By taking a non-standard approach, you will be pleasantly surprised by the result.

3.Picking up paint for the walls think about the movement of color around the house.

Adjacent spaces should contrast. If you have a bright living room, paint the hallway a deep, relatively dark color. The cost of the paint will be the same anyway, and the result can look really expensive.

4. Buy modular laminate cabinets from a store, and order the doors for them in a good carpentry workshop.

This will give you significant savings that, however, no one will ever notice. The same is true for kitchen furnishings.

5. If you nevertheless purchase ready-made cabinet furniture, let the veneering of the facades be dark and the panels of the doors simple (rectangular).

Remember, light wood always looks cheaper. Avoid yellowish and reddish veneers. And, saving on the furniture itself, spend on good handles!

6. If you don't have the money for a good carpet, look for a viscose carpet or mixed fibers, imitating a silk or wool pile carpet.

Choose the color and texture that suits you and order a piece of the size you need. For additional little money, its edges are swept with braid.

7. Place the curtains on a thick lining.

Even an inexpensive curtain fabric will greatly benefit from this. Look for fabrics that are 3 meters wide. This provides significant savings. If you are not ready to spend a lot, give up printed textiles (fabrics with a pattern). When cutting fabrics with a pattern, due to the need to properly dock the canvases, a lot of scraps remain. The more rapport, the more waste. Do not use curtain tapes for curtains. Have the seamstress fold in the "hand" folds. It's not that expensive, and the lace-up pleats look very cheap.

8. Set-headset-kit. Identical things in the interior are permissible only in one case: if they are paired things that form a symmetrical composition. Leave chandeliers, table lamps and sconces from one set to those to whom God did not give imagination. They also get sets of upholstered furniture "sofa-two armchairs" and similar tender sadness. For details, see the next paragraph.

9. Ready-made solutions.

Bad news: none. At least for us. The shower room is erected in a building way because it is a room. If you don't run a student hostel or an underground striptease massage parlor, a shower cubicle (it's a sad structure of yellow acrylic and skewed doors) won't work for you. Don't splurge on designer plumbing. Let the appearance of the bathroom fittings (kitchen, bathroom) be dictated by the function. Buy washbasins and faucets with simple shapes, without inappropriate decor. The toilet should be invisible and do its job. Nobody will admire him, right?

10. Paintings, prints, prints, photographs and posters frame in simple but deep frames with glass and always in mat.

Even a picture printed on a home inkjet printer (or a naive child's drawing) looks very significant in such a frame. Play with the dimensions of the mat. Small work in a very wide mat looks very "designer". And by the way, cardboard for a mat can be of almost any color.

11. Comfort. Another collective fetish.

According to my observations, what is called "comfort" in our Palestinians is, in 99 percent of cases, poetic tightness. In many ways, this is a bodily memory of a bygone childhood, of a warm and affectionate meager Soviet life with carpets teeming with saprophytes, a kind grandmother, Czechoslovakian crystal and an unreadable Dreiser in the polished Polish wall "Hanka". All the more comfort will not be added by the expensive devilry such as a round bed with music and a minibar, a bar counter with a built-in aquarium, etc. The same is true of such rich things as a lambrequin, a garland and a swag. Do not worry: in a good, thoughtful interior, comfort inevitably comes naturally. So…

12.... Goodbye, Sera the gypsy!

Duvet covers made of coarse calico in fine Nefertiti, towels in scarlet roses, "ripped-eyed" shades of pillow cases, nylon blankets with Shanghai leopards. All these are attributes of collective farm chic, forgive me for being straightforward. They will not add comfort. Coloring is often necessary for these items solely to hide their extremely lousy quality. Keep linens and bath towels just white (options: ivory, ecru). But from the finest Egyptian cotton.

