Sponsor of the post: repair of refrigerators in Moscow The Khrushchev refrigerator, or rather the refrigerator under the window sill in the kitchen, is an integral part of many houses left as a legacy from the 50-70s of the last century. In those days, not many people could afford to have a real refrigerator, and this was taken into account by the designers and builders. A fairly large box under an equally wide and vast window sill allowed people to store some perishable food in a cool and easily accessible place even in the winter season. It is precisely how to remake a Khrushchev refrigerator with your own hands that will be discussed further.
Many will agree that in the modern world such sophistications are no longer needed, or at least require some modification to fit into modern interiors. Although they are called “Khrushchev’s”, they were also found in the so-called Stalinists.
Actually, in any such apartment the layout does not allow for ample space for everything you need in a small kitchen. And as an option, you can use the cabinet space under the window sill for more practical tasks. And most importantly, it is clearly necessary to do something with thermal insulation, because now everyone already understands that the better the house is insulated, the lower the cost of heating it will be. However, not everything is so simple with the possibility of remaking or improving the Khrushchev refrigerator. It is important to take into account a number of very important points that many DIYers often forget about.
For the sake of order, let's consider modification options that can be applied to the Khrushchev refrigerator and explain the especially important points in the implementation of the chosen method. It is quite reasonable to assume four options:
- Completely or mostly seal the space under the window sill. This will ensure decent and high-quality thermal insulation. As a result, the wall will be leveled or a small recess will remain, sufficient for installing a heating radiator.
- Modify and properly insulate the Khrushchev refrigerator in order to use it for its intended purpose and store food and pickles in it. Even with the fact that no significant alterations are required, a lot still needs to be done in order not to leave any chance for the cold to penetrate inside the apartment and not have a bunch of negative consequences.
- This niche can be completely reoriented, for example, into a cabinet or as a place to install equipment that is unpretentious to low temperatures.
- Dismantle the thin half-brick partition to the outside and glaze it in the style of a French window. The most radical solution. Perfect for cases where the kitchen window faces either the north side, or is blocked from sunlight by buildings or trees, the amount of daylight entering through such a window will more than cover the disadvantage.
Remove the Khrushchev refrigerator
The simplest option is to completely seal the niche. This solves the problem of heat leakage through a wall half a brick thick and unreliable wooden doors. For residents of the northern regions, this is actually a very rational option. Because any other modifications of the Khrushchev refrigerator will require too much investment to do everything right.
The niche will have to be filled with bricks. This is the only way to create sufficient protection from external weather. You can use SNiP 23-02-2003 (SNiP II-3-79), which provides calculations to determine the required wall thickness. However, it is already clear that for reliable thermal protection it is enough to either simply level the niche with the rest of the wall or leave a smaller niche with a depth of no more than 12-15 cm.
Read and see how to lay bricks in apartment conditions here.
It should be noted that it is best to lay it with bricks. Options for plasterboard sheathing using various heat insulators can subsequently backfire. This is mainly due to the principles of building walls as such, vapor permeability, etc. Without going into details, if you simply sheathe it with plasterboard with insulation, then condensation and frost will certainly begin to form between the sheathing and the outer wall, and as a result, the wall will begin to bloom and collapse.
If a niche with a depth of 12-15 cm is left, then you can safely use it to install a heating radiator. Although the alternative would be to simply leave it unused, because the window sill, which is simply huge, is often used as an additional countertop in the kitchen and it is better to leave space under the window sill for the feet.
Functional and fashionable work area
You can place the tabletop not perpendicular to the wall, but at an angle of 45-60 degrees, giving it an oval shape. A corner table will take up little space and will not interfere with the passage. It is recommended to place rails (metal tubes with holders) in the work area so that all the necessary items are at hand.
It is better to choose a sink combined with a sleeve for drying dishes
It is better to choose a sink combined with a sleeve for drying dishes. On the one hand, such a sink will take up more space. On the other hand, it will ensure efficient use of the work surface and eliminate the need to place wet dishes or lay out vegetables on it.
Improvement of the Khrushchev refrigerator
The very idea of a refrigerator under the window in a Khrushchev-era kitchen, albeit seasonal, is very practical; it is quite reasonable to try to leave a niche in the same quality. It is only necessary to bring it into proper condition so that its appearance matches the new renovation and functions better. Let us list the main points associated with the Khrushchev refrigerator:
- The back wall is only half a brick, most often there is a ventilation hole for the entry of external cold air;
- From the inside there are only wooden doors that separate the interior from the cold of the street;
- Due to the ventilation holes, mostly outside air with low absolute humidity from outside gets inside the Khrushchev refrigerator, so this protects against the appearance of frost and condensation.
So, it becomes quite logical that the main alteration of the Khrushchev refrigerator may consist precisely in replacing the inner door. It should provide maximum thermal protection that is appropriate in a given location. An excellent solution for this task would be to install a door with one leaf made of metal-plastic. It is better to make one leaf due to the fact that the profile selected will be the same as on the door or for windows, and it is quite wide. As a filler, you can insert either a single-chamber double-glazed window, for example 4x10x4, or a sandwich panel.
It is better to choose accessories that are simplest in functionality. There is no need to add a transom system, especially since the overall dimensions will not allow you to insert anything significant. The metal-plastic door will need to be secured with anchors to the side walls of the Khrushchev refrigerator. It is enough to seal the space from above and below with polyurethane foam. The resulting door will normally support the weight of the window sill on top.
Swing door option made of plastic profile
The second option could be a sliders system with sliding doors. Again, it is better to order them from glazing manufacturers. In this case, the sliding door system will reliably isolate the apartment from the coolness in the niche. In fact, the result is a plastic Khrushchev refrigerator.
By lining the inside with plastic, you get a well-maintained appearance, not far from the same as in a real refrigerator. The main thing is not to skimp on installing a normal sliding door locking system with fine-tuning. Because such a system is significantly inferior in thermal insulation to conventional swing systems of plastic windows and doors. A not fully closed sash will result in a strong draft of cold air down your legs.
Sliding doors
What about the inside of the niche? It is better not to close the hole to the outside, if there is one, again because at low temperatures it is better to let outside air flow in rather than hot and humid inside air. This way you can be safe and prevent the formation of condensation in large quantities. It is enough to seal the hole with any vapor-permeable heat-insulating material, for example, mineral wool. Options such as foaming or plugging with foam plastic will not work. The internal walls can be sheathed with either moisture-resistant plasterboard or plastic, or completely plastered.
Tip: As an additional “bell”, you can bring lighting inside. Again, taking into account the characteristics of this niche, it is better to use lighting powered by low voltage (12V, 24V) using step-down converters.
More light!
Another interesting option has begun to gain popularity, when all the brickwork from a niche is removed and a double-glazed window is installed in its place.
This option is relevant for apartments whose kitchens face north and require an additional light source.
In this case, the double-glazed window can be small, repeating the dimensions of the niche, or have the shape of a circle (semicircle).
A large double-glazed window will add beauty to the kitchen interior if the kitchen window is “extended” to the floor by removing the brickwork.
This kind of work cannot be done with your own hands and you will have to invite professionals for repairs - finishing craftsmen and window installation specialists.
Some housewives will find a double-glazed window, like for a balcony door, inconvenient, because it will deprive them of the window sill area. However, the problem is easily solved by installing the same countertop as the kitchen unit.
When renovating a kitchen, many questions arise. For example, what materials are best for flooring?
Which of the five ceiling options to choose for the kitchen? Read in this article.
Making a useful cabinet out of a Khrushchev refrigerator
A completely acceptable option would be to use the niche of the Khrushchev refrigerator as an additional kitchen cabinet. In this case, it is inappropriate to take advantage of its coolness in the winter, so you will have to insulate the wall and only then begin installing drawers or shelves behind the door.
The reasons why you should not insulate the wall of a niche from the inside and explanations on this topic may take a separate article. Everything is tied to the dew point and the detrimental consequences after condensation inevitably appears between the insulation and the outer wall, and subsequently mold. You can learn more about this in articles on the topic of insulating the walls of a house from the inside.
So what should you do? The best option is if the apartment is already insulated on the outside of the building using polystyrene foam boards or mineral wool. Then the problem with insulating the Khrushchev refrigerator disappears by itself. It is enough to finish the Khrushchev refrigerator with plasterboard or tiles installed on the solution, and proceed to further installation of shelves or drawers.
Otherwise, if there is no external insulation, then the most suitable option would be to lay at least one more layer of brick. At the same time, the hole for cold air access is sealed over its entire length with a mortar with brick chips, or blown out with foam.
Important: If any through holes in a residential building or apartment are filled with polyurethane foam, be sure to cut off the protruding foam from the outside and plaster it with a layer of mortar of at least 3-4 cm.
On top of the casing, you can either install an insert cabinet, assembled separately, or mount shelves or drawer guides directly on the walls of the niche. In any case, the depth remaining after insulating the back wall is quite enough to subsequently add quite a lot of kitchen utensils to the resulting cabinet.
Using a Khrushchev-era refrigerator to store kitchen utensils and non-perishable foods
Alternatively, with any modifications to the Khrushchev refrigerator, do not forget that you can also transfer the height of the window sill itself. For the most part, this concerns the window replacement process. Along with these measures, you can move the height of the window sill and equalize it with the height of all other kitchen surfaces. It is often possible to combine the window sill as a single surface with a transition to the main cutting table. The result will be almost 1.5-2 square meters of usable space, and this will appeal to any housewife. It is important to take into account changes in the sizes of ordered windows.
Photos of unsuccessful interiors of small kitchens
Examples of unsuccessful designs for a kitchen in Khrushchev with an area of 6 square meters with a refrigerator can be seen in the photo.
Kitchen in Khrushchev with dark design
Wrong design of a small kitchen in Khrushchev. Dark floors and surfaces reduce space. Ill-conceived design of a 5-meter kitchen with a refrigerator in Khrushchev - in the photo:
cramped kitchen in Khrushchev with a refrigerator
The photo shows a kitchen in a Khrushchev building with an area of 5 square meters with a refrigerator. A massive unit eats up all the space:
Kitchen in Khrushchev with an area of 5 square meters with a refrigerator
Photo of the design of a small kitchen in Khrushchev. The predominant dark red color visually reduces space:
Dark red color visually reduces space
The photo shows a poorly thought out kitchen design of 6 square meters with a refrigerator in Khrushchev:
Poorly thought out kitchen design
It is difficult to decorate a small kitchen in a Khrushchev-era building, but with proper arrangement of furniture and household appliances everything will work out. You should take into account the size of the space, visually enlarge it with light shades and select multifunctional surfaces and appliances.
Glazing instead of the Khrushchev refrigerator
You can do something quite radical. A thin partition that defines the outer wall of the refrigerator and, in fact, the side walls up to the edge of the window opening do not bear any load. Accordingly, it is possible to completely dismantle these parts of the wall and glaze from the floor itself to the top of the window opening. The result will be something similar to a French window. This will significantly increase the amount of daylight in the kitchen.
In the simple version, of course, there will be no room left for a wide and comfortable window sill. However, this can also be solved. It is enough to divide the window space into two parts and still mount the window sill. A significant advantage will be the increase in the usable area of the kitchen. However, such redevelopment may not fit into every design solution. So you should think carefully and weigh everything before starting work.
Obtaining permits can be a significant challenge for such alterations. Still, this is actually a redevelopment and, like any change in the apartment plan, this will require the design of the project and approval from the authorities. In addition, this will affect the overall appearance of the building and city authorities may simply not allow such extensive changes.
***
As can be seen from the proposed renovation ideas, you can make good use of such a gift from the past as the Khrushchev refrigerator. It is important to take into account those points that can affect the comfort in the apartment or the thermal insulation; for everything else, you just need to show a little imagination and equip your kitchen with another useful element.
We also recommend: a large general overview about the features of repairs in #171;Khrushchev #187;
Video: example of work on arranging a niche under a window in #171;Khrushchev#187;
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