In Moscow, work on major renovations of houses, interrupted due to the pandemic, has resumed. In the capital, they are the largest in the modern history of Russia - the 30-year program (until 2044) includes more than 28 thousand high-rise buildings with an area of 258 million square meters.
More than eight thousand apartment buildings have already been renovated under the regional overhaul program—that’s every fourth building included in it. Their engineering systems were completely replaced, facades and roofs, attics and basements were repaired.
Each apartment owner in Moscow receives a monthly invoice to pay for major home repairs. It makes no difference whether he lives in an old house or in a newly built one. The regional overhaul program is updated once a year, incorporating newly commissioned new buildings.
Every home eventually needs major repairs. This is the best way to keep your building in great shape. Gradually, everyone’s turn will come: according to the norms, major repairs in every house should be carried out once every 25 years. This means that sooner or later this issue will affect the majority of residents of the capital.
The long-term program of the city's Capital Repair Fund includes all Moscow buildings, with the exception of those that are recognized as unsafe and are planned for demolition or reconstruction, as well as buildings with fewer than three apartments. In addition, it does not include buildings included in the renovation program.
Exact plan for the near future
To clarify the timing and types of work under the overhaul program, so-called short-term implementation plans are drawn up. For 2021–2023, such a plan has already been approved. It included 4,437 houses with a total area of 34.2 million square meters. Next year, repairs will begin in 1.5 thousand houses - all of them can be found on the interactive map.
Taking into account the condition and age of the house, experts decide where to start the work first: it all depends on the year of construction, reconstruction, previous major repairs of the house and the service life of the elevators. Experts give a building a certain number of points according to various criteria. The houses with the highest points are renovated first. Moreover, the last word remains with municipal deputies - they can propose changing the year of repair within three years.
As of today, the order of houses under the short-term program has been determined. Notifications have already been sent to all owners of apartments where major renovations will begin next year. Within three months, they must hold a general meeting, approve the list of works and agree on deadlines. The Capital Improvement Fund will then be able to select contractors.
Where repairs are already in full swing this year, they will first complete the work necessary for the safety of residents: they will update gas supply systems and replace elevators. Due to the pandemic, the deadlines for some work, such as repairs of utility systems in apartments, will be postponed to 2021. All of them will be completed in full.
What work can be performed in both major and current repairs?
If you refer to the above articles and analyze the list of works that is presented in the overhaul, comparing it with a similar list from the current one, you can see that there are still similarities in the work performed.
What kind of work relates to major repairs of an apartment building and to current ones?
So, during both current and major repairs, the following activities can be carried out::
- Restoration of roofing waterproofing if necessary.
- Insulation of buildings by working on facades (their insulation and painting can be carried out both during current repairs and during major repairs, if required by the operating conditions of the building).
- Partial or complete replacement of door blocks and window frames, as well as restoration of lost glazing.
- Cosmetic repairs of entrances with the elimination of violations of paint and varnish coatings and plaster.
In general, the scope of work for major repairs of apartment buildings, and for the current one, is formed individually in relation to each specific apartment building by making a joint decision between the homeowners and the organization hired to carry them out.
By the way, in the regions there are special capital repair programs, within the framework of which repairs of buildings and structures in cities and towns are carried out. The order of work is determined by the list of the regional capital repair program, which can be found in local governments.
The decision is up to the owners
The Moscow overhaul program is distinguished by an integrated approach: if a house is included in it, all utility systems are repaired in order to completely restore it. The list of types of work in the capital is longer than that established by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. It includes 15 points: this is the repair of water supply, heating, sewerage, gas supply, electrical systems, elevators, basements, facades, roofs and foundations. In addition, fire protection systems, fire water pipes and internal drains are being updated in high-rise buildings, garbage chutes and windows in common areas are being replaced, and entrances are being repaired.
What exactly needs to be done from this list is decided by the apartment owners at a general meeting. We try to take into account all their suggestions. The main condition is that the work must be included in the accepted list. In addition, residents of the house can independently choose the design of the elements and colors of the future decoration of the entrances of the house; several color schemes have been developed for this.
“Residents are offered options for color combinations of materials for finishing the entrance. The catalog has options for every taste: from beige to green, from soft gray to brown. In general, we were able to understand the preferences of most people; 90 percent of residents choose design solutions. But if they don't like something, they can offer their own colors. The opinion of residents is the law,” said Evgeniy Chuishchev, head of the production technical department of the Capital Repair Fund.
If the meeting can be held quickly, the house can even be repaired ahead of schedule: if there is a decision from the owners, houses that are inextricably linked by their utility networks or structures with those that were previously included in the program are repaired earlier.
Design and estimate documentation is developed for each house, which undergoes state examination.
How to speed up major home renovations?
Which houses are subject to major renovation? Houses are subject to major home renovation if this is influenced by a number of reasons .
According to current legislation, the timing of repair work in an apartment building is influenced by the date of the last repair, the date of the planned repair, the degree of wear and tear of the engineering mechanisms and structures of the residential building.
If there is an urgent need to organize a major overhaul, only a sufficient amount of money in the account of the owners of the apartment building or an official request to the housing and communal services can help carry it out. There is no other way to perform troubleshooting.
