Some of you may have a desire to decorate the wall, for example, under a brick. But I don’t want to spend money on purchasing clinker tiles. Or there is simply no time to mold each brick piece by piece. Then our life hack is just for you. Moreover, he is from the category “you can not imagine easier.”

To make such a wall decoration, you can act in the following order:

Prime the wall thoroughly. Remember that without a primer, you, in principle, will not succeed, and all the decor will fall off.
Mark up future bricks. To do this, use reinforced tape 1.5 cm wide. You can, of course, also use masking tape. Start by sticking horizontal lines. Moreover, the ends of the tape must be taken out beyond the edge of the wall (you will then pull for them). After that, vertical stripes can also be glued.
Knead the plaster and apply it to the wall. But it is better to apply in stages. If you plaster the entire wall at once, then at the initial site the composition will have time to dry out. As a result, you will not be able to remove the tape.
Wait five minutes and tear off the tape in the place where the plaster has already been applied. If this creates sharp corners or irregularities, you can smooth them out with a sponge. Only you should not be distracted during work: you can miss the moment of complete drying of the mixture.
The finished wall can be painted with a long-nap roller or spray gun.

As a result, you get what you want: a wall neatly decorated with bricks.

Life hack to help determine if the screed is ready to be finished with a topcoat

You will probably say that this can be easily recognized by the inscription on the package. Indeed, manufacturers tend to indicate this. But the fact is that real life does not always follow the instructions. For example, something went wrong with the consistency, and it does not correspond to the norm. Or the layer thickness turned out to be greater.

But the readiness of the screed can be determined in these cases as well. And it’s elementary!

If you find yourself in the situation described above, then you will only need one paper napkin for this. And you need to do the following:

put a napkin on the screed;
cover it with a piece of plastic and leave it for a day.

If at the end of the day the napkin is still damp, then you must wait. If it is dry, then feel free to continue working.

Drill to size

Before drilling a hole in the wall, measure the length of the dowel and mark it on the drill – for example, with electrical tape. So you don’t have to drill many times. The risks of drilling a “window into the world” – a hole for neighbors whose faces are unlikely to shine with pleasure – are also excluded.

We hammer in nails easily

It is not necessary to make repairs to face the need to hammer in a nail. This useful skill will come in handy in any life situation: hang up a shelf or a painting, repair a chair, etc. To make the process go faster, experienced craftsmen advise you to first dip the tip in vegetable oil.

Thinner against dried paint

When you are finished working with an aerosol can, remove the spray nozzle and place it in thinner or gasoline for 15 minutes. Next time you don’t have to clean the spray hole of dried paint.

Make plans and estimates

Decide how much work you want to do. Overhaul and light cosmetic can cost about the same, it all depends on what materials you decide to use.

Review the list to see which of these you want to accomplish:

replacement of wiring;
replacement and repair of pipes, heating, plumbing;
floor screed;
alignment of walls;
replacement of windows and doors;
fine finishing of walls, ceiling and floor.

You cannot save on the first two points. How to benefit from the rest, we will write below. The main thing to do is to prepare in advance. Because any transformations that come to your mind in the middle of the journey increase the estimate.

It is often forgotten that repairs will require additional costs, and some materials and tools are not included in the estimate, and then they cannot understand where several thousand have gone. It seems that little things are worth a penny, but in the end, going beyond the budget is serious.

Fix the dropped tiles

Tiles that have fallen out of the general “picture” can not only spoil the mood of home owners, but also kill the whole impression of the quality of the repair. To firmly and permanently fix it in its rightful place, use zinc white, thickly rubbed with natural drying oil. Of course, this trick is long-drying, but very durable and budgetary.

Self-tapping screws for metal hardly enter the wood, but if there are no self-tapping screws for wood at hand, use ordinary laundry soap. Rub the self-tapping screw with soap and screw it in easily.

We strengthen the cement

And this trick has long been known in construction circles. To strengthen the cement and make the bond tighter, add a little sugar to the grout. Believe me, the result will surprise you.

