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 of enclosing internal walls and partitions to expand the space;
• dismantling of wooden windows to replace them with plastic double-glazed windows;
• removal of 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 selection 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, because 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

They say that repair is like a natural disaster - it cannot be completed, it can only be stopped. And this is largely due to the fact that, already examining our freshly renovated living space, we often think - but it would have been better to do it differently. Today we have compiled for you a list of other people's regrets and the main repair mistakes that were made during the repair process, and we hope that someone else's experience will teach you no worse than your own. There are many letters waiting for you, but they are worth mastering 🙂

Of course, everyone has their own list of regrets, but there is a set of basic mistakes, and we want to introduce you to them. For ease of reference, we have divided the list into repair errors in specific rooms.

1. Spontaneous repair
One of the most significant and subsequently costly regrets is the approach to repair without a clear plan of action. Even before you start peeling off the wallpaper or buying plaster, you need to get a complete picture of what and in what room will end up. Perhaps the main mistake in the design of an apartment renovation is the lack of design as such.

2. Combining a bathroom and a toilet
A shared bathroom is convenient for a small apartment where 1-2 people live. If the population density is higher and there is no second bathroom in the apartment, then it is better to separate the “privacy rooms”.

3. Wall painting
Painting the walls may seem like a very attractive idea, but only until the moment when fingerprints appear around the switches, and if there are children in the house, they will be everywhere.

4. Electrical
Often, when the kettle-microwave-washing machine ensemble is activated, power outages occur, so experienced repairmen recommend immediately installing machines on each device with high consumption.

5. Location of outlets
The approach to the electrician and the plan for arranging the sockets should be done only with a clear idea of ​​what and where the furniture will be located. Otherwise, the situation will have to be saved with extension cords and surge protectors. Also, do not place sockets too low - they will interfere with cleaning. In general, it is better to make more outlets than originally planned, on average - by 20%.

7. Switches
The European standard for the height of switches (90 cm) is quite suitable for Russian houses. The cherished buttons for turning on the light at such a height are available to both adults and children. It will also be convenient to double the switch in the bedroom so that the light can be turned on at the entrance and turned off at the bed.

8. Interior doors
Doors with glass inserts are quite attractive and have almost no complaints, however, if there is a bedroom or a nursery behind the door, the light from other rooms penetrating through the insert should not reach the bed and interfere with sleep. It is better to place the switches on the side of the door handle, even at the right height, the switch on the side of the door hinges is very inconvenient.

9. Warm floors
In fact, underfloor heating is one of the best inventions of mankind, but before you make them, you should also decide where the furniture will stand so as not to waste electricity and your money on heating a refrigerator or cabinet.

10. Rough and Ribbed Floor Tiles
Of course, such a tile can be beautiful, but you should always remember that it is also a floor covering, which means that it will have to be washed. A floor with roughness delivers a lot of unpleasant emotions when cleaning, so it's worth considering what is more important - aesthetics or practical value.

11. Double-glazed windows
Replacement of double-glazed windows, if it is planned, is best done before cosmetic repairs, otherwise the design of the room may suffer greatly during installation.

12. Chandeliers
Another design refinement that can be difficult to clean is horizontal shades. Dust accumulates in them, the cooled bodies of insects flying into the light and other not very pleasant things.

13. Leveling
Before wallpapering or installing flooring, it is best to level the walls and the floor itself. Unprepared walls can distort the pattern of the wallpaper and lead to bends at the joints, and different levels of the floor look ugly and lead to minor household injuries.

14. New building
If you have settled in a new building, the repair, in essence, can go to waste in a couple of years, until the house has completely shrunk. This factor affects the ceilings especially strongly - beautiful suspended ceilings or plasterboard arches can squint and crack. Correcting such repair errors is especially expensive and unpleasant.

15. Children's room
The main mistake when repairing a nursery is too expensive furniture. It will change as the child grows, so it is quite rational to limit yourself to inexpensive, but functional and eye-pleasing things.

1. Closed up the space under the bathroom
Often there is not much usable space in the bathroom, and under the very “font” there are most often taps and pipes, access to which you will still need.

