“My story from a girl’s lips is that the most ordinary person living in Khrushchev, receiving an average salary, can do a lot. You just have to want…”- Daria from Minsk wrote to the Onliner.by editorial office. For 9.5 months, a young couple transformed an old apartment beyond recognition, spending less than $ 4,000 in equivalent. We publish Daria's story with a description of all stages of repair and detailed costing.
The history of our repair began on December 1, 2015. It was then that relatives arrived to help demolish the ill-fated built-in closet. It was small, ugly, crooked... And how many instances were visited, how many pieces of paper had to be signed in order to obtain permission to demolish it - this is a completely different story. Dirt, noise, washing the entrance, bruised my shoulder from the fall of the mezzanine on my back, swearing with neighbors ... "And this is just the beginning"- I was horrified, but still jumped towards change. After demolishing the closet, everything seemed to go like clockwork. The plan was in my head for a long time, the money was set aside, the ability to save and ingenuity were built-in options for both me and my husband from birth.
I am an accountant, my husband is a driver. We have nothing to do with the construction industry, renovations, etc., but why not do it yourself? We knew full well that there would be mistakes. Somewhere it’s not very even, somewhere after “ah, it’ll do”, but we weren’t going to grab stars from the sky, the main thing is that we ourselves like it. Of course, it was very difficult to get started. What to take? In what order? We searched for some answers on the Internet, listened to some advice from colleagues at work, relatives. It was very insulting to tell something to a person, share thoughts and understand that they are looking at you with a smirk and probably say inside themselves: "Well, well, come on... Let's see where you break." Especially when you have a pretty face and white hair. Therefore, at one point I became isolated and stopped listening to people, sharing our plans with them. I knew for sure: if you really want to, you can fly into space. My husband, thank God, understood with whom he had contacted, and did not doubt either me or our idea.
After the closet, they began to choose furniture (so that while everything was being made or moving, we were slowly making repairs). For the dismantling of the old front door and the installation of a new one, they paid about $ 250 in equivalent. At first they wanted to leave the old door so that the sound insulation was better. The apartment is small, so no matter where the sleeping place is, the front door will still be close. But aesthetics took precedence over practicality, and the old faithful door was carried away into the sunset into the trash.
That's when the worst moment came. Husband decided to replace the wiring. Little was spent on sockets and wires, somewhere around $100 equivalent. But it took much more nerves and strength. The trouble was that where they repaired, they lived there. It used to be that in the evening you clean everything, wash it, take out the pieces of the walls in the trash, sleep at night in a more or less clean room, go to work in the morning ... You come back, open the door, and from there a cloud of construction dust, the husband is all dirty, heaps of construction debris on the floor ... I am in tears from powerlessness, fatigue and an endless horizon of work. Urine bast, start over.
The wallpaper was shot along with pieces of the walls. The next step was to install interior doors, but we waited a very long time for the doors to arrive, and therefore, in order not to waste time, it was decided to level those walls that did not come into contact with the doorways. A husband and a friend who knows how to deal with this had to deal with the walls, they did part of the work, but still could not find the time to putty. Here I freaked out, watched a couple of video tutorials and puttied everything myself. I was nervous a lot, not knowing how to hold a spatula in my hands, more than once I turned everything on myself. I was upset like a child, redid it, started over. But my husband and friend came and showered me with praise. It turned out that it was not necessary to bring everything to such evenness. But I'm a girl: "tyap-blunder" is not for us. The cost of mixtures (putty, plaster, cement) is about $ 100 at the rate.
Later they took up the floor. By and large, it was necessary to first walk on the old wooden floor with a grinder, but we decided to omit this item. Laminate bought in a hypermarket. I really liked the color and the price (about 7 USD per sq. m). With a substrate, plinth, etc., they gave about $ 250 in equivalent.
After the floor became possible to walk without shoes, it was already easier to survive. Time was approaching the New Year, and the repair did not end. Interior doors, as well as entrance doors, did not dare to install themselves, they hired people.