13. However, with ivory it is also important not to overdo it.

Peach, beige, sand ... The average nuance is good for chain hotels. Because their stenciled interiors are bound to please everyone. You should like your interior. After all, he is a manifestation of your essence, right? Take in your hand the palette fan of any paint manufacturer. Do you feel a pleasant weight? These are your opportunities. Don't miss them!

The usual everyday business: the apartment clearly needs repair, but there is little money. How to make an inexpensive do-it-yourself apartment renovation? It seems to be the simplest, obvious way: superficial cosmetic repairs. That is, plywood wallpaper, ceiling whitewash, painting, fixing squeaky floors; possibly - replacement of windows.

However, if we calculate the labor costs and the consumption of materials, it turns out that by increasing the labor costs by half, and the expenditure of money by a quarter, you can give the apartment a completely different look, and for a long time. How much you need to invest specifically depends on the prices in the region, but the general methods by which you can make an apartment cozy and elegant inexpensively are the same.

Saving money when repairing an apartment with your own hands costs, like the Earth in ancient legends, on three whales and a slowly hurrying turtle under them:

1. We are not afraid of work. Nothing happens out of nothing. Or money or labor.
2. Wherever possible, we do not change the old, which has lost its appearance, but renew it.
3. We attribute the maximum savings to the place where it will not affect the quality of work and will not be visible.
4. We distribute the costs of labor and money in time: having conceived repairs in the summer or autumn, we spend a year on preparation, and then we pile up and quickly do everything. To lay out 200-300 thousand rubles at once is a problem, but breaking them up in parts for a year is quite possible. In addition, there will be time for seven times measure - cut once.

The only area where you will have to invite a specialist is alteration and strengthening of electrical wiring, if it is old and weak. Here, the only way to save money is to negotiate with the DEZ electrician. He will do the work in pieces, in his free time, but the likelihood of hack-work will be even less than that of "branded" specialists: after all, he will then serve all this.

It is better not to save on electrics and wiring, but some points, such as installing sockets, can be done independently.

A good specialized tool makes the job much easier and cheaper. But buying it is expensive. Therefore, it is better to rent a tool as needed. In terms of costs, it will come out a little if you decide in advance on the design and draw up an approximate plan for the production of work for yourself.

The best time of the year for self-repairing an apartment is early and mid-autumn. It's still warm, you can do outdoor work, and indoor work with open windows. And at the same time, prices for building materials will already fall significantly on the eve of the winter calm. Savings without loss of quality can be up to 15% in the sale of summer illiquid assets. If, for example, 200 thousand are postponed for repairs, then the savings will amount to 30 thousand, and this - a hallway or a bathroom - "candy".

Special mention should be made of non-liquid assets. A significant share of the cost of repairs will be spent on finishing materials: plaster, putty, floor leveler, assembly glue, sealant. All of them have a limited shelf life, so construction companies, which obviously do not have leftovers from the season to spring, are selling them at a bargain price.Therefore, look everywhere in advance for advertisements on the sale of building materials. Professionals do not need 50 kg of Aquaslay for leveling the walls, which expires in a month, but they will be enough for two rooms for you. The savings will be 70-80 rubles. everything, but the hen pecks by the grain.

Find more ideas on how to save on building materials here.

A sore point for cheap self-repair is the replacement of plumbing. If it is still "alive", only filthy, then it can be cleaned and painted. How to do this will be described below. But if there are chips and cracks, then whether you want it or not, you need to change it.

For such a case, here is information for you: new settlers, especially in houses above the budget category, often immediately start major repairs at the entrance, and excellent, completely new faience and cast-iron plumbing ends up in a landfill. Landfill operators (simply landfill scavengers) have long turned this circumstance into a profitable business.

They do not make direct contact with strangers by office phone, but it is quite possible to reach them using word of mouth methods. The rate is from one third to one half of the factory price for a household item. And do not think that you will be taken to the dump and shown where it lies. In the back room you will be offered a choice of clean, carefully washed products, which you can sit on even right away.

