Introduction
Following the article about choosing and purchasing an apartment, it’s time to write about the details of the apartment renovation. This article comes out more than a year after the last one; however, it’s difficult to determine the exact timeline of the renovation, and it definitely did not take that long, as there were periods when I paused the renovation due to certain events. Nevertheless, I will discuss all of this further.
Progress of Work
Immediately after purchasing the apartment in the fall, I began demolition work and preparing the apartment for future renovations. I also replaced all the windows with newer ones in the fall. Closer to winter, I managed to completely update the bathroom and toilet in a short time. This included not only replacing all the plumbing but also all the pipes, except for the sewage stack.
Next came a winter pause, caused by at least three obstacles:
1. I wanted to save some money for a few months to buy a new car from a dealership.
2. I wanted to change the heating radiators, which is more difficult to do during the heating season.
3. I wanted to update the screed, and delivering it in the cold was also extremely undesirable.
Around February, I decided to consult a designer to plan the interior of the remaining part of the apartment. After 3-4 weeks, we received a finalized plan that we approved, allowing us to proceed with the renovations. After I bought a second car in March and saved enough money to start the renovations in May, work on the balcony began. The timelines were constantly shifting because the crew was unable to complete previous projects (though this was nothing new), but in the last week of May, work on the balcony actively started. The balcony was insulated, electricity was installed, and a wardrobe and storage chest were built. The walls and ceiling were finished, and laminate flooring was laid down. A suspended system for drying clothes was installed. We put in a premium windowsill and the thickest double-glazed windows available, with all window sashes made to open. We ordered several mosquito nets. In total, the balcony cost more than $3,000. More detailed amounts can be seen in the table below.
Meanwhile, another crew began work on demolishing the old screed and other demolition tasks that I hadn't completed in the fall, such as removing some wallpaper, the ceiling in one of the rooms, old tiles from the backsplash, and dismantling old outlets, among other tasks. To jump ahead, I will say that this crew carried out most of the apartment renovations. However, they couldn't fully start the renovations due to the crew working on the balcony. At the same time, they managed to remove the old screed and procure and deliver materials for the upcoming pouring. The screed contained several layers, and the final layer, as well as the dismantling of the guides, was carried out only a month after pouring the first layer of screed.
Alongside the screed work, we also addressed the entrance door and all the heating radiators. At the same time, extensive work began on installing new electrical wiring throughout the apartment. The wiring was run along the ceiling, as this was the simplest option. These wires could be easily concealed behind stretch ceilings. There were a lot of wires. In the kitchen, almost all appliances have their own electrical wires. Additionally, besides the standard wiring, there were cables for TV, internet, and many wires for LED strip lighting. For this reason, two boxes with transformers were installed in the hallway: one for the LED strip transformers and the other for circuit breakers. Outlets and switches were installed much later, after 3-4 months.
Once the screed was ready, the workers began leveling the walls. In some places, the old plaster was removed, while in others, new plaster was simply added. Wall leveling was necessary for several important reasons:
1. We planned to have built-in furniture.
2. We planned to install skirting boards with backlighting. This requires a specific type of material that does not bend, and consequently, all the uneven walls prevented us from attaching such skirting boards.
The wall leveling, followed by preparing them for decorative plaster in some rooms and wallpaper in others, took about a month. This was primarily due to the need to apply large layers of plaster. Before proceeding to the next step, the plaster had to dry. Therefore, all the work took a considerable amount of time. Our walls gained one and a half tons in weight just from the dry mixtures. When combined with water, this figure significantly increased, so the actual weight of the walls rose considerably.
Finally, all the rough work on the walls was completed, and we could move forward. It was time to focus on the finishing touches. Surprisingly, this process went quickly, and within a few weeks, wallpaper was hung in the living room and bedroom. Decorative plaster was applied in the hallway and kitchen. Laminate flooring was laid in the living room and bedroom, and tiles were installed in the kitchen and hallway. The apartment already looked quite beautiful, even though it still lacked furniture, ceilings, skirting boards, interior doors, and outlets with switches.
The first items on this list were the installation of interior doors. Outlets and switches were installed fairly quickly. The apartment still had no furniture or stretch ceilings, but that didn't stop me from moving in. By the time I moved, some furniture was already scheduled to arrive within a few weeks. I was also tired of regularly going to the apartment during work hours and on weekends for various issues and wanted to resolve the remaining renovations while actually living in the apartment. To make the apartment somewhat livable, we quickly ordered blinds.