For doors with fittings (to the bathroom and kitchen) and their installation, they paid about $450 in equivalent. People, do not spare money for the installation of doors by professionals! Trying to save money, we hired "craftsmen" and in the end we regretted it very much.
They decided to decorate two walls with artificial stone. It is fashionable, beautiful and quite simple. We decided that "my" wall would be white, and my husband's - gray. Stone + fugue + glue - approximately $180. A mirror was hung on a wall with gray bricks - $20.
At least some picture has already become visible here, all our efforts have begun to emerge and a second wind has opened. We assembled a section (“Pinskdrev”, $175 equivalent), a sofa and an armchair (“Laguna”, sofa - $520, gray bar stool - $115 equivalent).
Wallpaper was looking for a long time - did not like anything. In the end, I bought expensive German non-woven vinyl. Luckily they only needed a few. Husband did not immediately confess how much they cost. Wallpaper + glue - $115. Glued with beloved mother-in-law. Fun with music too.
They sold an old wardrobe with a chest of drawers, replenishing their budget. It turns out that there is a very high demand for such "used" things.
Due to the size of the sofa, the planned layout had to be changed. We thought that the main (long) part of it would stand opposite the section, that is, opposite the TV. But already after the sofa was ordered, they began to place chips on the floor, indicating its corners ... and were horrified. He "ate" all the free space ... Yes, the sofa was 3 by 2 meters, but I could not even think that our room was not able to fully accept it. We decided to put it in a corner and go around the cabinet. Wardrobe, computer desk and shoe cabinet are my projects. I came up with it myself, drew it myself (the university drawing experience helped), and our witness helped to correctly calculate the size of each plank. They ordered a saw cut, assembled everything, ordered doors for cabinets - and voila ... Minus $ 600, but plus original, functional and, in the end, beautiful furniture of our own production. (The bulk of the amount - $400 - is the cost of glass doors. I was shocked. Very expensive, in my opinion.)
We bought a transforming table ($100). Great solution for a small apartment. The only thing is that when folded, it takes up a lot of space and it is very difficult to drag it. But even here ingenuity helped - they put him on a small rug. And now, even if my husband is at work, I calmly push him myself.
It turned out that one of the acquaintances is the owner of a company dealing with stretch ceilings. With his help, for $ 270, they made a ceiling with five lamps and one chandelier (the chandelier was not changed, I really liked the old one, although many recommended getting rid of it).
We bought a banquette for $40 in the corridor, well, very beautiful.
The renovation of the hallway room was completed around July 2016. As a result, eight months of life were spent on everything. Based on the plots of jokes in which a wife and husband make repairs or just glue wallpaper together and swear more than once before a divorce, it should have been the same with us. But this is not about us. We rallied, accumulated a number of funny stories.
One night I woke up from the fact that my husband swears in a dream: “To the left, to the left, I tell you where you are drilling ?!” Laughed for a long time.
Our renovated room has three zones: a sofa-sleeping area, a computer area and a coffee table area (I sew or receive guests at the dismantled table). All zones are independent of each other. If I sew, it does not prevent my husband from sleeping or working at the computer. And for "odnushki" this is the height of convenience. In addition, according to the new documents, the living area has become larger due to the demolished built-in wardrobe and a piece of the corridor.
How much money we saved, I can’t even calculate approximately, because I was not interested in the prices of finishers. But I think they saved a lot of money.
And now about our expenses. For convenience, prices are given in dollars:
- front door - $250;
- sockets, switches, wires - $100;
- dry mixes - $100;
- floor - $250;
- interior doors - $450;
- artificial stone - $180;
- mirror - $20;
- section - $175;
- sofa - $520;
- bar stool - $115;
- wallpaper + glue - $115;
- wardrobe, computer desk, chest of drawers - $600;
- transforming table - $100;
- ceiling and lamps - $270;
- banquette - $40.
