Where to start apartment renovation and finish it as soon as possible. Do-it-yourself apartment renovation: steps, tips and life hacks Useful advice when starting repairs
19.02.18 114 296 9
Part 1: plan, team, contract
My husband and I bought an apartment without finishing and received the keys in early June. We had 2 months for repairs, 350 thousand rubles, one technical supervision engineer and a team of workers from Tajikistan.
Svetlana Akhmadishina
finished renovation
We began to prepare the base for the repair three months before the issuance of the keys: we found out the prices for building materials in large networks, we chose plumbing and finishing materials. Haven't ordered anything yet, just made a wish list.
We knew what we needed quality repair no frills: simple eco-friendly materials and functional furniture. No need for golden tapestries, carved door handles And designer chandeliers from cast iron. Thanks to this approach, even at the preparation stage, we had a clear action plan and a complete understanding of what we ultimately want to do in the apartment.
I’ll tell you how we met the deadline and went beyond the budget by only 15 thousand rubles.
Command
We bought an apartment in a new building in a new area, the houses here are rented out in phases. In our phase, 10 houses were handed over at once, all needed repairs. Therefore, there were many repair teams.
Foremen looking for clients at the office management company when the tenants are given the keys. In new buildings like ours, foremen can show apartments that are being renovated right now.
We met with three foremen. The first two gave us leaflets with prices, and the third immediately offered to see the apartment in progress. We asked to see a few more objects at different stages of repair. So we appreciated how the team performs rough work, how plumbing is installed, and got to know the workers who will be involved in the repair of our apartment.
If there are no crews in the district, several potential contractors are invited to the site. Meetings are scheduled in a row so that the foremen collide with each other at the door. This is how they compare qualifications and bargain with those with whom they want to work.
This is how the qualifications of employees are usually assessed.
By projects- well, if there is an opportunity to see the object live or, at worst, in a photograph. If you land on an object, look at the corners, joints, and any difficult places: they show how the team works.
It is pointless to look at an evenly painted wall - look at the joints with the floor and ceiling. See how the sockets are installed, how the tiles are worn, what is happening under the sink or sink, how the places where pipes enter the wall look like. In repair, the devil is in the details.
By communication- for this, it is convenient to connect a third party, so that a specialist from the customer's side evaluates the qualifications of workers, asks questions about what materials the craftsmen will use and what technology they will work with. If there are no friends savvy in this matter, welcome to technical supervision.
Technical supervision
If experience in repair is not enough, a specialist from the outside is invited to select a team and evaluate the work. It can be a builder or a technical supervision engineer. We found such a specialist on the Internet.
Our engineer trained as a civil engineer in the 1970s and has been working in the construction industry ever since. We agreed that he would come to the delivery of the draft stage.
The third party in the repair is invited to separate stages or for the entire period of the repair. Technical supervision for the repair of an apartment in Moscow costs from 4,000 rubles per departure, the price depends on the distance from the Moscow Ring Road, the area of \u200b\u200bthe facility and how often work needs to be monitored.
4000 R
at least one visit of a technical supervision specialist in Moscow costs
It is bad to involve technical supervision suddenly or in the middle of work. Our engineer told how he was hired at the end of the renovation, when 60% of the work had already been accepted and paid for. He issued a bunch of remarks, the workers got scared, dropped everything and fled in a natural way. Therefore, the foreman is warned before starting work that technical supervision will participate in the acceptance of the stages.
Price
To calculate the cost of repairs, the foreman is invited to the facility. The customer describes the work in detail: indicates the places of sockets, the plan for transferring sinks in the kitchen, the location of plumbing, wiring, the location of lamps on the ceiling and walls.
To make it easier for the foreman to understand the client, they show a design project or a selection of photographs of apartments whose finishes they like. The foreman measures the area of each room, the height of the ceilings, assesses the condition of the apartment before repair. Expensive work includes replacing radiators, insulating a balcony, soundproofing rooms, replacing double-glazed windows, redevelopment. After that, the foreman draws up a list of works and issues the cost of work and materials.
All the same can be done by a good interior designer who takes care of estimates, measurements and engineering plans. He may not give the final price of the work, but at least accurately determine all the areas, lengths and volumes for which the foreman will make his calculation.