The next sore point is the removal of construction waste. The operation is not cheap and requires a lot of paperwork. Exit: a basement, a barn, a summer residence or a closet and a few used bags of plastic sackcloth, bought for a penny. Construction waste does not sour and does not rot, it can then be poured into a container in a house trash can. There is nothing illegal in this.

For lathing, various ancillary work and sewing large surfaces, you will need wooden battens and plywood. You can buy slats not planed, but a slab - waste from sawing industrial wood. The croaker is on sale raw, but if it is purchased in advance, in March-April, and kept in a dry room until autumn, it will not be inferior to edged timber in terms of the quality of wood.

As for plywood, waste packaging plywood from disassembled used containers can be turned into water-resistant in the following way:

• We buy a 10 l canister or two PVA putties; it looks like a very liquid PVA glue and is cheap.
• We cover the floor in the country house, in the shed, in the attic or in some other non-residential premises with plastic wrap. The air temperature is not lower than +13 degrees.
• We lay a sheet of plywood on the floor, pour a puddle of putty on the center of it and disperse it with a brush.
• We cover the plywood with plastic, lay the next sheet, putty in the same way, etc.
• We put heavier oppression on the plywood soaked in PVA; better - dispersed over the area: bricks, pieces of metal, concrete, old TV, etc.
• After a week, we repeat the procedure, turning each sheet over.
• After another two weeks, the smooth, waterproof plywood is ready for use. Additional exposure under pressure will improve its quality.

Boards and large pieces of thick timber can also be obtained from used containers - pallets for cargo. Advertisements for their sale are not uncommon.

A very economical repair option - sheathing the walls and ceiling of living rooms with laminate; for thrifty owners richer - MDF. When cladding on a wooden lathing from a slab, in 80% of cases, alignment of walls and ceilings is not required, which already excludes large expenditures of labor and money.

You can save even more by sheathing the walls up to your waist or up to your chest, and pasting them up to the ceiling with non-woven wallpaper. The work is simplified and cheaper, and the bottom of the walls, which breaks and gets dirty the most, will be reliably protected by resistant material.

The most economical flooring option is marmoleum. Floor preparation for it is not required in 90% of cases. But marmoleum is not suitable for a bathroom and toilet; here you will have to fork out for tiles, especially since you will need a little of it.

If you want to have a plank-like floor in the rooms, then laminate flooring will not be much more expensive, but the floor may need to be leveled.

The walls in the bathroom can be covered with laminated hardboard instead of tiles - it is hygroscopic and does not require surface preparation.

If you intend to glaze and insulate the balcony, then it is better to do it separately from everything else and in advance: from the end of March to the beginning of May. Outside, the balcony is decorated with siding, but inside it, instead of traditional MDF or lining, you can sew it up with plywood, pasting it with self-adhesive film.

When deciding how to make an apartment renovation economically, you need to pay special attention to windows and doors: they account for a significant share of the costs. As for windows, here is the most economical option: self-installation of wooden window frames. It is more expedient to buy them in March-April, when prices for commercial timber fall, and to put them in late spring - early summer, when the tree dries out and shrinks properly. The technology of installing wooden windows into openings is quite affordable for an average home craftsman.

It would be better to update the doors. Remember your homemade waterproof plywood? Here it is sheathed both sides of the door, on mounting glue, laying the door removed from the hinges on a plastic mat and under oppression. At the same time, at the same time, you can cover the window in the interior door, if it is not needed.

This will make the door thicker. Two options are possible here:

1. Reinstalling the hinges is not the best way for the lazy.
2. Remove the old lining from the door; it is most often made of building cardboard or thin fiberboard, and put on a new, plywood frame. In this case, the chipped corners immediately "go away".

In both cases, the new door is pasted over with self-adhesive wood or with a different texture and varnished. And you will be surprised (nicely, of course) with her new look. And the hard plywood cheeks will ensure the door's durability. It is better to cover the slopes of the doorway with doborks from the same plywood: it will come out cheaper and more beautiful than re-plastering.

