Dealing with the start formalities: Whole-house decoration may be started smoothly only after 6 formalities are dealt with the property management company as follows.
a)Sign the Decoration Agreement issued by the property management company
b)Provide the decoration drawings to the property management company, which mainly reviews whether the demolition and renovation projects of water, electricity and walls are qualified or not.
c)Apply for a "Construction Permit", which is a certificate of construction period for the convenience of property management company’s inspections.
d)Provide decoration workers with access certificates.
e)Pay the deposit for decoration. (As long as you conduct normal construction, such deposit for decoration will generally be returned within 3 months after the decorating construction is completed.)
f)Pay the garbage removal freight, which is used by property management company to pay the cost of cleaning up and renovating the garbage produced during the decorating construction.
Inform your neighbors around of your decorating construction, because decoration often generates bigger noises, and some neighbors may be on the night shift, or there are children at home, who are easy to be disturbed. Early notification may let these neighbors have a preparation in mind, so conflicts can be avoided in the future.
Similarly, the difference between men and bees lies in that the bees' construction is their instinct reflection, while men firstly form ideas and frames in their mind before they start construction. So, if home decoration is compared to a battle, then the early design of home decoration is the "fighting plan" of the battle since it is the "soul link" of home decoration.
Before the design of decoration, the owner of the house needs to measure the house firstly, so that he has own assessment on the decoration design and purchase of furniture and building materials, to avoid the decoration company against conducting false measurement or wasting decoration materials.
Before the design of decoration, the owner of the house needs to determine own style of home decoration, make clear the doors, windows, and walls to be dismantled, plan water, electricity and wall modeling, do a proper budget, and sign a decoration contract with the decoration company. You may refer to the previous article "6 Points to Be Noted in Signing a Decoration Contract" for more details.
If you will renovate a second-hand house or change the existing layout of a house, it involves the demolition of main bodies, mainly including removing old walls, building new walls, shoveling wall skin, changing windows into plastic steel ones and so on. Speaking bluntly, the demolition of main bodies means putting up the framework of the decoration site first.
Measure the wooden door
Measure the cupboard
Renovation of water and electricity: Renovation of water and electricity belongs to concealed works and their lines all are buried inside the wall or below ceramic tiles and not easy to dismantle and change in the later stage. Therefore, the specific positions of switches, lamps, sanitary fittings, electric appliance, and furniture must be decided before decoration is started. Also, the cupboard designer should help you decide the renovation plan of power supply lines and water pipeline in the kitchen.
Waterproof in toilet: After the power supply lines and water pipeline in the kitchen are renovated, the stand pipes need to be wrapped up with light steel keels or red bricks in the kitchen and toilet. Then the waterproof construction may be conducted in the kitchen, bathroom and balcony.
Woodworker, bricklayer and painter are the "three brothers" in the construction link. They start their work according to the basic order of wood - tile – paint. The basic principle of their works is whichever gets dirty is started earlier. At first, woodworker comes out mainly to make all sorts of cabinets which are made of lumber core by the woodworker, but not finished products and the wooden keel for ceilings and wall forms.
Bricklayers fix ceramic bricks, including installing door stone, marble windowsill, and floor drains).
The cupboard is measured for the second time.
Painters firstly conduct the substrate treatment of wall surface, and then paint the wall surface and cabinets made by woodworkers. If the owner wants to paste wallpaper, only the wall surface to be pasted with wallpaper needs to be treated by painters.
Installation of water heater: After the wall and floor surface is decorated, delivery and installation of the water heater may be notified. A water heater is installed generally before ceilings are installed. As the current trend, a gas water heater is generally installed in the kitchen or enclosed balcony; and an electric water heater in the toilet.
Ceilings of kitchen and bathroom: This is still continuous "packing" of home. While ceilings are installed in the kitchen and bathroom, moisture-proof ceiling lamps, exhaust fan (bath heater) should have been bought. Ceiling lamps and exhaust fan (bath heater) are generally installed in the kitchen and bathroom at the same time.
Installation of cupboard: After the ceiling is installed, the cupboard may be installed. Also a water tank (excluding water supply and drainage parts), a gas stove and a smoke appliance are installed simultaneously. Before the cupboard is installed, it is better to coordinate the property management company to turn on gas, because the gas stove needs test gas after it is installed.
Installation of wooden door: As early as more than a month ago after the measurement of wooden doors is completed, it is now possible to make an appointment to install the wooden door. The hinge, door lock and floor suction to be installed at the same time. The manufacturing cycle of solid wooden doors is a month commonly, so, for a smooth project process, wooden door manufacturer should measure the door holes as early as possible after the demolishment and changes of the main body is completed. On the treatment of the door holes, you need to pay attention to a point, if the heights of the door holes are not consistent, workers need to deal with them into the equal height for a good looking.
Installation of floors: Floors may be installed on the second day after the installation of wooden doors is completed. The following two points need to be noted during the floor installation: a) It’s better to ask the floor manufacturer to make a door-to-door survey before the floors are installed, to determine whether you need level or locally level the ground. Some decoration companies or renovation teams recommend leveling or locally leveling the ground, and the floor manufacturer's actual survey result shall prevail. b) Before floors are installed, the ground should be cleaned to ensure that the ground is dry, so no water is used during the cleaning process.
Paste of wallpaper: Wallpaper may be pasted on the second day after the floors are installed and the house is cleaned. Nothing should be on the walls before wallpaper is pasted and the floors need to be protected during wallpaper is pasted.
Installation of electric switches and sockets: All sockets and switches must be waterproof and sockets equipped with a cover in the toilet. For the light switch at the entrance, it is recommended to use induction or fluorescent type so that the light goes on immediately even you go home at night, so as to avoid you from feeling in the dark. There should be enough and even more electric switches and sockets, and at least one socket at the position of the socket. Please keep in mind that there will be more and more household appliances in general, but once you have a new household appliance but no socket is available, it will be difficult to install more.
Installation of lamps: Nothing is necessary to talk about. After the installation of the lamps, the house is lit, and the glaring light of the 100-watt incandescent bulb used during the decoration period is not used any more.
Installation of hardware and sanitary fittings: The water supply and drainage parts, bathroom accessories, closestool, clothes hanger bought previously are installed. After this, people feel "alive", really "alive" in the house, which is quite different from the previous "large equipment" installation. People are pleased when they turn on the faucet and watch water flowing out for the first time and feel a sense of accomplishment when they use the new closestool for the first time.
Installation of curtain rod: Installation of curtain rods marks the basic end of the home decoration. You may have a rest, and busy days of decoration finally usher in the dawn.
First thorough cleaning: Please do not install curtains or place furniture or unnecessary appliances in the house before the first thorough cleaning, but try to keep more "plane surfaces", so that cleaning may be conducted thoroughly.
Placing of furniture: Please remember measuring the door width and the dimensions of positions for placing furniture before buying furniture, to avoid the buying of too big furniture which cannot be moved through the door and placed on the planned position.
Installation of household appliances
Installation of home accessories: It is the last step of house decoration to install home accessories, including curtains. As to buying curtains, it’s better to order them after ordering furniture, to avoid style conflicts. Some green plants, wall paintings, decoration crafts and so on may be also bought as home accessories. Anyway, once you've moved in the decorated house, you're free to decorate it more.
After moving in the decorated house, please pay attention to the ventilation of the house.
