Every apartment owner at least once faced with the need to make major repairs. And buyers of secondary housing must get acquainted with this matter. Overhaul of apartments of the old stock is a necessity, which is dictated by the decent age of communications and functional elements. Rusty pipes, rotten frames and wooden floors, dilapidated electrical wiring need to be replaced. In addition, the layout of the "Stalinka" or "Khrushchev" does not meet modern standards for a comfortable home. To make such an apartment comfortable, simple cosmetic repairs are not enough. Therefore, natural questions arise: how and where to start a major overhaul, what types of work are included in its composition and how to do it as soon as possible.
What kind of work does a major overhaul include?
The overhaul includes the replacement of all types of communications, functional elements and finishes that have become unusable or outdated:
- plumbing;
- water supply systems;
- heating;
- electricians;
- plasters on walls and ceilings;
- screeds, wooden floors;
- finishing functional openings (windows, doors).
Overhaul of apartments also includes the demolition and construction of partitions, the expansion of openings.
Note: for the redevelopment of an apartment, involving the dismantling of internal partitions, you need permission from the relevant services. Partial or complete dismantling of load-bearing walls is strictly prohibited.
Repair planning and project creation
Where to start overhaul? The first step is drafting a project. On paper (or using a computer program), they draw a plan of the apartment with the placement of furniture and appliances. This is necessary to determine the correct location of the new electrical wiring, water supply. This action is especially relevant during repairs with redevelopment of an apartment: moving a toilet, sink or opening entails a change in the position of pipes and sockets. At this stage, finishing materials are selected that correspond to the chosen design: color, texture. As well as equipment: sanitary ware (plumbing fixtures), radiators.
The second step is to draw up an estimate, which includes the cost of:
- materials;
- equipment to be replaced;
- delivery, lifting materials and equipment to the floor, garbage disposal;
- payment for the work of specialists and workers;
- tools necessary to perform the work that is supposed to be done independently.
To whom to entrust complex work?
At the last stage of repair planning, it is determined which work is better to entrust to specialists, and what can be done by yourself. Immediately, all the complex types of work that are part of the overhaul, such as electrical installation, plumbing, tiles, stretch ceilings, are unlikely to be done at the proper level. Therefore, the owner of the apartment, who wants to save money and take at least part of the work on himself, is better not to take risks and choose that part of the repair that does not require professional building skills: getting rid of the old finish, taking out the garbage, pasting or painting the walls.
Note! When hiring single craftsmen, you will have to deal with all organizational work yourself, and it is more difficult to predict the timing of the completion of repairs: there will always be overlaps when one master slightly delayed the delivery of his segment of work, and the next one cannot start, because due to a long wait he is already working on another order.
The ideal option is to hire an integrated team for turnkey repairs. Such a solution will cost more, but in this case, the contractor helps in drawing up an estimate, taking into account his experience in terms of the amount of work and expense, takes care of the delivery of materials, removal (removal) of garbage. Typically, such teams have their own suppliers and shops where they buy materials in bulk at a discount.A small savings in material costs in this case will slightly reduce the difference in the cost of major repairs.
The advantage of this solution is that the cost of repairs in full force is known immediately with minor adjustments for unforeseen expenses.
Choosing a repair strategy
Living in an apartment that is being renovated is uncomfortable. Dismantling walls with a chipper, drilling with a drill, making a strobe, mixing solutions - all this is accompanied by noise and dirt. Therefore, the question arises of how it is easier to transfer the repair period. There are 2 options:
- Separate serial repair of each room or part of the apartment with accommodation in a free area from repair. The deadlines for completion of work with such a strategy, of course, will be longer. And because of the discomfort, the need to constantly be in the midst of chaos, this time can seem endless.
- Work is being carried out immediately throughout the apartment. In this case, you will have to find other housing for the duration of the repair, and place the furniture and appliances compactly so as to free access to all surfaces. In an empty apartment, the repair will be completed faster, because there will be no time wasted waiting, for example, in the process of drying the finishing layers - these pauses can be used to work in another room.
Important: before starting repairs in the apartment, you need to warn the neighbors, coordinate with them the time of noisy work. Then the holiday of the end of the repair will not be poisoned by thoughts of damaged relations with neighbors.
