Where to start renovating an apartment and finish it in the shortest possible time. How to learn how to do repairs and what you need to know to perform finishing work

They appear on the construction site at the final stage of work, when the building frame is almost ready, communications are in place. The time has come to decorate the facade and make brand new apartments or offices attractive. This work requires technical skill and taste, especially when it is not a standard project.

Artist in overalls

A decorator is a specialist who creates the initial interior of a room. His task is to level the surfaces of the walls, prime and paint them, whitewash the ceilings, lay tiles (mosaics), decorative stone)‚ put up wallpaper, etc. In addition, scaffolding and scaffolding, construction of frames and installation of sheathing structures (for example, plasterboard) are also within the competence of the craftsmen. However, that's not all. The finishing of buildings and structures has not only aesthetic, but also utilitarian significance: by painting facades and treating them with special (for example, anti-corrosion, fire-fighting) compounds, professionals protect them from external factors.

In general, the scope of work is quite wide, so members of construction teams are usually generalists, which allows them to earn more than many office employees and look to the future without fear.

Working privately, a master with golden hands can have even more high income than working in a company. A good specialist who knows how to pleasantly surprise customers with the results of repairs is often recommended by satisfied clients to their friends. And reputation is the most valuable capital!

Fast, but high quality

Without preparation, the path from beginner to master can take many years. That's why best option for those who want to master a craft - in secondary specialized educational institution and getting the initial vocational education(NPO) with a degree in finishing master construction work" Those who enter the school after completing nine grades will attend classes for two years and five months (in some institutions - three full academic year). The first course is traditionally devoted to studying the program; the schedule includes social studies, geometry and other general education subjects. Those with an 11th grade certificate will have better luck - it will take them only ten months to obtain the qualification.

According to the program

It is possible to obtain the qualification of a 2nd category painter even on the basis of only 8 classes. To do this, you need to enroll in the specialty “Construction Painter” and study for 2 years. Similar preparation For example, it is conducted by Construction College No. 12.

The specialized disciplines that future finishers have to master can be divided into general and special. The first includes the following items:

materials science;
construction drawing;
occupational safety and health;
basics of electrical engineering;
technologies for finishing construction works, etc.

Their knowledge will allow the master to navigate the documentation, know the features of the equipment with which he will have to deal, and the properties of various leveling, primer and paint compositions, correctly calculate the amount of materials required for finishing a particular surface (flat, volumetric).

The number of subjects that allow you to start directly practicing includes the following disciplines:

plastering technology;
technology painting work;
mosaic technology;
technology of facing works;
technology of installation of frame-cladding structures;
methodology for using synthetic materials.

Of course, production work is mandatory for students. Based on the results of the training, they receive the qualification “construction painter, plasterer, tiler.”

Upon completion, they are already generalists and have experience in plastering horizontal and vertical surfaces (walls and ceilings), as well as various architectural and decorative elements(pillars, columns, pilasters). In addition, they know how to work with different colors(for example, water-based, oil-based) and wallpaper (paper, non-woven, vinyl, etc.), tiling, drawing and mosaics.

Of course, the work of a master is different a large number manual operations, however, the finisher also uses many tools - manual (roller, brush, spatula, knife), mechanical (tile cutting machine, spray gun), electrical (trowel brush, chalk grinder, spray gun, etc.), measuring devices (tape measure ‚ ruler, plumb line, square, etc.).

Unfortunately, this activity is not suitable for all people. Such work is contraindicated for those who suffer from allergies, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and respiratory organs.

Career and income

In addition to the already mentioned opportunity to start their own business or work individually, on private orders, finishers are able to get a job in a construction, housing and communal organization and even in a building materials production company.

The income of a qualified finisher, as a rule, depends on the volume of work - he is paid by the piece. On average, a specialist receives from 40,000 rubles per month. top bar There is practically no remuneration - it all depends on the work ability of the master and the complexity of the object.

Where to go to study

with a specialty in “master of finishing construction works”?

