Category: Geometra

Gino and Andrea came to make a topograpical survey of our property from the road right up to the gora at the top of the garden. They had a GPS mast which they moved from point to point recording position and height on a hand held device which received the information direct from the mast.

Thankfully the grass was dry today as it was knee high. We need a sit on mower!

They promised to send the CILA and the other permission documentation next week and I told them I wanted to see all the plans they were creating and the various inspection reports. There should be a whole bunch of stuff to go through.

The plan is to sign the CILA etc and get them submitted. Once that’s done we should be able to get some work kicked off providing they can find contrators with availability. Minimum we’re after is a working second floor bathroom by the time we come back in August.

This morning, Gino arived with the geologo to inspect the garden.

We went up to the gora and cosidered whether there is a risk of flooding that should be mitigated by the construction of a reinforcing wall. In the opinion of the geologo, the risk exists but is small and a retaining wall would be very expensive. He explained that the point of greatest risk is where the stream turns the corner. At this point there is an existing wall (probably a hundred years old) so we should be fine. In his opinion, the gora is so far above the house that water overflowing the banks should not be an issue (as there is plenty of land or it to soak away into). In any case, the lay of the land means any more substantial flooding (e.g. bursting the bank) would result in water flowing down the gulley betwen our house and Francesco’s (probably impacting our neighbour more than us).

He suggested we go up to the gora on a rainy day and take pictures to show the level of the water when it’s streaming down the hillside. He was surprised at the quantity of water flowing in the stream and thought it must have a water source such as a spring. I suggested that it might be water diverted from the main stream flowing down the valley (i.e. a small aqueduct for irrigation). He thought that was possible. I’ll have to ask a neighbour to find out.

The geologo would be happy for Andrea to straighten the existing concrete posts or even to lift them and replace them with chestnut poles. He does not think that would destabilise the banks.

We spent some time up by the old pool considering the options for the replacement pool. He suggested that the best option would be to dig out the terrace as the ground below would be more stable than the surface of the lower terrace where the old pool is located. We felt that this would leave insufficient room for paving to accomodate sun loungers so we kind of settled on excavating 3 meters leaving the pool partly in ground and partly above ground. We could pave the remainder of the terrace and continue round the pool with a wooden deck. We made it clear to Gino that we would prefer steps internal to the pool rather than a ladder (1.5m wide in the corner).

There were some discussions around the 100 sqm limit on impermeable surfaces again as we showed them where we want to terrace outside the back of the house. This limit would apply to new paving only not to paving that is already in place and condonato. More paving is possible provided irregation pipes are dug in under it.

Gino will return on Tuesday or Wednesday next week to take measurements for the pool. He seems to be quite focussed on our job at the moment and realises the importance of making decisions while we are still here.

We went to Gino’s office in Capannori to meet with him, Andrea, the geologo and the technico. We discussed our priorities, concerns with the gora, swimming pool options (above ground, in ground, half and half) and applying for permissions (CILA and full permissions).

Apparently, there is a hard limit of 100 square metres for any addition of impermeable surfaces in the garden. A 10m x 5m pool will account for half of that so there are limited options for further paving around the pool and in the rest of the garden. We were told that there are some options for using permeable surfaces and/or adding drainage to compensate.

Andrea is going on a trip to Poland and will start work on the permissions when he returns next week.

We booked in an appointment for the morning of Thursday 21 April for the geologo to inspect the gora, the swimming pool location and the rest of the garden.

It feels like we are getting some traction now.

We had a meeting with Gino booked for this afternoon to discuss the results of the inspections, applying for the permissions and getting some work booked in. At about lunchtime, his sidekick Andrea got in touch by WhatsApp to say they didn’t need a meeting as the termotechnico would do the “structural verification” and they could just get on with the CILA (notification of works to be carried out that do not need at full and formal permission).

I made it clear that we needed a meeting and that we were expecting it to be this afternoon as arranged. In particular, we wanted to discuss these points:

1. What the structural verification consists of and when it will take place.
2. When the geologo will come for that inspection. We have specific questions regarding the gora.
3. What work can start without any permission. e.g. renovation of the second floor bathroom.
4. What works will be included in the CILA and how long it takes to get approved.
5. What works will be included in the second stage permission and how long that takes to get approved.
6. What recommendations the termotechnico has made.
7. We would also like to consider adding a small internal vestibule at the front entrance. Does this need to be included in the CILA?

With a lot of tooing and froing by WhatsApp we rearranged the meeting to tke place this Thursday at their office and that the termotechnico and the geologo would both be present.

