1. There is no need to combine a toilet and a bathroom if there is no “understudy”. There is such a rush in the mornings! And it’s not aesthetically pleasing at all, one is splashing in the bathroom, the other wants to sit on the toilet...
2.Linoleum is terrible, and whitewashing ceilings is doubly stupid.
3. Don’t trust your wife to do the repairs. Let her do it under the guidance of a designer. Otherwise, most of the apartments of my friends are no different from each other.
4. Do you want painted walls? But in everyday life they may turn out to be impractical. Especially in the area of switches, fingerprints remain.
5. In the kitchen, it is still better to provide a box under the corrugation for the hood.
6. Never wall up the space under the bathtub!
7. Never share the kitchen cutting area with the hob!
8. Never install carpet! Allergy to dust is guaranteed.
9. You should never use grey-blue, blue and malachite shades for your bathroom!
10. Never hang kitchen upper cabinets above your eye line!
11. I do not recommend installing laminate or parquet boards in the kitchen. The first leak and the kerdyk... And in general I’m skeptical about laminate. From a purely practical point of view, any dropped object will cause a scratch or chip. And in the end, the laminate turns into a complete ugliness.
12. Do not put white or very light tiles in the bathroom, it will feel like you are in a hospital.
13. It was in vain to place kitchen furniture along the entire wall in a rectangular kitchen; it is much more convenient to place it at an angle.
14. Don’t skimp on plumbing and tiles – it will look bad for several years, but you won’t be able to redo it.
15. It was in vain to make a small dressing room so that there would be more space in the room. These half a meter to a meter won’t save the room, and when the dressing room is packed, you won’t be able to build another one.
16. You should never install electricity in your apartment without first making a furniture arrangement plan - and a final plan that will not change!!!
17. It's terrible - dark floors and dark tiles (especially on the bathroom floor). Any dirt is visible - every speck of dust and drop, especially from the washing machine. You need to clean several times a day.
18. Lots of open shelves with a bunch of souvenirs. This is an unreal dust collector!
19. Do not install sockets “in the floor”. Very inconvenient, they are constantly open, dust accumulates and it is impossible to clean the floor properly.
20. It is better to install automatic machines on every monster that consumes electricity, so that later you do not have to suffer with the lack of light due to the inclusion of the “kettle-washing-microwave” complex.
21. Don’t forget to install sockets right in the bathroom for a hair dryer, electric manicure set and razor. You can have one, but then choose a mirror that also has built-in sockets like an extension cord.
22. Provide rheostats (dimmers) in the child’s bedroom so that the light turns on slowly, rather than abruptly.
23. Make a warm floor. In principle, at first you don’t even have to turn it on, but it’s better to do it right away. It would be nice in the hallway too.
24. There is no need to buy chandeliers with flat horizontal open shades - so many midges accumulate there, you will get tired of cleaning them.
25. It is better to choose halogen light bulbs with an angle of inclination rather than rigidly fixed ones.
26. If the wiring is old, it is better to completely replace it. By the way, it would be good to write down (or take a photograph with measurements) its location, otherwise you will end up in the wiring later.
27. Provide an entrance to the apartment for all possible cables (wide cable channel).
28. All switches are “Euro” (at a height of 80-90 cm) - so that children can turn on the light without jumping.
29. Light for the balcony and an outlet just in case. Might come in handy.
30. Lighting in the kitchen directly above the work surface (built-in lights in the kitchen canopy are beautiful, but not functional).
31. Use two light switches/switches - at the entrance to the bedroom and at the bed in the bedroom, so as not to get out of bed wanting to turn it off.
32. Do not place rough tiles on the floor in the hallway and kitchen. Impossible to wash! The rag is torn, and it’s so hard to wash away the dirt!
33. Be sure to provide warm floors with a timer; if you turn them on in the morning, they don’t have time to warm up.
34. Decide right away where the kitchen furniture and refrigerator will be located; you cannot put a heated floor under them! My friend has a depth of floor cabinets of 60 cm, and the floor does not heat 1 meter from the wall. You stand, cook, but your feet don’t get warm. And under the refrigerator it warms. It’s better to warm up the entire hallway so that the shoes dry out.