Ssuz	Website
College of Architecture and Construction No. 7

Jul 27

By choosing the profession of a finisher, you have embarked on a slow but sure path to fabulous enrichment)). The income of builders often exceeds wages people in jackets and ties. To achieve success in your chosen path, you just need to quickly transform from an apprentice to a full-fledged specialist. Read about how to do this as quickly as possible in this article.

IN best traditions folk pedagogy I will talk about own experience. And then suddenly someone will think that I’m telling you theorems that are not supported by anything.

So, I'll start with how I became a finisher. I became one, I admit honestly, through connections. A distant relative offered to try himself as an auxiliary worker in their civilian brigade. We only worked ONE day together. The next day, they all went on a business trip to another city, leaving their main acquaintance, the master, in the apartment being renovated. Well, me as a free application.

All. This is where the cronyism ended. IN future fate took me to a distant relative anywhere but at a construction site.

Having taken up my duties, I began to delve into the various finishing operations that I encountered. Of course, at first I understood little, and the master trusted me only with the simplest things: bring, take away, hold, remove garbage, etc.

However, I became more and more convinced that I liked the profession of a finisher and needed to improve in my development. But how to do this in the current situation?

I resolved the issue as best I could. He began to take the initiative into his own hands at the first opportunity. The master is at lunch, but I'm not. Instead, I tried to repeat in practice what I had just seen. He did the same thing when customers distracted him from work.

In general, when he returned to the abandoned activity, it had already been continued in my performance. Often not in the best way)). What could he do? Only correct the mistakes made, simultaneously explaining the reason for their occurrence.

This is how I slowly gained experience under the guidance of a fairly experienced specialist. You have to give him credit. During the joint cooperation (2 years), the profit was divided in half. This kind of situation is very rare these days. People don’t want to share not only money, but also knowledge. Everyone is seen as a competitor)).

I learned from my first teacher a large number useful skills: work with hand and power tools, install doors, cover balconies with clapboard, make screed and self-leveling floors, lay laminate flooring, install baseboards, assemble multi-level ceilings made of plasterboard / plastic / metal, lay tiles and much, much more.

The next stage of training is consolidation of what has been learned. In order to try myself as a master, I began to offer my FREE services left and right. Those who wished to do so did not fail to take advantage of this.

Naturally, they took risks, entrusting the work to an inexperienced finisher, but the thirst for freebies usually won)). As far as I remember, no one was seriously harmed from my experiments. Everyone said “thank you very much” and were generally pleased.

The third milestone in my development was that I firmly decided to master “painting”. That is, those finishing operations that are usually performed by women. These include: stretching walls and ceilings with gypsum plaster over beacons, puttying surfaces, gluing wallpaper, installing ceiling skirting boards, painting and some others.

In my studies, I was motivated by two sinful passions: ambition and greed)). I wanted to become a generalist and take all the money from the order.

The honor of acting as my mentor fell to one finishing worker who worked at a neighboring facility. She had no enthusiasm for this. She kicked away from me as best she could. It is perhaps easier to achieve intimacy with a beauty queen than to persuade a painter to teach her the basics of her profession. But I did it. For about a couple of months I ran to her after my day job for “dates.”

And then I again began to consolidate the newly acquired skills. And again on weekends, work began with thanks from friends and strangers of our glorious city. Until I felt confident in my abilities.

This is where the story ends. For those who still do not understand how to become a finisher, I have compiled comprehensive instructions consisting of two points.

1. Get a job at an apartment renovation company as a helper. It couldn't be easier to do this. To do this, you do not need to have special education or work experience.

2. Paraphrasing famous expression Chekhov, squeeze out the helper drop by drop. How to do this is written above.

Site admin 2we. ru

It is not often possible to hear the opinion of finishing workers. These are offended customers, in order to warn possible comrades in misfortune, share their experiences and post on forums photographs of the would-be masters being on their territory. But workers for the most part hold back, and, as a last resort, they will discuss unpleasant moments of communication with colleagues or in the family circle. Onliner.by decided to break the veil of silence and give the floor to an experienced finisher with a good reputation, who, on condition of anonymity, agreed to tell his truth about customers and what is happening in the construction industry.