We also got clarification that all internal works including the replacement of windows can be covered by the CILA and that work can start immediately following submission (provided we can find contractors with availability of course).

The creation of the new kitchen door and modification of the existing one to a window will have to go through the full permissions process. Incredibly, so will the replacement of the shutters as we want to change the colour. It will take 3 to 6 months to get the approval.

For the bathrooms which are one of our most pressing issues, we can go ahead and choose the fixtures and fittings that we want. Gino and Andrea will need to source a builder/plumber to do the installations.

We established that we wanted to see the CILA before it is submitted to be sure it includes everything we have in mind. That is apparently the procedure and we’ll have to sign it and authorise them to make the submission.

So the plan is to get armed with our choice of bathroom fixtures and fittings before the meeting on Thursday. So we have a couple of showrooms to visit in the next day or so.

Needless to say, the termotechnico did not come the next day as Gino promised. Thankfully, he did come on Friday accompanied by Andrea (Gino’s English speaking geometra colleague).

We explained to the termotechnico that we were looking for both heating and cooling and that, if possible, we would like to locate the plant in the room that currently houses the washing machine. We let him know that we’d like to be able to control the heating remotely so that we can keep the temperature above 10C during the winter and fire up the heating a few days before arrival to ensure a comfortable house when we get there. We told him we were happy to go with his recommendations, but would like him to consider alternatives to pellet burners such as heat pump. He conducted his assessment of the house and the exisitng heating / cooling. There will obviously be an element of interdependence between the heating and cooling work and the work of the electrician. This is for the geometra to coordinate as a project.

Andrea is a very chatty and enthusiastic geometra. I think he’s hoping to manage the work on our house. This would be fine as he has good English, but I’ll be happy if he has the more steady Gino overseeing what he does. We think we can get going with some work that does not need permissions. The work that does require permissions, seems to fall into two categories: simple changes where the permissions are pretty much just a formality (e.g. moving the bathroom internally) and those where the comune will take a closer interest (e.g. moving the back door).

Surprisingly, Andrea thought that building a small wall at the front of the house would be problematic as may paving the front garden. We want the wall to make it less easy for people to park directly outside the house and especially to stop them parking with their wheels on our grass (which they seem to do when we’re away). We are now considering getting large rectangular planters to erect a non-permanent barrier instead.

There was no discussion of the garden as the geologo has not yet been.

Andrea suggested we could have a meeting to kick things off as early as Monday and he would discuss with Gino when he got back to the office….

Finally, Gino came to start the inspections. He brought with him a junior geometra and his son who seems to work for him and has some English. He also brought an electricista (electrician) along, but no termotechnico (heating engineer) or geologo (geologist). While Gino’s junior got on with taking measurements of all the rooms, we reiterated what our priorities were.

We also discussed our electical problems with the electricista. He agreed that the major cause of our problems was likely to be the old washing machine (for which we had already ordered a replacement). He also agreed that raising the power rating of the house would help reduce the tripping. We gave him a copy of our map of existing and new sockets and indicated that we wanted all wiring to be buried in the walls (as often people just add ugly trunking attached to the walls). He conducted his assessment of the existing wiring and kindly reconnected the power to our cameras.

Gino left with the electricista and told us the termotechnico would come the next day. He left his junior and son behind to complete tbe measurements.

The measurements the geometra took were pretty impressive. Dimensions of every room (length, width, diagonals, height) and the precise location and sizes of doors and windows. Everything was also photographed.

It’s been very frustrating so far this year dealing with Gino. I’ve been enquiring regularly about the progress with arranging the various inspections. Each time he indicates that it is all in hand and will be done in the next few days.

Now that he’s finally worked out that our arrival is imminent, he has at last attended at our house only to find that Paola has lost our spare keys. Does he let me know? Get real!

At 8pm last night, I received a WhatsApp message from a very stressed and embarrassed Paola informing me that she has misplaced our keys and cannot find them anywhere. I told her not to worry and that we would be out soon. Paola is obviously mortified and sent a succession of very apologetic messages. I eventually managed to put her mind at rest. I’m really hoping she’s still prepared to hold spares for us in the future.

So I contacted Gino this morning who agreed to reschedule as soon as we are out. Fingers crossed. We are dead keen to get going on some of the jobs that are not dependent on permissions (wiring, bathrooms, etc).

We had a good meeting with Gino and Andrea today at their office. They have received and checked all the documentation from the comune and are happy that there is a good match between the records and the house. They seemed pleasantly surprised so I guess discrepancies are quite common. They were also happy with the seismic interventions that are in place and with the permissions and sign off for those – which is reassuring.

