Check How Comfortable Your Apartment Is for Living

The quality of materials and adherence to construction technologies not only determine home comfort but also ensure the safety of all family members. Technical Director of "Repair Point" Dmitry Kulakov compiled a checklist to help verify whether all renovation details have been properly addressed.

Dmitry KulakovTechnical Director of "Repair Point""Repair Point" is more than just apartment renovation. The team is passionate about quality and personally takes responsibility for every repair.

1. Walls are straight and form right angles

Any rough finishing starts with leveling walls. Skipping this step or violating construction techniques can lead to unpleasant consequences: poorly fitting baseboards, gaps when installing wardrobes and kitchen units, or uneven walls in the most visible areas.

We never use primers and spackling compounds from different manufacturers: there's no guarantee they will blend well. For dry room cladding, we have a proven technology: first, apply a layer of gypsum plaster weber.vetonit profi gyps, on a base treated with weber.prim contact bonding primer – it works perfectly for concrete, foam concrete, and brick walls and ceilings. The next layer is polymer spackling compound weber.vetonit LR+, and for perfectly flat walls, super finish spackling compound weber.vetonit LR Pasta.

Wet room finishing has its own nuances: all materials must be moisture-resistant and withstand temperature fluctuations. For leveling, we use weber.vetonit TT40 plaster and finishing cement spackling weber.vetonit VH.

You can also create a flat wall and ceiling surface using Gyproc gypsum board systems. For seams between boards, use weber.vetonit JS spackle and finish with polymer spackling compound weber.vetonit LR+ for perfect leveling: apply in 1–3 mm layers.

2. No cracks present

Don't blame all wall and ceiling cracks on natural settling of the building. These issues usually stem from violations in painting or plastering techniques, or using low-quality materials. For such cases, we recommend weber.vetonit profi gyps highly plastic plaster. We love it for its superior strength and resistance to cracking.

Quality primer is also important. Your walls might benefit more from concrete contact – a special primer with sand fraction that increases adhesion between the base and plaster layer.

3. No water supply problems

Errors in plumbing installation are common and can cause serious issues. For example, a towel warmer may work intermittently, water pressure may be weak, or when multiple taps are turned on simultaneously, the water supply can stop entirely. It’s better not to cut corners and leave plumbing exclusively to professionals.

4. Leak protection system

There is a special system for leak protection. It works as follows: when the sensor detects 1–2 mm of water accumulation on the floor, it sends a signal to the control unit, which immediately shuts off the electric valve and cuts off the water supply.

Additionally, we recommend an extra layer of protection during rough finishing: focus on waterproofing. Company "Sen-Goben" provides all necessary materials for this. Use weber.prim multi reinforcing primer first – it improves adhesion with the next layer of waterproofing compound weber.tec 822. Apply it to the floor and walls up to 10 cm from the floor; use weber.tec 828 DB 75 elastic insulation tape to reinforce joints between walls and floor, and walls and walls. Together, they provide reliable leak protection.

5. Indoor temperature is unaffected by weather

Modern technology allows maintaining the desired indoor temperature year-round. Don’t ignore this advantage – install an air conditioner and enjoy comfort all year long. When choosing climate equipment, consider:

• room size and purpose;
  
• window size, quantity, and placement;
  
• number and type of electrical appliances in the room.
  

Based on these characteristics, the air conditioner's power is selected. For example, a room with southern-facing windows will need more cooling than one oriented north.

6. No need for power strips

The presence of many power strips in an apartment is a sign of poor electrical planning. First, calculate the required number of devices and appliances, add extra outlets, and only then provide this information to builders.

Another warning sign: if the circuit breaker keeps tripping, it means the system can't handle the load from connected appliances. This can lead to repeated breaker replacements and the need to divide electrical wiring into groups.

7. Healthy microclimate in the apartment

To solve sound insulation issues, apartment owners often install plastic windows with double- or triple-glazed units. The obvious drawback is the lack of natural airflow. Try installing supply air valves on windows. They work on natural draft, so you don’t need to open the windows at all, they are compact and don’t spoil the window view, and can even be painted to match the frame.

8. You don't know what sound your neighbor's alarm clock makes

The noise level in residential spaces should not exceed 55 dB during the day and 45 dB at night. However, a child playing piano can raise it to 80 dB, and a jackhammer to 90–95 dB. Agree that if every apartment owner had soundproofing for floors and ceilings, living in such a building would be much more pleasant and comfortable.

The simplest and most effective way to protect against noise is using multi-layer framed structures made of metal profiles, high-strength Gyproc Strong boards, and internal filling with ISOVER Quiet Home insulation mats. This system is thinner and lighter than a brick wall but provides better noise protection.

9. Floor is perfectly flat

The fewer thresholds, steps, and height variations, the more comfortable it is to move around the home. A robot vacuum won’t get stuck anywhere. We always pay close attention to screed pouring and use weber.vetonit fast 4000 self-leveling floor. This way, wardrobes, tables, and other furniture will stand perfectly flat.

You can not only level the floor but also ensure thermal and sound insulation in the room using the floating floor technology. Its feature is the absence of rigid connection with the base and walls. The weber.vetonit 4350 mixture is not applied to the surface of the base (top side of the slab) but on a layer of thermal and sound insulation material ISOVER Floating Floor. Such floors effectively dampen noise with a thin “sandwich” of about 50 mm, which is why they are often installed in apartments for soundproofing between floors and don’t consume extra height.

And 3 more life hacks from the blogger
On his YouTube channel, Konstantin Shkabura explains and demonstrates with fingers how to do a renovation that will last for years. Take notes!

Konstantin ShkaburaExpertCivil engineer and video blogger, Samorezfilm, Instagram @kossnickers.

1. Pay attention to cable routing: power cables should not run in the same bundle as low-voltage cables. The minimum distance between them when laid parallel is 50 cm. The cost of a mistake is interference on the TV and poor performance of all connected devices. You also remember about magnetic field impact?

2. Don’t mount outlets too high. Especially on the kitchen counter, I recommend placing them no higher than 5 cm from the clean floor. This ensures that built-in appliances fit tightly against the wall.

3. Use materials from only one manufacturer. Otherwise, different sections will dry unevenly: in the end, you’ll inevitably have either bumps or dips. For tiles or laminate, I often use weber.vetonit 6000 leveling compound – it dries quickly and saves time.

Photo: Design projects of "Repair Point"