Evgeny (name changed) has been working closely as a finisher for more than five years. Before that, starting from his first year at university, he worked part-time as a construction worker. Behind you young man, as he himself puts it, a useless law degree and good experience in the construction industry. The choice of a creative profession was not dictated by romantic aspirations. Everything turned out to be much more prosaic: between the opportunity to work from nine to six in an office almost on a voluntary basis and the likelihood of earning good money, Evgeny chose the latter. “They simply invited me to join the brigade and offered such a salary that it was impossible to refuse,”- explains the young man.

Starting the conversation, Evgeniy makes a “lyrical digression”: he says that he would really like readers, before starting to write comments in the spirit of “Shoot!”, to study the article to the end and try to understand its content.

There are really a lot of extra people in construction today. Some left the factories, others decided to quit working in the public sector. Where to go? Of course, to the finishers! They reason like this: I know how to use a roller, I held a hammer in my hands, which means I can do repairs.

The situation is almost catastrophic: every second order is a request to redo something for a team that has already visited and worked for money. This had never happened before; the percentage of defects/rework was minimal. And now you come to the site and find out: before this, “hard workers” were hired at prices below market prices or even significantly below market prices. This is the result.

After all, what will yesterday’s driller and milling operator do? He will not be able to compete with specialists in the field of quality. Therefore, he will take his clients at a very reasonable price. When an amateur finisher comes to a thrifty customer (and such categories of people will definitely find each other), he has only two options: to do everything quickly, not very carefully, skipping the necessary technological steps, or to do everything thoroughly, over a long period of time, but don't earn anything. You understand which option he will choose...

Of course, due to the instability of the exchange rate, finishers had to “move up” and prices went down (most make 10-15% discounts), but there are always limits to what is reasonable. And the customer wants people to work in his home for next to nothing. There was a false impression that in a crisis they would make almost “one square meter” for a dollar.

There are cases when people are really just unlucky: they seem to have paid good money, but the quality is unsatisfactory. But in general, almost any conflict situation between the customer and the contractor begins with the fact that the homeowners decided to make repairs cheaper and began to look for specialists willing to work at low prices, or even better, very low prices. I myself observe how customers on the Internet organize real tenders: they post their advertisements and spend months looking for those who will offer the most cheap option. And then what happens happens.

In my opinion, the rule of life “Good things don’t come cheap” has long been tested and established. A true professional values his time and skills and will not work for pennies. He is the same person as the customer, who, in turn, also receives a salary in proportion to his qualifications and professional capabilities.

Sometimes I’m simply perplexed by how customers choose the team they will pay and from whom they expect quality: they saw an ad in mailbox, some distant friend recommended it, a work colleague recommended her relative. In general, they do not take this matter seriously. People, for you Onliner.by has created an ideal platform for choosing finishers: you go to the “Flea Market” and see from the ad how many years a person has been working, study photographs of objects, read reviews and make your decision. What could be simpler? No, you need to find who knows who and who knows how, and then complain about Onliner.by and say that all the workers are bad and that their hands are growing out of nowhere. In almost every unsuccessful case of cooperation, there is some share of the customer’s fault. It’s clear that you want to save money and get quality, but you need to approach the search for builders responsibly.

Therefore, advice to customers: before you trust anyone, study all the information and find reviews. And if you hire a team on the advice of friends, try first to see with your own eyes what and how they did with these same friends. Because the ideas about “good”, “beautiful”, “quality” different people may be very different.

Believe me, the most valuable thing a finisher has is his reputation. And the worker who doesn’t recognize this or puts money first is worthless. Reputation is our bread, and if you positive reviews, then a serious customer who is committed to normal repairs will find you out of thousands. And two or three bad comments from former clients with corresponding photographs - and you will remain hungry.

Regarding savings on finishing services, I remember one case. I come to a man who asks to redo the ceilings. It is clear that the owner is wealthy: a large cottage in Minsk, expensive materials, apparently built thoroughly - to last. I go to the first floor, look up, and there is quiet horror. It is immediately clear that plasterboard structures was done by those who held the instrument in their hands for the first time. It turns out that the workers “decorated” the ceilings at $3 cheaper than the market price for each “square.” Thus, on two floors the customer seemed to save about $700. But all the material is ruined! The man asks me what can be done about this. I apply a level and explain: when the height differences are 5 centimeters, you can only dismantle and do everything again (incurring double costs) or live with this monument to your economy. It’s curious that the builders who screwed it all up simply left the keys on the nightstand and ran away from the site.

