What is an integral reform?
If you have acquired an old house or if you are thinking of renovating your home, we tell you why carrying out an integral reform can be the best decision. Studio by Clikalia are experts in this type of reforms, having made 650 works in the last year, we can help you throughout the process.
We go into the detail of what is an integral reform, the step by step process and its advantages.
Definition of comprehensive reform
A comprehensive reform is the process of complete renovation, or most of it, of all the rooms of a house. It involves updating both the finishes and the facilities themselves as well as the optimization of space with new distribution proposals and improved efficiency.
Distribution improvement
We start talking about the possible improvement of space distribution. Usually the private client has in mind the distributions of traditional housing, with corridors, multiple distributors and unused nooks and crannies in the houses, assuming that it is not necessary to modify them. However, the possibilities that these homes offer to unify spaces in order to give a greater sense of spaciousness, brightness and use of every centimeter are usually countless.
The key is in the careful design prior to the start of work. It is important to have a team of professionals such as Studio has, capable of proposing an improved distribution that manages to adapt to the needs of use of each client and improve both aesthetically and functionally the existing, without this having to involve an increase in the cost of the work.
Each person is a world, and the needs and tastes are very different, so it is important that the design team puts love and dedication to know each client, in order to design the spaces according to the uses for which they will be destined.
Optimizing the layout of a space can cover various aspects, from the reconfiguration of the partition walls to the position of the furniture. This part is fundamental to achieve the ideal distribution, since it is not the same for a client who wants a bed of 150 than a bed of 2 meters in his bedroom, just as it is not the same for a client who needs a work area or a play area.
The design team must have a spatial vision and analytical capacity to guide this distribution towards flexible spaces that can adapt to the changes and needs of people over time.
The redistribution has to be linked to the possibilities allowed by the characteristics of the dwelling in its morphology, structure and adapted to the corresponding regulations. The previous analysis is the main starting point.
Upgrading of facilities
Integral reforms are not only to create more aesthetically beautiful homes, but also to create more efficient and safe homes. In a housing stock as old and with as much history as the one we find in many of the cities of Spain, with homes over 100 years old, the electrical system and its wiring, pipes, drains... need a complete renovation. At this point, we optimize the energy system, improving the letter of the energy certificate and, consequently, a saving in the cost of the electricity bill. That is why the following sections are the most important part of an integral reform: the complete updating of installations.
Electrical and telecommunications installation
Nowadays we have electricity present in a multitude of appliances and equipment spread throughout the different rooms of the houses, the equipment of kitchen appliances has grown considerably and the electrical panels and wiring that they usually have as a base cannot support this volume. The updating of this part of the installation is basic for safety reasons, being our main objective to reduce as much as possible the accidents caused by sparks, by the abusive use of power strips due to the reduced number of plugs, etc. During the development of the project we like to define with the client the position of each socket and light point, this avoids delays in work by making decisions and regrets in the future for not having given the necessary importance to the use that will be given to each room.
Hand in hand with this update of electricity comes the need to place telecommunications cabinets, which accommodate the new needs of connected homes. Thus, the old small electrical panels behind doors, give way to much larger boxes that safely collect all these elements, allowing compliance with new safety regulations and technical building code for safe use of the multiple equipment we have in homes.
Plumbing
The plumbing is the next important point to renovate and it is usually the forgotten one. The fact that "is not seen" leads many individuals to omit the renovation of this installation in order to reduce costs, being from our point of view, a serious mistake, because once the house is done all the lifting of finishes for updating, it is time to take advantage of this replacement of pipes that, with the use and the passage of time, are generating problems of clogging, and even in many cases we find materials that today are not allowed for sanitary use and it is time to replace to be able to make a safe use of water and reduce risk to users (eg. uralite downpipes, which are currently prohibited for use).
As opposed to complete renovation, what are the rehabilitations?
As opposed to the integral reform, a rehabilitation by rooms or partial reform focuses on updating or renovating only some of the elements or spaces of the house individually (kitchen, bathrooms, painting, floors, etc.). The rehabilitation can also be directed to restore structure or specific problems of facilities of the house. In this case, these are minor changes that do not imply changes in the general distribution or characteristics of the house.
Definitive guide to know if you need a complete renovation
The easiest way to understand if what you have in mind is a comprehensive reform is to answer yes to most of these points:
- Space/stay optimization
- Complete kitchen renovation
- Complete bathroom renovation
- Change of floors
- Upgrading of suspended ceilings
- General painting of the whole house with or without smoothing (gotelé).
