How to make repairs in an apartment if you really need it, but there is no money!

Our reader shared her experience of budget repairs with us.

Repair is a troublesome business that requires financial investment. But what if the budget is limited or there is none at all, since the renovation was not planned? I will tell you how we made repairs "for three kopecks".

How it all started

We inherited an apartment in the old fund. In the apartment lived a sick elderly man who could not take care of himself, and he also carried whatever he liked from the nearest landfills into the house. Can you imagine how his neighbors "rejoiced" at the smells rushing from this apartment? The apartment has not been paid for a long time, so the debt has accumulated large and increased every month. My husband and I decided to rent it out for a while. But for this it was necessary to make at least a cosmetic repair in it.

First of all, I had to clear the apartment from mountains of rubbish and old rubbish. People with income would have turned to a cleaning company, but we had no money for that, so my husband and I, armed with respirators and garbage bags, cleaned everything ourselves. Poison was scattered from the reigning cockroaches and traps were set. Almost all the furniture had to be thrown away. To remove the unpleasant smell, we tore off all the baseboards, cleaned the walls of old wallpaper. Then the entire room, including the ceiling, walls and floor, was washed with a chlorine cleaner.

Where can I get materials for repair?

Now the main question arose - how to make repairs? We decided to move to this apartment and, while living there, renovate it with our own hands. The work is, of course, free, but what about the materials?

1. The neighbors came to the rescue. They started a word of mouth, and many people, even strangers, began to offer materials left over from the repairs. Someone brought plaster and ceiling paint, someone brought glue.

2. We have advertised on the internet. People responded. They even offered a bed and a refrigerator for free.

3. I constantly monitored ads on the Internet for "give away". Found an ad where people were giving away a bath, a sink, a stock of tiles. They also gave us a used laminate, but in good condition, along with the skirting boards.

4. Near the entrances, people often display building materials left over after repairs, plastic, drywall. So, we got a bag of 90s wallpaper, rolls in a package. It doesn't matter that they are paper, the main thing is that they are clean.

5. Hot water pipe rusted in the bathroom. We called the emergency team from the management company, and they changed not only this pipe, but also a heated towel rail, on which for a long time there was a clamp that closed microcrack.

Little tricks

Our renovation took about six months. Even with free materials, not everything can be found. I had to use a little trick.

• There was a sealed metal hatch on the ceiling of the toilet. Plastering it is useless. We decided to make a suspended ceiling. We had sheets of plastic, but no support rails. We got out of the situation with the help of wooden plinths, which my husband fixed at the top, and already put a plastic ceiling on them. It remains only to putty the seams and paint.

• Plastic came in handy as an apron in the kitchen. For fire safety, they closed it with a screen near the gas stove.

• The old door frame needed to be replaced due to its unsightly appearance. In order not to do this, wide polypropylene ceiling plinths were glued to it, then painted.

• In the kitchen, the windows and doors were in a terrible state, with a layer of carbon and dirt. It was unrealistic to wash them. The husband solved this problem radically: he removed the top layer along with the paint with a grinder. It turned out almost new windows and doors, however, then they took much more paint.

• The husband made several wardrobes and bedside tables from scattered parts. Of course, not factory quality, but enough for a while.

• We hung old cupboards from the kitchen behind the door, one above the other, so that we got an additional cupboard with space for a microwave.

Summing up

During the renovation of the apartment, we spent money on:
1. Detergents and disinfectants
2. Garbage bags, gloves, respirators
3. Cockroach control products
4. Wallpaper glue
5. Paint for doors and windows
6. Brushes, rollers, spatulas
7. Consumables - screws, drills, dowels, discs
8. Siphons and faucets for plumbing

And also a lot of time and work. But the result is a clean apartment, which is pleasant to live in. So don't be discouraged if you don't have the money for expensive repairs. Cleanliness, comfort and beauty can be done for little money, the main thing is your desire, imagination and skillful hands!