35. Windows are better with a micro-ventilation function - it’s safer for children and animals.
36. The location for the counter must be selected in advance. If the meter hangs poorly, it is scary to drill into the wall above it - wires. And the position of the switch in the hallway needs to be measured more carefully so that you don’t have to cut a hole in the furniture for it later.
37. I personally didn’t like doors with glass inserts; if a child falls asleep in the room, the light in the corridor glows.
38. In the nursery, think over the sports complex in advance and strengthen the holes for the wall bars.
39. About warmth. Fire-resistant materials should be placed near hot surfaces. We have polypropylene trim near the fireplace chimney and the glass on the wall has melted.
40. The batteries do not need to be sewn up too tightly; leave access to their overlap.
41. Many people regret that they did not find a place for the boiler in time in case the hot water was turned off or its temperature was extremely low.
42. One more thing - I don’t have much enthusiasm for perfectly straight walls, so I never advocate for their particularly careful alignment. But, if you are going to make built-in wardrobes or chests of drawers to order, you need to level the walls!
43. You need to think through little things in advance. If, for example, after renovation you buy an 80-liter water heater and decide to install it in the toilet, you will need an outlet so as not to scratch the new wallpaper or tiles, provide it in advance.
44. In the kitchen, floor tiles that were too slippery were laid and grouted with light-colored grout (at first it was very beautiful, but now the grout has become stained, it doesn’t wash off, it looks terrible)
45. When installing the bathroom, they did not put borders on the wall where it meets the tiles, but simply sealed it with silicone sealant... As a result, there is always water in the corners.
46. You regretted spending money on heated floors in the kitchen and hallway, they only did it in the bathroom, now do you regret it? There is only one excuse. By the end of the renovation there was no money at all, the estimate had ballooned out of proportion.
47. Pipes to the batteries run in the floor. In the bathtub, the floor heating sensor was placed too close to them. Bottom line - when you turn on the heating, the thermostat has only two modes: off or at full power.
48. The tiles on the bathroom floor are too rough. Labor-intensive to care for (does not wash well).
49. We sewed into a plasterboard ceiling a ventilation duct that was too narrow for the exhaust. The result is a drop in the suction power of the hood.
50. When dividing the floor in the kitchen-living room into a work area (tiles) and a relaxation area (parquet), too many tiles were laid. Conclusion: you need to plan more carefully and take into account the volume of future furniture.
51. The water distribution was done according to a sequential scheme and the plumbers were not forced to redo it. They didn’t think about this point before starting work, but they did what was easier for them.
52. The tiles in the kitchen are very beautiful, but there is one drawback: the chamfers are very deep, all kinds of dirt quickly accumulate there and are difficult to wash out. It was necessary to choose an absolutely smooth one, but not glossy and so that there was almost no chamfer.
53. It’s better to make more sockets than to scratch new wallpaper later. Immediately plan wherever there is at least a hint that you will someday have something standing here. It’s better not single ones, but double ones, the price is almost the same, but then you won’t be overjoyed.
54. It’s great that they made switches in the hallway and bedroom. In the hallway you don’t have to walk back and forth to turn off the light, and in the bedroom you can turn off the light while lying on the bed.
55. The windows were installed poorly. Be very careful that the slopes are made, that everything is thoroughly foamed there, and that the outside is properly sealed so that there is not a single hole!! Otherwise it will blow.
56. When installing a bathtub, make sure that the bowl is tilted towards the drain, otherwise the water hardly leaves if the bathtub is placed level.
57. Forced the foreman to uneven the floor tiles in the bathrooms and kitchen. Those. if water leaks somewhere under the bathroom or kitchen furniture, it flows into the middle of the room (you can immediately sound the alarm)
58. When choosing tiles (especially ours), we encountered many problems: different colors (I was tired of laying out the color palette), different sizes (up to 3mm), inconsistency in the pattern. There were no such problems with Spanish and Italian.
