“How to improve noise insulation? What can you not save on? What types of ceilings are better? " 10 questions about renovation and construction

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A qualified expert answers.

What's happening?

Lifehacker has a “” section, within which we launched a thematic day. To do this, we invite a special guest to answer your questions.

This time you are dealing with renovation and construction. We chose the most interesting ones, and our invited guest, Vyacheslav Burchenkov, answered them.

In what order should the repair work be carried out in the apartment?

The order is different: it depends on the type of repair, the materials chosen, the qualifications and habits of the craftsmen. The main thing is that the foreman should plan their work and be able to explain why they are doing this and not this now. But there are also general patterns. I will describe them based on a frequent request - renovating an apartment in a new building from scratch.

1. Preparation

Before starting the repair, you need to close the windows, radiators and the front door with plastic wrap, so as not to stain or spoil them. You also need to pack the entrance group on the floor - walls and floor near the apartment and the elevator. And then arrange temporary lighting and water supply.

2. Checking the heating and water supply pipes

If the heating and water supply systems are poorly made - for example, the cheapest radiators are installed or dripping from the pipes - they need to be redone right away.

3. Erection of partitions and plastering of walls

Next, you need to plaster the walls. But if you want to change the layout of the premises, you will first have to demolish them or build new ones. And then level the walls with plaster.

4. Wiring of electrics and water supply pipes

Now you need to separate the wiring from the electrical panel. And in parallel, lay water supply and sewerage pipes in the bathrooms and in the kitchen. At the same time, you can install a ventilation system and draw conclusions for air conditioners.

5. Floor screed

The floor surface is leveled with a screed. A classic wet screed dries for a long time - an average of four weeks. The concrete sets in 3-4 days, after which you can walk on it. The remaining time is needed for the mixture to dry completely.

While the screed dries, it is impossible to carry out most of the work in the apartment: the humidity is too high. It is hard for craftsmen and harmful for finishing materials. But after 1-2 weeks, workers will be able to start laying tiles - for this type of work, high humidity is not so terrible.

To speed up the process, craftsmen sometimes use an industrial dehumidifier. Or you can choose a mechanized screed: it is laid in 1-2 days, and it will take a week for the mixture to dry.

6. Prefinishing and finishing

If the apartment has a plasterboard ceiling, assemble it first. And then there are several options. After a complete rough finish, the craftsmen either putty the walls and ceilings, or lay the tiles on the floor.

• If you first laid the tiles, then you need to cover it with sheets of hardboard or other durable material so as not to spoil it during puttying.
• If the walls were plastered first, then the tiles must be cut in an isolated place. The cutting process is dusty, and if you stain the walls, the paint will fall on them worse or the wallpaper will stick.

And then you can paint the ceilings and walls, glue the wallpaper, lay the floor covering. If you have chosen wallpaper for the walls, I recommend tackling the floor first, because, for example, dust flies while cutting the laminate.

7. Installation of stretch ceilings, doors and floor plinths

The stretch ceiling is installed at the end so as not to damage it during wallpapering. Doors and skirting boards must fit over wallpaper, paint and laminate flooring, so they also need to be installed after finishing.

On what in no case should you save money during the repair?

You cannot save on the basis of: wall plaster, floor screed, electrical wiring and pipes.

If you buy cheap materials, then there is a risk that in a couple of years cracks will go along the walls, traffic jams will constantly fly out, pipes will leak, and floors will make strange dull sounds. Such defects can be corrected only after complete dismantling. And you have to redo everything again. And if the pipes leak, then also pay for repairs from the neighbors below.

Save better on clean materials like wallpaper and laminate flooring. They are easy to replace, especially if the base is well made.

What life hacks should you know before starting repairs?

The main thing is to prepare for the repair in advance. Therefore, here are two main tips.

Choose a brigade

It's good if you manage to contact a repair company or a specific team 1-2 months before the expected start of repairs: so the chances are higher that they will be able to include the apartment on the schedule at the time you need.

It will be great if you have the opportunity to visit the facility where the masters work. So you can estimate how many people are doing something in parallel, how they store materials, doors, furniture and whether the apartment is clean.

You can also ask to give you the opportunity to go to several brigades at once, and at the end choose the one that you like best.