Things of note with the plans are:

• The door of the second floor bathroom is not shown in the correct position. That gives us the option to move that door back to the position shown in the plan or to regularise the current position according to what works best.
• The rooms on the second floor are classified as attic and storage space. This means they will receive less scrutiny when we want to change things on that floor. It also helps to reduce the IMU property tax we have to pay anually.
• The fireplace that we want to remove from the kitchen is not shown in the plans, so we won’t need to get permission to remove it.

We showed them the technical drawings from Domenico which have more detail than the plans at the comune (e.g. room dimensions). They asked us to see if we could get the DWG file for those plans from Domenico as that will save a lot of time creating new ones. We have already received them from Domenico this evening and forwarded them to Gino. So that puts us in the position where they can start to work on the plans for the changes we want to make.

We discussed the priority work we want to focus on first and as much of it is internal, we should be able to make a start while permissions are sought for the project works.

• Electricity
  We raised concerns about the frequency with which the electricity cuts out, the age and safety of the wiring in parts of the house, the lack of sockets in some rooms. We discussed moving the ancient fuse boxes into the services room. We also discussed moving the main inlet and meter. They said that would need to move outside, which seems dumb given that it’s a smart meter. They will arrange for electricians to inspect and quote, but first we need to document the number and location of new sockets etc. As we will not be able to replace the kitchen until the permission for the new door is granted, we will not be able to finalise our electric requirements until then.
• Heating and cooling
  We discussed a few options including solar panels, wood pellet burners, heat exchangers and combinations thereof. They will need to arrange for an inspection by a termotecnico (heating engineer) who can make recommendations and give options. We expressed concerns about the polluting properties of wood pellet burners which they attempted to allay.
• Bathrooms
  As we want to move the first floor bathroom, that work will need permission. We can, however, get going with the second floor bathroom. We briefly discused what we would like to do with the second floor bathroom.
• Utility room
  As this will be in the current location of the first floor bathroom, we will need to wait for permission.
• Swimming pool
  We discussed our plan to replace the existing wreck with a slightly larger above ground pool. We told them that we had received a quote from Systems-Pool, but that they require instructions from our geometra in relation to the non-pool works. Gino explained that we would need to get an assessment as to whether the ground is stable enough to support a larger pool and that they would seek multiple quotes.
• Windows and shutters
  We briefly discussed replacing the windows and shutters. We are happy to keep the six pane window style (which we probably have to do in any case) but replace with double or tripple glazed equivalents. We told them we want to have internal shutters as is the case now. We did not discuss materials (wood, PVC, metal).
• Doors
  We briefly discussed replacing the internal doors.

We discussed the use of the bonuses and made it clear that we wish to use them and plan to trade them with a bank. They were not really familiar with non-residents using the bonuses in this way, but we assured them we had spoken to people who have successfully done that. We explained that we were interested in using the renovation, facades and ecobonus schemes, but not the superbonus. We will have to get help elsewhere with trading the bonuses.

We briefly discussed a few of the projects which will be the major contributors to the permissions we will need to apply for. As our work will include heating and cooling, we will apparently need to get approval from some kind of energy commission. Gino’s suggestion was that we submit all our plans there first and that any approval granted by them will help expedite approval at the comune. Approvals take 3 to 6 months after submission apparently. Once granted, we will have three years to execute the plans.

We discussed IMU (council tax) for the house. You need to pay IMU each half year and our first payment is due in December. The council doesn’t give you a bill, but expects you to calculate your own liability. I tried to understand the calculation, but it was a bit beyond me. When I enquired from the comune, they just said ask your geometra. Gino asked us to try and get hold of Domenico’s last invoice for comparison with their own calculation. Domenico is not able to provide that as he has multiple properties and gets an accountant to do the lot together.

We agreed that the document we have started is a good mechanism for sharing our requirements and that we would flesh it out further and then share it again with Gino. They can let us know by email what further information they need and will also provide information for us to add to the document.

It was a really good meeting and we came away feeling that things may start moving soon.

Today we met with Gino Orsi, the geometra recommended to us by our neighbour Riccardo. He came with an English speaking employee of his (another Andrea) and his son (Alex). They saw the house and garden and we discussed what we are thinking of doing.

We liked them and will feel a lot more comfortable with a geometra of our choosing rather than one suggested by a building contractor.

They will help us to assess the building properly, make a plan of works, apply for the permissions and tax credits and project manage the work in phases.