Since the renovation was not yet fully completed, I didn't want to order too much furniture. It would take up a lot of space, and the built-in furniture, which arrived disassembled along with the workers' tools, would also occupy a significant amount of space, leaving nowhere to put the toolboxes. Additionally, it was difficult to order furniture too far in advance. The effects of the sanctions brought some, albeit minor, challenges. Generally, all orders were slightly delayed. We ordered kitchen appliances in advance since they were all built-in, and we needed their exact measurements for installation. It’s worth noting that almost all the furniture for the apartment was purchased. The exceptions were my television, which I bought while still living in a rental apartment, and my wife's washing machine, which she purchased while living in a rental as well. The first pieces of non-built-in furniture were a height-adjustable computer desk and chair, a sofa, kitchen chairs, and a table. The bed arrived only two months later, but we didn’t choose and order it immediately. With the built-in furniture, which was quite a lot, we had to wait even longer, but it was worth it. All the built-in furniture we ordered, essentially just from pictures, and designed ourselves on paper or through websites, turned out to be very much to our liking. One of the first elements of built-in furniture was the finished TV area. Then the kitchen was finally ready. The kitchen deserves special mention, as we spent a considerable amount of time choosing the sink, faucet, and countertop. The latter, by the way, was made of stone and cost almost $1,000. Additionally, there were two built-in cabinets: one in the bedroom and one in the hallway. The cabinet located in the hallway concealed both electrical panels. We designed both cabinets ourselves using a website builder. The team then easily turned our design into a real object. Besides that, we also ordered another small cabinet for the living room, but it was not built-in.
So, after the installation of the built-in furniture was completed, we could finally proceed with the stretch ceilings. It was necessary to follow this sequence because the built-in furniture reached the ceiling, and the ceiling in the areas where it met the furniture was attached directly to it. The stretch ceilings were installed fairly quickly; however, at this stage, there was a sense of disappointment. Firstly, the assumption that stretch ceilings are cheap turned out to be a misconception. Of course, if you opt for classic ceilings without angles, fixtures, or built-in cornices, you pay for the material and its quick installation, as there are no obstacles or details. In our case, it was quite the opposite, as there were many fixtures, hidden cornices, and angles involved. Secondly, while the price wasn't as disappointing, the installation process was very dusty. We covered some of the furniture, but we weren't prepared for the amount of debris and dust that would accumulate. We had to do a thorough cleaning of the apartment afterward, yet again—a major cleanup that we had already done during the move-in and when installing some furniture. Returning to the fixtures and cornices, we had two hidden cornices in the living room and bedroom, three chandeliers (in the kitchen, bedroom, and living room), a total of 13 single spotlights throughout the apartment, as well as four track lights.
Around the same time as the ceilings, we finally installed the baseboards. There were no particular difficulties with the installation, and we had purchased the baseboards quite some time earlier. The early purchase was necessary because we needed to know the exact sizes of the baseboards for the built-in furniture. The baseboards were installed after the built-in furniture to avoid placing them where they weren't needed, such as behind the kitchen and built-in cabinets. The complexity of the installation was also due to the fact that the baseboards in the hallway and kitchen had backlighting, so in addition to simply installing them, we also needed to install LED strips and a transformer.
Earlier, I mentioned that there was a lot of wiring for the backlighting, but I didn't describe where exactly the LED backlighting is used in the apartment. Here’s a list of all the places where LED strips are installed:
- Baseboards in the kitchen and hallway
- Kitchen countertop
- Under the windowsill on the balcony
- TV area in the living room
- Cabinet and shelf above the sofa in the living room
- In the hallway near the mirror
- In the bedroom near the dressing table
- Mirror in the bathroom
At this point, the renovation was almost complete. Everything was ready by the end of 2022. What remained for 2023 were: a hanging shelf above the bed, a dressing table with a backlit mirror in the bedroom, and a nightstand with a backlit mirror in the hallway. These were small elements that we managed quite well without during the first months of living there. Nevertheless, after deciding on the types of mirrors and the color of the wood, we ordered these items in March.
Another interior element that we weren't in a hurry to order was the curtains and tulle. We had blinds installed when we moved in, so we had enough time to choose curtains that we liked. As a result, the curtains were only put up at the very end of March.