This assessment scheme works in new buildings. In the houses of the old stock, the cost is more difficult to calculate: it depends on the degree of wear of the apartment. They evaluate wear and tear and calculate the amount of work finally, when the floor is opened, the condition of the supporting structures, wiring and plumbing pipes. Therefore, on initial stage the cost of dismantling is calculated, and the exact amount of work on reconstruction and rough finishing is determined after all the shortcomings of the premises become visible.
We have studio apartment in a new building without finishing. We planned to spend 350 thousand rubles together with work and materials. The foreman estimated only the work at 240 thousand. For us it was expensive: not enough to buy materials.
350 000 R
our planned budget for the renovation of a studio apartment
When we realized that we did not fit into the estimate for the work, we crossed out what we can do ourselves or postpone for the future. Balcony insulation, laminate laying, putty and wall painting were taken over. The ceiling in the room was decided to be done later. As a result, the cost of work decreased to 140 thousand, or 3600 rubles per square meter.
For the purchase of materials for rough work, we planned 90 thousand, for finishing - 120 thousand, so we met the budget - 350 thousand rubles.
How to reduce the cost of work
Asking for a discount on work. You need to understand that builders give a discount just out of their own pocket, so pushing them hard can turn out to be more expensive.
Choose builders with low qualifications. Crews with little experience and no equipment of their own cost less. In this case, the customer will have to take on the role of an expert. It will be necessary to consult on the side, to delve into each stage of work in detail and often come to the site.
Refusal of part of the work or change technology. Leveling walls is an expensive job. If indoors uneven wall, but the customer knows that he will install a built-in wardrobe in this area, a perfectly flat surface may not be needed - however, first you need to consult with the company that will make the wardrobe.
Save on materials. Builders do not recommend saving on electrical cables, plumbing fittings and pipes for wiring. The quality of these materials is checked after the repair is completed. If the materials turn out to be bad, then you will have to dismantle and start the finishing process again. You can save on materials for finishing, buy plaster not for 600 rubles per bag, but for 350 rubles. Or put on the floor parquet board for 5 thousand, and a laminate for a thousand.
Part of the work is undertaken by the customer. Save on the dismantling of floor and wall coverings. If there is enough experience and free time, customers leave some of the finishing work, wallpapering, laying laminate and plinth to themselves.
Do you need an interior designer
There is such a profession - an interior designer. If this is a good specialist, he will take care of three aspects: aesthetics, working drawings and materials with a complete set.
Aesthetics- this is how the apartment will look like: what color it will be, from what fabrics, how everything will look in principle, how and where the furniture will stand, what size it will be approximately. such general feeling from the apartment. Good interior designers make collages and visualizations so that you can imagine the result of the repair in advance.
Working drawings is a plan for floors, walls, tiles, ceilings, electrical, fixtures and anything else that is required for your apartment. The designer draws up this in the drawings so that you do not poke your finger at the foreman, what to build. This is important: today you showed him an outlet in one place, and tomorrow it will appear in another and no one will prove anything.
Especially in working drawings, tiles and plumbing are useful. The designer directly lays out tiles of the right size from the right angles, bypasses dangerous joints, lays curbs. If you need intricate tiling work in the bathroom or kitchen, this is a must-have plan; otherwise, you'll be left with a bunch of unnecessary tiles and scraps, and in the end it still won't fit.
Planning an electrician is also necessary in advance: so that the sockets are where they are needed, and not behind the cabinet; so that later it would not be necessary to throw extension cords around the apartment, and the sockets themselves would not be covered with tees. The designer determines that here, for example, there will be a TV zone. He believes: we need sockets for the panel, receiver, speakers, set-top box, Apple TV and three more spare ones. The designer designs a block for 8 sockets in this place and carefully hides it from view.
Equipment and materials- the designer selects specific articles of wallpaper, tiles, coatings, furniture and lamps, often with prices. The result is a table of what and where to buy. Usually designers select articles from expensive salons, from which they receive a commission. In some cases, you can agree to draw up a bill of materials for furniture from Ikea and wallpaper from Leroy-Merlin, but we do not believe in this.
