Soviet Apartment

[Zardnaar]

Interesting video.

$150/month. Note the youtuber points out for the average Russian it's not cheap. Well it's cheap but not insanely cheap. It's similar in price to what a room would cost you per week here.

Lighting's not the best and the decor is 1970s but.....

I've lived in worse. Wife stayed in a place once with no bathroom door and anyone walking past could pull the shower curtain back. I've lived in places with peeling lino and rotten floorboards.

 

[NovaKart]

My apartment in Baku had a living room kind of like that. It was small with no windows and there was a very large bedroom with tall ceilings and a window. I think I might have preferred it the other way around.

The kitchen was tiny and I found a coin from the Soviet Union under the fridge, so I guess no one had cleaned under there since that time.

There was no grounded electricity so I’d shock myself when touching the washing machine until I just decided to leave it unplugged when not in use.

There was a big heater in the wall, it was gas and looked sort of like a masonry heater. I was too afraid to use it.

There were cats on the roof outside near the kitchen window who would moan all night. The light fixture in the living room was strangely fancy, like a chandelier.

 

[warpus]

My god.. those couches and carpets remind me of the stuff we had way back in commie Poland in the 80s. Those designs are burned into my mind, and these ones are very similar.

 

[Zardnaar]

My god.. those couches and carpets remind me of the stuff we had way back in commie Poland in the 80s. Those designs are burned into my mind, and these ones are very similar.

They kinda remind me of furniture from when I was a kid, 70s decor.

Made to last though.

 

[red_elk]

The price doesn't say much. Same apartment may be even cheaper in the middle of nowhere, or can be several times more expensive in other place.

 

[Zardnaar]

The price doesn't say much. Same apartment may be even cheaper in the middle of nowhere, or can be several times more expensive in other place.

Center of Chelyabinsk.

 

[AmazonQueen]

When I lived in London some of the places I looked at were real holes.
The worst was a shared flat where the landlord had stuck the shower in the kitchen.
Being London it was £400 per month and that was back in the 1990s.

 

[Zardnaar]

When I lived in London some of the places I looked at were real holes.
The worst was a shared flat where the landlord had stuck the shower in the kitchen.
Being London it was £400 per month and that was back in the 1990s.

In the 90s my friend lived in a 1929s type house no central heating, insulation or double glazing. $40 ($28usd) a week per room.

It hadn't been enicated since the 1950's at least the stove was probably 20 years old at least.

It was a dive. Girlfriend found even worse in 2002 same price.

 

[amadeus]

Bigger than my apartment, cheaper too. Probably same quality insulation.

 

[NovaKart]

Does it get really cold in New Zealand?

 

[Zardnaar]

Does it get really cold in New Zealand?

Not as such but the build quality wasn't great by international standards.

Old houses don't have insulation, central heating or double glazing etc.

They had coal burners and open fires.

We've got a 1929s house, the old fireplace has been removed and it's got underfloor and roof insulation but not in the walls.

And we installed that insulation. Where I live it can go below freezing in winter or snow.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The couch looks comfortable. I remember seeing a picture way back when of one of those corner things with the table, and thinking how handy it would be. We never had anything like it, though. If I were to have one now... Maddy would take one look at the table area and claim it for herself.

 

[Patine]

The price doesn't say much. Same apartment may be even cheaper in the middle of nowhere, or can be several times more expensive in other place.

The price of my bachelor suite (one room and an attached bathroom) two or three blocks of Downtown Edmonton is over $800/month.

 

[Zardnaar]

The price of my bachelor suite (one room and an attached bathroom) two or three blocks of Downtown Edmonton is over $800/month.

Cheap.

 

[red_elk]

Bigger than my apartment, cheaper too. Probably same quality insulation.

Soviet apartments usually had either decent or good insulation, otherwise they would be unlivable.
Average January temperature in Chelyabinsk is -15, lowest is -50 C (-58F).

The price of my bachelor suite (one room and an attached bathroom) two or three blocks of Downtown Edmonton is over $800/month.

That's ok for Canada I guess.
The price of similar babushka apartment as in original video was ~1000$/month in 2013 in Moscow. Now it's somewhere around 350$-400$.

 

[Zardnaar]

Soviet apartments usually had either decent or good insulation, otherwise they would be unlivable.
Average January temperature in Chelyabinsk is -15, lowest is -50 C (-58F).


That's ok for Canada I guess.
The price of similar babushka apartment as in original video was ~1000$/month in 2013 in Moscow. Now it's somewhere around 350$-400$.

Better quality in some ways than here. Just smaller.

Foot thick brick or concrete you really only get that here in some if the Victorian town houses.

We have to replace weatherboards, bathroom and kitchen.

 

[red_elk]

Better quality in some ways than here. Just smaller.

Foot thick brick or concrete you really only get that here in some if the Victorian town houses.

We have to replace weatherboards, bathroom and kitchen.

External brick walls are from 40cm (old brick khruschevkas) to 60cm in those built in 70-s and later. Double glazing by default.
Used to live in one of those. Another benefit of thick walls is that you don't hear neighbors.

Panel khruschevkas were much worse though. And that window between kitchen and bathroom is awful.

 

[Zardnaar]

External brick walls are from 40cm (old brick khruschevkas) to 60cm in those built in 70-s and later. Double glazing by default.
Used to live in one of those. Another benefit of thick walls is that you don't hear neighbors.

Panel khruschevkas were much worse though. And that window between kitchen and bathroom is awful.

Double glazing was unknown here for the most part.

Interior walls are metal frames with Gib board. Gib is plasterboard.

The old brick buildings aren't very good with earthquakes though. One can even say death trap.

New way of doing it is steel bars with spray on concrete.

 

[FriendlyFire]

External brick walls are from 40cm (old brick khruschevkas) to 60cm in those built in 70-s and later. Double glazing by default.
Used to live in one of those. Another benefit of thick walls is that you don't hear neighbors.
Panel khruschevkas were much worse though. And that window between kitchen and bathroom is awful.

I thought people complained that the interior walls were paper thin ?
At least soviet didnt do the combined toilet and shower.

I dont think that windows were double glazed everywhere, maybe these were upgraded later on.

 

[red_elk]

I thought people complained that the interior walls were paper thin ?

In panel houses built in 60-s, yes. Brick houses were much better.
And later series of panel houses were different, some of them are good even by modern standards.

Like KOPE series, built from 1982

I dont think that windows were double glazed everywhere, maybe these were upgraded later on.

May be somewhere in Azerbaijan or Tajikistan.
In temperate climate it would be impossible to live without it. Not speaking about Siberia, even in Moscow winter can easily be around -40.