What you need to know if you are renovating in winter

What kind of work can be done in cold weather

Wallpapering

Monitor the temperature in the room and do not allow it to fluctuate, otherwise the wallpaper will dry unevenly and hold poorly. If you apply a primer before gluing, carefully study the label: different materials have different drying times. For example, a multipurpose acrylic primer applied to concrete walls dries from an hour to three. But after using a deep penetration primer, you will have to wait a day before gluing the wallpaper.

Glue the wallpaper at the radiator last, when all other walls are dry. If your batteries have a thermostat, reduce the heat dissipation of the radiator. Otherwise, the glue will dry quickly and the wallpaper will move away from the wall. There is no way to adjust the temperature - postpone work in this area until the heating turns off. Or, as some masters advise, use PVA glue in this area in addition to wallpaper.

Change interior doors

Don't do setting doors immediately after delivery. Wait at least 24 hours for them to warm up to room temperature and adapt to the humidity in the room. During transportation, a wooden door may slightly increase in size, and if it is installed immediately, there is a risk of making an incorrect gap between the door leaf and the frame.

Lay parquet and laminate

In winter, due to heating, the air in the apartment is dry, so there is a risk that the coating may swell in summer. To prevent this, use a humidifier: it must work from the moment of installation until the seasonal shutdown of heating.

To paint walls

Set aside more time for this work than if you did it in the summer. The thing is that when painting walls in winter, it is not recommended to open windows: in a draft, the paint will dry quickly and unevenly, over time cracks will appear on it and it will simply begin to move away from walls. And you definitely won't be able to stay indoors for a long time and breathe paint vapors.

In addition, it is worth painting walls only in natural light, since with artificial light you can miss roughness and unpainted areas. This means that in winter you will only have a few hours a day for this work while it is still light outside.

Install windows

Contrary to stereotypes, this can be done in winter. And there will be no "chilling" of the room: you are unlikely to deal with the windows by yourself, and an experienced craftsman will complete the installation in two to three hours. By the evening, the batteries will heat up the room, and you can not be afraid to freeze at night. The main thing - in the name of the safety of new windows, do not install them until you have completed all the dirty and dusty work.

Working with windows in winter is also good because it is easier to notice and fix flaws. For example, to fill in "wastelands" - this is the name of the voids in the seams of brick or block masonry. It is easy to check their presence: you need to put your palm to the slope - if it blows, there is a "wasteland".

Be sure to check the choice of sealing materials: not all of them are suitable for negative temperatures. And if your apartment or house is not heated, it is better to postpone the installation of windows for a warm time. According to GOSTGOST 24866-2014 Glued glass units. Specifications the minimum temperature of the living quarters required for the installation of double-glazed windows is +5 ° C.

What is better to do in spring or summer

Insulate the balcony

In winter, this is simply difficult: the walls of the balcony railings are thinner than those of residential areas, and it will be many times more difficult to maintain the temperature required for finishing work. Surely you will have to buy building mixtures with special additives that are not afraid of frosts, special foam and other materials and take care of waterproofing the roof in case of a snowfall. All this will increase the cost of repairs.

Change batteries and digest risers

A significant part of residential buildings in Russia are equipped with a riser system heating. If you live in such a house, to replace batteries and work with risers, you will have to contact the management company to turn off the heat and drain the water from the radiators. And to do it locally, in your apartment alone, will not work. Half of your entrance will remain without hot water in the radiators. Therefore, it is better to do this all after the end of the heating period.

If the batteries are in such a condition that they simply need to be replaced, there is a compromise solution. Arrange in advance with the management company to temporarily turn off heating throughout the riser and schedule work for a weekday when most of the residents will be at work.

For houses with apartment heating, this problem is irrelevant. It is enough to ask the plumber to cut off the water supply only to the collector in your hallway.

Outdoor work

Live in private house - painting the facade should be postponed until the onset of heat. Although there are materials that are suitable for working at temperatures down to -20 ° C, this does not guarantee anything. It may snow or the next day the temperature will drop sharply, and the paint will not have time to dry.

What to do before starting any repair

Check the health of the water supply

Water is needed to dilute building mixtures, so be sure to make sure it is connected. If you are doing your first renovation in a new building, the first step is to install a sink or bathtub.

It is impossible to wash off the remains of mixtures and debris into the sewer. Otherwise, a blockage will form, which will not be easy to remove with a conventional plunger or pipe cleaner. You can eliminate the solution with mixtures as follows: leave the container overnight, during which time the solution will separate into water and sediment. The first one can be drained into the toilet and the second thrown out into the street.

Examine the storage conditions of materials

They must be indicated on the packages. Some materials cannot be stored in humid rooms, while others cannot be cooled to freezing temperatures. If even in the construction market on the other side of the city everything you need costs a lot cheap, better find a store closer. Indeed, during long transportation, building materials can freeze or even deteriorate. And even more so, you do not need to store them on the balcony: frozen plaster can crumble into dust when it dries, and putty can become moldy.

Building materials can also be stored incorrectly in stores. True, you will notice this only after opening or applying: a precipitate will appear in the water-dispersion paint from the cold, the plaster will crumble, and the putty may become moldy. In order not to buy spoiled materials, choose trusted sellers or large chain stores: they will refund money for a low-quality product.