The main question is whether you need to contact a designer or is it better to do it all yourself?
Usually the answer is this: if you have expensive materials and generally expensive repairs in big apartment, then be sure to contact the designer. If you are limited in everything and your apartment is small, then it is better to do all the design work yourself: draw all the same working drawings and choose the materials yourself.
You can find a designer who will look at your layouts and drawings and suggest something for a moderate fee. Be sure to convey your wishes and show the drawings to the technical supervision engineer: he will tell you where your desires are unrealistic.
2500 R
per m² costs the work of a normal interior designer in Moscow according to our experience
The cost of designer services in Moscow starts from 1000 rubles per square meter and flies to infinity. good designer can be found for 2500 rubles per square - this is not much less than our entire budget for repairs in terms of a meter. So we did everything ourselves.
Treaty
In Russia, we can conclude an agreement with a citizen of Tajikistan if he has a residence permit, temporary residence permit or a work patent.
Each of these documents makes it possible to work in Russia for a certain period:
- residence permit is valid for 5 years;
- temporary residence permit - 3 years;
- a patent for a work is bought for a limited period from a month to a year; a patent can be renewed without restrictions.
If none of the documents is available, it is bad: a foreign citizen cannot work without these documents. A migrant who does not have documents can be deported from the country, and all obligations and the contract will not be legally binding.
Our foreman has a residence permit, he can work in any region of Russia. The RVP and the patent make it possible to work only in the region in which they were issued.
We signed a contract with him, indicated in it the dates for the start and completion of work, responsibility for failure to meet deadlines and delay in payment for work, conditions for warranty service after the commissioning of the object.
Payment for repairs in three stages
In the contract, we indicated the total cost of the work and divided the payment into three parts. We agreed that the money will be paid after the acceptance of each stage.
The technical supervision engineer advised us to divide the payments as follows: 30% + 30% + 40%. This motivates workers to turn in work on time. The rough stage of work must be carried out strictly according to technology, alterations will be expensive and will result in the cost of a new repair. The finishing stage in our case is very simple, there are no complex materials. It is beneficial for workers to do high-quality rough work, not to waste time and effort on finalizing defects.
At the last stage, a large amount was laid. As a result, the final finishing went quickly and the workers received the final payment.
Paid like this:
- The first stage, 20 days - 42,000 rubles.
- The second stage, 27 days - 42,000 rubles.
- The third stage, 14 days - 56,000 rubles.
How to deceive
In the last payment, we included the risks: poor-quality repairs, missed deadlines and other troubles, up to the loss of the contractor. There are popular scams in the repair services market.
Workers receive an advance and disappear. Therefore, the work is paid in stages. The payment procedure is prescribed in the contract, a detailed work plan is indicated in the estimate, each stage is closed with work acceptance certificates, the stage is paid after the act is signed. If defects are found, the builders eliminate them, the customer accepts the work again and only after that pays for it. If you still need to transfer the advance, you need to document the transfer of money.
Workers take money to buy material and disappear. The customer can independently purchase all materials according to the list of the foreman. But to speed up the process, the purchase of materials for the first stage is trusted to the contractor. In this case, workers buy materials at their own expense, deliver and unload at the facility. The customer checks the purchased goods against sales receipts and returns the money to the contractor. Separately, they stipulate the purchase of expensive materials, for which the contractor transfers the entire amount or the main part.
Workers perform the bulk of the work, receive 80% of the payment and disappear after the appearance of a third party in the reception. This happens if you connect an outside builder, engineer or technical supervision specialist to the reception. Workers receive complaints about the quality of work already completed and paid for, do not want to eliminate shortcomings and disappear. To prevent this from happening, the team is warned that a third party will control the work from the beginning of the repair or at one of the stages.
In the next article, I will talk directly about the repair itself: how to make an estimate, purchase materials, control deadlines and accept work.
Remember
- The team is selected by portfolio or reviews on the website of the masters. If there is an opportunity to see the object in work, they evaluate it live.
- If there is no time and desire to control the repair on your own, a technical supervision specialist is involved. He helps to choose a contractor, conducts interviews, takes care of communication with the builders, controls the stages and comes to the site two to three times a week. An engineer is hired on a one-time basis or for a full repair cycle.