Total for the room and hallway - $3285 . But our plans also included a kitchen.
The kitchen was done very well on a budget: a clean, neat renovation plus a couple of my creative ideas. We bought the cheapest but nicest linoleum, paper wallpapers, cassettes for the ceiling, paint for the wall behind the radiator (I ended up freaking out and painted an old refrigerator with it), paint for the radiator itself, new sockets, switches. For this they gave $ 70 in equivalent.
The gas stove is the cheapest - $130. At first they thought to leave the old one, only to move it. We called ZhES to call a gasman. But it turned out that ZhES strongly recommends changing such old stoves and refuses to service them.
I was looking for a table and chairs at a flea market. Found a guy who makes glass tables. Cheaply bought a beautiful glass dining table - $25. It was not easy to transport it in a two-door "box", but we managed, thereby saving on delivery.
Nina Frolova
Characteristic odor One experienced realtor shared with me the classification of the "killed" secondary housing. Apartments - "secondary" are divided into two types: for a long time without repair and "smelling" - read, "killed".
The first could not be repaired for decades. But bubbling, in several layers, shreds of ancient wallpaper hanging from the walls - this is not "killed". A dead apartment is given out by ineradicable smells of mold, dampness, and everyday life. In the first case, when repairing, you can limit yourself to cosmetics and do it slowly, from room to room. You can live in the apartment at this time (it is extremely important for those who pay the mortgage).
In the second, only a major overhaul will save. How to start repairing a secondary apartment? Of course, from the bulkhead floors.
Ekaterina Saranduk
Stages of repair in the "secondary" (step by step instructions) Step 1: Floor revision
This is not about a new laminate or parquet board - you will have to update the entire "pie" of the subfloor. It is he who fills the apartment with smells characteristic of “heavily used” housing.
Necessarily: The floor to the draft needs to be changed in the apartments of the first floor, located above the basement. In order not to breathe basement fumes, you will need a waterproofed screed. In other apartments, everything depends on the condition of the floors, but usually it is enough to limit yourself to the kitchen.
There are options: If the parquet in the rooms went in waves, it will not be possible to restore it. If the parquet looks decent, albeit shabby, you can scrape and varnish (resigned to a possible creak).
Fact: The complexity of repairing floors depends on the design of the floors. So, in the old fund and pre-war Stalinist houses with wooden or metal beams, you will have to remove the old parquet, black floor boards and carefully rake out the inter-beam filling (usually coal slag, construction debris beaten by fungal mold, soil). In Khrushchev and Brezhnevka - with logs and plank black floors laid on top of the floor slab - it is necessary to remove the boards, generously sprinkled with dusty sand, to rake out the artifacts of shock construction sites (newspapers, bottles, scraps come across there). Next - get to the concrete, prime it so as not to dust, and make a new screed.
In relatively new "panels" with linoleum on concrete, everything is much simpler. Yes, the screed here is usually “humpbacked” and crumbled in places. But leveling it is not a problem.
Important: Before starting repairs in an old house with beamed ceilings, call the specialists of the management company to inspect and photograph the condition of the walls and ceilings of the rooms on the floor below and draw up appropriate acts. This is a sure chance to protect yourself from the claims of neighbors who dream of repairing ceilings at your expense.
Photo "before"
Malermeister Sebastian Sanchez de Pedro
Step 2: Wiring Inspection The regular electrical equipment of a Soviet apartment is usually modest: ceiling lamps with one- or two-gang switches, and two or three sockets in each room. This is obviously not enough. Even the former owners of the apartment had tees, extension cords or additional sockets with wiring made by a wire that came to hand.
Necessarily: We get rid of the wires under the wallpaper (like those in the photo). And also from the wires on the baseboards and under them - the wiring should be hidden (if this is not a special design idea).
