Top 100 Most Overlooked Home Improvement Mistakes

Author: Dong Yingchun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features:
1. Breaking the wall revealed terrifying steel rebars!
Problem Description:
An exciting design was approved, and the renovation of the new home was launched with great enthusiasm. The first step was the electrical and plumbing. However, just a few days into the construction, the workers broke the wall and exposed large and small steel rebars. As everyone knows, in concrete buildings, steel rebars are as important as the human skeleton. The "dd" sound made by the workers breaking the wall was truly unsettling!
Analysis:
If a thorough and detailed inspection of the building structure is not conducted during the early stages of the renovation design, and electrical and plumbing begins, it is easy to cause artificial damage to the building during construction. If the steel rebars in the wall or floor are damaged or the original embedded pipes are damaged during pipe installation, it will leave hidden dangers for the future use of the house and affect the load-bearing capacity of the entire floor and wall. In the event of strong vibrations such as earthquakes, it can easily lead to collapse or cracks.
Solution:
1. When hiring a designer to do the house design, ask the designer to conduct a detailed and in-depth inspection on-site to avoid designing solely based on the floor plan.
2. Before starting construction, obtain the original electrical and plumbing layout from the building owner or property management company. Determine which walls can be demolished and which cannot, so that you have a clear understanding.
3. During the demolition of non-load-bearing walls, prohibit brutal construction. Using a sledgehammer and other heavy tools to strike the wall will cause varying degrees of damage to its connection points. It is necessary to remove the wall by cutting it in pieces to ensure that other structural parts are not damaged.
4. Properly handle the structural discontinuities formed after demolition, otherwise it may affect future renovation construction or use.
5. If steel rebars are damaged, immediately stop construction, consult relevant technical personnel, evaluate the potential impact of the damage on the building, propose solutions to repair the damaged wall, and promptly revise the design plan.
2. Ignoring pressure test
Problem Description:
After painstakingly renovating the house and strictly following the construction specifications for all plumbing, leaks still occurred in the pipes embedded in the walls shortly after moving in. Even the good tiles had to be removed and repaired. Where did the problem lie?
Analysis:
The pipes embedded in the walls need to withstand long-term pressure during daily use, especially at the connection points of the pipes, where leaks are prone to occur. Therefore, a pressure test must be conducted for all plumbing construction. Two pressure tests should be performed before and after the plumbing to test the pressure-bearing capacity of the pipes. After the plumbing construction is completed, the construction unit will usually test the pressure-bearing capacity of the pipes. However, the pressure test before construction is often ignored. Before starting the plumbing, a pressure test should first be conducted to check whether the quality of the original pipes embedded in the house is qualified. If the embedded pipes in the building structure have problems and are not discovered before construction, pipe leakage cannot be avoided in the future. It is best to have property management personnel present when doing the water pressure test. If the pressure test fails, it should be resolved first before starting construction to avoid unclear responsibilities later.
Solution:
During the pressure test, first connect the cold and hot water pipes with a flexible pipe to ensure simultaneous pressure testing for both cold and hot water. Install the pressure tester, release the air in the pipes, and ensure that the entire circuit is filled with water. After closing the water meter and the outside valve, pressurize to 1.5 times the working pressure. If there is no leakage for 30 minutes and the pressure gauge shows a pressure drop within 0.05 MPa, it is qualified.
Before starting the plumbing construction, plan in advance the installation locations of electrical facilities related to water use, such as water purifiers, water heaters, kitchen heaters, toilets, and sinks. Determine the positions and installation methods of the upper and lower water supply and whether they require hot water, reclaimed water, etc. Determine the type of water heater to purchase in advance, whether it is a gas water heater, electric water heater, or solar water heater, to avoid repeated construction later.
3. Phone calls have noise, internet keeps dropping
Problem Description:
Modern renovation is not just about making the interior of the house beautiful, but also fully considering the convenience of future use. Planning the layout of household circuits in the early stages of renovation can greatly improve future living standards. Many people, after completing the circuit, see that the workers have laid the wires straight, left many sockets, network ports, and phone lines, and feel at ease starting the next stage of construction. However, shortly after moving in, they find that there is always noise in the phone receiver, the TV image is blurry, and the internet keeps dropping. Where did these troubles come from?
Analysis:
The emergence of the above problems is related to household weak current. Network cables, phone lines, and cable TV lines belong to household weak currents. Due to the special nature of their functions, their construction methods are also different from ordinary circuit construction. Weak current waves are very sensitive and have poor anti-interference ability, so relying solely on protective sheathing cannot completely reduce the reaction with adjacent waves. When laying circuits, if the horizontal distance between weak current and strong current is too small, it is very easy to cause signal interference in the future.
Solution:
When renovating household weak currents, pay attention to the following issues:
1. Phone lines, network cables, TV cables, and other weak currents should be run separately through pipes during circuit construction and should not be run in the same pipe to avoid signal interference.
2. The horizontal distance between weak current and weak current, and between weak current and strong current, should not be less than 50 cm to ensure that the signal is not interfered with.
3. Network cables cannot be daisy-chained: It is best to use shielded five-category cables produced by regular manufacturers when laying network cables. Do not replace them with ordinary eight-core cables. Poor quality network cables will cause signal attenuation and reduce network speed. When laying network cables, do not daisy-chain hubs, as this may seem convenient, but it will greatly increase signal loss in the future.
4. Want to replace new wires, but the old wires can't be pulled out
Problem Description:
The circuit failed after renovating for a short time, requiring the replacement of new wires. However, the workers tugged for a long time, but the old wires could not be pulled out. It was clearly seen that the workers had carefully put protective tubes on the outside of the wires during renovation, so why couldn't they be pulled out?
Analysis:
In standardized circuit construction, workers will put protective tubes on the outside of the wires to make it easy to replace old wires at any time. However, if too many wires are run through the same protective tube, they become entangled with each other, or if the wiring has too many sharp corners, it will be difficult to pull out the wires during replacement. Another possibility is that the protective tube itself is of poor quality and cracks after being buried in the wall, which will also make it difficult to pull out the wires.
Solution:
If this situation occurs, you can check the reserved inspection port to see if you can cut the wire at the inspection port and pull it out in two parts. If it still doesn't work, you can only run the wire in the open. To avoid this unfortunate result, pay attention to the following details when renovating the circuit:
1. The number of wires in each flame retardant tube should not exceed 4. The wiring should be parallel and smooth, and should not be entangled with each other. Use a distribution box when splitting lines and reserve inspection ports in necessary places.
2. The choice of wire protective tubes cannot be compromised. Choose high-quality, high-hardness PVC rigid flame retardant tubes and accessories that can withstand the pressure generated when buried in walls or floors.
3. When laying wires, if there are sharp corners, cut the inside of the corner to form a round arc joint, bend and install it, and avoid sharp corners. If the pipeline is too long or has too many bends, set up a junction box at a certain distance. Use matching elbows at the bends of the pipeline and avoid wrinkles.
4. No wire connections are allowed inside the pipeline.
5. It is best to find a professional electrical and plumbing renovation company for circuit renovation.