During the entire period of work, construction debris should be regularly removed. It is forbidden to fold it in the yard or in the entrance for reasons of fire safety and violation of the aesthetics and comfort of living of other inhabitants of the house.
Work order
Overhaul of apartments includes so many works that it is difficult for an inexperienced person to decide which specialist to invite at what stage. It is worth a little understanding of this issue in order to avoid damage to materials or cosmetic defects due to incompetent planning. Of course, with partial or cosmetic repairs, sometimes you have to give up the correct sequence. But that's why it is a major overhaul, so that everything is done as beautifully as possible, without unnecessary losses. Where to start?
Preparing the premises for repair begins with the release of furniture. If it is not possible to take it out, then it is compactly laid and covered with a film. After that, proceed to the following types of work included in the overhaul:
- Dismantling of partitions, expansion of openings (if the project includes redevelopment).
- Removal of old finishes from the ceiling, walls (paint, wallpaper).
- Dismantling of pipes and heating radiators.
- Removal of screed or wooden floors (if necessary).
- Installation of a new floor screed.
- Window installation.
If walls with window openings need leveling or thermal insulation (plaster, drywall), then windows are mounted without slopes and window sills, since the walls will become thicker from a layer of plaster or plasterboard on a profile frame, and the width of these window elements will become insufficient. You can start repairing from the walls so that window specialists do not have to come twice, and they install the entire window unit in one go.
- Installation of partitions from GKL (during repairs with redevelopment of the apartment).
If an electric cable passes through the plasterboard walls, it is laid after installing the profiles and before screwing the GKL sheets.
- Full installation of cable and wiring in the apartment without installing switches and sockets.
- Installation of pipes for heating and water supply, batteries, communications of climate technology.
- Installation of heating radiators.
- Preparation of ceilings for finishing: priming, if tensile structures are expected, or carrying out the whole range of work in preparation for painting, with the exception of painting itself.
- Alignment of walls, sealing joints, strobe, puttying, installation of switches and socket boxes flush with the finishing layer of putty.
- Final leveling of the floor.
If possible, during the overhaul, the top layer of the screed using a self-leveling mixture is done at this stage, and not immediately after pouring the rough screed. This procedure will help to avoid damage to the finished surface.
- Arrangement of boxes to hide communications.
- Stretch ceiling installation or painting.
- Installation of flooring: linoleum, laminate.
Some believe that linoleum should be laid after pasting the walls. However, this is wrong: the wallpaper is easily damaged when laying the floor, hitting the wall with the edge of the roll. In addition, this material must be “aged” before screwing the skirting boards. Otherwise, there is a risk of bumps and waves later.
- Installation of interior doors.
- The last stage is wallpapering and installing skirting boards, door frames.
Do not forget about the decoration of the balcony or loggia - it is carried out in parallel with the work in the main part of the apartment.
Major renovation in the bathroom
How to start a bathroom renovation? In the bathroom and in the kitchen, work is carried out in the same way as the above order. Tiles are often included in the decoration of these premises, so the cladding must be completed before painting the ceilings and pasting the walls with wallpaper - the principle from “dirty” to “clean” work must be strictly observed. Otherwise, the dust generated when working with tiles will settle on the finished surfaces of the ceiling and walls of the apartment, spoiling the whole picture.
But the “top-down” rule, when during the renovation of an apartment, work is first carried out on the ceiling, and then on the walls and floor, is not applicable to the bathroom. Tiling begins with the floor: it is leveled, waterproofed, and then the tiles are glued. After the floor, they proceed to work with the walls, and then mount the ceiling.
The corner along the perimeter of the suspended (stretch) ceiling looks much neater if it is screwed to the walls lined with tiles. In the case of the reverse sequence of work, the junction of the upper edge of the tile and the ceiling canvas will have to be decorated with a corner or molding, which is not always desirable.
You can start installing plumbing fixtures (toilet, sink, bathtub) after grouting the joints and completely drying the tile adhesive. This process lasts from 3 to 9 days, depending on the brand of the mixture and the manufacturer.
Overhaul of apartments ends with the assembly of built-in furniture and appliances. The finishing touches are hanging pictures, blinds, shelves. Any man can take on this final chord.
