How to make home repairs with your own hands

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. When choosing paint for 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 do 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 more details, seenext item.

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". Coziness 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, "torn-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!

Fast and inexpensive DIY home repairs

Renovation is a sore subject for most owners of country houses and apartments. It often takes a lot of investment and effort to give rooms a stylish, modern look. Do not know, how to make repairs in an apartment do it yourself inexpensive and fast? Replacing windows, painting the ceiling, re-wallpapering, flooring - all this can be done quickly and inexpensively without assistance. With the right choice of materials and a little more effort, you can make a high-quality and beautiful renovation with modern finishes.

The site that requires the participation of a specialist if repair or replacement is necessary is electricity. The most economical option in this case is to call a specialist. Installation of sockets in the apartment can be carried out without his help. A tool for repairing an apartment is the cheapest one to rent.

Photo of inexpensive ceiling repair

Before starting an inexpensive repair, first of all, a suitable design is determined and a plan is made. The best time for renovation is autumn.In warm weather, facade work is carried out, and interior work is carried out with open windows.

In addition, prices for material are always reduced by 15% by autumn. Many materials, such as putty, plaster, sealant, assembly glue, leveling screed, have a limited shelf life, and the store sells it at a big discount by the fall.

Photo of inexpensive room renovation

If you need to replace the old plumbing with a quick repair, you can try to restore the old one, but if this is not possible due to significant damage, chips, you can buy plumbing from your hands. Many newcomers in apartment buildings change new equipment immediately after moving in, and the equipment, going to the landfill, is sold by the employees of this organization at a bargain price.

Photo of a bathroom before an inexpensive renovation

Removal of construction packaging, garbage is a rather costly repair item in an apartment, but if you wish, you can take everything in bags to the nearest trash can.

Plywood, beams, slats, boards can be bought on the building materials market. Sheathing slats can be taken unplaned. The croaker is bought raw in advance and dried. By the fall, this material, when purchased in the spring, dries up completely. Plywood of the required thickness can be taken from waste packaging material (containers). The material can be waterproofed with two buckets of PVA-based putty.

Photo of inexpensive bathroom renovation

The floor is covered with plastic. The temperature should not drop below thirteen degrees. The sheet is laid out. Putty is poured into the center and accelerated to the ends with a paint brush. The plywood sheet is closed with plastic, another sheet is laid, the puttying process is repeated until all the sheets are covered.

Photo of inexpensive renovation in the house

Oppression is placed on a stack of putty plywood (over the entire surface). After a week, the sheets are turned over and putty on the other side, then they are also pressed. After two weeks, you can use moisture resistant plywood. Thick timber, boards can also be taken from disassembled containers, pallets. An inexpensive option for finishing walls and ceilings is surface cladding with laminate, MDF.

Nice and inexpensive bathroom renovation

If the lathing is done with a crochet lathing made of wood, there is practically no need to level the surface. Wall cladding in the apartment can be done at chest or belt level, the remaining space can be trimmed inexpensively and quickly with non-woven wallpaper.

An economical type of flooring in an apartment is marmoleum. This material is not suitable for damp rooms. For a bath, toilet, any tile option is used. When using a laminate, the floor needs to be leveled before laying. For the walls in the bathroom, you can use laminated hardboard.

Photo of inexpensive flooring in the apartment

If it is necessary to insulate, glaze the balcony, this is done in the spring. The outer part is sheathed with siding. The inner part is finished with plywood covered with self-adhesive foil. Wooden frames are used for the windows, which you can install yourself. Windows are purchased in early spring, installation closer to summer.

How to start an inexpensive renovation

The doors can be simply upgraded. The door is sheathed with moisture-resistant plywood on both sides. Plywood is glued to the removed door using assembly glue, then everything is placed under pressure. Before gluing the sheets, the old cladding is removed from the door. After that, the door in the apartment is pasted over with self-adhesive under the wood, varnished. The slopes are covered with the same plywood.

Old plumbing is inexpensively cleaned of contamination with acetic acid and washing powder. For stubborn stains, hydrochloric (technical) acid is used for quick removal. Cracked tiles are fairly easy to repair. First it is cleaned with pemolux and vinegar.

The edges are closed with masking tape. Seams are painted with two layers (from a spray gun) nitro paint.Splashes, drips are removed with a solvent, the tape is removed.

Photo of a beautiful inexpensive bedroom renovation

After cleaning, tiles and joints are sprayed with silicone grease (liquid) from a spray can. The lubricant is applied until it no longer absorbs. After three days, the silicone surface is wiped with vinegar. A cast iron bath can get a second life after painting with epoxy or acrylic compound. The heated towel rail in the bath is smoothed to a metal surface and covered with a compound.

Useful article: DIY liquid wallpaper, paper making

Before repairing, it is better to look at the photo, then make a plan and get to work. You can also give the apartment an attractive appearance with the help of inexpensive repairs, which are done quickly enough.

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 clearly 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 option for repair is to cover 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 floor covering 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 - in 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 - followed by washing off the sagging deposits 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 sour milk is dipped in 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.

The cast iron capital bath can be repaired 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 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.