Covers for moving furniture

If you need to move heavy furniture and are afraid of damaging the carpet, then place can lids under the legs of the chest of drawers or the corners of the cabinet. This will make it easier for you to move any bulky object, and besides, you will not worry that the carpet or linoleum can accidentally tear.

Excess paint

By pulling a rubber band over the paint can, you can easily and conveniently remove excess paint from the brush. This will keep the edges of the can clean and prevent paint drops from splashing in the paint repair area. An elastic band can be made from improvised means by cutting off the edge of rubber gloves, for example.

Invest in wiring and pipes

The laying of cables and pipes, as well as all electrical work, are expensive. This is just an axiom, and it is difficult to come up with what you can save on. There are only general tips that help you not to spend money on unnecessary things:

Don’t start work without a very detailed plan. Only with a well-developed project can you calculate running meters of cables and pipes.
Buy materials with a 10% margin.
If you are doing wiring, consider where the furniture and appliances will be in order to bring out the sockets in the right places. Be sure to calculate the load with a margin so that you do not have to change the wiring when you buy new powerful devices.
If you are going to make a suspended ceiling, run the wires in the space above the sheets. This way you can save on meters of cable and on the cost of wall chipping.
Do the wiring for lighting and for sockets on different machines, then you will not need to turn off the lighting to repair the sockets.
If pipes are to be changed, try to reduce the number of joints and connections in order to increase the reliability of all structures.
Do not hide pipes in walls. It may be beautiful, but it is much more expensive. In addition, in the event of breakdowns and leaks, even minor repairs will cost a pretty penny. If you don’t want to look at the pipes, cover them with a box.
Buy materials in one place, you can take advantage of discounts on large purchases.

OBI has a loyalty program for regular customers. With a one-time purchase of 10,000 rubles or more by the end of December, you will receive an OBI Club member card, which gives you a 5% discount on the entire range of goods, and also provides a number of privileges, for example, the opportunity to receive individual advantageous offers. For new settlers, the program with OBI Club cards operates on a permanent basis.

If you do not remember how zero differs from phase, and have no idea what a fitting looks like, and how a clamp looks like, do not try to become an electrician and plumber by taking master classes on the Internet. As a result, it will be more expensive than the work of professionals. It is better to show independence when buying finishes, furniture and sanitary ware. Learn to make the right choice:

We cut the tiles

Cutting tiles exactly is a whole art, which not everyone can own. Especially for such people, this life hack was invented. To cut through the tiles rather than breaking them, wet them thoroughly before use. So the probability of an even cut will double.

Instant coffee for restoration

It is very simple and quick to remove scuffs and scratches on dark wooden furniture using regular coffee. Take one scoop of instant drink powder and add a few drops of water to form a paste. The easiest way to apply it to a wooden surface is with an old toothbrush.

Extending the life of alabaster

Anyone who has ever worked with alabaster knows perfectly well how quickly it freezes. Often this function only plays into the hands of builders, but when many small cracks need to be repaired, they have to look for options to extend the “life” of such a mixture. In this case, a trick with milk will help. By diluting the alabaster with milk, you will prolong the hardening process.

How to hide wallpaper gaps

You, probably, more than once paid attention to how ugly the gaps on dark wallpaper look. There are two ways to hide such a flaw – to completely re-glue them, or to apply our next life hack.

After the grout dries, it is cleaned off with a soft cloth and the seam becomes the color we need.

To correct the situation, you will need a grout for tiles of a similar shade.

Blank tray

If you do not want to wash the tray of paint every time after staining, wrap it in foil. For reliability, make several layers. After painting, carefully remove the foil, roll up and discard. The tray is as good as new!

Adhesive for screws

When you need to screw in a small screw in a hard-to-reach place, first apply a drop of glue to the tip of the screwdriver. It is better to take rubber glue, as it will hold the screw firmly enough, and then it can be easily cleaned.