2. Surgical bathroom
White, blue and grey-blue tiles in the bathroom, combined with cold light, create the feeling of an operating room in the bathroom, where there are no sources of natural light, which does not create comfort.

3. Sockets in the bathroom
One of the regular bathroom renovation mistakes is not enough sockets or their awkward position. It is best to provide for the possibility of simultaneously turning on 2-3 devices, and bring the sockets themselves closer to the mirror and equip them with a moisture-proof cover.

4. Bathroom borders
The space between the bathtub and the wall can simply be filled with sealant, however, in this case, water may collect on the bend. Borders made of tiles or other moisture-resistant material will help to avoid this.

5. Noise isolation
If you use plastic pipes for sewerage, then it is worth remembering that they resonate any sound quite well. It is better to wrap such pipes with sound-absorbing material.

6. Light
An ideal option for the bathroom is the ability to control the brightness of the light and a separate backlight by the mirror. If it is not possible to make variable light, then it is better to avoid dim - such a repair error can threaten injury.

7. Plumbing
One of those mistakes that become apparent after the repair. Poor-quality plumbing quickly loses its appearance and spoils the whole impression of a renovated home.

8. Stretch ceilings
In the bathroom, a stretch ceiling is not only beautiful and neat, but also additional insurance in case of a flood from above. The only thing is that the ceilings themselves must be of high quality and moisture resistant.

9. Mosaic
Mosaic tiles in the bathroom and patterned tiles often bring their owners a lot of problems during the installation process, and if it’s still difficult to call it a repair mistake, then it’s quite a regret.

10. Floor heating
The bathroom with its high humidity often creates a feeling of dampness. If you know that the heating in the bathroom is not at the highest level, then underfloor heating may well compensate for this.

The main mistakes in the repair of the kitchen

1. Flooring in the kitchen
There are several regrets on this point. Firstly, parquet or laminate in the kitchen, with all the advantages and beauty of these coatings, cannot be called a practical solution. It is best to choose coatings that are more resistant to water and “injuries”. And here a second regular mistake occurs - poor-quality linoleum or tiles quickly deteriorate, so it’s better not to save on materials.

2. Height of kitchen cabinets
Another common kitchen renovation mistake is the wrong height of all the much-needed kitchen cabinets. It is best to hang them at eye level, a lower position will deprive you of some useful space, a higher one will be uncomfortable.

3. Materials near the stove
The use of gas stoves, high-quality hobs or grills involves a strong heating of the materials surrounding them, which means that they must be heat resistant.

4. Hood
Should be located as close to the stove as possible. One of the indicators of an unsuccessful repair is corrugation through half the kitchen from the hob to the wall. By the way, the corrugation itself should be packed in a durable case - this is both functional and stylish.

5. Work area
When planning a kitchen, it is imperative to provide a work area next to the hob. Despite the beauty of alternative solutions, using them if you cook at home will be very inconvenient.

Based on our knowledge and our experience of communicating with customers who, before repair, almost always do not represent all the intricacies of repair and the complexity of the choice, we have prepared a small list for you, as we believe. We hope that this list will help you in carrying out repairs both on your own and with the help of a contractor represented by our or another company. Try to take into account our useful ones when making a decision and you will avoid many problems in the future.

