Replanning in "Khrushchev"

Today, new apartments have large dimensions with good area, can not be said about the houses built 40-50 years ago, which is popularly called "Khrushchev". These houses were built not given a comfortable stay, but to fulfill plans to build the largest possible housing. Because of this, in such apartments, trite little place to stay, not to mention the fact, to meet at the guest house. My wife and I also encounter this problem by buying a two-bedroom apartment of 40 sq.m. Besides Among other things, the apartment did not have a balcony, which made our new living space, the feelings, even less.

The first decisions

We had to do something to fix it. After going through a lot of options, and there is nothing, not coming, the only solution was to make a small but proper redevelopment. If we look at the data sheet, the kitchen and the hall of the separation wall, which we have decided to remove, thus expanding the area of ​​the hall, making it more spacious.

In addition, access to the kitchen has become more convenient, and the opportunity to receive visitors has become much more comfortable. As it is well illustrated.

The most difficult part was, of course, get permission. Yes, you can make the first redevelopment, and then try to legitimize it in fact, but in this case, be prepared for the fact that you will have to pay a fine, which will be measured by a huge amount. But back to repair.

dismantling the wall

Since the house is brick, not a panel, it is easier in some way our task to remove the wall. The thickness of the wall was 12 cm, i.e. does not exceed thickness of one brick. In order to reduce the risk when removing third-party damage, it is best to make all the furniture from the work area, and if possible cover with plastic wrap. Also worth oilcloth cover the window, leaving a small gap for ventilation. The next important step, which we did, it's a power outage in the apartment, since the wall was mounted wiring.

Once we have prepared, armed with a hammer flat packing, we have begun to remove the plaster layer by layer. For it to withdraw large chunks is better to keep the nozzle at an angle. Alternatively, you can sharpen the blade of the ax, and also use it to remove the layers of inflicting severe blows. In order to reduce the cloud of dust, we periodically wetted wall. It helped for a while. Then the process should be repeated. All it took us two days.

The foundation was laid. Removing all the resulting waste in a pre-prepared bags, and relegate them from the apartments, we have freed up space for the next construction debris. The process of dismantling the brick wall. We started with an analysis of the top of the wall. Removing a few bricks on the ceiling, the work went faster. For this, I used all the same necessary for that punch with a nozzle and a chisel-adding work sledgehammer. It is important to remember safety when parsing the wall. The most important thing is not to hurry, even if all easily and quickly removed. Periodically had to stop work in order to lay down the bricks, and then bring them out of the room.

The final stage - the division into zones

After finishing the dismantling of the wall, we had quite a large room, which had yet to carry out a number of works. An important question that arose then whether to distinguish between the kitchen space from the living room, and if so, how to do it. And if the ceiling we did not have problems, because it is sufficient to align the mortars, then the floor had to be defined. To begin, no matter what decision is made, it was necessary to cement the place of a joint where before there was a wall. Since the kitchen area connected with the preparation of food and in any case require daily cleaning of the floor, it was decided to lay the floor in the kitchen and inline space with ceramic tiles. This is seen in this photo.

In the living room as much as possible so as to notice, we put carpet that hid the small irregularities of the wooden floor.

The joint between two floor coverings we closed decorative metal profile. Whereby the junction looks neat, and the carpet did not ride up when walking.

As a result of this work, we were able to visually expand the living room, which began to receive more light, and a kitchen area acquired its elegance.

Before you undertake such alterations, we would remind you of the importance of a well weigh all the pros and cons of such an event, as well as consider all associated costs, such that the repair can for a carry.