There are options: But what if there is no handicraft wiring “in plain sight” in the apartment? Do I need to redo the hidden one? The usual advice is “yes”, you need to completely redraw it (and start by rebuilding the shield with the meter at the entrance). But not all new settlers are ready for such a scenario. You can get by with "little blood" if the wiring is copper. Then do not redo anything, live in peace. If you are unlucky and you have aluminum, you will have to change. And in the whole apartment.
With the current load that electrical appliances give to the network, aluminum wire is recommended as temporary wiring - with a service life of no more than two years. In houses built in 1970–1980, which were equipped with standard aluminum wiring, it is already more than a dozen, and it is brittle. And wet plastering and puttying work can hasten its demise. A failed socket and a chandelier that went out after wallpapering are not the greatest evil: a fire is much worse.
What if grounding is required?
Many modern household appliances (for example, washing machines and dishwashers) require mandatory grounding. What if it is not provided in the house?
The minimum program is to change the electric meter, the block of automatic machines and make an additional line of power sockets with a three-wire copper wire connected through an automatic machine for 16 or 25 amperes and an RCD. Further, when, as a result of the planned modernization of the electrical networks in the house, grounding is made, you will connect to it.
What if you have copper? It is not necessary to change the copper wiring entirely - it will still serve. Remove only ancient sockets and switches, but be sure to remove them along with mounting boxes (old "tins" will not hold modern electrical installation products).
Sockets and switches can be moved without problems, as well as installing new ones, wiring from old boxes also with copper wire. And the boxes themselves - close with drywall circles and carefully putty together with the strobes.
Important: Gates must be strictly vertical or horizontal - no diagonals. If you are not an electrician, do not carry out installation work yourself!
Step 3: Windows, doors, fresh air Shabby interior doors and window blocks of the Brezhnev era have already served their purpose. Most likely, you have already firmly decided to change them for new ones and are studying the offers of window and door installers. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those who are first puzzled by repair issues completely forget about supply ventilation. And the window installers don't remind them of this.
Maria Pilipenko
The fact is that in the houses of Soviet construction, the "inflow" is not provided. In winter, batteries were “fried” in the apartment, and fresh air from the street, even with closed windows and vents, entered the premises through unplanned cracks in the window blocks and was removed through the hood in the kitchen and bathroom.
An old apartment with new windows is a real resort for molds and dust mites. Replacing windows and installing doors with sills worsen air exchange and change the air regime habitual for Khrushchev or Brezhnevka. The apartment becomes warm, but stuffy, condensation forms on the windows, and the invigorating smell of fresh plaster after a couple of years is replaced by musty and damp aromas in the bathrooms .
Necessarily: Install ventilation valves. They can be cut into the window (if the width of the frame is sufficient) or into holes in the outer walls - the choice of a suitable design depends on the type of house.
Studio Bazi
Provide ventilation gaps between the threshold and the door and ventilation grills at the bottom of the plumbing doors. This is called "overflow": fresh air from the rooms must leave through those parts of the apartment where there is a ventilation duct (usually a kitchen and a bathroom). He came into the bedroom and left through the bathroom.
Nikita Maksimov
Finally, check the operation of the hood in the kitchen and bathroom. Require the management company to clean the ventilation ducts in a timely manner. Do not block them yourself, for example, by incorrectly installing a kitchen hood over the stove.
ADWorkshop
Step 4: Acoustic comfort is the most important of the secondary Noises from busy streets are “treated” by installing double-glazed windows and the already mentioned supply ventilation valves with filters (models built into the wall absorb dust and noise well - you don’t have to keep the window open). Most often, special noise-protective windows in an ordinary apartment are not needed, but it happens that they do not interfere.
Nadia Karmin
Noises from the landing are cut off by installing a metal front door with improved sound insulation and double-circuit sealing. If you have a "walk-through" first floor, temperamental neighbors or an elevator opposite, it makes sense to put an additional door in the opening - inside the apartment. And not armored, but the usual interior, which fits into the design of the hallway.
