2763 Reliable Builder in Abruzzo

Salve Tutti,

As some of you know, me and estate agents...well, we're 'estranged'.
So i thought i'd post positive and let you into a little secret now that we have had our work done. Linda & me have found this qualified, reliable, competitive builder in the Pescara/Penne area. His wife speaks fluent english & his brother is a qualified architect with 2 offices, who also does valuations.
They are Ottavio & Juvanita Massimi.
So, if you want a competitive quote from a window replacement, new bath, new house, then ring; 0039-085-8289677. Ring after 2.00pm as anita's home from work.
(It's not often i'd be doing this me thinks!!!)

Category

Building/Renovation

rob.. not wishing to argue but just a question and maybe it will prove to some your reccomendation is after a job well done....

have they actually done the work they quoted on and how did you come to the conclusion they were good value...ie did you get other quotes etc...

in fact because architects are more highly qualified here in italy they charge a higher percentage on any work they project...so often you do not need this sort of extra qualification... for less than major reconstruction work..

so bearing in mind your experiences with your estate agency ... why can we expect that this time you have found something better...

sorry if it sounds like im attacking and i dont really mean it that way. ...but recently have noted lots of posts reccomending your "favorite" agency... who i know cannot be trusted so in a sense because i know you have concerns in this area.... it would be nice in a public forum post to see something beyond they are nice and speak english.... and more they rebuilt my 100 sq m house at a total cost of euro .... and that they did all this on time and to the original quote.... or the price quoted for windows and what that includes and how many others you have got.... the price difference .... and now they are fitted they work perfectley.....thats what i call a sound reccomendation...
does that make sense... and can you be bothered to reply in such detail...

I agree with John. It's great to have recommendation but what is really valuable is actually knowing the cost of works e.g. how much did the windows cost etc., As this would help some of us that are not that well informed get better weed out some of the cowboys that quote ridiculous fees for work.

Thanks

Always nice to have a positive recommendation on a builder. My friend just bought a house near Penne and is looking to have some renovations completed. Do you have any pictures of the work done at your house that I could send these to him? He is specifically looking for someone who can do re-do kitchens, bathrooms, roofing, and and heating systems. Grazie mille!

Adriatica,
We were given so many recommendations from the estate agents 'reps', it seemed as if they were probably on commission from these also.
What we did, after our bad experiences with the estate agent was, as Tinker says, do a lot of research. As we would not be there to supervise we left them the key. By the way, we were going out approximately once a month for visits.
We wanted an old kitchen taken out, wall tiles removed new pipework installed, walls removed, arches installed. We looked around for other property being re-constructed & found out who was doing it & whether we liked the standard of work. We spoke to numereous English people who we have met, that have bought in our area and will be/are having work done. Spoke to Italian friends, etc., etc. We even asked our bank manager, local grocer etc. Not just in our village, but all over the region. It seemed the more we asked, the more we heard the same names appearing. From three we asked for quotes, two similer, one very high. We took the higher of the two similar & that basically was it. One thing though, the start time was 3 months down the line, like all popular, busy builders, but as we were in no rush we accepted this.
Over time we got Ottavio & Anitas trust & asked to look at some of the previous work they had done & they were more than happy to show us & we were really impressed with all of it.
Oh, they even got the Riello oil burner engineer out in 24hrs to repair the heating boiler when it went down.
I suppose it's all about trust.

Steff,
I haven't got photos, but if you pm me your e-mail address, when we go out in March, i'll do some & send them to you.

Sandra
Agree totally, but it will always be difficult to see 'like for like'. As you see, we had a total price for all sorts of work. If the work done is similar that people post, then that would be certainly helpful.

rob

thanks

to me that it what i would call a carefully researched reccomendation... and ok things might not always work out fine with the best of people but at least you can see what its based on .....

... i realised i think you would not be posting without knowledge... but not all have seen your postings over the months and i think this provides the confidence that you are careful on how you poceeded and reccomended...

hopefully people that suggest options in future will look at this way of doing things as an example... a good one

Thanks Rob, Very helpful for all of us planning future works. :)

I too have been dealing with Juvanita and family to price my new casa.After 7 months of dealing with other builders they are a refreshing change.Would have saved 6 months if I had known them earlier.Also top class work.Still have a rain check on a steak at Juvanitas

HI Rob,

I don't know if you are still on this forum, but I have just read your post and would like to let you know that whilst you have recommended Ottavio and Juvanita's services, as I would have done until my recent experience with them.

I am infact of Italian decent and speak fluent Italian although ny husband does not. We came accross Ottavio and Juvanitas information from your post, although I am not going to blame you for the intro!
Upon meeting them both, we agreed for them to start work for us. The story goes from babd to worse, the quote has almost doubled from what they originally quoted. We have now asked them to stop the work and we have found a new builder, after paying them almost 30,000 Euros. We paid for a new roof which has not been finished and leaks. They knocked down a fireplace without consulting us first and removed original cotto tiles and replaced them with cheap repro ones. We never had a contract with them and have since found out that in Italian law, it is actually illegal to work like this.

They are now refusing to remove scaffolding from the front of our property, preventing us from continuing with any other work.

The geometer brother we have since found out has charged double the going rate for a geometer and has not supervised any of the job. We now need to re-inforce our basement which will cost us an additional 5,000 euros. This should have been picked up by the geometer, instead, they were just keen to take our money without doing a good job.

Lina:nah:

So sorry to hear this Lina. Mine too have not been the best. However there are builders who have been working on the house next to mine. A big house on three levels which has been completely gutted internally, new roof, custom made balconies, new windows, Romanesque replacement prtino rewiring, plumbing and so on. The contractors arrive at around 7.45am and return spot on 2pm. The standard of workmanship is such a joy to observe them doing. I shall be asking them shortly for their name for refernce and when I have it, I'll post here again. The house in question is near Sulmona.

I would be interested in that too Sally. We are only wanting some smallish works done and especially finding a good geometra that can go for a window enlargement allowing a new good sized balcony to be constructed.. need someone who we can communicate with properly and who understands the planning process enough to persuade the Pacentro Planners that it is a good idea!

We also have a separate cantina that needs some imagination to get the best use out of it rather than it remain just a hardly used storage space.

Here are a couple of photos of their work.

[IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sallydonaldson/screenshot_1-12.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sallydonaldson/screenshot_2-4.jpg[/IMG]

[quote=Lina;73046]HI Rob,

They are now refusing to remove scaffolding from the front of our property, preventing us from continuing with any other work.

I am glad you had a good experience with them, but I would like to advise anyone else who is looking to have work done, STEER CLEAR of these cowboys!!!

Lina:nah:[/quote]

I'm very sorry to hear about your terrible experience, especially as it seems to have been due to a recommendation posted on this forum.

[quote=Lina;73046] They knocked down a fireplace without consulting us first and removed original cotto tiles and replaced them with cheap repro ones.
They are now refusing to remove scaffolding from the front of our property, preventing us from continuing with any other work.Lina:nah:[/quote]

I'm very sorry to hear about your predicament.

I'm sure you're aware that original cotto tiles can be sold for quite a bit of dosh and perhaps thats what happened in this case. Hey, but one can't go around accusing someone without proof.

As regards the scaffolding, I think you may have the right to give them a written notice to remove it within 7 working days stating that you believe the scaffolding is a H&S issue (e.g. kids messing around on it) and that you will not be responsible for any injuries etc,etc.

If you also inform the local Vigili del Fouco, you'll see how quickly the matter is resolved.

Good luck.

Lina,
As we now live in Italy & are waiting to have the phone fitted, we generally use the local internet cafe once a week or so, and have not looked/followed this thread until it was pointed out to me by english friends in the UK.

I understand Juvanita & Ottavio have now read this thread and are considering their options. One of those is whether to conduct this affair in the public domain. You, of course, have made your position clear by posting here.

If Juvanita wants to reply here, then i will do so on her behalf.

For reference; we know of now 4 english families that Ottavio has worked for out here & have been extremely satisfied with his work. (i know 3 of them post on here).

Hi Linda, sorry as well you've had a bad experience. In general on these forums we try to avoid bad accounts where the people are named because of the difficulty in verifying. Positive accounts should also always be taken with a great pinch of salt and you should only trust the recommendations if you feel you trust the person who posted it.

Given that the thread started with a positive reference that has been here for a long time I think it is only fair to leave Lina's negative account as well. If Ottavio would like to add something we will consider and may post that as well but that will be the end of this story. The forums are not a place to conduct business that is best conducted in front of a judge.

Therefore I am locking the thread and repeat that if Ottavio would like to provide a short reply I will post that here. This way everyone gets a say and it stops there.

For anyone wanting to recommend anyone else in the future remember that doing so publicly runs risks. Always best to do so via a private message to the other person. And to anyone receiving a recommendation remember that that may just be an ad in disguise. Only take it if you trust the recommender.

2763 Reliable Builder in Abruzzo

Penne - Ottavio and Juvanita