1. Always start with the layout of the apartment. Arrange the furniture the way you want. This should be the only final option.
2. When arranging furniture, think about what YOU need. And not about how you will meet guests.
3. Any transfer of walls in an apartment is a redevelopment, therefore, it is necessary to prepare a project for the Housing Inspectorate.
4. Wet areas (kitchen, bath, toilet) are not transferred or enlarged. Although in some houses it is possible to combine or increase only through corridors.
5. Furniture has standard sizes and it is better to follow them, because it is more expensive in a different way. For example, a custom-sized kitchen drawer increases in value by 30%.
6. Conventional cabinet: depth 600 mm, closet - 700 mm.
7. Do not combine a bathroom with a bath if there are more than three people in your apartment and there is no second bathroom.
8. Don't forget hoods. In the bathroom, natural - 1 pc. In the kitchen, natural - 1 pc, mechanical over the stove - 1 pc. More is possible, less is not.
9. Hatches in bathrooms are best made from 600 mm or more, because. if access to engineering systems is impossible, the management company has the right to request increased access.
10. Before starting repair work, be sure to talk to the Management Company and find out what documents you will need. And also take the regulations for the construction work.
11. When calculating the cost of materials for repairs, do not forget to include the cost of deliveries, unloading / loading. Because for the repair of "primary buildings" 60-70 m², the first car with materials for building walls will bring you about 10 tons. In Moscow, the average cost of unloading / loading with a freight elevator is 1000 rubles. per ton.
12. Repair work always begins with the erection of walls.
13. The windows in the apartment need to be changed only after the floors have been poured and the walls have been plastered, because. in this case, they can be installed evenly, according to the level and taking into account the planes of the walls. Window companies will tell you otherwise, but your apartment is more important.
14. The level of the floor in the apartment with the finish coating should be equal to the level of the floor in the staircase. Therefore, you need to pre-select the floor coverings that you will use in the apartment. Tiles with a thickness of 8-10 mm, laminate - 8-10, an array requires laying plywood equal to the thickness of the array, respectively, the thickness of an array with plywood varies from 28 mm to 40 mm. Only by choosing the materials for your rooms in advance, you will be able to competently fill the floors so that there are no floor differences in the apartment.

    

15. In the kitchen in the work area, use only tiles. All other coatings will become unusable within six months.
16. In the corridors on the floor it is better not to lay light tiles, in the bathrooms - on the contrary. Soapy water will always whiten any tile and grout.
17. When using a warm floor under a tile it is necessary to lay 3-4 mm on glue and a cable.
18. Laminate stock 10%, solid wood/parquet stock 15%, because marriage often happens, the supply of tiles up to 40 cm in size is 10%, from 45 cm - 20%. It is better to foresee a margin in advance, because different batches will differ in tone. Of course, you can always buy more, but it’s not a fact that there will be the same batch and you will get the color.
19. The doors to the apartment must be selected at the stage of pouring the floors. You must know exactly the mounting openings millimeter by millimeter, because. the joint of floor coverings in different rooms depends on the installation of the door and the thickness of the leaf. Let's say the corridor and the bedroom are tiled and solid - the joint should pass exactly under the door leaf.
20. It is better to lay the plinth at least 2 cm thick, especially if a laminate is used, because. in winter and summer, he walks a lot. The plinth from 60-80 mm in height looks beautiful.
21. Before laying the tiles, you need to measure the room and lay it out taking into account the new dimensions, so that it does not turn out that you need to trim about 2-3 cm. It looks ugly. Beautiful pruning starts from 10 cm.
22. Seams in tiles with underfloor heating must be at least 3 mm. The remaining seams are prescribed by the tile manufacturer, taking into account GOSTs.
23. To keep the seams clean, use epoxy grout. It is much more expensive, but the seams will not turn black, even if the grout is white.
24. Warm floors are not placed under furniture.
25. At the joints between the tile and the laminate / solid / parquet, either a cork or a molding (a convex plank) is placed. Be sure to know the mounting size of the molding if you are going to use it.
26. It is better to entrust the arrangement of lamps to professionals, then there will be as much light as needed.
27. If you decide to install the light yourself, then keep in mind: the step between the spotlights should be 600-800 mm. Be sure to look at the SNiPs of lighting. And remember: dim light damages your eyesight.
28. If the ceiling is suspended drywall / stretch - you need to take into account the mounting depth of the fixtures.
29. Choose in advance the place where the electrical panel will be located.
30. Be sure to think about where and how the light is turned off regarding the door panels and their opening. Turning on the light outside the door is not convenient. The height of the switch is 1000 mm from the finished floor.
31. Remember, you cannot place switches in the toilet and bathroom.
32. It is also forbidden to place chandeliers and sconces in them, not only according to SNiPs, but also for security reasons. Any moisture that settles on an open light bulb can short it out or the bulb can burst. It is not safe. Therefore, in the bathrooms, fixtures and sockets with IP44 protection are used.
33. Sockets and switches must be placed on the furniture plan. Don't skimp or you'll regret it later.
34. Don't forget TV and internet outlets.
35. It is forbidden to start low-voltage systems (TV and Internet) in the shield with machine guns.
36. Set up the Internet immediately with electrical wiring. It is better to contact the providers of this service in your home and consult.
37. Don't forget the intercom.
38. When placing sockets in the kitchen, read in the wiring diagram of the equipment where the socket should be. On the plan, mark where the equipment and the kettle are located - they cannot be placed on the same line, otherwise the machine will knock out.
39. After you have collected the drawings - underfloor heating, light, switches, sockets - give it all to the engineers to make a project for you (calculation of the cable cross-section and shield) and take it for approval to the Resource Supply Company (in Moscow and the region - Mosenergosbyt). After you receive a permit, you can proceed to electrical work.
40. The most difficult and expensive wall decoration is painting. If you dare, use expensive and washable wall paint (from 6,500 per bucket). The consumption indicated on the banks by the manufacturer is always overestimated, please take this into account when purchasing.

