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 over eight years. Currently, she is on maternity leave and is renovating her own apartment.

Our renovation started in February, and it was 'finished' by the end of 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 reassured me that things would go smoothly from now on. Then he photographed the apartment, made notes in a notebook, and together we calculated the timeline for the renovation based on the plans.

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

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

The niche for the washing machine was supposed to be 64 cm, but in the end, it was only 60.3 cm. To achieve these dimensions, the builders had to tilt the tiles. The foreman admitted his mistake and slightly enlarged the niche. However, even in the end, it was still insufficient — 61.5 cm.

In an ideal situation, we would have had to dismantle the entire wall to achieve the desired result. We compromised and looked for washing machine models that would fit into the narrow niche. We found a model with a dryer on top, but the water supply taps for the washing machine were in the way.

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

My husband visited the store several times to check out a washing machine. Together with the consultant, he measured everything with a tape measure and made detailed sketches and photos to ensure that the foreman wouldn’t make size errors again. But when the apartment was handed over, the tap remained 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 had a defect, making the seams between panels very visible.

We bought wallpaper for the children's room that was meant to be painted over, but again, it turned out to be 'too thick'. We returned to the store and bought the thinnest wallpaper. But now we had issues with the paint, which was 'too light', leaving stains on the wallpaper.

The same 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 that stage.

Error 3: Uneven floor

When we decided to install the doors, the installer simply walked away saying: 'What to install? The floor is not ready.' It turned out that there were dips in the floor under the doorways. The gap on one side was 0.4 cm, and on the other side, it was 1.5 cm. I called the foreman and received a reply that he didn’t see any problem, but I insisted he come over.

Error 4: The balcony and ceiling were not painted

The balcony was only painted with one coat, and the ceiling had wallpaper applied — 'because it was faster'. We had to deal with complaints to get everything redone.

Error 5: Wires not tidied up

On the day of apartment handover, the doorbell wire was hanging over the wallpaper. A TV cable was also added that wasn’t connected to the TV outlets in the rooms.

Error 6: Poor bathroom repair

The towel rack in the bathroom was not securely fastened 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 waited for the crew to redo the work, as we had a very bad ending and didn’t close the financial matter properly. In late June, we wrote to the foreman and asked him to come over.

According to him, the renovation was done perfectly, and we were just being picky. 'You can live with that,' he said. What’s worst is that our foreman was not a foreman at all, but a plumber! Fortunately, only my husband was present during the meeting, who doesn’t like conflicts. But even he couldn’t handle such audacity and threw this man out of the door.

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

Furniture layout plan

What do people regret after renovation?

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