At this point, the renovation can be considered fully completed. In total, we spent nearly $50,000. This is a huge amount, nearly equal to the cost of the apartment itself. It’s worth noting again that we did not purchase a TV or a washing machine when we moved in. However, there are still a few elements we would like to buy in the near future. Although we have a multifunctional pouf that can seat six people, we want to get an armchair for the dressing table. Additionally, the current TV would be better suited for the bedroom or kitchen, while we would like to place a TV that is twice as large in the living room TV area. This would at least cover the outlets. In general, it’s important to understand that technically there is a possibility to use three TVs in the apartment: one for the kitchen, one for the bedroom, and one for the living room, but currently, we only have one. Therefore, potential purchases include two more TVs and two mounting brackets. Besides the TVs, we also want to buy two monitors to mount on the computer desk. To summarize the missing elements: an armchair, two TVs, and two monitors, the overall cost of expenses for the apartment will increase by several thousand dollars.
Below is a detailed table with the costs of all the work done and the furniture and appliances purchased.
| Section | Work/Item | Price($) |
|---|---|---|
| Preparatory: | ||
| Waste removal | 151 | |
| Window replacement: | ||
| Window installation | 893 | |
| Waste removal | 82 | |
| Bathroom and Toilet | ||
| Plumbing purchase | 1500 | |
| Payment for materials | 1500 | |
| Tiles | 333 | |
| Plumbing purchase | 445 | |
| Payment for work | 3200 | |
| More tiles | 42 | |
| More payment for materials | 99 | |
| Design services: | ||
| Project | 364 | |
| Balcony: | ||
| Glazing | 500 | |
| Work | 2573 | |
| Heating radiators: | ||
| Water draining | 47 | |
| Materials | 558 | |
| Work | 310 | |
| Reinstallation of radiators | 40 | |
| Finishing: | ||
| Waste removal (old screed) | 78 | |
| Preparatory and demolition work | 766 | |
| Materials for dry screed (e.g., insulation) | 745 | |
| Channels | 178 | |
| Delivery of screed and the screed itself | 176 | |
| Pouring the screed | 612 | |
| Materials for finishing work | 1075 | |
| Electrical materials (cables, breakers, panels, boxes, socket boxes) | 667 | |
| More finishing materials | 77 | |
| Work for plastering and electrical | 2000 | |
| Waste removal | 78 | |
| Tile adhesive, missing finishing materials | 329 | |
| Floor tiles | 672 | |
| Tile laying | 818 | |
| Abrasive discs for wall stripping | 190 | |
| Paint, silicone, plastic skirting boards for radiators, etc. | 200 | |
| Putty and some other minor work | 1251 | |
| Decorative plaster sample | 58 | |
| Decorative plaster | 232 | |
| Wallpaper | 272 | |
| Laminate | 570 | |
| More laminate | 81 | |
| Backsplash tiles | 160 | |
| Tile cutting and silicone | 80 | |
| Work for plastering, wallpaper, laminate, etc. | 1096 | |
| Outlets and switches | 282 | |
| Installation of outlets and switches | 142 | |
| Drywall, glue, delivery | 18 | |
| Tiles for bathroom | 8 | |
| More glue for bathroom | 5 | |
| Toilet installation and kitchen connection | 65 | |
| Intercom connection, installation of sconces | 40 | |
| Materials for kitchen connection | 38 | |
| Doors: | ||
| Entrance door (+ installation) | 655 | |
| Interior doors manufacturing | 1126 | |
| Interior doors installation | 174 | |
| Glass door | 935 | |
| Balcony slope | 20 | |
| Appliances: | ||
| Dishwasher | 1058 | |
| Hob and Hood | 562 | |
| Oven | 676 | |
| Refrigerator and Microwave | 1228 | |
| Vacuum cleaner | 600 | |
| Countertop | 939 | |
| Sink | 254 | |
| Dispenser | 36 | |
| Faucet | 117 | |
| Colander | 18 | |
| Furniture: | ||
| Sofa | 907 | |
| TV area | 1200 | |
| Kitchen table | 304 | |
| Flexible glass for table | 26 | |
| Kitchen chairs | 231 | |
| Computer desk | 448 | |
| Computer chair | 743 | |
| Kitchen, Hallway Cabinet, Bedroom Cabinet | 4520 | |
| Living room cabinet | 645 | |
| Bed + mattress | 883 | |
| Folding pouf | 202 | |
| Blinds for kitchen | 51 | |
| Blinds for living room | 43 | |
| Mirror 1 | 137 | |
| Bed and mattress | 877 | |
| Skirting boards: | ||
| Skirting boards | 182 | |
| Glue | 42 | |
| LED strip and transformer | 60 | |
| Installation | 168 | |
| Chandeliers, fixtures, sconces: | ||
| Balcony light | 14 | |
| Track rail, track lights (4), bulbs | 45 | |
| Single spotlights, bulbs, Kitchen chandelier | 184 | |
| 2 Sconces and bulbs | 32 | |
| 2 Chandeliers | 121 | |