    

41. Do not save on plumbing fixtures: a good faucet that will last you 5-7 years will cost from 7,500 rubles and more. Hansgrohe, for example, gives a 3-year warranty.
42. Calculate heating in the apartment taking into account those batteries that were standing. They are calculated taking into account the heat loss of your apartment. By adding sections, you take pressure from all residents. It is better to insulate the outer walls with a special compound.
43. Remember, underfloor radiators have great depth and little heat dissipation. The apartments are huge. And wall-mounted radiators are not only bimetallic.
44. If you decide to use a boiler, provide wiring to it in advance. But remember, a boiler is 2 weeks of use a year, but you are waiting for: rotten water with a bunch of bacteria that multiply in it. The boiler cannot be used empty, it will break, and, therefore, it is always full, even when not in use. Boilers on average fail every 2-3 years.
45. Try to make a bath so as not to use silicone. Any silicone will turn yellow and mold. Others have not been invented yet.
46. It is better not to use rough tiles, loppato. Washing is very difficult (very, very difficult!).
47. In the bathroom, it is better not to use glossy floor tiles, because. wet it is very slippery.
48. A shower tray made of tiles looks much more beautiful. The height of the ladder is about 14-15 cm - this is a comfortable step for a person. Don't forget to make the slope of the tiles 2o.
49. The shower cabin looks very nice made of glass, but this is how it looks before operation. After taking a shower, the drops dry up and stains remain, so it is better to be prepared for such circumstances in advance, or take glass with a decorative pattern or frosted.
50. Dust is always visible on dark floors. Especially on a sunny day.
51. The black countertop of the kitchen was created only for photography, you can’t cook on it, just like touching it.
52. A kitchen coated with egger, film, plastic will live for 2-3 years, then it will deform, dry out, and stick out. It is better to choose varnished MDF, varnished glass or veneer (expensive). By the way, you can write on glass with a permanent marker, which is very convenient.
53. In the kitchen, it is better to do two types of lighting: for cooking - bright, for a feast - warm, soft.
54. You won't get tired of the interior with natural colors. From well-placed bright accents, the mood rises. Black and red walls are depressing.
55. It is better to entrust your repair to a good architect, and all your ideas will be competently realized.

If you carefully read and memorized our useful ones, then we hope that, as a result, you have more chances to make fewer mistakes in such a difficult task as apartment renovation!

about me and my team

Stroganov Kirill

I have been in the renovation business for over 15 years. The most pleasant thing for me is a solid list of satisfied customers.

My main task is to organize the repair process in such a way that it would be easy and pleasant when interacting with me and my team. I am as open as possible to you.

I will help you choose modern material, both expensive and not expensive.
I'm optimizing the budget. Many years of experience allow me to offer you the best way to reduce the cost of repairs without loss of quality even in the premium class.

I managed to put together a great team that works well together. This allows you to clearly meet the deadlines for work, not go beyond the agreed estimate and save your time and effort.

We approach our work with pleasure, starting from the creation of a design project and ending with advice on arranging furniture and decorating a room.

How do they deceive customers during repairs?

I want to say right away that the methods of deception I have described are not necessarily used by every foreman, but knowing about these tricks, you will protect yourself and save almost half the cost of builders' services.

What is the cost of a repair?

