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Small-sized apartments have a large part of the population of our country. Both in old houses and in new buildings, they are the first to be bought: prices are more acceptable. After buying such a home, the question immediately arises of how to make repairs in a small apartment so that it is comfortable, functional and beautiful. This is not an easy task, but since such a task occurs very often, a number of solutions have been developed for different tastes and requests. They will be discussed.
Make a studio apartment
In recent years, studio apartments have been popular among young people (and not only). These are rooms with a minimum of partitions. Allocated are only a toilet with a bath, sometimes – a bedroom. All other walls are demolished completely (if they are not load-bearing) or partially.
There are several subtleties that you need to know with this type of repair:
- You need to find out if your apartment has load-bearing walls (go to the operating organization, they have floor plans on which everything is painted). If they exist, they cannot be destroyed. Such partitions can be partially removed by taking measures to strengthen the remaining fragments. The project of such redevelopment is ordered in specialized bureaus.
- It is possible to remove the walls separating the kitchen only if it is equipped with an electric stove. In the presence of gas equipment, partitions are not allowed to be removed. This item can be bypassed. Make a sliding partition that can fold and unfold. (Read about installing sliding doors here).
- Transfer or expansion of the area of wet rooms is possible only to the place of technical rooms (corridor, closets, closets). It is impossible to expand them at the expense of living space.
An example of a small studio apartment
In any case, the redevelopment with the demolition of the walls must be approved. To do this, they order a project of work, sign it in the department of architecture, and only then begin the repair itself. Then you won’t have any problems.
Pros
The positive aspects of converting an ordinary apartment into a studio apartment include the following points:
- You get a spacious room instead of several small rooms.
- The usable area is increased. It just seems that the walls take up little space. Calculate: a wall 3,5 m long and 20 cm wide (narrow wall) occupies an area of 3,5 * 0,2 = 0,7 square meters. This is one very small wall.
- For a large room, you can choose any style, apply interesting ideas.
In general, such repairs in a small apartment will visually (and actually) make it bigger. Moreover, the functionality does not suffer at all, and life becomes more convenient.
Disadvantages
Not without flaws. The first is the lack of privacy. If the apartment is intended for one person, he will feel comfortable in it. If two will live, you need to be prepared for the fact that you are constantly in front of each other.
The second is the spread of the smells of their cuisine. The absence of partitions leads to the fact that all the aromas from the kitchen freely penetrate into all corners of the apartment. The correct ventilation system and a powerful hood can save the situation.
The third is the need to maintain perfect order. Immediately, from the threshold you see all or almost all space. So there can be no mess.
The decision to turn an apartment into a studio is radical and not for everyone. It is unusual for us to not have separate rooms. But there are other ways to make repairs in a small apartment, improving its functionality.
Combine a bathroom
Most of the apartments of a standard layout suffer from one drawback: a very small area allocated for a bathroom – a toilet and a bathroom. And, for some reason, initially these two rooms are separate. As a result, you can’t turn around in the bathroom and the toilet and definitely don’t put anything extra (a washing machine and a water heater, for example). Correct the situation by removing the partition and making it joint.
The specific plan for the alteration depends on a similar layout, but the general idea is the same: they destroy the partition, remove one of the doors. In some cases, it turns out to slightly increase the area of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbthe bathroom due to the area “stole” from the corridor (as in the photo above).
As already mentioned above, it is possible to increase the area of u3buXNUMXbwet rooms only at the expense of technical rooms. At the same time, during the repair, it is necessary to carefully approach the issues of waterproofing. It is necessary to apply several hydrophobic layers (at least XNUMX).
Pros
The advantages of converting a bathroom into a combined one are quite obvious. Its area increases, the number of doors decreases. The room becomes more functional. It is useless to argue about whether it is convenient or not. Some people like this option, some don’t.