59. If funds allowed, I would replace all (and not just one) windows, ebbs, slopes, etc. Our house has the cheapest double-glazed windows and the installation quality is appropriate. I had to insulate and seal the cracks myself.
60. Don’t forget, like me, about the heated towel rail!!!
61. The sewer pipe is very noisy when the upstairs neighbors use the toilet. Plastic pipes are good for everyone, but they make a lot of noise, so make sound insulation - wrap it with something.
62. If you have a small, curious child, it is better to make keys or wraps on all doors, especially to the bedroom. And store the backups high up, but in an accessible place.
63. If you buy corners for the bathroom yourself, then protect them from scratches and damage during transportation.
65. Install suspended ceilings throughout the entire apartment at once and bargain with the company where you will order (if you have a decent area - from 50 sq.m.);
66. And yet, in my opinion, the most important thing at the time of starting renovation is to have a complete understanding of the arrangement of furniture. Plan your kitchen right away. The supply of many communications depends on this.
67. I would never make a corner dryer in the kitchen - it’s very inconvenient.
68. I wouldn’t make a plain light-colored floor in the bathroom—every trash can is visible, at least once in my hour. And my dark hair on it... just a nightmare!!!
69. Problems arose with the boiler; no one warned that it was dangerous to hang on a plasterboard wall. So now we are without a boiler.
70. You must first think about whether you want to change the windows, and then do cosmetic repairs in the apartment. Replacing double-glazed windows after wallpapering is just stupid...
71. Do not use white grout for tiles in the kitchen - it will look dirty.
72. First you need to think about the electrical wiring in the bathroom, and then lay the tiles.
73. Be sure to install heated floors in the bath and toilet - it’s such a pleasure!
74. Don’t skimp on water heating – buy at least 80, and preferably 100, liters of storage for your family.
75. It is better to design a bathroom in warm colors. This is the first time I’m living in one now – it seems that the temperature inside is 56 degrees higher.
76. Now I would strictly forbid builders to touch stainless steel kitchen appliances! They wiped mine with God knows what, and now there are scratches on the hood.
77. I would not buy parquet boards, but real parquet, because... After a few years, the board, even a very expensive one in my case, began to peel slightly, and the seams between the boards widened slightly.
78. SOCKETS!!! Don't regret it. I read this advice before, but my husband tugged at my sleeve (moderated my appetites), and as a result, extension cords appeared, which I would really like to avoid.
79. Warm floors: Wherever there are tiles, they are a must. We made the bed and are very happy. In the kitchen - for some reason the children love to lie and draw on the floor, in the corridor - after going outside, we lay out all the wet overalls and jackets on the floor and they dry out very quickly, the same with shoes. In the bathroom and toilet - a must. You also need to foresee in advance where the furniture, plumbing, etc. will be located, and do not lay warm floors in these places.
80. Doors: when the interior doors were installed, it didn’t even occur to me that the switch should be located next to the handle that opens the door. And we hung them so that the switch was on the side of the hinges. Now you have to turn on the light (eg, in the bathroom, toilet, closet), and then go to the handle and open it on the other side. It seems like a small thing, but it’s so inconvenient!!!
81. Pantry: If there is any space you can donate to a pantry, do it! Vacuum cleaners, roller skates, sleds, skis, New Year's toys, mops, basins, buckets, household appliances that we don't use every day - everything is there.
82. Parquet: we have dark merbau parquet. It looks very nice, but on such a dark floor, especially on a sunny day, every speck of dust is visible, so you have to clean it every day.
83. Ceiling: a mistake - they made a glossy ceiling in the living room, but did not take into account that under it there is another level of ceiling with lamps built inside - all these lamps now do not scatter a pleasant light around the perimeter of the room, as expected, but are reflected in the ceiling, as in mirror Horror!!! The whole inside out, as they say, is there.