The repair cost is calculated by the formula:

• The cost of materials + the cost of labor.

Everything seems simple, but I know from my own experience that most customers lose a lot of money on both components.

You can avoid unnecessary expenses only if you study the specifics of the repair well and stand "over the soul" of the repair team.

Fraud 1: The cost of materials

After a couple of years of constant work in the field of repair, I made friends from the sales of building materials.

Almost every experienced foreman has such connections. Thanks to close cooperation and constant purchases, I can buy cement at a 20-30% discount. However, customers do not know about this because the builders forge receipts:

• The check indicates the real cost, although in fact the buyer was given a discount.
• The receipt indicates expensive material, but it is not used. Instead, a cheap analogue is used for repairs. This is fraught with poor-quality repairs, and not just lost money on consumables.

Important

Buy materials yourself or check everything after purchase by builders. This approach is more expensive according to the masters, you will be sure of the quality of consumables.

Deception 2: The cost of the work

The initial estimate and the final estimate may differ by 2-3 times, so do not trust ads with cheap finishing services too much.

Here are the tricks that I have come across from personal experience:

• Incorrect calculation of the amount of work.
  Customers rarely know the area of ​​​​the apartment, so the performers deliberately overestimate it before starting work, and sometimes during the repair process.
• The opposite method is understating the volume, when the builders “forget” to turn on the balcony. It will still be repaired, but it will be added additionally.
• Initially, the cheap cost of services in the repair process is overgrown with additional types of work, as well as speculation with materials. Due to this, the builders will remain in the black.

Attention

Repairs cannot be cheap a priori. Do not choose the brigades with the lowest prices. Select 20-30 offers and choose the best one according to the price and qualification of the performer.

Whom to choose: a private owner or a company?

The advantage of choosing a private owner when repairing an apartment will be:

• Cheap services, as in construction companies the payment will be higher. In addition, clients often begin to bargain, especially if they order a complete renovation of the apartment. In companies, discounts are not provided or are provided as a bonus when resolving conflict situations.
• Communication directly with the contractor from the very beginning, there is no need to indirectly contact the head office to resolve the shortcomings in the work of specialists.
• Combination of specializations. Today, almost every finisher has experience working with an electrician. Or he can advise another private trader who, for a small price, will solve problems with wiring or plumbing.

Despite the low cost of private trader services, I often come across clients who do not trust single masters and choose companies.

Ordering repairs in the company - pluses:

• Mandatory drawing up of a contract for services.
  With the help of this document, it is easier for the client to follow the progress of the repair work. The contract gives guarantees that reassures the customer.
• Wide range of services.
  High-class specialists often work in the teams of construction companies. In addition, an interior designer works, and during the repair, the craftsmen will be able to install a fireplace, bas-relief on the walls and decorate the artistic painting of the ceiling.
• Quality of work with a guarantee
  The company hires professionals with experience. In this case, any defects due to the fault of the builder are removed free of charge. Due to this, the probability of jambs is minimal, but not excluded.

The final choice is up to the customer. Because everyone sets their own priorities. Private traders with a low cost of services do not necessarily perform poor repairs. And the contract signed with the company is not always a 100% guarantee of repair.

Deception 3: One-day firm

A fairly popular divorce in large cities is a one-day construction company. You conclude a contract with them, pay an advance payment for materials and work, but no one starts working within the specified period. There are two scenarios here:

• Soap bubble. The company is fake. Such organizations in a short time recruit a lot of objects, charge them an advance payment, and then disappear. It is impossible to return the money after such a scam even after going to court.
• Intermediary. One-day companies will provide services that come down to finding craftsmen. In this case, payment is made to the intermediary, but the workers themselves do not see the money. In this case, the repair may even be completed, but the workers will not receive their money and will begin to demand it from the owner of the apartment, since by the end of the repair the intermediary will quietly disappear with the money.

Advice

Choose a construction company that you have heard about. Do not pay attention to positive reviews on the Internet, rely on the advice of friends, relatives or neighbors. This is the only way to get a 100% quality repair from a real-life organization. In addition, you can immediately assess the quality of work.