TrioDesign
Inter-apartment soundproofing in panels usually does not cause problems. If the voices of the neighbors are clearly audible in the room, the electrical outlets and switches installed in the through holes in the common wall are most likely to blame. The problem is eliminated by transferring sockets and sealing holes. Important: When "changing the floor" don't forget to put down a soundproof underlay and make sure your upstairs neighbors do the same.
Step 5: Replacing the pipes
It is impossible to make repairs in the "secondary" without replacing the pipes. Steel water pipes clogged with scale and deposits will have to be replaced with metal-plastic or welded propylene ones. This is a necessary and, fortunately, not too expensive event. But appetite, as you know, increases with food. In the apartments of the era of Brezhnev and Khrushchev, the so-called tee scheme for distributing water pipes was used. In modern houses - a collector: they, as a rule, have a collector cabinet in which the actual collectors, meters, and main filters are located. And in some cases, apartment owners install a boiler in case hot water is turned off. For those who are now starting a large-scale modernization in a Soviet apartment, the craftsmen offer to upgrade the water supply system as well. And instead of a tee wiring, make a collector. Yes, it is beneficial for them, because there is an additional front of work. How collector wiring is necessary for the apartment owner is an open question.
In the houses of the old fund, spacious "Stalinka" and apartments with several bathrooms, it justifies itself. At the same time, for a small apartment with a compact kitchen and miniature bathrooms, this is almost an obvious overkill. First of all, because you have to sacrifice part of the already limited area for the manifold cabinet. And yet, such modernization is a reorganization, which without fail requires coordination.
Necessarily: Regardless of the extent of the repair, replace all indoor plumbing pipes, as well as piping and plumbing drains. Firstly, the service life of all these products is limited, and they cost mere pennies compared to repairs from neighbors below. Secondly, after the finishing is completed, access to them will be difficult.
Step 6: Prefinishing In Soviet times, new wallpapers were pasted over old ones, and old ones over newspapers. Now this is not accepted. To refresh the apartment once and for all, you need to carefully remove all these layers, getting to the concrete, prime, plaster all the dips and holes and level with several layers of putty.
They do the same with the ceiling, only they remove all layers of whitewash from it (not a single paint will fall on chalk). We clean "up to concrete", level, primer.
Mandatory: Seal crumbling joints in corners, cracks and potholes in concrete. It will be useful to treat surfaces with antiseptics, anti-mold products, dedust and prime. But choose the type of wall alignment itself at your discretion.
There are two alternatives to full alignment: grunge sloppiness or partial alignment. In the latter case, we draw out the corners adjacent to the cabinet furniture, align the walls around the doors and above the baseboards. However, both indicated options imply that by the beginning of the repair you have a design concept and a project with a furniture arrangement scheme that allows you to at least not “miss” the location of the sockets.
Sep 23, 2018 Sergey
“I want to get a new apartment as a result of the repair. Even if earlier it was a Khrushchev or “Stalinka” with a communal past, done by previous residents,” say the designers’ clients who bought an apartment in the old building. If the old dwelling is “heavily used”, in addition to painting the ceilings and wallpapering, it will be necessary to level the walls, replace the floors, communications, windows and door blocks. Is there a difference in the renovation of old apartments of "different generations"? We will tell you where to start a major overhaul in an apartment, what to pay attention to and what cannot be neglected in houses of different constructive types.
Overhaul of an apartment in the "old fund"
Today's clients of realtors call almost any "killed" apartment "old fund". But it's not right. The old fund is still pre-revolutionary houses, those that were built before 1917. For example, in St. Petersburg, apartments of the old stock account for almost 10% of the housing market offers. In Moscow and other cities of the European part of Russia, their share is noticeably smaller.
The focus of our article is the design features of such apartments. For the old foundation, these are massive exterior walls made of ceramic bricks, narrow window openings, plank ceilings with wooden or metal beams. Some old houses have been overhauled, which could be comprehensive or selective. With selective rotten beams, they were strengthened and partially changed. With the complex - only the outer walls remained from the building, the historical interiors were lost, but prefabricated reinforced concrete floors appeared.