84. In the toilet, bathroom (and anywhere there is a lot of moisture) a suspended ceiling is required. Nothing swells, nothing falls off, but the most important thing is that if your neighbors flood you, the water does not spread widely throughout the apartment, but collects in this very ceiling. The ceiling sags and water remains inside. Then the craftsmen removed part of the ceiling, drained the water, and installed it back.
85. Loggia (or balcony): you need to remove the lighting and be sure to have an outlet! I adapted mine into a utility room, drying and ironing clothes there.
86. In the bathroom, sockets must be waterproof (with a lid) - a washing machine, hair dryer, and razor are simply vital.
87. Forced exhaust is needed in the bathroom. Now it turns on automatically when we turn on the lights. And only now I realized that it was necessary to make a separate switch. Otherwise it’s so annoying and you can’t turn it off.
88. I succumbed to my husband’s persuasion, and in the end they didn’t make hidden places for storage (for example, buckets, rags, chemicals and other household supplies), although it was possible to play around with some options with built-in cabinets. He really wanted some kind of “glamorous” look imposed by magazines, but he didn’t take into account the fact that people would live in the apartment and do the cleaning.
89. From what they did correctly: 1. They installed a shower in the guest bathroom. We need to quickly, we wash ourselves there, and it’s also very convenient to wash the dog; 2. Warm floors, boiler, insulated loggia (with warm floors, light and socket); 3. Lots of drawers and closed shelves + a wardrobe in the children's room, there is a place to hide all the children's belongings; 4. Built-in dishwasher is a dream.
90. I would fork out for a designer so I could see the whole picture at once! There are a lot of things I don’t like precisely because they haven’t been thought through.
91. When planning sleeping places, it is necessary to take into account the direction of drafts.
92. I’m also fed up with the button plugs and the joints on the baseboards – I really don’t like them. Looks like they matched the color. And my sister had them in the same collection - they are practically invisible.
93. Door handles with sharp corners - periodically someone touches them with their hand or something else, it hurts and clothes tear.
94. Paintable vinyl wallpaper made in Ukraine - foolishly stuck in one room - horror, horror! In another they put German ones - super.
95. You should not move into an apartment with unfinished renovations and incomplete furniture. Then the process will drag on.... It seems like we’ve already gotten used to it, but there’s always not enough time to finish everything.
96. Single sockets are just ridiculous! Now I live with the tees I hate.
97. So much has already been written about light grout on the floor!!! But, apparently, I wasn’t enough... A very unkempt appearance.
98. I will never put “fluffy” wallpaper in the nursery that can be torn off while falling asleep. The children pick at it with their fingers all the time - they've already torn off everything near the bed.
99. All exact dimensions of furniture must be found out before repairs.
100. We went through a major renovation and realized that the most important thing is not to skimp on materials - wallpaper, paint, adhesives - everything must be of good quality!
Many people believe that renovation is a responsible undertaking. And this is the true truth. Before you start, you should think through everything down to the smallest detail. But not everyone adheres to this opinion, with the result that after a few weeks all the “defects” appear.
Naturally, you can hire experienced specialists for repairs, but you will have to pay a lot for their work. So let's find out the most useful repair tricks that you can use all the time!
Repair tricks that really work
Tiles and wood materials
Experts advise that when drilling tiles, first remove the glaze at the hole site (using a hammer and a tap). Thanks to such actions, the tile will remain intact and will not crack.
But when driving a nail into a board, so that it does not turn into splinters, it is necessary to blunt the tip of the nail. This way the board will remain completely unharmed.
To prevent the chipboard from chipping when cutting, the cut area should be wetted with hot water. This will avoid troubles in the form of a split.
If you are unable to drive a nail into hard wood, you need to coat the nail with soap. This will help you complete the task without much difficulty.
Communications
If you own a private home, then it is better to lay water pipes, cables and pipelines under the sidewalk. In the future, this will avoid damage during excavation work.
Paint and whitewash
You can get rid of old oil paint on the wall using an iron and foil. 
You just need to iron the paint through the foil, as a result of which it will soften and can be easily removed.
You can remove old whitewash without dust using a paste. To do this, you need to apply glue to the whitewash and wait until it dries. After which you can begin to remove it.