Make a project

A design project is needed to plan the layout of furniture, finishes, electrical and plumbing fixtures. It is easier for the masters to navigate by it. And in the end it will not work out so that the rosettes are behind the sofa, and the accent tiles are on the wrong wall.

It's good if the project is drawn up by a designer: he will tell you where to put the furniture and how to make the interior more interesting. A professional design project in Moscow now costs from 300 rubles per 1 m², if only the furniture arrangement plan is included, and from 1,000 rubles per 1 m², if a package of drawings for builders is provided.

You can also draw up a project yourself to help the masters figure out what should be where. Online planners such as Planner 5D or Planoplan will help you with this. It is long and sometimes difficult, but free of charge.

What types of wallpaper are best and how to glue them correctly?

Wallpaper can be paper, non-woven, vinyl, acrylic and metal. There are also liquid and glass wallpaper for painting. It is difficult to single out the best ones - different types are good in their own way.

Paper, acrylic and fiberglass wallpapers are environmentally friendly, they are good for gluing in bedrooms and nurseries. Thick vinyl and non-woven wallpapers hide the unevenness of the walls. Liquid ones are easy to update if children paint or the cat scratches, while metal ones look spectacular.

Problems can arise if you bought them from an unscrupulous seller. He can pass off cheap wallpaper for expensive or sell a product that has been improperly stored. Therefore, it is best to buy them in large hypermarkets or order through a repair company. In the latter case, procurement and work obligations lie with one contractor - this will help to avoid shifting responsibility for the result.

Wallpaper is glued like this:

• The strips are measured and cut off.
• Glue the wallpaper or walls with glue. Or both. It all depends on the type of wallpaper and the manufacturer's recommendations. For example, if you glue non-woven wallpaper, then you can coat only the walls, and if paper - the walls and the wallpaper itself. Read the instructions and reviews on the Internet. It happens that after the glue dries, cracks form at the seams due to the fact that the wallpaper is not sufficiently saturated with it. If you see this in reviews, smear both the wallpaper and the walls.
• Apply to walls and smooth with a clean cloth or soft roller.

It is also important that there is no draft in the room, and that the windows are not opened for another 1-2 days after gluing, otherwise the wallpaper may fall off. There are many nuances in the gluing process - you can read about them in this article.

How to get rid of mold and prevent its appearance?

Mold occurs for several reasons. For example, if your apartment is flooded. But sometimes a small leak is enough due to the leaky facade of the building.

If flooding has occurred or is constantly leaking somewhere, first of all, find out the cause and eliminate it. For example, a pipe may leak from the neighbors on top.

Then remove the finishing materials - wallpaper, laminate, linoleum - from the affected areas. And let the walls, floor and ceiling dry out. Clean the damaged filler and plaster and treat the surfaces with an anti-fungal agent. After that, you can putty the walls and ceiling and again finish the rooms clean.

If there is a suspicion that the facade of the building has collapsed and is leaking water from the street, contact the management company with a request to repair the walls of the house. For this, you may need an expert opinion.

And also due to improper installation of double-glazed windows, for example, with gaps between the wall and the window or window sill, condensation occurs, which leads to the appearance of mold. Specialists can solve the problem. They will either fix the gaps or offer to replace the windows.

How to improve sound insulation in a panel house apartment?

The apartment is protected from extraneous sounds with the help of special materials, such as basalt slabs or soundproof panels. Since concrete conducts sounds well, noise insulation in a panel house is done according to the principle of a "thermos" - they cover the floors, walls and ceiling in each room.

When choosing materials for noise insulation, first of all, start from the noise level that they drown out. I recommend buying those that have an indicator of 50 dB and higher - with such a neighbor's vacuum cleaner or a loud conversation will be almost inaudible. If the indicator is lower, it makes no sense to take the material: the difference is unlikely to be very noticeable.

Sound insulation is mounted on a frame or without it. In the second case, it takes up 1.5–2 times less space. In my opinion, the most optimal frameless construction in terms of price-quality ratio is a combination of 12 mm soundproof panels with acoustic dowel-nails, membrane sound insulation and soundproof drywall.

What you need to know about underfloor heating?

In apartments with centralized heating, electric underfloor heating is installed. They are different, the choice depends on the final flooring. Infrared mats are laid under the laminate, linoleum and carpet. Under the tiles - cable on ready-made mats.

