Life hacks for repair: how to save money on repairs

The most common (and most annoying) unplanned repair costs are related to fixing something that was wrong, inconvenient and ugly.

“People often come with requests to correct serious mistakes. For example, when it turns out that the shower stall has a size of 40 × 40 cm, and the doorway is 30 cm. Or the builder mixed up millimeters and centimeters, and the socket is behind the cabinet, ”says designer Elena Nikolaeva.

The design project helps to avoid such mistakes: it shows the final result after all the manipulations, takes into account all sizes, the location of furniture, sockets, light sources in the room. If you think over the interior in advance, you can even save money: you can successfully fit old furniture into a new renovation, get by with standard cabinets, and not make it to order.

A repair estimate helps you plan a budget, and then keep within it. It’s a balance between your needs and your options, a way to look at your desires realistically and find the best option.

“Customers with pets and small children prefer budget furniture, but are willing to pay for the quality of floors and tiles in the bathroom,” says designer Vasily Veselov.

You can make an estimate yourself if you have the time and desire to research the market for building materials, furniture and prices for the work of craftsmen, or entrust it to a designer. The designer will offer several finishes and materials to suit different budgets. Explain where you can save money, and where – definitely not worth it.

Designers advise not to skimp on rough finishes – batteries, double-glazed windows, pipes, leveling walls and floors. Buy reliable pipes, outlets, a boiler, and hire a knowledgeable electrician and plumber.

On finishing, it becomes possible to save money without risks. For example, replace the classic plastered ceiling with a stretch ceiling – it is cheaper, washable and looks new longer.

When buying furniture, you can initially choose any inexpensive solution.

“Use freestanding furniture, not built-in furniture. The Swedish wardrobe system from open metal shelves will come out cheaper than a wardrobe from cabinet furniture. And the most budgetary option is to buy guides, brackets, shelves and rods for outerwear and assemble a dressing room by yourself or entrust the workers, ”Vasily believes.

And his colleague Yulia Dorofeeva is sure that the high cost of furniture and finishing materials is not an indicator of quality and almost always a specialist can find good options for the budget that the customer has.

Even proven masters sometimes make mistakes. Designer Olesya Tingaeva recalls cases from practice:

“The wallpaper was glued upside down, the tiles with the decor in the bathroom were turned upside down, the laminate was mixed up and the kitchen flooring was laid in the hallway.”

If you do not feel the strength to follow all the nuances of the repairmen’s work, entrust the supervision to a designer. The service is called field supervision: the authors of the design project control the progress of work: they make the necessary adjustments during construction, monitor the supply of building materials and make sure that everything is done according to the project approved with the customer.

Also, designers usually constantly work with several construction teams, of which they are confident in the quality of their work. If you don’t have familiar builders, ask the designer for advice from conscientious workers.

Often, apartment owners and builders buy materials in large quantities. Sometimes 30-50 percent more than necessary. And after the repair there are extra wallpaper, glue, paint, tiles, laminate. To avoid unnecessary waste, you need drawings with calculations of how much and what will be needed in reality.

“We put 5 to 15 percent of our stock on building materials,” says Vasily. “This is enough if the builders work professionally and accurately.”

The more experienced the craftsman, the less materials are scrapped. His work is more expensive than the services of beginners, but you will significantly save on building materials.

If you keep rolls of wallpaper and bundles of tiles from previous renovations, Vasily advises to put them into action:

“For finishing the apartment for rent, we somehow used building materials from the stocks of the hostess. The tiles were varied in size, thickness and color. The tiler spat, but managed: it turned out to be a spectacular mosaic, which tenants fell in love with from the very start ”.

Note

To order a design project from an experienced designer costs on average from 1500 to 2000 rubles per square meter. Drawings and estimates with the selection of finishing materials and furniture will cost 2000 rubles for the “square”. For a complete set of documents, according to which you can safely make repairs in an apartment with an area of ​​50 square meters, you will spend about 150 thousand rubles.

These costs are paid off by saving on building materials, the absence of the need to redo something and a reduction in the repair time. The latter is especially important if you are preparing an apartment for rent. If we take into account that one-room apartments with designer renovation in Moscow are rented out at 10-15 thousand more expensive than usual, the designer’s work will pay off in 8-10 months.