Tool
When using a paint roller, you must first make a few criss-cross movements, and then proceed with the normal movements of the roller.
And if there is a need to work with a saw, but its teeth are poorly spaced, you can cope with this task with the help of soap, which should be used to lubricate the surface being cut.
Linoleum
It is very important to take accurate measurements when laying linoleum. Then you need to clear the room of all furniture. The evenness of the floor will also affect proper installation. In case of defects, primer and putty should be used.
When laying linoleum directly, its dimensions should be 5 cm shorter than the dimensions of the floor. After this, it must be spread out on the prepared surface and left for several days. This is enough for it to rest and expand. Then you can start fixing it.
We hope that these renovation tricks will help you create the home of your dreams!
First of all, a home should not be stylish and beautiful, but as comfortable and convenient as possible. And often, doing home renovation we forget about this, following fashion trends. Today “So Simple!” I have prepared for you 20 incredible ones that will help you make your home comfortable and at the same time maintain its beauty.
- Convenient washing
Often, in order to save space, we refuse a sink with an additional wing for drying dishes or with a second bowl. But a large sink with these elements is essential in a kitchen where food is prepared for a large number of people. If you have a large family, don't skimp on space! - Table top height
The standard height of a kitchen base is 85 cm. And often people, when ordering furniture for the kitchen, forget to adjust for their height, and as a result they have to slouch or work at a countertop that is too high. When ordering furniture for the kitchen, remember that the height of the tabletop for people of short stature (150 cm) should be about 82 cm, and for those with a height of 160 to 180 cm - 88–91 cm. - Drawers
Replace the shelves in your kitchen with drawers - this will not only save space, but will also make it much more convenient to find the kitchen utensils you need. - Click-clack system
Now it has become fashionable to replace the usual handles on furniture with laconic recesses, but it is quite difficult to open them with wet hands. Therefore, you can install a click-clack system. With its help, doors can be opened with a simple press or even with your elbow. - Indelible mark
Another trend in recent years is the surfaces of household appliances or even all furniture made of stainless steel, but they often leave marks on them. To avoid their appearance, you can buy a special polish or immediately order equipment or facades with a protective coating. - Number of sockets
Two or three outlets will never be enough. You can place sockets on each wall, or even better, place a separate socket for all the devices that you plan to place in the room. This way you will hide all the cords and cover the sockets. - Laminate protection
Laminate is one of the most popular coatings due to its ease of assembly and attractive price. When buying laminate, always pay attention to its class and try to choose the simplest one so that it will serve you for as long as possible. Also, don’t forget about felt stickers on the furniture legs so as not to scratch the coating. - Ventilation in cabinets
Excessive moisture and mustiness often appear in glass cabinets. To avoid this, you can make regular holes in the side walls for ventilation. Now you can buy ready-made furniture with such holes. - Practical curtains
Floor-length curtains decorate the interior, but cause housewives a lot of trouble. To make them less dirty, buy fabric for curtains with a special impregnation that will repel dirt and dust. - Sun for aquarium
Never install the aquarium on the sunny side under direct exposure to rays, otherwise algae will begin to appear on the walls very quickly. The aquarium only needs diffused sunlight. - Stylish contrast
Light walls and dark floors are an incredibly stylish combination, but in such apartments it is quite difficult to maintain perfect cleanliness, since dust is very visible on black surfaces. Try using antistatic wipes for cleaning. - Contrasting wall in a bright room
White color makes the space visually larger, but also cooler. To avoid “hypothermia” of the interior in winter, add contrast by painting one of the walls with a rich color paint. - Beautiful patterns instead of monotony
Plain coverings, of course, add style to the room, but they are completely impractical. Carpets or tiles with patterns are an ideal choice as they are much easier to maintain. - Sconce or floor lamp?
