I chased Stefano about the progress with gaining Enel approval for the connection of the photovoltaics, but got no reply. We had been told they would be connected by the end of the year, but we’ve heard nothing.
Chasing up with Gino has revealed that the application has not been made yet which is infuriating. I had to sign and return a mandate and the application was finally made today. Apparently up to two months. Not holding my breath as Christmans holidays intervene.
Yesterday we received the latest quotes from Michele and today we agreed to proceed with him on our swimming project. Michele confirmed a start date of mid-April to early May and indicated he may be able to start up to a month earlier.
Addition of a hand rail like the one shown in the position marked in green. The fixings have to be outside the pool as the salt water will corrode any fixing in the water.
Addition of a simple shower in the position marked in red.
A pipe to drain the pool with an underground tank for dechlorination will be created as marked up in blue.
Addition of drainage channels in the positions shown in red. One to prevent water from the pool from washing away the side of the terrace below. The other to stop run-off from the terrace above flowing into the pool with it’s accopmanying earth, dust and leaves.
A trench will be needed to lay a new electric cable from the main supply in the house to the pool. Thankfully, the cost of the cabling and wiring up the pool is already part of the work we have have contracted the electrician to do.
A short trench from the pool to the gazebo so that we can have power and light there for Jesse’s bar.
Today, we received a first cut of the quote from Michele. Gino needs to verify that it meets the partameters of the design we have permission for and there are some omissions that need to be included (hand rail, shower).
The quote actually comprises quotes from three separate companies: Michele’s, the excavator and the pool supplies company.
Michele has opted to mix his own concrete rather than get a delivery. I think there are a couple of reasons for this as our drive is not wide enough to accomodate a cement mixer:
The good news is that the total compares favourably to the quote we already have from Klodian.
Following our disagreements with Klodian about the washing of the facades, our confidence in his honesty and fairness was dented enough for us to decide that we wanted to use a different contractor for the swimming pool. We also had concerns about his attention to detail and quality of finishing.
Today, we met with Michele Gigli and Gino to discuss our pool project and to find out when Michele would be available to do the work. Michele was recommended to us by David and Carol and created their swimming pool. He did the work on our second floor bathroom to a good standard.
We expected we’d have to wait till next year as Michele is always busy. He suggested he could start mid-April or at the start of May and that the job would take about 2 months. That gives us a pool by June(ish) which seems reasonable.
We agreed that he will return with the guy he wanted to use for the excavations and someone from his preferred swimming pool supplies company. Once he has their input, he’ll put together a quote.
It seems that you can do swimming pool work in one of two ways:
We are happy to go with option 2 and to give the work to Michele provided his quote isn’t ridiculously high. We have the quote from Klodian to compare with as a sanity check. One big plus for us is that we will build on our relationship with a builder who lives in our village.
Today, Gino informed us the pool permit is ready and will be released before we return at the end of August. Woo hoo!
We were due to meet with Gino and Alex to go through our list of outstanding work and defects before heading home on Sunday. Gino was called out to another job so we only had Alex.
This snagging list will, hopefully, be gradually whittled down over the coming weeks/months.
Today, Gino informed us we had been granted the permissions for the external works with no conditions. Most importantly, it includes permission for photovoltaic panels on the roof.
As we are in a part of the village classified as centro storico, we needed to get the application approved by both the comune and the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio.
Gino warned us that the Soprintendenza would be sure to reject the request for panels on the roof, but we persuaded him to apply with two possible locations (roof and garden). Having applied, he told us the only way we’d get permission to place them on the roof is if the Soprintendenza didn’t review the request properly. Today everything got approved on the basis that there was no response from the Soprintendenza within the allowed timeframe. Tada!
The grant includes:
During Martin’s trip to kick off the work, a meeting with Gino was needed. The preparation and meeting notes are below.
I am coming to Colle di Compito at the end of the week.
I am available on:
• Thursday 23rd in the afternoon
• Friday 24th all day
• Monday 27th all day
I can also be available at the weekend if necessary.
I want to do everything possible to make sure it is a successful visit.