We correctly calculate the construction of a house

Without these common truths, you cannot start building a house if you need a high-quality result. The “box” of the house – which includes the foundation, walls, roof, roof (temporary or finishing), as well as windows and doors – this is not a house yet, because you can’t live there.

The price of the “box” is only 30-40% of all construction costs.

Moreover, most often novice developers ask the question of what and by what technology to build a house, meaning by this wall material. Whereas it is correct to consider the “house” as a system in a complex – “box”, “engineer”, communications, interior and exterior finishing, etc.

The price of wall materials, no matter what is chosen: brick, aerated concrete, frame – not the most expensive part, because price for 1 sq. m of wall, at the finish of work it will be approximately equal. Thinking that by choosing frame technology, you are building a cheap house – the deepest delusion!

A “correct” frame is an expensive pleasure. Conclusion: when calculating the construction of a house, it is necessary to bring the cost to one denominator – the price per 1 sq. m of its area and, based on these data, make an economic comparison of different options.

Those. We are not lazy, we take a pen, paper, calculator and roughly, “roughly” we consider how much it will cost to build a house out of brick, aerated concrete, timber, using frame technology, etc.

1 A one-story house is cheaper than a two-story house

Before affirming this, we consider. We take two projects – a one-story house and a two-story cottage. The type of foundation, wall material, decoration, roofing are the same. Area about 150 sq. m. We bring the price to 1 sq. m. m total area. This will give real data for a technical and economic comparison of options. Now we are virtually starting to build these houses. The first thing to do is to build the foundation.

Remember that the foundation redistributes the load from the house to the prepared soil base.

We estimate: the perimeter of the foundation of a one-story house will be longer than the lengths of all sides of the foundation for a two-story house. This automatically leads to an increase in the volume of earthworks and the price of “0” stage.

Experienced builders can say that the cost of a “one-story building”, in comparison with a house with two floors, can be recaptured on inter-floor ceilings. This is where budget comparison comes in handy. In a “two-story building” you can find yourself from an expensive monolithic concrete floor and replace it with a precast reinforced concrete made of hollow core slabs. Or block the span with wooden I-beams. There are enough options for saving.

Do not forget about the insulation and finishing of the basement, the arrangement of the blind area, the laying of drainage and rainstorms, remembering that the perimeter of the base of a one-story house is larger than that of a two-story house. And all of the above is materials + work = an increase in the estimate.

Third: the roof area of a one-story house is larger than the area of the roof covering of a two-story house, and this is an additional cost.

There are a lot of nuances. This is only a small part of them, but it is already clear that it is necessary to compare two, three, four or more variants of houses with each other and units, and look for an optimal and economically balanced solution.

2. A cheap foundation can be built under a frame house

The foundation should not be cheap, but optimal for a particular house (load from it) and soil (its bearing capacity) on the site. Although a frame house is lighter than a stone one and, accordingly, does not need a strong foundation, we recall the comparison method. A stone house, no matter how strange it may seem, can also be relatively light and not exert a large load on the base if:

The house is being built from relatively light wall materials: foam and aerated concrete with a density of about 400-500 kg / m³, etc.
The house has a small area from 80-120 sq. m.
Beams or wooden beams are used as floors.

These are only general guidelines, demonstrating that everything is learned by comparison. In order not to forget anything, we follow the rule – write everything down, including the little things that run into a decent amount.

The following table can form the basis of such records, which each developer can expand and supplement depending on his needs. The main principle: we divide the entire construction into separate stages, each of which into points and sub-points, which depend on the chosen technology and the materials used.

Hair dryer against labels

When buying building materials, it is often necessary to remove the self-adhesive label. In order for the sticker to come off the surface and not leave sticky spots behind, you should warm it up with a hairdryer. After that, the label is easily peeled off together with the adhesive layer and does not tear.

Softening the paint brush

Large surfaces are easy to paint with a roller, but where jewelry work is required, you have to use a brush. To soften the pile and make it more pliable for work, professionals advise to dip the brush in boiling vinegar for 1-2 minutes, this will remove all the hardness.