The first step of repair is the choice of the contractor

No one forces the customer to agree to the terms of the first ad. Even the departure of the master to the object to evaluate the field of work does not mean that you will work with them. But at this stage, you can understand how honest the repair will be.

For the first time, 1-2 people come to the object, among whom there will definitely be a master. This is necessary to carry out measurements of the apartment and an approximate estimate of the cost of work. Please note that this estimate is indicative. The final amount can vary greatly. After all, during the assessment, employees “forget” to calculate the cost of repairing a balcony.

Potential contractors are trying to charm the customer and immediately conclude an agreement. But I do not recommend rushing in such cases. The visiting master measurer will not carry out repairs with his own hands. Perhaps a brigade of Uzbeks will come to the apartment.

Deception 4: Measurements

To assess the cost and extent of repairs, it is necessary to make measurements of the apartment. The area of ​​​​walls, ceilings is calculated, slopes and corners are taken into account. Already at the first assessment, you may be told the overestimated area of ​​​​the apartment. This means that the repair price will be higher, because it takes into account the square meter of work performed.

For your information

It is difficult to measure all the necessary angles on your own. But if you do not want to be deceived, you must know the area of ​​\u200b\u200bhousing.

The second step of the repair - setting the repair time

When concluding a contract, the customer should boldly raise the issue of the timing of repairs.

Some private owners deliberately delay the delivery of the object and use your apartment to live and have fun in it for free. Constant monitoring of repairs will help to avoid this, so do not be too lazy to go to your apartment without prior notice to the construction team.

For your information

Private traders do not usually conclude a contract when performing work. Therefore, to control the observance of deadlines is the biggest problem.

The terms of repair are determined individually for each object, depending on what work will be carried out and the time of year. For example, the plaster should stand until completely dry for a day, and the concrete screed dries for 2 weeks. Similar nuances of construction work affect the timing of completion.

In general, the usual cosmetic repairs in a one-room apartment of a panel house can be done in a couple of weeks. But if you attract good specialists, then you will have to wait about 2 months, repairs with redevelopment will have to wait about six months.

Deception 5: Timing

When concluding a contract, you are unlikely to be told the actual terms of the repair, so do not trust the “quick” masters who promise to do everything in a couple of days. For private owners, the quick completion of an object is not always a priority, because while the floor in your apartment is drying, it can begin repairs at another object.

How to understand that repairmen are delaying work

A popular excuse for slow work is lack of material (not enough plaster, procurement issues, etc.). In such situations, it is best to start purchasing materials on your own, and also study the deadlines for each type of work. Luckily, this information is very easy to find online.

The third step is the repair itself: what else are they cheating on?

The best customer is the one that gives money on demand and never asks questions about what it was spent on. If you do not want to delve into the essence of repair work, be prepared to overpay for the service by 2 or 3 times. If you want to get a quality repair without overpayments, ask the builders questions about each step.

Acceptance of hidden works as a way to control repairs

Very often, when repairing, money is saved on poor-quality work, so check all the steps that were indicated in the estimate. It is best to sign an agreement with a construction company, where a separate item will be "Reception of hidden works" -

Acceptance of covert work means that the team does not have the right to proceed to the next stage of work until the customer accepts this one. For example, primer walls. Do not be lazy to go to the apartment on your own during the repair, this is the only way to control the process.

After renting an apartment, it will be difficult to check whether the walls are upholstered with insulation. And not everyone wants to redo the repair in a year.

Fraud 6: Paying for Work Not Done

One of the reasons why it is necessary to prescribe in the contract a clause on the acceptance of hidden work - identification in the estimate of what was not carried out. After laying the parquet, you will not be able to check whether the floor has been leveled. This also applies to many other working moments.

Ask for a clear report of each step prior to repair and check each step. This can be tedious for the customer and not always pleasant for the contractor, but if you do not trust them, it is better to play it safe and check everything.

REFERENCE:

Failure to complete the work specified in the estimate leads to poor-quality repairs. A missed step in a couple of months can backfire with broken tiles and peeling wallpaper. And no one will redo such a repair.