If you forgot to warn the craftsmen where you plan to install the sconces, and they did not lay the wire in the wall, do not despair and do not rush to hang the sconces, because hanging wires do not look very aesthetically pleasing. Think better about buying a floor lamp. - An ingenious solution for the bathroom
If you have a large family and everyone is late in the morning because they can’t get into the bathroom, install two washbasins there, if space allows. There will be much fewer queues and quarrels. - Place for washing machine
If you are planning to renovate your bathroom, be sure to think about where to move the washing machine at this time, and instruct a specialist to connect it to the water supply and sewerage system. - Stylish shower
To save money, you can not buy a full-fledged shower, but simply allocate a place for it and lay out the floor with tiles. But don’t forget that you need to do this at an angle of at least 5°. - Everything on the shelves
To save space, you can add shelf shelves in your bathroom. Plus, they also look very stylish. - No slippery floors
To prevent bathroom floors from being dangerous, choose corrugated tiles or cover slippery floors with a rug. - Everyone draws
Add a pop of color to your bathroom by using a vibrant glaze to visually expand the space.
If you are planning a renovation in the near future, use these tips. You will be very surprised how much they will help. transform your home!
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I want to say right away that the methods of deception I 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 does the repair cost consist of?
The cost of repairs is calculated using the formula:
- Cost of materials + cost of work.
Everything seems simple, but from my own experience I know that most customers lose a lot of money on both components.
You can avoid unnecessary expenses only if you thoroughly study the specifics of the repair and stand “over the soul” of the repair team.
Cheat 1: Cost of materials
After a couple of years of constant work in the repair industry, I made friends in the building materials sales industry.
Almost every experienced foreman has similar connections. Thanks to close cooperation and constant purchases, I can buy cement at a 20-30% discount. However, clients do not know about this because builders falsify receipts:
- The receipt 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 the materials yourself or have the builders check everything after purchase. This approach is more expensive, according to the masters; you will be confident in the quality of consumables.
Deception 2: Cost of work
The initial estimate and the final estimate may differ by 2-3 times, so you should not trust advertisements with cheap finishing services too much.
Here are the tricks that I have come across in personal experience:
- Incorrect calculation of the scope of work.
Customers rarely know the area of the apartment, so contractors deliberately overestimate it before starting work, and sometimes during the renovation process. - The opposite method is to underestimate the volume when builders “forget” to include a balcony. It will still be repaired, but additional additions will be added.
- The initially cheap cost of services during the repair process is accompanied by additional types of work, as well as speculation with materials. Due to this, builders will remain in the black.
Attention
Repairs cannot be cheap a priori. Do not choose teams with the lowest prices. Select 20-30 proposals and choose the best from them based on price and qualifications of the performer.
Who to choose: private owner or company?
The advantages of choosing a private owner when renovating an apartment are:
- Cheap services, since construction companies will pay higher prices. In addition, clients often begin to bargain, especially if they order a complete renovation of the apartment. Companies do not provide discounts or provide them as a bonus when resolving conflict situations.
- Communicate directly with the contractor from the very beginning; there is no need to indirectly contact the head office to resolve shortcomings in the work of specialists.
- Combination of specializations. Today, almost every finisher has experience working with electricity. Or he can recommend another private trader who will solve problems with wiring or plumbing for a small price.
Despite the low cost of private services, I often come across clients who do not trust single craftsmen and choose companies.
Ordering repairs from a company - advantages:
- Mandatory drawing up of a contract for services.
With the help of this document, it is easier for the client to monitor the progress of repair work. The contract provides guarantees that reassure the customer. - Wide range of services.
Construction company teams often employ high-class specialists. Additionally, an interior designer works, and during the renovation, 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 guarantee
The company hires experienced specialists. Moreover, any defects due to the fault of the builder are removed free of charge. Due to this, the likelihood of jambs is minimal, but not excluded.
The final choice remains with the customer. Because everyone sets their own priorities. Private contractors with low cost of services do not necessarily perform bad repairs. And the contract signed with the company is not always a 100% guarantee of repairs.