The designers of the houses of the old stock could not foresee that someday, instead of rare cabbies, buses would smoke under the windows and trams would rumble; stoves and fireplaces will be replaced with central heating, chimneys will be eliminated, and ventilated wooden frames will give way to sealed double-glazed windows. Everything new is a serious burden on the old walls.
In winter, such houses are generously warmed up from the inside, but condensation accumulates in the under-roof space, and frost forms on the roofs.
As a result, attic floors, the main fillers of which were soil, slag and construction debris, become breeding grounds for mold. And the only way to get rid of the smells inherent in almost any old apartment is to renovate.
Advice: Before starting the repair, it is necessary to conduct a selective opening and examination of the structures of ceilings, floors, walls and partitions, primarily in the areas where beams adjoin external walls, as well as in wet areas: in kitchens and bathrooms.
Floor
The most expensive part in the estimate of apartment renovation in the old fund is the floors. If the parquet has dried out, it will most likely not be possible to restore it, do not even try. Yes, and the classic "herringbone" has no artistic value, you just need to replace the parquet with a new one. And before that, it is imperative to completely change the filling (previously, parquet was laid on logs, and the space between it and the subfloor could be filled).
Most likely, you will see ordinary construction waste: shavings, chips, broken bricks, soil, sometimes coal slag. Over the years of operation, the contents have absorbed all the liquids spilled on the floor (from water to mercury from broken thermometers) and turned into an ideal "garden" for fungal mold. Hence the smell that almost always haunts us in old houses.
Walls
Wall repairs will have to begin with a thorough cleaning of many layers of wallpaper, newspapers, paint and plaster. All this has also absorbed the aromas of communal life and poisons the atmosphere.
Aligning brick walls with restoration drywall is not the best solution. Again, due to the condensate, which is typical for the old fund. The preferred option is natural lime or clay-based plasters, which give the walls the opportunity to "breathe". And when you get to the brick, you can generally make a fragment of a brick wall a decorative element of the interior.
Ceiling
With the ceiling, everything is not easy. Stucco, which has artistic value, is rare in ordinary houses. Usually the ceilings in them were decorated with standard overhead plaster cornices and rosettes, which were then puttied and whitewashed many times. And to clean off whitewash layers from decorations and putty potholes is a Sisyphean job. Plaster work under the ceiling is a difficult and, as a result, expensive business for highly qualified craftsmen. At the same time, it is almost impossible to keep the ceiling updated by their efforts without cracks at increased vibration loads in urban conditions.
A compromise option for retro-style repairs is a false ceiling made of two layers of drywall: neatly puttied, painted, with plaster or polyurethane cornices and rosettes. With a barely noticeable decrease in height, it will be possible to maintain the proportions of an old room with high narrow windows and at the same time create the illusion of a perfectly preserved ceiling.
Window
Wooden frames, of course, have served their purpose, I want to order new ones. But the binding of the plastic frame is wider than the wooden one: in deep window openings it looks dull - like in a budgetary state institution. The “correct” window block in an old house should consist of two frames. Internal - wooden with a double-glazed window, and external - with single glass (it can also be wooden or aluminum profile). In terms of deglazing and color, it must correspond to the facade solution.
Fact: The air gap between the frames serves to further isolate street noise.
Last year, a strong-willed decision was made to move to the old fund.
Made a family move so to speak.
There was not enough money to renovate the whole apartment and only the kitchen with a toilet was made.
Our kitchen has two main problems.
The first is that it is elongated and narrow. 6 meters in length and in width in a wide place at the window 1 m 94 cm. in a narrow 1m 80 it seems.
And the second and main problem is the legacy of Soviet times - a bath in the kitchen.
These are the questions that had to be solved somehow and beat
Photo 2.
Pay attention to the right in the corner to the pipe.