| Remaining lights | 63 | |
| Ceiling installation | 680 | |
| Curtains: | ||
| Bedroom | 124 | |
| Living room | 54 | |
| Small items for comfort: | ||
| Cleaning supplies after renovation | 40 | |
| Intercom, packing film, shower curtain and rail | 67 | |
| Internet connection + minor work | 40 | |
| Other small items | 42 | |
| Towels | 80 | |
| Bathroom hooks | 60 | |
| Bathroom mat | 40 | |
| Door mat | 34 | |
| Ventilation grille | 2 | |
| Mat 1 | 5 | |
| Mat 2 | 6 | |
| Scales | 14 | |
| Frying pan | 31 | |
| Nightstands: | ||
| Nightstand, two mirrors, and 2 shelves | 630 | |
| Fixing issues: | ||
| Work on toilet repair | 107 | |
| Repairs for neighbors | 293 | |
| Future expenses: | ||
| Monitor mount | ||
| 2 Monitors | ||
| TV mounts (2 pcs.) | ||
| 2 TVs | ||
| Chair for dressing table |
In total, the expenses amounted to $48,560.
Quality of Work and Issues
It’s generally not customary to talk about the negative aspects of a renovation, especially when it costs around $50,000, but let’s try to evaluate the teams that worked on our renovation and assess the quality of their work.
Team "A" handled the bathroom and toilet. They completed the work in just a couple of weeks. Overall, we were very pleased, except for one major issue. During the connection of the pipes from the bathroom to the main stack, a gasket was leaking, which caused us to flood the neighbors below. The repairs for the neighbors downstairs were relatively inexpensive, but in addition to that, we had to break the tiles on the back wall of the toilet again, periodically remove the toilet installation, and endure a long period of discomfort (until the new tiles were installed) by using the toilet only half-sitting. In total, the repair costs for the toilet and the neighbors below, which were due to the team's fault, amounted to approximately $400-600.
Team "B" handled the balcony renovation. The results were overall more than satisfactory. Unfortunately, they took a long time to start the work. There were also some minor mistakes, such as splattering paint on the glass during painting and damaging the mosquito net, etc. They quickly corrected almost all of their mistakes.
Team "C" did the majority of the renovation, from the screed to the finishing work. I must admit that they did a pretty good job, and I would like to give special thanks to the site manager. However, the price for some types of work, such as replacing the heating radiators, seemed inflated to me.
Team "D" did all the built-in furniture, and they also did a very good job. Some prices seemed quite high, for example, the interior glass doors cost almost $1,000. However, it’s true that you can’t order such doors much cheaper anywhere else. On the other hand, they had fairly inexpensive mirrors and some built-in furniture. Overall, we were satisfied with this team.
In addition to the aforementioned teams, there were teams for the initial waste removal, window replacement, stretch ceilings, and baseboard installation. The work of all teams, except for the stretch ceilings, was satisfactory.
Conclusions
It was quite a long and expensive endeavor. I want to give special thanks to my wife, who was also involved in the renovation and chose the design and final interior. Perhaps that’s why the renovation cost $50,000 instead of $20,000. :) Despite my previous experience with renovations, which is not new to me, there are several conclusions and tips that can be drawn from this experience.
We visited almost all the major construction stores and markets in Minsk, often going to many of them 2-3 times.
Did I gain a better understanding of construction? Not really, as I participated in major renovations at my school during labor lessons back in school.
However, it might be better to do renovations in the summer rather than in the winter. The walls dry faster from plastering, it’s easier to pour the screed, and replacing heating radiators is simpler.
Renovating a secondary apartment is more expensive than in a new building because, in a new building, you don’t have to do major demolition work. Most likely, you won’t need to replace the window units, dismantle and dispose of old furniture, remove old wallpaper and elements of old wiring (switches and outlets), replace the screed, and sometimes you won’t need to level the walls.
One should not underestimate the stages of replacing window units and installing stretch ceilings, as these, along with painting and other construction work, are among the dustiest and messiest tasks.