Deception 3: Shell company
A fairly popular scam in large cities is a fly-by-night construction company. You enter into an agreement with them, pay an advance payment for materials and work, but no one starts working within the specified period. There are two scenarios here:
- Bubble. The company is a fiction. Such organizations recruit many objects within a short time, charge them an advance payment, and then disappear. It is impossible to get your money back after such a scam even after going to court.
- Mediator. Fly-by-night companies will provide services that boil 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 of. Ignore positive reviews on the Internet, rely on the advice of friends, relatives or neighbors. This is the only way to get 100% high-quality repairs from a real-life organization. In addition, you can immediately assess the quality of the work.
The first step of repair is choosing a contractor
No one forces the customer to agree to the terms of the first advertisement. Even the visit of a specialist to the site to evaluate the field of work does not mean that you will be working 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 site, among whom there will definitely be a master. This is necessary to take measurements of the apartment and provide an approximate estimate of the cost of the work. Please note that this estimate is indicative. The final amount may vary greatly. After all, during the assessment, employees “forget” to calculate the cost of repairing the balcony.
Potential contractors try to charm the customer and immediately conclude an agreement. But I do not recommend rushing in such cases. The mobile surveyor will not carry out repairs himself. Perhaps a team of Uzbeks will come to the apartment.
Deception 4: Measurements
To estimate the cost and scale of repairs, it is necessary to take measurements of the apartment. The area of the walls and ceiling is calculated, slopes and angles are taken into account. Already at the first assessment, they may tell you that the area of the apartment is overestimated. This means that the price of repairs will be higher, because the square meter of work performed is taken into account here.
FYI
It is difficult to measure all the necessary angles on your own. But if you don’t want to be deceived, you need to know the area of your home.
The second step of repair is setting repair deadlines
When concluding a contract, the customer should boldly raise the issue of repair timing.
Some private owners deliberately delay the delivery of the property and use your apartment to live and have fun in it for free. Constant monitoring of repairs will help you avoid this, so don’t be too lazy to go to your apartment without prior notification to the construction crew.
FYI
Private traders usually do not enter into a contract when performing work. Therefore, monitoring compliance with deadlines is the biggest problem.
The repair period is determined individually for each object, depending on what work will be carried out and the time of year. For example, the plaster should be left to dry for a day, and the concrete screed should dry for 2 weeks. Such nuances of construction work affect the completion time.
In general, ordinary cosmetic repairs in a one-room apartment in a panel house can be done in a couple of weeks. But if you hire good specialists, 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 given a realistic time frame for repairs, so do not trust “quick” repairmen who promise to do everything in a couple of days. For private owners, quick completion of a project is not always a priority, because while the floor in your apartment is drying, he can begin repairs on another project.
How to understand that repairmen are delaying their work
A popular excuse for slow work is lack of material (not enough plaster, procurement problems, etc.). In such situations, it is best to start purchasing materials yourself, and also study the deadlines for completing each type of work. Fortunately, it is very easy to find such information via the Internet.
The third step is the repair itself: what else are they cheating on?
The best customer is the one who gives money on demand and never asks questions about how it was spent. If you do not want to delve into the essence of the repair work, be prepared to overpay 2 or 3 times for the service. If you want to get high-quality repairs without overpayments, ask the builders questions about every step.
Acceptance of hidden work as a way to control repairs
Very often when renovating, 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 clause will be “Acceptance of hidden work” -
Acceptance of hidden 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, priming walls. Don’t be lazy to go to the apartment yourself during repairs, this is the only way to control the process.
After renting out the apartment, it will be difficult to check whether the walls are lined with insulation. But not everyone wants to redo the renovation in a year.
Deception 6: Payment for unfinished work
One of the reasons why it is necessary to include in the contract a clause on the acceptance of hidden work is identifying in the estimate 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 work issues.
Ask for a clear report of each step before making repairs and check each step. This can be tedious for the customer and not always pleasant for the contractor, but if you don’t trust them, it’s better to be safe and check everything.
REFERENCE:
Unfulfilled work specified in the estimate leads to poor-quality repairs. A missed step can result in broken tiles and peeling wallpaper in a couple of months. And no one will redo such repairs.
