First day of work on the house

Finally – work begins!

While buying the house took longer than we expected, this day has come quicker than expected. We arrived in Abruzzo to pick up the deeds five weeks ago. Now, we’ve met with some geometras, signed a contract with our favourite, informed the Comune, and everyone has turned up with more tools than I could name in English, never mind Italian.

We chose Concenzo, our quiet geometra principally so we could get our hands dirty. Or at least Roscoe can. (Concenzo doesn’t need to say a word for me to understand that women do not work on building sites. Fine by me. I’ll wait for him to go home before I swing a hammer.)

Most geometras are considered lofty figures – we don’t slip out of the formal Lei with them, we don’t question their judgement. It was clear to me that despite our romantic notions of putting our house in order brick by brick, it was more likely we’d be kept well away from the project. A friend getting a house renovated here was told off for turning up at her house without arranging the visit first!

But Concenzo seems different. Without us saying a word, he sized Roscoe up as a handy chap with a drill, and said he could come and help. Concenzo will charge us for the hours spent at the house, so the more Roscoe does, the quicker it will finish and the less we will spend.

Meanwhile I can bring trays of refreshments.

Our budget for the works so far:

Water connection request EUR 27
Water meter (asciutto) EUR 19
Water and electricity boxes for meters EUR 48
Impregnante - wood protector for roof EUR 28
Sundries from DIY shop EUR 30
TOTAL 152