- To conclude an agreement with a foreigner, documents are checked. A migrant must have a residence permit, a temporary residence permit or a work permit. If the contractor has a RVP or a patent, they check the region: the contractor has the right to work in the region where the patent or RVP was issued.
- To reduce the cost of work, they choose contractors with low qualifications, ask for a discount on work, remove dismantling from the estimate, or take on part of the work.
- The payment for the work is divided into stages so that most of the work falls on the completion of the work.
For some, the need to renovate their apartment causes a reaction far from positive. The financial side of the issue comes first. A painstaking calculation of funds begins, with a distinction between the purchase of materials and payment for the services of specialized construction teams.
Repairs can be cosmetic and are limited to painting, wrapping and updating the appearance. And it can be capital with the replacement of electrical wiring, plumbing and the installation of a modern acrylic baths.
The process of repairing an apartment is perceived as a long period of time with many inconveniences. The result eventually turns from the desired to the suffered, and instead of a sense of satisfaction, there is a feeling of fatigue and detachment.
The situation is quite different for people with imaginative thinking. Having visualized what the apartment will look like after finishing, they part with money more easily, in the hope of quickly seeing everything with their own eyes.
People from the same category, who are not burdened with funds, often resort to the services of designers. A master home interior designer using computer programs can develop a view of an apartment in 3D format. In many ways, this method is considered a strong incentive to action, since it allows you to see the results of the work in advance.
However, purposeful people with high internal enthusiasm never give up even in a situation where there is a strong limitation of funds. For such people, the way out is to carry out partial or complete repairs on their own.
At the same time, someone chooses a thorough capital design of housing with redevelopment, and for someone it is enough to carry out inexpensive repairs in an apartment, which is often called cosmetic.
Stages in the repair
When deciding where to start repairing an apartment, some believe that it is necessary to purchase materials and tools first. In general, this is correct, but in order to spend money correctly and not to acquire too much, you need to make preliminary calculations. Calculate the basic geometric parameters of each room: height, length and width. Determine the dimensions of window and door openings.
The data obtained will help determine the exact amount of work and calculate the amount of each type of building material.
When deciding to carry out a global change in the internal appearance of the apartment on your own, you must first draw up a phased plan. It is a properly developed plan, including a phased apartment renovation, that becomes the key to successful work processes.
The first item will be dismantling work:
- demolition fencing internal walls and partitions to expand the space;
- dismantling wooden windows for replacement with plastic double-glazed windows;
- withdrawal door panels or complete dismantling of door frames.
- removal of old floor coverings;
- dismantling of wall coverings or clearing walls from painting compositions;
- clearing or blurring ceilings.
Categories of complexity of work processes
The most time-consuming work is considered to be the installation of a screed on the floors and plastering the walls. It is especially difficult to deal with surfaces endowed with a large number of drops. Some of them are eliminated by knocking down with a hammer, but only a leveling screed or similar plaster layer can really save the day.
To carry out high-quality straightening of wall surfaces, plaster beacons are used. To do this, buy aluminum rails or metal pipes of a small square or rectangular section.
In the first case, the material is inexpensive, but when buying, you should know that when you remove the rails from the joints after the plaster has dried, they can no longer be reused in work.
metal pipes are more expensive, but the percentage of their preservation after dismantling is much higher. In addition, some people prefer to leave them in solution for greater strength of the layer.
The most economical way to achieve evenness of the screed is the installation of mortar beacons on the floors. But this process is very painstaking and only those who have the appropriate skills can decide on it.
The simplest type of work is painting. At least that's what most people think. The opinion is both right and wrong. The truth of the statement lies in the final process, that is, the painting itself, using quality tools.
Paint rollers and brushes, plastic pans with nets for rolling rollers. Working with quality tools you can avoid smudges on the walls and the allocation of vertical paint stripes.
Capturing an impression
For the sake of interest and to confirm their personal participation, a large number of people take photos of apartment renovation before and after. Sometimes this results in a whole series of shots with separate initial and final views of each room.
Some amateurs post photos on the Internet, as today it is considered a fashionable activity, and someone simply uses them to view with friends and acquaintances. In any case, a photo of a do-it-yourself apartment renovation is not only a memory, but also a confirmation of personal skill.