Cheat 7: Extra work
This option of ripping money off the client has something in common with the previous one. There are some mandatory types of work, 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 due to technical indicators, but they are indicated in the estimate.
The specifics of the repair are not clear to everyone, so many customers simply agree that this stage was necessary and pay for it at an additional rate. This will not affect the quality of the repair, but the client will lose some of his money.
Cheat 8: Stealing Materials
Even if the client tried to protect himself and bought all the materials himself, repairmen may 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 sit idle. The team will be able to use them for 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 the difference will go into the pockets 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. The manufacturer indicates the material consumption on each bag. Knowing the area of the apartment, you can roughly calculate how much putty or glue will be needed.
But don't overdo these calculations. The consumption indicated by the manufacturer is approximate. If it is necessary to level the walls, the plaster will be applied in 2 or even 3 layers. This can lead to problems with calculations.
Advice
Don't be afraid to ask about where and how much of something went. Be meticulous. This might save you some money.
Hoax 9: Works Popping Up Out of Nowhere
Sometimes finishers “forget” to indicate an important stage of repair in the preliminary estimate. 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 repair estimate.
It is because of such “forgotten” nuances that the final estimate can be 2-3 times higher than initially stated. Carefully read all stages of work before concluding a contract. It is also recommended that you 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 on Services and housing repairs.
From them you can find out approximately what kind of work should be carried out and what quality standards are allowed for them. If you notice any deviations during the repair, ask the craftsmen to redo it. They are obliged to redo it free of charge, you will only have to pay for the re-taken materials.
Deception 10: Revenge on the customer
Often craftsmen leave “gifts” for their clients.
From the ones I came across:
- A raw egg embedded in a wall. After some time, 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 “stripe” the walls and repair them again.
- Plastic in ventilation or chimney. To do this, take an ordinary transparent bottle and cut it so that you get a flat part. It is inserted into the chimney or ventilation. As a result, when renting out 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, dirt after repairs doesn’t seem like such a big mistake. You need to rent out an apartment for renovation completely “naked”, otherwise you risk losing your property. And something may simply be spoiled.
It is impossible to protect yourself from the revenge of builders. However, large finishing companies value their reputation, so if such shortcomings are identified, they can accommodate a dissatisfied client. However, most likely, no one will redo low-quality repairs for free.
At each point of deception, finishers receive from 1 to 20 thousand rubles. It's not a big deal if you were deceived only once during the repair process. But if a small amount is added for each item, the repair may turn out to be just “golden”. This can only be avoided by constantly monitoring repair work, as well as concluding an agreement with a company you have heard about. Better yet, do the repairs yourself. Then no one will deceive you, but the quality of such repairs will be much worse.
Comparison table and cost of losses
|
Name of the trick |
The essence of deception |
Losses (in rubles) |
|
Cost of materials |
Overpricing of consumables |
|
|
Cost of services |
Lower prices for services at the company presentation stage |
|
|
Shell company |
Receiving advance payment for repairs, after which the company disappears |
From 50,000 (30-50% of the amount at which the repair was estimated) |
|
Incorrect calculation of the scope of work, overestimation of area |
Up to 20,000-50,000 |
|
|
Intentional delay in delivery of an object |
Priceless - your time is the most precious thing |
|
|
Backlog |
Payment for services that were not performed |
|
|
Extra services |
Payment for services that were not mandatory and not needed by the customer |
5,000-10,000 for each type of work |
|
Works that pop up out of nowhere |
Payment for mandatory services that were deliberately not included in the initial estimate |
|
|
Theft of materials |
Ordering more consumables than required for repairs |
|
|
Revenge on the customer |
Tricks that prevent you from using an object after renovation |
Priceless!!! Since everything will have to be redone again |
Conclusions
Monitor the work of the masters, only in this case you will be able to achieve the desired result.
Don't trust your builders?
Only this option will help you!
I have been doing renovations since 2003.
I am often invited to conduct technical supervision (monitoring the performance of work and the competence of workers)
If you are not sure that everything is being done correctly, I will come and help.