Cut off tiles without chipping

You can cut tiles without chips with a glass cutter. But first, soak the tiles in water for several hours, then, using gentle pressure, slide the glass cutter along the marked line and slightly press on the edge, aligning the notch line with the edge of the desktop.

Simple layouts for a photo collage

Scotch tape for perfect holes

To hang any object with ready-made holes for fasteners on the wall, you need to make the correct markings. The easiest way is to first stick on masking tape and mark the holes for drilling. Then the adhesive strip must be glued to the place where you want to hang the item, and holes for fastening are drilled at the marked points.

We drill without rubbish

Ah, this ubiquitous rubbish! What would we do if dust and lime would just dissolve in the air, and not settle on the furniture and on the floor. If you are tired of wiping the floor from lime, use our life hack. To prevent dust from falling on the floor after work, attach a regular plastic bag to masking tape directly under the drilling site.

In this case, the dust will be several times less – everything superfluous will simply fall into the bag.

We visually enlarge the room

All the tricks are good for the visual expansion of the space of the room. One of these is the decoration of the room with light colors. Paint, wallpaper, flooring and even furniture of light colors will visually add more than a dozen centimeters to the room.

Protection from dirt

If you need to drill holes in the ceiling and do not want dust flying into your eyes, then put a plastic cup or a bottle with a cut-off neck over the drill. This will leave all the dirt in this container during drilling.

How to reduce the time for wall putty

If you do not have time to putty the walls, then you can use the following construction life hack. It is necessary to dilute it as liquid as the instructions on the mixture allow.

It has been checked – the work is much faster, and the putty itself lays down smoother and dries better. In addition, with this application option, it is easier to sand.

We apply our liquid putty with a roller, and then, using a spatula, level out the sections of the wall

Floor screed: choosing technology

The screed is very necessary if you have to put boards under the furniture legs, and the tea spilled on the floor does not lie in an even puddle, but flows away to one side. Which screed option you need to choose depends on how large the height difference in the room is.

Take measurements yourself using a laser level (you can borrow from friends or neighbors) or an ordinary bubble level. By doing the calculations yourself, you will be sure that the craftsmen will not try to inflate the price of materials

After the level of the even floor has been determined, it is necessary to check if there are any elevations of the floor above this boundary. To do this, the ropes are pulled at the height of the level you drew, and if the floor does not touch them anywhere, you can choose the type of tie and work on.

Screed type	When to use	pros	Minuses
Self-leveling mixtures	If you need to correct minor irregularities in the floor	Small thickness of the screed layer, high drying rate	High price, complexity of installation
Plywood floors	If you need to correct minor irregularities in the floor	Good heat and sound insulation of the floor	Cost of work, raising the floor level
Dry screed	With large differences in elevation	Clean installation work	High cost of materials, long installation time, possible surface deformations in the future
Cement and concrete screeds	With different elevation differences	Inexpensive materials. With large differences, you can lay the screed on expanded clay (to reduce the cost of mortar)	Time consuming work

Save wallpaper from bubbles

Probably everyone knows that it is categorically not recommended to open windows while wallpapering and drying. And this is done in order to avoid “bubbling” and peeling off the wallpaper from the walls.

Sources used and useful links on the topic: https://allremont59.ru/sovety/stroitelnye-lajfhaki.html https://building-ooo.ru/lajfxaki-dlya-strojki-i-remonta/20-samyx-populyarnyx-lajfxakov -dlya-stroitelstva-i-remonta / .html https://tgorlovka.com/2019/07/28/10-stroitelnyh-hitrostej-na-vse-sluchai-zhizni/ https://www.adme.ru/svoboda -sdelaj-sam / 18-prostyh-sovetov-s-kotorymi-ne-strashen-lyuboj-remont-1976215 / https://Lifehacker.ru/ekonomnyj-remont/ https://homius.ru/5-stroitelnyih-layfhakov .html https://www.forumhouse.ru/journal/articles/7549-stroitelstvo-doma-raschyot-i-pravilnyi-podhod-laifhaki-ot-forumhouse

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