This is a gas pipe that goes from below to the ceiling and then under the ceiling along the entire length goes to the gas stove 
Photo 3.
The photo shows a gray plastic fanina pipe on the right and a gas pipe descending from the ceiling on the left ..
Where fanina is, water pipes fit there
At the end there is a niche for a wall cabinet with shelves. Ventilation outlet in the upper right corner 
Photo 4.
Entrance to the kitchen from the hallway.
The door had to be sacrificed later.
To the left of the place where the picture is taken is the entrance to the toilet 
Photo 5.
I don’t know who preoccupied these houses, but we often remembered him.
Due to the very limited space, the banal purchase of a new toilet turned into a whole quest.
Photo 6.
The decision was made, the entrances to the room were covered with polyethylene, and the performance began.
Since we delayed the decision a little, we had about a month for the whole repair.
It was necessary to have time by September 1 so as not to affect the school year and so that everyone could leave the dacha for the city.
Let me tell you in advance that everything worked out. True, with a team of craftsmen who did the repair for me, I began to negotiate in advance back in February. 
Photo 7.
On the evening of the first day of work, when we came home, instead of the usual kitchen, we saw this.
Water pipes were exposed and the scale of the disaster on the walls became clear 
Photo 8. 
Photo 9. 
Photo 10.
They opened the floors, found nothing of interest.
Initially, they rejected the option of pouring the screed, because they were not sure about the ceilings.
Fortunately, the beams turned out to be metal and not wooden, but they did not rethink anything.
The window was replaced immediately. 
Photo 11. 
Photo 12. 
Photo 13. 
Photo 14.
They put new logs and new boards for the subfloor on top 
Photo 15.
In the wall of the toilet, instead of a row of bricks, a gap was found filled with a board.
But why Carl?? 
Photo 16.
View from the window by the way 
Photo 17.
Sewed the floor with tiles 
Photo 18.
How did we solve the problem with the bathroom.
It was decided to fence off part of the kitchen. Make a separate room with a shower and sink and leave a small passage.
The work required precision to get into our sizes.
This was especially true for the shower.
The standard ready-made cabin did not suit us because they all have access from the corner.
We had to build ourselves. A pallet was put in and glass curtains were bought. We found all this in the Czech yard.
This photo shows that they decided not to touch the gas pipe. They were afraid of a long agreement with Lengaz. 
Photo 19.
Ready to supply water inside the shower 
Photo 20.
Sheathed with drywall.
From the side of the corridor there was a double drywall on the inside and a single one on the outside. 
Photo 21.
They stripped everything in the toilet and filled the screed.
The subtlety of buying and installing a new pot was that there was a very small distance and release to the floor.
That is, a toilet bowl with a cistern did not fit corny with us.
A beautiful option is toilet bowls with hanging tanks. But I won’t even write the price here, google it yourself)) 
Photo 22.
Which time he swore to take out the tiles from the store on his own, but again stepped on the same rake 
Photo 23.
Processing the shower from the inside with all sorts of septic tanks and waterproofing 
Photo 24.
Water and drain inlets and outlets from the kitchen 
Photo 25.
The window has slopes 
Photo 26. 
Photo 27.
Electrical outlets ready 
Photo 28.
Tiles in the toilet 
Photo 29.
And in the shower too 
Photo 30.
The walls are getting smoother and prettier 
Photo 31.
Considering that we have the last floor and nothing is pouring down the fanine from above, one technological hatch is left at the bottom 
Photo 32.
Walls ready for wallpapering 
Photo 33.
Taking pictures inside the shower room is really very narrow.
But you can understand how the issue with the partition is resolved
Photo 35.
Wallpaper bought for painting. Chose the very first shade of light green 
Photo 36.
Along the way, it turned out that it would be better to change the battery.
And so they did. It is hot in our kitchen and now even in winter we periodically turn off the taps 
Photo 37.
The toilet bowl was purchased from warehouses in Kushelevka.
The aunts said that the whole old fund was coming because no one sells these anymore.