DIY apartment renovation photo
Where should you start repairs in an apartment or a separate room in order to do everything in optimal timing, not overpay and get exactly the result you expect? the site put everything on the shelves so that your repair turns from a state into a process.
We have prepared a list of questions that you should ask yourself and the construction team before starting a renovation. The answers will help you finish the work faster and spend less money and nerves.
Capital
When more global changes are required, start overhaul. It includes redevelopment of space, demolition and construction of new partitions, replacement of pipes, electrical wiring and heat supply elements. Such repairs are an order of magnitude more expensive than cosmetic ones and last longer - but after it you get a completely updated home.
Repair with a contractor or do it yourself?
Any type of repair can be done independently or with the help of specialists. The first option is less expensive, but does not guarantee a 100% result. If it is closer to you, check out our helpful instructions and master classes - they will help you do the work no worse than an experienced master.
Repairing with a contractor seems like a more reliable choice, but there are pitfalls here too. How to choose a good specialist? How to draw up a building contract? Exhaustive answers to these questions are collected below.
How to calculate the cost
and make a budget?
The most burning side of the future repair is financial. First of all, you need to decide how much the selected work will cost and what is enough money for; on what and how you can save, and what is better not to skimp.
Another important aspect is the preparation of a repair estimate, on the basis of which its approximate cost is estimated. There are other questions regarding the budget: for example, is it worth spending money on repair insurance?
Our advice will help you deal with all the financial subtleties. And with the help of simple and understandable calculators, in just a couple of clicks you will calculate the approximate cost of repairing an apartment or a separate room and the cost of building materials.
In addition to the previous article in this column, we will allow ourselves, dear readers, to tell you one short story that happened last summer with one gentleman, and show you a certain table, which the performer called an estimate.
Why it is so significant, you will soon understand.
Starting repairs, the diligent owner first of all picks up a calculator. However, he will receive close to real amounts of expenses only if he takes into account various factors and nuances, including non-obvious ones.
Apartment renovation calculator
Specify the main parameters of the apartment, select the type and cost of work and materials, and find out how much it will cost to repair your apartment.
Outcome 0 ₽
Design projects you might like
How to compose
repair plan?
In order for the repair not to stretch indefinitely, it is necessary to plan it correctly. To do this, it is necessary to take into account the procedure and terms of repair work, familiarize yourself with the legal framework, find out what documents will be needed for the transformations and how to draw them up. And that's not all. It is important to understand whether it is worth contacting a designer for help and how to think over the redevelopment so as not to drown in a series of approvals.
Knowing all these details, you will save time, money and nerves, but, most importantly, you will be able to find yourself in your new apartment
Do you want to be surrounded modern interior but can't figure out what it should look like? Do you like something in the apartments of your friends, something attracted you in magazines, it’s hard to decide on something ... Is it much easier to say what you don’t want categorically? Understand preferences and accept optimal solution only a professional can help.
On the forums of potential new settlers, battles over finishing from the developer have not subsided for many years. Is it worth spending extra money on ready-made standard repairs, or is it still cheaper to buy an apartment and do the finishing yourself?
What can and can not be done when redevelopment? What types of work are not included? In what cases can a balcony or loggia be attached to a room? We answer the main questions about the global change of the apartment.
This time I decided not to write a big and clever text, but simply collected short, but extremely useful tricks that will save money for the owners during the repair process.
1. Wholesale is cheaper. You should not split the repair into several stages in the hope of finding the cheapest performers for each type of work. The smaller the amount of work, the more each performer will request, and this is justified, since the new foreman will need to go through the organizational stage again when starting work at the facility - to purchase a "temporary hut", consumables, tools, and so on. In addition, foremen are deprived of the opportunity to "parallelize" work and thereby optimize work at the facility. Accordingly, the total time increases, and in this case, in the literal sense, time is money, Andrey Lyamin-Borodin, CEO of the PriceRemont.ru online repair ordering service, shares his experience.
2. Stock savings. Buying draft materials, according to the expert, is better with a small margin. Delivery of two or three missing bags or a simple team will cost more. The same can be said about finishing materials such as tiles, floor coverings, wallpaper - even if the planned volume was enough, it is better to have a small supply in case you have to replace a damaged element, since after some time your series may not be on sale.
4. Catch discounts. To save on finishing materials, you should follow promotions and special offers dealers and large construction networks, indicates Lyamin-Borodin. So, warehouse balances can be bought at a significant discount. You can also choose materials with economical consumption. For example, plain tiles require less trimming than patterned tiles, while finely patterned wallpapers will require less than large-printed wallpapers.
Although on the other hand, like wallpaper with large pattern can hide small irregularities in the walls, adds Olga Karpinskaya, deputy director of marketing at Kashirsky Dvor. In this case, it will be possible to do without leveling the walls with plaster, that is, save on rough work.
5. Price list forward. If you do not have a design project for an apartment, it is almost inevitable that unplanned additional work will arise. Therefore, it is better to immediately ask the masters for a price list for all types of work, so that the price is not formed spontaneously already in the process, and so that it can be checked and calculated independently.
6. Repairs are best done in winter. The market for repair services is seasonal, the peak in the number of orders and the price level is summer, the PriceRemont.ru expert points out. Accordingly, if it is possible to make repairs out of season, you can save on this, since many, even good specialists, sit without orders and are ready to reduce prices for their services.
7. Insist on bonuses. Once you've reached an agreement with the maintenance team on the scope and cost of this contract, ask for small but necessary services such as cornice installation as a bonus. “Most likely, having already “putting a large order in their pocket,” the contractors will not refuse a small makeweight. By the way, the builders themselves use the same technique when the client doubts and delays the decision,” the agency’s interlocutor notes.
Minor works save a penny, agrees Karpinskaya. You need to buy in advance or at least look after household appliances in order to place sockets under it during the repair process, cut holes in the tile (for example, under a hose washing machine in the bathroom). In general, in places where tiling is being done, it is better to immediately ask the craftsmen to fasten all the hooks, shelves, holders. The fact is that such works as part of a large volume can go at a discount or even free of charge, a bonus. But an independent attempt to drill a tile can lead to cracking and, as a result, repeated work.
8. Repair with a guarantee. Work with those performers who give a guarantee for their work. The guarantee must be fixed in the contract and its term must be, preferably, at least a year. Even with conscientious performance of work, there is a possibility that something will go wrong, and the problem will “come out” already during operation. This is especially true of what is not obvious at first glance - engineering systems.
Karpinskaya agrees with this. She notices that, for example, in no case should you connect underfloor heating in an apartment to central heating. "This is an administrative violation, you will have to pay a considerable fine. If the workers offer to do this, do not contact this team," the agency's interlocutor insists.
Having a guarantee for the repairs made, you will be exempt from unplanned additional expenses, Lyamin-Borodin adds.
9. Features are more important than brand. In some cases, the popularity and high cost of the brand does not always mean that there is no more budgetary and good alternative to it. So, when installing batteries, an expert from Kashirsky Dvor advises paying attention to their specifications and not on the origin of the brand. “Some domestic manufacturers present an excellent product much cheaper than foreign counterparts. Metal radiators, by the way, have higher heat transfer, so it’s better to give preference to them,” Karpinskaya points out.
Themselves with hands: how to avoid mistakes when repairing an apartmentDo-it-yourself repairs, perhaps, this is what most Russians choose in the current economic situation, when the budget is cut due to rising prices building materials. However, in the process self repair often there are various defects, marriage and errors, how to avoid them and decided to remind the site "RIA Real Estate".“Also, if you don’t plan to redo the repair in a year or two, think over the colors used in the interior. First of all, it all depends on your temperament, but more often bright colors get bored quickly, unlike calm pastel colors,” he says. Karpinskaya.
Leave samples of wallpaper and tiles after repairs in case you need to fix something, for example, after flooding an apartment. "As a rule, the collection in stores is changed once a quarter, in addition, the same shades of wallpaper or tiles from different batches can differ significantly, therefore, without samples, you will not be able to find the product you need. This can lead to the fact that you will have to completely change the design of the apartment again, ”explains the expert from Kashirsky Dvor.