Dirty plumbing, if intact, needs to be cleaned. The rather expensive active detergents recommended for this can be replaced with much cheaper table vinegar - after all, it is also a weak acid - with the subsequent washing off the sagging accumulations with the most common washing powder. Just do not use abrasive detergents - they will scratch the glaze and objects, especially the toilet, will get dirty very quickly.

For cleaning with vinegar, make kvash - a knob made of a rag on a stick. Vinegar is poured where it does not leak, or sauerkraut is dipped into it, and the drips are cleaned with circular motions with pressure. Particularly "stubborn" spots in the grooves are removed with small kvash and technical hydrochloric acid. All this, of course, is done with latex household gloves, a plastic apron and with doors and windows open. It is also advisable to wear a respirator, at least a cheap "petal".

Tiles that are not chipped or cracked can be restored using a method well known to motorists; they renew the worn-out plastic spoilers and bumpers in this way:

• The entire lined surface with my pemolux; it is impossible to use active acid detergents! For a bathroom in "Khrushchev", 1 liter is enough; on a larger - respectively more.
• After pemolux, we wipe it with a rag, abundantly moistened with the same table vinegar: pemolux is alkaline, and the vinegar neutralizes its residues.
• We wipe it several times with a wet cloth "to a clean cloth"; now we got rid of the dirt stuck into the surface.
• We glue the edges of the tiles with masking tape ("paper tape"), except for the seams.
• We paint the seams from a spray bottle with nitro paint in two layers; the second - after the first is completely dry.
• We remove the tape, splashes and drips of paint on the tiles are removed with a cotton swab moistened with solvent 646 or 647.
• We buy a can of liquid silicone grease at the car market or in a car shop, and properly spray the tiles with seams.
• If the grease is absorbed immediately, you will need to spray it again.
• If after 2-3 days silicone is still "taken" on the tile, wipe the surface with a rag moistened with vinegar.

The meaning of this treatment is that the silicone tightens microcracks and pores in which dirt accumulates. Processing is enough for 3-5 years, and then it can be repeated.

A cast iron capital bath can be refurbished by repainting with epoxy or acrylic resin. Complaints about its fragility arise from a violation of the technology for preparing the coloring composition and its application. With strict adherence to the technology, the restored bath will serve for another 10-15 years.

It is not at all necessary to change it to an expensive stainless steel or brass and make a bypass (bypass) for it. The heated towel rail is cleaned to metal after cleaning the bathtub for painting with the same cord-brush in the drill chuck. If no fistula is found, it is painted with the remains of the compound from the bath painting. The look will be no worse than modern branded ones, and the durability is like a bathtub.

On fasteners during repairs, you can save up to 1000 rubles by using not galvanized or cadmium plated (shiny), but phosphated (black). The heads of the self-tapping screws and dowel-nails still have to be repaired, and in the apartment there is no rain or frost.

To make cheap repairs, you first need to know what and how to do, how the apartment should look after renovation. Do not be lazy to confer with the whole family several times, see more pictures of ready-made apartments. Design is not something incomprehensibly sublime; artistic taste is endowed with most people. The professionalism of a designer in most cases comes down to understanding the client's taste and guessing what he wants. And you, since you are doing for yourself, you need to understand what you want. Up to 50% of the costs for self-repairs arise due to the fact that they start at random and then correct and redo along the way.

And, finally, carrying out the work in the correct sequence contributes to the savings on repairs: we start from a distance from the front door, and in the course of work we gradually approach it. The living room, bedroom and nursery can be renovated in any order. Then comes the turn of the kitchen. We make the hallway the penultimate one, and complete the renovation with a bathroom. Savings are obtained on the amount of construction waste (and, after all, half of it is waste of materials for which it was paid) and on the alteration of the soiled and beaten with unreasonable organization of work.

Guided by the above, you can make a comprehensive renovation of an apartment with an original design, spending little more than a cosmetic repair.