To ensure that, please:
To give me a chance to translate, print and review the quotes and submissions to the comune, I really need them by Tuesday afternoon at the latest.
We do want to get started on the internal works as soon as possible, but I have some concerns about the permissions. Can we be sure that we will have the permissions / responses from the comune quickly enough to allow the KR work to continue uninterrupted?
We think it would be best to fit aluminium shutters and that means getting them from someone other than Tambellini. It makes sense to fit them while we have the scaffolding. Can KR get and fit the shutters, or do we need to find a specialist shutter company?
If possible, I would like to meet with Tambellini to discuss the new door (and when the windows will be ready). Is that something we should do together or can I just go down to his workshop?
Met with Gino and Alex to discuss permissions, quotes, contracts etc. These are my notes:
Laying out exactly what you expect in writing is the way to go. Over the last three weeks, we received:
Zoom meeting with Gino, Alex and Setfano (no Andrea). Very difficult communication via Zoom. Connection rubbish. Language difficulties exacerbated.
The main topic was the heating solution. The quote for just the heating was in excess of €25,000. We discussed looking into the option of using air source heat pumps for both heating and cooling in order to remove the need for radiators, boiler and GPL tank. We do not anticipate being in the house during the winter that much (at least for now). Also, if we get permission for photovoltaic panels, we could run the heating at a low level for free when the house is empty (good for keeping the damp out).
I asked Gino to get a quote for this alternative option from the same contractor so that we could see what level of saving could be made.
Gino had come through with three quotes against the updated computo metrico (only Michele missing) and I had translated and compiled them into a spreadsheet for easy comparison.
Gino informed me that one of the builders (KR Costruzioni) had done work for Riccardo Martinucci.
We also had quite a lot of discussion around the elements for assistance to plumber, electrician, etc. I was not and could not get clear about how these could be sensibly estimated (piece of string stuff).
As the Zoom meeting was about to terminate, we agreed that it would be best if I sent questions by email rather than attempt another Zoom meeting.
After the meeting I had a call with Riccardo to get his opinion on KR. He rated them highly and would happily use them again. The other interesting thing he brought up was that, when he used KR, he had to get involved coordinating between them and the electician and plumber he had selected. The boss of KR had told him that it would have worked better if he had come to them for everything as they would have then been able to coordinate everything.
Thanks for the meeting today.
The Zoom connection was not great, but I think the meeting was worth having.
Questions about the quote from Italtermo
The item “D’OPERA” relates to the supply of 20 radiators at EUR380 per radiator.
There is also an item “FORNITURA DEI RADIATORI IN ALLUMINIO ISEO BIANCO H 600 ELEMENTI” which also appears to be related to supply of radiators.
Can you help me understand what these two things are?
The quote for the heating system is very high so we are wondering if there is a more cost effective solution.
For example, could the cooling system be modified so that it can use a heat pump to blow hot air in the winter and cold in the summer?
Perhaps that could be supplemented with electric heaters and one or two wood burners.
I understand that gas is probably cheaper to run than electricity, but we should get some benefit from the solar panels even in the winter.
Questions about the quotes from the builders
The point I was trying to get clear was the reliability of the quotes for the items relating to assistance to other trades (items 24 to 29).
Have the builders calculated all the assistance needed and included reliable and fixed costs?
Or have they made some kind of educated guess and included an indicative cost that could go up or down?
Is the IVA for all the work in the quotes from the builders 10%?
Is it a sensible option to give the internal work to one builder and the external work to another?
Other questions
I spoke with Riccardo Martinucci about his experiences with KR Costruzioni.
He had only good things to say about them.
Riccardo suggests that we ask the construction company to quote for everything and take responsibility for the whole project.
This is the way we work here in the UK, so this makes sense for me.
He said that when he worked with KR he had different plumbers and electricians and that coordinating them was difficult.
The owner of KR told him it would be better if he had responsibility for the whole project.
Do you think KR, Trifino and Gigli could be given all the details and asked to quote for everything? Let me know what you think.
Next steps
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