Felix, a resident of Minsk, bought an old house in the village. He says that it was the best waste of money in his life. The renovation turned into a hobby and weekend entertainment. In four years a lot has already been done, and the happy owner decided to show the result of his efforts.
“The idea to buy a house on the land has been maturing for a long time. I myself am a city person, in my childhood there was no village. But after 30 years I woke up craving for country life” - says Felix.
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Felix paid attention to houses of the simplest construction - rectangular, under a double-pitched roof. An important criterion is that the log cabin should be unclad. So you can and without special knowledge assess its condition.
“Houses clad with siding, I was on the contrary scared off. In my understanding they do so not for beauty, but to hide some shortcomings. I did not pay attention to the interior decoration, as I realized that everything would have to be redone” - explains Felix.
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A lot of options were viewed until finally a house was found in the village of Lavlya in Smolevichi district for 10 thousand dollars. Nearby there is a terminus of the high-speed city train, which is convenient for guests arriving without a car.
“The house has been empty for several years, but its condition is not affected - the roof is intact, the log cabin of hewn logs is well preserved. The owner, who lived in it, fell ill, and her relatives took her in” – says the new owner.
Repair with your own hands
After that, work began in the house - the first thing the new owner did was to dismantle the excess partitions. The aim was to do everything with his own hands, but not because of the economy, he just wanted to do it himself. Felix says that for him this activity has become a kind of entertainment and hobby. At the same time, he has nothing to do with the construction profession - just a talent.
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The owner divided the renovation into two stages: first it was necessary to make the first large room, so that it would be possible to live there and continue the renovation. Then it was necessary to switch to the second part of the house with the kitchen.
At first, the plan was to strip the logs and leave them like that in the interior. But when Felix removed the wallpaper, he found that the walls were badly damaged. He chose the option of interior cladding with imitation timber to keep the rustic style. In the first part of the house, he clad the walls with battens. And it turned out to be not so easy - it is almost impossible to bring the hand-cut logs into one plane. Based on my own experience, the second part of the house used a purlins metal frame, which is used to work with drywall. It is much easier and faster to work with such a frame
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A new level of comfort
In the kitchen area there used to be a large Russian stove, which occupied almost half of the room. It was dismantled. In the second part of the house, which was a bedroom, stood a small stove brought into working condition, in the furnace installed a door with glass - now it is practically a fireplace.
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Water from a bucket and a toilet outside - such conditions Felix considered unacceptable for a modern man. Therefore, he separated a small room in the house for a bathroom, connected sewage pipes there, installed a toilet and a washbasin. As a result, a simple village house is as comfortable as a city apartment.
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In the meantime, the owner does not deny himself the pleasure of doing hand-me-downs. For example, from the remnants of laminate and lumber he made a shelf for shoes, made a shelf for small things. The light fixture above the kitchen area is also his work. He needed a piece of wood, three bulbs, wires, and a chain.
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The exterior of the house has undergone only cosmetic changes.
“I don't see any use in cladding it with siding or wood, or finishing it with brick. Why would this house need to appear to be something rather than be what it is?” - Felix shares.
The plan is to build a compact one-story house, with a flat roof, with an area of 80 square meters.
“You can say that now I am practicing, preparing for a full move to my house from the city. With the locals have already found a common language, we communicate. From one we buy homemade eggs, from another smoked. There is nothing wrong with safety here either. I believe that buying a house in the village was the best expenditure of my life” - says the happy owner of the house.
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The main subject of the article is sure that the remodeling of a village house into a comfortable country dwelling is not such a complicated matter. In this he was convinced by his own experience.
“Repair will require both labor and financial investment, but in general everything is feasible, possible, and anyone can cope with it” - Felix states.