It also happens: you arrive to order, inspect everything, voice the operations that need to be carried out for high-quality execution. You explain that without them it is impossible to achieve high results. And the person seems to understand, agrees with you, but after a couple of days you find out that he has found a “specialist” who will take on the same work, but without the listed operations and materials. And, of course, it will do everything much cheaper. There will be only one result of such cooperation: the customer will spoil the material, “raise the pressure”, and the unfortunate owner will for a very long time, at the first opportunity, tell how “crooked” our finishers and builders are.

Sometimes, when I come for a “remodel,” I ask the customer: was it really possible that during the time the workers were here and “creating,” it was impossible to pick up at least the simplest level and apply it to the wall or ceiling? Excessive gullibility also leads to problems. It’s absolutely normal to come in the evening and check for yourself what was done that day: this is your home, and you will pay. If you have questions or doubts, or if something is unclear, ask, a normal finisher will always explain, clarify technological aspects and will not hide anything from you. This is a working moment, and there is nothing offensive to the master in asking questions.

Evgeniy deals with internal and exterior decoration, in the brigade he is responsible for painting and finishing work. He knows about customers and their complaints both from colleagues and from his own not very pleasant experience. And he came across his first absolutely inadequate client two years after the start of active work.

In general, absolutely all people are different, and you need to find an approach to everyone. There are very nice, thoughtful clients. But, believe me, not all are saints. If we sort, to put it mildly, strange customers into categories, we can distinguish several categories: from really inadequate people with mental problems to real scammers who initially do not plan to pay any of the workers.

At the same time, it is almost impossible to predict how this or that person will behave. Because the customer, having gone from the first meeting to the time of calculation, can change radically: he will be very nice when meeting you, during work he will shower you with the words “wizard”, “well done”, “how wonderful it turns out”, and only when the time comes pay off, you will see his real face. Some people perceive paying for our services as wasteful - as if we are taking their money for nothing.

A year and a half ago, this topic was very popular among customers - “throwing away” workers without paying them. I also had an unpleasant experience. There were many workers working on the huge cottage, including our team. The customer almost didn’t show up: they say, guys, I trust you, work hard, then there will be a payment. But time passed, and no one saw the money. They started calling him, but the man reassured us, saying that he was about to bring the entire amount, so he nodded at his wife, and then simply made it clear that he would not pay us a penny, without giving any reasons for this.

At the same time, he had no complaints about quality, and could not have had any: professionals worked in all areas. He owed more than $4 thousand to the finishers alone. It was only later that we realized that initially he didn’t even have such an attitude that he would have to pay people off. We started digging. It turned out that we were not the first people he had cheated: he also did not pay the company that made the canopy over the porch for him. Other workers did not receive the money either.

Having assessed the situation, the guys, who had families with small children and rented apartments, said that they wouldn’t just leave it like that, and they cut his walls and ceilings with axes, that is, they “dismantled” what had previously been done for free. The customer, of course, did not expect this. Apparently, during the time of his impunity, when the performers simply endured in silence, he became excited and decided to build the entire house for free. I called the police, but the law enforcement officers took our side and promised that if the owner wrote a statement, they would seal the cottage for several months.

For the following brigades, such a “message” from their predecessors, I think, was very eloquent. In general, from the practice of my work, I can say: when I come to a new, clean facility, I don’t ask for an advance payment. Payment takes place in stages: made a plot - received money. But if you come to redo it and even see “tips” from colleagues, then you need to insure yourself and immediately receive an advance payment.

In general, it is impossible to derive any pattern and calculate which of the customers will turn out to be a scammer. The principle “the richer, the greedier” does not work. I have met very wealthy people, millionaires, who easily part with money and then support friendly relations with builders, they invite you to go fishing and barbecue. I saw and it seems ordinary people, people like ourselves, who live on a salary and count their expenses, but at the same time do not give the money until the last minute and try in every possible way to play around. And more and more often, men are entrusting their wives with the task of resolving unpleasant issues with payment, who can scream, cry, and even start real scandals.