In the event that the apartment building failed to raise a sufficient amount for repairs, it is not possible to take out a soft loan, and the official date for major repairs is still far away, in most cases residents will not be able to count on the help of housing and communal services, housing departments or any other management bodies, even if their houses requiring major repairs.
Entrances according to new standards
The renovation of entrances was included in the Moscow overhaul program not so long ago. Before this, management companies carried out routine repairs in the entrances.
“Until the end of 2021, the entrances were repaired by management organizations. Their responsibilities included work of a mainly cosmetic nature: painting walls, ceilings, removing rust from railings, fixing handrails, and repairing broken tiles on the floor. Now the Capital Repair Fund carries out work on repairing entrances in full - from floor to ceiling,” noted Evgeny Chuishchev.
During the overhaul, windows, vestibule and hall doors, floor tiles and electrical panels can be replaced, and stair steps can be put in order. What exactly needs to be done is also decided by the residents.
A standard has been developed for Moscow, according to which during the overhaul of an entrance, only materials and technologies that meet strict requirements for quality, safety and durability can be used. For example, the walls are cleaned of old finishes and covered with washable, non-fading paint. It tolerates moisture well, does not bubble, and after cleaning there should be no streaks or streaks left on it.
“The old plaster is completely knocked down, if it is in unsatisfactory condition, the walls are re-plastered and painted. The paint should be anti-vandal, it protects the walls from mechanical damage, accidental scratches and chips are not scary,” explained Evgeny Chuishchev.
The tiles on the floor are replaced with wear-resistant porcelain tiles, and the concrete floor is restored using a self-leveling polyurethane composition on the concrete screed. According to Evgeny Chuishchev, it is the restoration of the floor that takes up the main part of the overhaul of the entrance.
“We completely remove the subfloor: tiles and adhesive mixture. We apply a new base and lay new tiles with a thickness of at least eight millimeters and dimensions of 30 by 30 centimeters. It is stronger and more durable than what was used in the 1960s and 1970s. Then they used thin tiles, which were pressed into slabs at construction factories. She has already reached an unsatisfactory state,” he said.
New doors must be fire-resistant: those that can withstand open flames for at least 60 minutes are used, and their handles are covered with non-slip fire-resistant nylon. Electromagnetic locks are installed on entrance doors. Door closers help keep hallways warm.
Window units in common areas are replaced with plastic ones, which should last at least 20 years. They clean, prime, plaster and paint walls and behind mailboxes and heating appliances. By the way, the drawers themselves can also be replaced with modern sectional ones.
How to check the quality of work performed
To monitor repairs, residents can refer to current GOSTs, SNiPs and other regulatory documents. They provide clear explanations about the duration and technique of troubleshooting problems in engineering systems and structures of a residential building.
Residents also have every right to request an independent examination of major repairs, which they will have to pay for themselves. It is also possible to check major repairs and the quality of work performed by specialists from the housing department, housing and communal services or management company. This can be done in the case of independent organization of work or when the customer is the above-mentioned structures.
External transformation
The overhaul program includes repairs to the facades of high-rise buildings. This is especially true for houses built in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, it was fashionable to cover facades with fine-grained tiles, which today are actively crumbling.
Small tiles were applied to façade panels at the factory; it is impossible to completely restore or remove them. The poor condition of such a coating destroys the outer protective layer of the panels and reinforcement frame. As a result, the thermal insulation layer of the structure may become wet. Over the decades, many interpanel seams have also deteriorated. All this leads to the fact that the temperature regime in the apartments is disrupted, the walls become wet, and mold and mildew appear.
“To repair facades during major renovations, we use modern technologies that allow us not only to return the house to its original technical parameters, but also to its beautiful appearance. In recent years, the approach to repair and color has been revised very deeply. We keep up with the times, creating coziness and comfort for Muscovites. Together with the overhaul, the house essentially acquires a second life. The whole place is being transformed and updated,” said Evgeniy Chuishchev.
Now these houses are plastered with polymer-cement compositions, using reinforcing mesh and adhesive components with high bonding ability. First, the old tiles are cleaned, removing the glaze, which does not adhere well to adhesives. A primer and anti-corrosion mixture are applied on top, then a plaster-adhesive mixture and a reinforcing mesh. Interpanel seams are cleared and sealed, the joints are filled with strands of foamed polyethylene. On top you can apply decorative plaster immediately with color or cover the facade with water-dispersed acrylic paint.
Modern materials make it possible to completely restore the thermal properties of panels. And externally, after such repairs, the facade looks like new and can remain that way for 20–25 years, notes Evgeniy Chuishchev. The basalt mesh and polymer prevent the tiles from collapsing and water does not penetrate into them.
Over 660 thousand square meters of facades have already been repaired using the new technology. And since 2015, facade repairs have taken place in more than four thousand houses, where more than a million Muscovites live.
“With other houses, everything is simpler: in panel houses we paint the facade, in brick houses we wash them, clean them of dust accumulated over the years and seal them to repel moisture,” added the head of the Capital Repair Fund department.