- Replacement of interior carpentry (doors and/or cabinets)
- Replacement of exterior carpentry (windows and/or terrace and balcony enclosures).
- Replacement of water installations (plumbing and sewage), electricity, air conditioning, heating, etc.
How much time you need for a complete renovation
One of the most common doubts when one is considering a comprehensive reform is the time it takes to execute a work of this nature because of the implications that it carries, such as over costs in the mortgage or in the payment of rent. Although there are many factors that must be taken into account, for a house of 100m2, from Studio, we are located in the 3 months of execution of work.
It is important to keep in mind that, to start those 3 months of execution, you will have previously had to define together with your Studio architect, the final distribution of your home optimizing to the maximum each room, each of the materials and styles that will be used, where each point of light and its switches will go, the plugs, the color of the faucets... although it may seem overwhelming, our architects have extensive experience and can guide you to do it in just a couple of sessions with you. Once the scope and materials have been defined, the final project and budget will be prepared.
It is important to bear in mind that an integral reform always goes through studying the feasibility of all the scopes that we want to carry out and adapt to the elements that have the current housing (structure, downspouts ...), in addition to the technical regulations.
Choice of finishes
One of the most charming and fun parts of an integral reform is to define the materials that will accompany you every day. This is not an easy decision, because the choice made will be present in your daily life for many years. The choices start from the most common which is to renew floors, tiled bathrooms, paint color of walls and ceilings, through the choice of handles, faucets, toilets, fittings ... until you can get to details such as curtains, carpets, etc.. There is a very wide catalog that makes this task can become complex if you do not go hand in hand with a professional who has understood you, has captured your tastes and needs, is aware of both technical developments and design trends and can guide you in this decision according to your budget.
In the showroom of Studio by Clikalia, we have a wide range of materials and catalogs to help in this decision making, our teams will help you by making recreations of combinations, moodboards, so that all decisions have coherence. In addition to this option, they can also accompany you to the showrooms of our partners if the decision is still unclear. As experts and our vocation to provide a 360 service, we advise the client so that every detail is unique, with both architects and interior designers who are involved in each project that we develop in a personalized way.
Kitchen
Currently, the kitchen has a leading role in the home and having a blank canvas to adjust it to your needs is a great opportunity. In many cases, the new distributions seek the integration of spaces, unifying living-dining-kitchen to give more amplitude and gain in luminosity. If the idea is to opt for an independent area, it should also be thought in a way that is practical and functional and allows family life. Giving personality to the house through the kitchen is always a good idea.
The kitchens move in a very wide range of prices. You can start from more economical options taking advantage of standard modular kitchens to custom kitchens taking advantage of every corner, recess or nook that has the building, and using the many fittings that exist in the market to improve the usefulness of these corners or complicated areas.
Carpentry
Within the scope of what is known in the world of renovation as carpentry, two main categories stand out:
- Interior carpentry, which includes the manufacture of interior doors, cabinets and custom-made shelving.
- Exterior carpentry, mainly focused on the production of windows and exterior enclosures.
Interior carpentry
Interior carpentry, as we have been explaining, focuses on the renovation of doors, cabinets and custom furniture. The wood is the material that can bring more warmth to a house and the immense proposals that exist can change your home from a basic house to a house of magazine. It is another of the items that can offer us more variety of prices because in the market there are prefabricated doors of standard sizes and finishes from 100 €, through those same doors but with an improvement in quality to be manufactured by carpenters, to more design doors such as those that go from floor to ceiling and can be continued with paneled walls.
The same goes for closets. There are those who decide to opt for modular cabinets and adapt them to their space and there are those who value more the use of each cm requesting the execution of these by a carpenter to fit it and get the most out of these elements. Their design is also so varied that we could not focus on explaining just one.
From the carpenter's hand there are many other elements in a house that can give it a lot of character such as the placement of shelves in strategic places that create unique corners, through the palillería so demanded today in the market, used to separate environments or to dress walls, to the furniture as they pass from cubreradiadores to TV furniture, shoe racks, etc..
Exterior carpentry
We close this post talking about exterior carpentry, that is, windows and balcony and terrace enclosures.
This item considerably improves the value of the house as it greatly improves energy efficiency through thermal insulation through window frames and good glazing and, consequently, the environmental impact and savings on long-term bills.
In short, a house renovation is a global intervention in the house, with the aim of expanding the space, gaining light, making the most of it and adapting it to the needs of each inhabitant to make it comfortable and convenient. We can all have a house magazine, without that implies an excessive cost, it is just a matter of making the reform with a good multidisciplinary team, to accompany you in the process, advise, to think about every detail and customize the design to each client.