There are some warning signs that performers should pay attention to so that they don’t have to work for free. There will obviously be problems with calculations if, closer to the end of all manipulations, the owner, arriving at the site, is looking for any reason to get hooked. He appears clearly out of sorts and begins to provoke a quarrel: talk rudely, find fault (for example, that the bucket of primer was not covered during the half-hour lunch), and pick on things that have nothing to do with work at all. When there is objectively nothing to complain about, there is pure and delusional provocation, the customer is trying to throw you off balance, waiting for you to start screaming, or even better, to insult him. In such cases, you really need to have nerves of iron.

Another piece of advice: as soon as suspicious “rubber stretching” and excuses “there is no money yet” begin, it is better to immediately suspend work. Learn from other people's mistakes (there are plenty of examples on the Internet), don't wait a month and a half for payment, while listening every week new story, why it won’t be possible to pay a salary today.

As for the customer, when choosing workers (especially according to the “finger in the sky” principle), you should first educate yourself and find out what is being done and how. Read, study, but get information from specialized and specialized sites, forums where professionals, not amateurs, communicate. I had to read from "know-it-alls" and various kinds copywriters gave such advice that it made my hair stand on end.

We often hear accusations that finishers steal building materials. Firstly, there is no need to lump everyone with the same brush. Secondly, customers now calculate everything so thoroughly that, as a rule, there are not even enough mixtures and they have to be purchased in addition. Third, is a bag of putty worth your reputation? A normal specialist will not do this; he earns enough not to embarrass himself.

In general, I would like to convey to customers a simple truth: you should not expect that you will be lucky and you will find it for a pittance good specialist. When choosing “left” people, keep in mind that you are starting to play the lottery. And it’s good if everything ends up being just damaged material. All issues must be approached wisely and balancedly, and we have plenty of good workers. The finisher is no longer Uncle Vasya with a dirty tool. Almost all the guys in our brigade with higher education, can offer some ideas and know how and what is best to do.

Builders, in turn, must also admit mistakes, including to the detriment of their own earnings. Anything can happen in life, and even the most experienced and highly qualified builder can overlook something. As people say, whoever doesn’t make mistakes simply doesn’t do anything. In my opinion, in the repair business, two parties want to achieve one thing - for the customer to be satisfied.

Reprinting text and photographs of Onliner.by is prohibited without the permission of the editors. [email protected]

Repair is a totality various processes, which are aimed at improving the condition of a particular object. They are produced periodically in each apartment, which allows not only to improve the appearance, but also to optimize many systems.

You can find out in more detail by watching video tutorials on home renovation, where each step is described in detail. It is advisable not only to do everything, but also to understand why and why you are doing it.

Using the Internet

The main source for learning how to do repairs is the World Wide Web. Present here huge amount benefits that are suitable for both beginners and experienced performers.

There can be several sources of information:

Specialized sites where this or that process is described in detail. Finding them is relatively easy by typing a query into a search engine.
YouTube is a unique video resource where you can find video instructions for solving almost every construction task. This allows you to visually see examples of work and repeat them at home.

We are starting renovations

Repair work can be completely different from installing doors to finishing the ceiling.

To learn how to make repairs, you should follow several rules:

Try to study all the information about specific task. Choose tools to optimize this process.
Try to make the work more difficult as you gain skills. It is advisable to first observe the masters and work as their assistants. At the same time, you will gradually get better at performing certain tasks and you will develop your own execution algorithm.
Do everything according to the recommendations of specialists. Don't try to do huge volumes right away. So, for example, it is better to lay several tiles evenly on the wall than to sew up the entire surface, but crookedly and with defects.
Be sure to read the instructions for a particular substance, which will allow you to use it optimally in the future. In this case, you should pay attention to all the details and details, which in most cases play an important role.
Study the repair work in some order. So, if you decide to start decorating the walls, do not immediately jump to installing plumbing or laying electrical networks. Bring your skills to a certain level first, and then learn new technologies.

Repair is a very complex process that requires a lot of patience, which will result in very high-quality results.