Deceit 7: Extra Work

This option of ripping off money from the client has something in common with the previous one. There are some mandatory jobs, but often builders impose additional services that are not needed. For example, leveling an already flat floor. These works are not carried out, since they are not necessary for technical indicators, but they are indicated in the estimate.

The specifics of the repair is not clear to everyone, so many customers simply agree that this stage was needed and pay for it at an additional rate. This will not affect the quality of the repair, but the client will lose part of his money.

Deception 8: Stealing materials

Even if the client tried to protect himself and bought all the materials himself, repairmen can simply request the wrong number of bags of cement, and take the extra ones for themselves. This happens very often. Moreover, the "saved" bags never stand idle. The team will be able to use them during repairs at another facility, including it in the price for another client. It turns out that 2 clients will pay for a bag of cement at once, which means that the difference will go into the pocket of the repairmen.

How to protect yourself?

Protecting yourself from this fate is not easy. I recommend that customers familiarize themselves with the technical characteristics of the material. On each bag, the manufacturer indicates the consumption of material. Knowing the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe apartment, you can roughly calculate how much putty or glue is required.

But do not overdo it with such calculations. The consumption indicated by the manufacturer is approximate. If it is necessary to level the walls, then the plaster will be applied in 2 or even 3 layers. This can lead to calculation problems.

Advice

Don't be afraid to ask where and how much went. Be meticulous. It might save you some money.

Deception 9: Works popping up out of nowhere

Sometimes, in a preliminary estimate, finishers “forget” to indicate an important stage of repair. For example, plastering walls before wallpapering. When it comes to this stage, the client understands that it is impossible to do without it. This increases the final estimate of the repair.

It is precisely because of such “forgotten” nuances that the final estimate can be 2-3 times higher than the originally stated one. Carefully read all the stages of work before concluding a contract. It is also recommended to familiarize yourself with certain documents that describe the regulations and quality for repairs:

• SNiP on Insulating and Finishing Coatings;
• SNiP on Internal sanitary systems;

• SNiP on Electrical Devices;
• GOST R52059-2003 for Housing Services and Repairs.

From them you can find out what kind of work should be carried out and what quality standards are allowed for them. If during the repair you notice deviations, ask the masters to redo it. They are obliged to remake for free, only re-taken materials will have to pay.

Deception 10: Revenge on the customer

Often masters leave "gifts" for their clients.

Of the ones I've come across:

• A raw egg embedded in a wall. After a while, it will begin to rot and stink throughout the apartment. Determining the source of an unpleasant odor is not easy. But even after you realize that it is in the wall, you will have to completely "peel" the walls and repair them again.
• Plastic in ventilation or chimney. To do this, take an ordinary transparent bottle and cut it so that a flat part is obtained. It is inserted into the chimney or ventilation. As a result, when renting an apartment, even if you look into the chimney, you see the sky. But when you start using it, the hood will not work.

These are just the most popular ways to take revenge on an unpleasant customer. Compared to them, the dirt after the repair seems not such a big miscalculation. You need to rent an apartment for repairs completely “bare”, otherwise you risk missing your property. And something can be just spoiled.

It is impossible to protect oneself from the revenge of the builders. However, large finishing companies value their reputation, therefore, if such shortcomings are identified, they can meet the needs of a dissatisfied client. However, poor-quality repairs, most likely, no one will redo for free.

Finishers receive from 1 to 20 thousand rubles at each deception point. It is not scary if during the repair you were deceived only once. But if a small amount is added to each item, the repair may turn out to be just “gold”. This can be avoided only with constant monitoring of repair work, as well as concluding an agreement with the company you heard about. Better yet, do the repairs yourself. Then certainly no one will deceive you, but the quality of such repairs will be much worse.

Comparison table and loss price

The name of the trick	Essence of deception	Losses (in rubles)
Cost of materials	Overpriced consumables
Service cost	Understating the price of services at the stage of company presentation
One-day firm	Receiving advance payment for repairs, after which the company disappears	From 50000 (30-50% of the amount for which the repair was estimated)
	Incorrect calculation of the scope of work, overestimation of the area	Up to 20,000-50,000
	Intentional delay in the delivery of the object	Priceless - your time is the most precious
Backlog	Payment for services that were not performed	5,000-10,000 for each type of work
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