Water floors can only be installed in apartments and houses with individual heating. If the heating is centralized, neighbors may stop heating batteries normally. As a result, you will receive a fine and an order to return everything as it was.

Underfloor heating is mounted under materials that are cold to the touch: tiles, porcelain stoneware and laminate. Most often - in the bathroom and toilet. But if it is cold for you to walk even on the carpet, then you can lay a warm floor under it.

Remember: any engineering communications are dangerous. You may experience breakdowns if the underfloor heating was installed by inexperienced craftsmen, and the material was of poor quality. Therefore, buy it only in trusted stores or from a repair company that gives a guarantee for the mats themselves and for their work. I also advise you to do waterproofing under the water floor so that the liquid does not leak to the neighbors in the event of a breakdown.

Materials and work on laying a warm floor in Moscow cost from 1 600 rubles per 1 m². Therefore, it is better to immediately decide where the furniture will be, so as not to lay it under it and save money.

How to properly insulate an apartment or house?

There are a lot of materials for thermal insulation, and it is difficult to choose them yourself. Therefore, I recommend that you contact several manufacturing companies and consult with the foreman: they will offer options, and you can choose the one that suits you.

Usually, only those surfaces that are adjacent to the street are insulated. Sometimes - those that are adjacent to them. And most often they use expanded polystyrene insulation. It is not afraid of moisture and muffles sounds a little. It is produced in sheets with a thickness of 2 to 10 cm. The sheets are laid with an overlap and fixed with fungi - dowels with large caps. Seams must be sealed with polyurethane foam. It is good if it turns out to lay polystyrene foam in two layers.

I also advise you to check the tightness of the external walls. To do this, you can order an examination from specialists. If they find defects, you can demand from the management company that they fix them at their own expense.

And remember that if you can independently insulate houses both from the outside and from the inside, then apartments - only from the inside. Otherwise, you may receive a fine.

What types of ceilings are best?

Each type has its own pros and cons. Therefore, we will analyze the most popular: stretch, drywall, rack and plaster.

Stretch ceiling

Installed in one day. You can choose any color and pattern, there are options for textures. These ceilings are easy to clean. They also won't let the water through if your neighbors flood you.

For repairs in the low and medium price segment, these ceilings are most often chosen. They have an optimal ratio of price, installation time and performance.

Cons: the stretch ceiling is easy to damage and eats up 3–7 cm of the height of the room. And outwardly, not everyone likes it, although the matte options resemble the usual plaster.

Plasterboard ceilings

Collected in 5-7 days. Usually soundproofing is sewn into them. Complex structures with stucco molding are assembled from drywall, and with their help it is easier than plaster to fix the strong curvature of the ceiling.

Disadvantages: They eat up 7-10 cm of the height of the room. And if a leak occurs, they will not protect it. Also, they are usually not installed in new buildings that are less than two years old, because due to the shrinkage of the building, the ceiling can be skewed or cracked.

Rack ceilings

Collected in one day. Made of plastic or metal. Usually used in rooms with high humidity - bathrooms and toilets.

The main drawback is that many people do not like their appearance. Also, they do not save from the flood, like stretch ones. And they eat 5-10 cm of the height of the room.

Plastered ceilings

They look classic and reliable, which is why they are sometimes chosen for expensive objects. You can glue stucco on them, which is important for design.

Cons: price and installation time. Ceiling plaster takes 2-3 weeks to dry.

Which front door should you choose?

The front door should be heavy, with thick layers of metal and a secure lock. Here are the parameters of a quality front door:

1. Weight - from 100 kg.
2. The minimum thickness of the door leaf is 10 cm.
3. The thickness of the metal is from 1.5 mm, and the MDF panels from the side of the entrance or apartment are not less than 10 mm.
4. Three bearing hinges.
5. Insulation. In expensive doors - basalt, and in cheaper ones - mineral wool.
6. Locks of the third or fourth class (in the European classification - C- and D-classes) burglar resistance. From the middle price category, the Guardian and Kale locks have proven themselves well, and in the more expensive category - Crit, Mettem and Securemme with transcoding.

Also, expensive doors have additional protection measures: a lock pocket, stiffening ribs, thicker layers of metal and MDF. They weigh between 130 and 200 kg.