Personal Experience: 6 Silly Mistakes Made by Builders During a Two-Room Apartment Renovation

Architect Olga Dmitrieva shared the mistakes made by builders during the renovation of her apartment. It's hard to believe, but it happens: scroll through the post to find out who the foreman actually was.

Olga Dmitrieva is an expert. She has been working as an architect for more than eight years. Currently, she is on maternity leave and is renovating her apartment.

Our renovation started in February, and it "ended" in late April. We were recommended a foreman by close friends, so we trusted him completely.

During the initial meeting, the foreman immediately asked if I had floor plans and assured us that everything would go smoothly. Then he took photos of the apartment, made notes in a notebook. Together we calculated the renovation timeline based on the plans.

Then a team arrived and started the work. Initially, we had no complaints, and the work was going well. But then something went wrong.

Error 1: Incorrect calculation of the size of the niche in the bathroom

The niche for the washing machine was supposed to be 64 cm, but in the end, it turned out to be 60.3 cm. To achieve these dimensions, the builders tilted the tiles. The foreman admitted his mistake and slightly widened the niche. But even so, it was still not enough — 61.5 cm.

In an ideal case, it would have been necessary to dismantle the entire wall to achieve the desired result. We compromised and started looking for washing machine models that would fit in the narrow niche. We found a model with a dryer on top, but the water supply taps interfered.

The foreman promised to move the taps, and he said he would hide the water shut-off valve for the washing machine in the installation. According to him, if we open the access panel to the pipes, it would be easy to shut off the water.

My husband went to the store several times to look at a washing machine. Together with a consultant, he measured everything with a tape measure and drew and photographed it in detail so the foreman wouldn't make any mistakes in dimensions. But when the apartment was handed over, the tap stayed in its original place, so we couldn't shut off the water.

Error 2: Poorly applied and painted wallpaper

According to the builders, the wallpaper in the bedroom was defective, so the seams between the panels were very noticeable.

We bought wallpaper for the children's room that was supposed to be paintable, but even here it was "too thick." We returned to the store and bought the thinnest wallpaper. However, problems arose with the paint, which was "too light," so stains remained on the wallpaper.

Similar problems occurred with the wallpaper in the hallway and kitchen: "too thin and stretched in different directions," resulting in visible seams between panels. It's a pity we didn't stop using their services at this point.

Error 3: Floor not leveled

When we decided to install the doors, the installers simply left with the words: "What to install? The floor is not prepared." It turned out that there were dips in the floor under the door frames. There were gaps of 0.4 cm on one side and 1.5 cm on the other. I called the foreman, and he responded that he didn't see any problem, but I forced him to come.

Error 4: Balcony and ceiling were not painted

The balcony was only painted with one coat, and wallpaper was applied to the ceiling - "because it was faster." We had to deal with the noise and demand that they redo everything.

Error 5: Wires not tidied up

On the day of apartment handover, the doorbell wire was hanging over the wallpaper. A TV cable was added to it, which wasn't routed to the TV outlets in the rooms.

Error 6: Bathroom was poorly repaired

The towel rack in the bathroom was not installed or connected. The tap for the washing machine remained in its original place. There wasn't enough grout around the perimeter of the bathroom.

What happened after the renovation?

We were waiting for the team to fix the problems, as we had a very bad ending and didn't close the financial issue properly. In late June, we wrote to the foreman and asked him to come.

He said he had done the renovation perfectly, and we were just being picky. "You can live with it," he said. The worst part is that our foreman turned out to be not a foreman, but a plumber! Fortunately, only my husband was present at the meeting, who doesn't like conflicts. But even he couldn't take such audacity and threw that man out of the door.

Now we are looking for a new team to fix all these mistakes.

Layout plan for furniture placement

What do people regret after renovation?

Sometimes builders do their job flawlessly, but apartment owners create problems for themselves. We share the sad experiences of our heroes.