Cons
They can manifest themselves in “densely populated” apartments, when everyone is going to work or school at the same time. If one of the family members occupies the bathroom for a long time, the rest are nervous.
Warming and joining a balcony or loggia
The appearance of new heat-insulating materials makes it possible to insulate the balcony / loggia with high quality, glaze it and, having removed the window unit, connect it to the room. To make sure it was warm on the former balcony, heating is carried out there. Just note that the removal of central heating radiators there is strictly prohibited. In this case, you can make electric floor heating. Since the areas are small, the bills will not be huge either (with proper insulation).
Please note that gas appliances and plumbing cannot be taken out to balconies and loggias. This is true for the kitchen. You can put several cabinets, a refrigerator, take out the dining area, but the gas stove and sink should remain in the “main” area.
Another important point regarding the repair itself. When combining a room with a balcony or loggia, you can only remove that part of the wall that was under the window block. It is impossible to break the remaining pieces of the wall categorically. These “remains” are part of the supporting structure and without them the house can simply collapse.
Pros
With the advantages of such a solution, everything is obvious. Such repairs in a small apartment leads to the fact that the usable area increases significantly. This is especially noticeable in small spaces. Did you have a kitchen of 6 square meters. m, together with a balcony it is already 8 squares, and maybe more.
Cons
Disadvantages also lie on the surface. These are significant costs. It is important to make good insulation. In order not to lose precious space at the same time, it is necessary to use high-quality materials, which, with a small thickness, give good performance in terms of thermal insulation (extruded polystyrene foam). The cost of these materials is not encouraging – they are expensive.
The same is true for glazing. Usually they put plastic (PVC) windows. At the same time, high-quality, preferably three-chamber double-glazed windows are required, and profiles must have at least five chambers. Such plastic windows are classified as elite, and cost accordingly. But we do not recommend buying cheaper ones: it will be cold in winter.
Remodeling
Another radical way to make repairs in a small apartment and improve its living qualities at the same time is to redevelop. It is difficult to talk about this without reference to a specific plan, but there are main points that occur in most cases:
- Door transfer. For some reason, doors in rooms are often made in the middle (or almost) of the wall. This is very inconvenient, as it greatly reduces the possibility of using the area. In this case, the doors are moved closer (maybe close) to one of the walls. This type of alteration does not apply to redevelopment and does not require prior approval.
In this version of the repair of a small apartment, not only the doors were moved, but also the partitions and the bathroom was combined - Dismantling built-in wardrobes and closets. In the vacated space or in another dedicated area, you can make a dressing room or a modern wardrobe (there is in the picture above).
- Turn a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment. This trick works best in corner apartments that have two windows. In this case, you get two small, but full-fledged rooms.
An example of converting a one-room apartment into a two-room apartment - Separation of passage rooms. In this case, living space is often lost, but sometimes it is more important to have isolated rooms.
One of the options for dividing rooms in the “vest”
These are basically all the moments that often occur. They can be combined to achieve the characteristics that you need. It is necessary to plan alterations scrupulously, Knowing exactly the distances and putting them on the plan. You can use design programs that allow you to create three-dimensional spaces and even fill them with furniture with sweat. So it is easier to evaluate the result than on paper.
An example of repair in a small apartment (photo report)
An ordinary small-sized one-room apartment in an old building.
It was decided to start repairing a small apartment by combining a bathroom. In addition, the wall, which is now at an angle, will be leveled.
Bathroom Repairs
First we break the partitions in the bathroom.
Further, all the walls are upholstered to brick, and the tiles on the floor are removed. Work with a puncher is dusty, a lot of debris.
Under the pipes of cold and hot water, under the sewer we make strobes. First, we cut the brick with a grinder with a diamond blade, then we cut out the inside with a chisel and a hammer.
We lay water and sewer pipes in prepared strobes. We solder the plumbing from polypropylene. Good material, easy soldering, has a long service life.
In place of the riser, we make a drywall box – for taps, meters and other plumbing fixtures. The free space at the top is laid with a brick.
Next, we proceed to the installation of partitions. To do this, we use wall tongue-and-groove slabs (PGP). At the junction with the walls and the floor, we lay a cork substrate, glue with special glue, and fasten it with direct drywall hangers. Before fixing, carefully check the verticality and horizontality.
The floor is very uneven. First, we lay out the brick almost to the desired level, roughly level it with mortar. After drying, fill with a thin layer of self-leveling mixture.
We check the alignment results – deviations are not more than 5 mm. Under the tile will be fine.
Now you can level the walls. One is heavily littered, approximately from the middle of the height upwards. The discrepancy is almost 7 cm. We take a solution, a wire and apply it in layers, reinforcing the layers.
When the wall has become more or less even, you can set up beacons, then plaster over them.
There are large holes on the other wall near the place for the bathroom taps and the washbasin. they also need to be repaired with reinforcement – a layer of more than 3 cm.
We start plastering (read how to plaster walls on lighthouses here).
While the walls are drying, we coat the floor with waterproofing. We apply in two layers, additionally glue the corners with a sickle.
You can lay tiles on dried plaster.
After the tiles are laid out, we ennoble the bathroom. We assemble the frame for finishing, sheathe it with drywall (moisture resistant), and install hatches on it and glue the tiles.
The shared bathroom is ready, go to the kitchen.
We repair the kitchen
In the CorelDraw program, a project for a kitchen set was developed. It was compiled taking into account the connection of water supply and sewerage, according to the results, an electrical wiring diagram was developed. It is much more convenient to do this in the program than on a piece of paper, it is immediately possible to put down the existing dimensions and then build on them.
Next is the repair process itself. It all starts with the removal of old finishing materials, poorly adhering plaster is chipped, paint is removed. Everything is stripped down to the materials of the walls.
We make strobes along the walls, lay the wires in them, leading to the places where the sockets will be located. Long and dusty. We don’t ditch the ceiling – it will be stretched, so we just lay it on top and fasten it.
The walls are more or less even, so there is no need to plaster. Enough putty (read how to putty walls here).
We put a plastic window and dilute the heating system.
In order to set the window sill to the desired height, the board was sawn into small bars. With the help of wedges, the window sill was leveled. A load was laid on top (circles from a collapsible dumbbell), the gaps were filled with mounting foam. The foam was taken with a slight expansion – so that the window sill does not bend.
We continue to put in order the walls. I’m laying an apron. In terms of level, we fasten the guides exactly to the horizon (a drywall profile is better, since wooden planks are rarely perfectly even). Although the guide is needed only for a while, it must be fastened normally so that it does not move during operation. When laying the apron, simply rest the tile on the exposed bar.
You can read about the types of kitchen aprons here.
We’re going to renovate the floor. First, we remove the old hardboard, then remove the paint from the wooden floor, level it. Long and painful. There would be enough funds, it would be possible to completely replace it, but left it as it is.
We lay fiberboard, nail it around the perimeter, and then checkerboard the area. We spread linoleum on top.
Now it’s the turn of the walls. It’s simple – we glue the wallpaper.
At the factory, spare parts made of laminated chipboard were ordered according to their dimensions. The edges were self-adhesive. We take an iron, iron the edge, gluing it to the chipboard cut. We cool with a wet rag, cut off the excess with a sharp knife, and smooth the edges with fine sandpaper glued to the bar. It turns out exactly like the factory edge.
After, according to the drawings, we assemble the entire kitchen set. This is already from another opera, but in my case it was part of the repair.
It was decided to make the dining table folding with a swivel mechanism. It unfolds along the long side of the tabletop, the two halves are fastened with card loops, there is a turning point (in the photo where the transverse bar is visible), along which the tabletop rotates. When folded, the table is small, when unfolded, it is twice as large.
While everything was being assembled, the facades arrived – MDF covered with plastic in an aluminum frame. Beautiful and very reliable in terms of shock resistance.
Here is the finished kitchen renovation. Now it’s time for the balcony.
Repair on the loggia
It was decided to combine a loggia (7 sq. M.) with a room. With small areas, such an increase is very noticeable. First, they removed all the trim, removed the old glazing. The parapet was left for now – for safety and started with leveling the floor for laying gas blocks.
When laying the walls, a reinforcing bar was laid through a row, the ends of the reinforcement were embedded in the walls. A groove is made under the reinforcement in the stacked blocks, a bar (8 mm) is made into it, which is laid with glue. (Read more about laying aerated concrete partitions here).
Having laid out three rows of blocks, I fixed the planks on the outside – a crate for siding. They immediately attached siding to them. Then it will be difficult to do so. In the meantime, tied for insurance with ropes to a block built into the wall (9th floor), he worked leaning over. The wall was assembled quickly, as was the outer casing.
A team from the company came and installed the windows. The junction of the window with the wall is closed with a vapor barrier tape – so that warm air does not enter the microscopic gap and condensation does not form there.
Insulation was purchased for the walls, ceiling and floor – extruded polystyrene foam. We fix it on the walls with special plastic fungi, on the floor – on mounting foam. Since a wooden floor will be laid on top of the insulation, wooden mortgages are attached in increments of 60 cm, to which logs will then be attached.
On top of the thermal insulation with foam glue with a lavsan heat-reflecting film. Foil foam was advised, but it was not in stores. All surfaces are pasted over, except for a warm wall. On top of it, a crate is stuffed for finishing with plastic panels.
At one end there will be a computer desk. Plywood is attached to the wall at this point. A table frame and a monitor will be attached to it. We immediately pull electrical wiring, Internet cables to this place, install sockets. Then you can sew up the panels.
Sheathing with plastic panels is one of the fastest and easiest operations in all repairs. We put the strip on the starting strip, insert a panel cut to size into it, shoot it to the planks with staples from a construction stapler. And so on.
One of the tasks is to make plastic slopes correctly. It seems that it turned out well (read how to make plastic slopes here).
Let’s get to the floor. We lay plywood on the foam, on it – another layer of foam, to which we attach the floor temperature sensor.
We roll it out on the floor and attach a heating film to the double-sided tape. It should not be under furniture, so the consumption is not too large. We install a thermostat on the wall.
If a laminate were to be laid, it would be possible to lay it immediately on a heating film. We will have linoleum, so we put another layer of plywood on top, and not her – linoleum.
Now it’s time to remove the window side and doors to the balcony.
We ennoble the remaining opening with laminated chipboard. We do according to the principle of slopes, put on mounting foam. How to install slopes from chipboard or MDF, read here.
Next, we assemble and install the furniture – we brought the cut parts, we also glue the edges, and assemble them.
Room
During the renovation, the doors were moved. The partition is made of foam concrete blocks, so it was easy to cut a new doorway. The old one was laid with tongue-and-groove plates, fixed with metal strips and the joints were glued with a paint grid.
The rest of the finish is uninteresting and standard: we rip off old wallpaper, lagging plaster. We prime, plaster in a new way and glue fresh wallpaper. In general, the renovation of the room turned out to be the easiest part.
The floor was even – plywood was laid on the screed, so this time we just lay the laminate on top. Easy, fast, dust-free.
The last step is furniture assembly. It was also developed in the same program, they ordered chipboard cut to size. A closet with sliding doors is installed in one wall from edge to edge.
I liked two “gadgets” – a retractable ironing board and a hanger for small items. Very convenient, by the way.
Brought ordered corner sofa.
The free wall was occupied under the shelves-lockers, a TV set was also identified there.
That’s all, the repair in a small apartment is completed. It turned out to be more than a year, but everything was done in one hand. The exception is stretch ceilings and PVC windows.