It was decided to save money on the Italian hanging tank. 
Photo 38.
Remember what the water supply looked like and how it is now.
A lot of pipes go because from the cold water inlet there is a branch to the boiler, which hangs where the closet was and from there hot water returns back. 
Photo 39.
After everything was done, the thought came to mind and not whether to put a gas meter.
Maybe in vain, of course, but when the masterper from Lengaz came, it turned out that moving the pipe was not so dreary.
They did everything very carefully, nothing was damaged. But now there are no pipes under the ceiling 
Photo 40.
The kitchen has arrived. 
Photo 41.
Installed new doors 
Photo 42.
Fridge and new washer arrived.
The washing machine went into the niche of the wall cabinet.
In general, initially the stiralka should have remained the same. But when they put up the walls, they realized that it was possible to put it in there, only the door would not open.
I had to buy with vertical loading. Satisfied with the choice. 
Photo 43.
Well, this is how the kitchen looks like.
The hood goes through the pipe into the same vent in the corner. There is also a forced exhaust in the shower room.
Enough space for everything.
The table is by the window as it was.
Four people at the table fit freely, but you can sit down cramped and six of you)) 
SERIES №1 BEGINNING Good day to all readers of this wonderful site! I recently discovered it for myself and now I can not tear myself away. I read projects of professionals, ideas and personal experience. P...
SERIES #1 BEGINNING
Good day to all readers of this wonderful site!
I recently discovered it for myself and now I can not tear myself away. I read projects of professionals, ideas and personal experience. I try to learn something, draw information, learn from experience... I am happy for those who have already gone through this long and difficult process of repair, and enjoy the excellent result. I understand those who have just started ... and whose head is spinning ... and a bunch of ideas that cannot be put together and will fall apart. I hope for the experience of professionals and just good, practical advice from those who will not pass by my blog.
Ten months ago, my husband and I became the happy owners of a wonderful four-room apartment in the old fund, with an area of 91.3 m2. (After "Khrushchev" with an area of 44.3 m2, this one seemed like just a stadium to us :)) House built in 1958 (this fact scared me very much), brick walls, huge windows, high ceilings, the third floor of four, a bedroom, an office and a nursery to the south .... In short, a lot of advantages for us, except for the upcoming grandiose, expensive and very long repair!! But this did not frighten us, since the desire to live in a bright, spacious and comfortable apartment was stronger than fears about the upcoming renovation.
Here is the original layout:
initial layoutAnd then the hour X came, and the work began to boil ... To begin with, we had to get rid of all the old finishes. Namely, dismantle all wooden floors, demolish all non-load-bearing interior partitions. By the way, they were also made of wood. To beat off all the old plaster from the walls to the brick, to dismantle the bathrooms. There was so much work to do that I was already scared. But dreams of candy brought me back to my place. In addition to all this, my husband and I had to do the whole dismantling process together !!
Tons of rubbish were taken out, dozens of pairs of gloves were torn, more than one wound received from sharp and treacherous nails in the walls was sealed and smeared with brilliant green ...
And now the apartment is bare to the ground. And what we got as a result of dismantling: curved walls with a difference of 4-5 cm, or even more in some places. Terrible floor slabs on the floor with sagging from the old mortar, with 5 cm gaps between them, with holes and potholes. The ceiling was in the same condition. No geometry. Pipes and wiring are also in poor condition, everything needs to be replaced.
We gathered strength, patience and, if possible, funds ... and proceeded to repair. Now our Candy was waiting for a new wrapper and delicious filling.
Even at the stage of choosing our future housing, and this search continued for more than 4 years, my husband and I had certain requirements for our future apartment. These are the windows to the south, high ceilings, the possibility of combining the kitchen with the living room, the middle floor in a low house. And this option suited us right away, as soon as I entered there, I immediately understood where and what I would break, and what I wanted to get in the end. And this is what happened after the redevelopment, and the construction of new walls from Sibit:
