11405 Any advice much appreciated.....

Hi there

I need as much advice as anyone out there can give me. A house very close to where I now live in the province of La Spezia, is going to come up for sale It is in quite an idyllic spot. It is going to be a total renovation (not a total rebuild). Once renovated it could be fantastic.

The walls are all sound (the foundation is solid rock) there's no visible cracks in them. That really is it their is electricity to the porperty, no water but there is a spring which I could hook up to. It actually is used by neighbours also further down in the valley. That is OK for winter but not so sure about the summer months. Is getting water to a property an expensive, but necessary requirement?

So to bring it up to modern day standards it will be a blank canvas. So new everything, roof, rewiring, bathrooms, kitchen, floors (the tiles can be reclaimed) windows (any views on the resin ones?)

Paramount to all of this I want a house which is environmentally efficient so insulation is going to be a major priority to save on fuel. Having said that fuel will be wood burning stove or stoves. Any thoughts on underfloor heating anyone has would be appreciated. I have read articles in the paston external insulation what exactly does that entail. Also using solar energy what is the deal with ENEL.

The gardens are are terraced so have to think of resourceful irrigation.

There is quite a lot to think about any help on how to go about getting local community or provincial grants. I seem to remember reading a blog which said that you can pay a reduced amounton IVA for building/renovation works is that right?

Any websites, books, magazines, doors to knock on would be just great.

Already living here in Italy so am pretty up to scratch with all the beaureaucratic stuuf. Just need some good advice on how to go about this practically, and resourcefully. So avoiding any unnecessary spend.

Thanks a lot, to you all !

Category
Building/Renovation

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/13/2009 - 11:35

I think that all of your queries will have been answered in the forums many times. Some of your specific queries you will have to find out like getting water to the property.

If you use the search facility

[url=http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/search.php]Italy Magazine Forums - Search Forums[/url]

(or I prefer using a Google advanced search

[url=http://www.google.co.uk/advanced_search?hl=en]Google Advanced Search[/url]

of [url=http://www.italymag.co.uk]ITALY Magazine | Visit Italy Guides - Property - Holidays - Accommodation - Community[/url] to get more accurate results)

you should be able to come up with most of the info e.g. Lotan4850 (or as I like to think of him Mr. Insulation) is an expert on insulation and other heating aspects.

[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/building-renovation/8933-underfloor-heating-solar-panels.html#post84185[/url]

Geotherm is another heating expert and very helpful.

[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/building-renovation/8919-logical-illogical-heating.html[/url]

Another example only a few days ago there was this thread
[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/building-renovation/11357-insulation.html[/url]

I personally think that you will probably find all of the info here so won't need many more sites.

Good luck

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/13/2009 - 11:53

In addition to searching the forum for detailed info (there is some really good advice buried in the vaults) I would advise taking your time to reasearch who you can trust to manage the variouss strands of work and give yourself time to shop around. Now must be a good time to find deals surely.

The non sexy stuff like heating, lighting, water, phone, internet is worth spending time getting to grips with now (even before you buy), because if you let others sign you up to suppliers without challenging them on the deals they are getting for you it can take years to unscamble it all to a cost effective point. Questo film li, l'ho gai visto:madd:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/13/2009 - 14:14

High Patch
Thanks for the quick response, ti is much appreciated. Will have to trawl through the archives, I will really enjoy the reasearching.

Thanks again

Robert

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 12:30

Hi Robert,

We're also in the province of La Spezia. Re. solar energy, there is a local company that regularly has a stand in the new Leclerc shopping centre in Santo Stefano. I picked up a leaflet once, I must see if I can find it. For our own renovation work we used guys from the village, and they were very good, doing more than we asked them to at no extra cost, and they stayed within budget and almost within time limits. Do send us a pm if you want to know any more.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 02:36

Hi Heiko & Susan
Thanks for your reply and information. I know Leclerc at Santa Stefano so will look for the information there. It is just great this forum getting all the advice and help. So far the house I am interested in is on a bit of a hold. It is owned by three sisters all in their 80's so you know the score. It depends on whether the goose lays a golden egg. but they have said they will sell eventually.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 14:04

Hi Robert,

Just got this through on an e-mail:
Dal 14 al 22 Marzo 2009
34^edizione
Fiera Campionaria Città di La Spezia
La Spezia (LA SPEZIA), La Spezia Expò

Feriali: ore 15.00 - 20.00 - Festivi e prefestivi: ore 10.00 - 20.00
Official Website - [email]azienda.fiere@camcom.it[/email]

Esposizione di 4.000 mq circa di prodotti relativi ad un'ampia gamma di settori: arredamento, giardinaggio, nautica, elettrodomestici, ceramiche, gioielli, autoveicoli, pannelli solari....

Azienda Manifestazioni Fieristiche, tel. +39 0187728296 - fax +39 0187777908
Comune, tel +39 01877271

Sounds like another good place to look.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/15/2009 - 14:42

Thanks Heiko it is already in the diary.