The First Chapter of Chapter Five
This week we received the first half of the report from our surveyor outlining his initial thoughts on the property. We’ll keep you posted with further findings when we receive the second instalment later this week.
As ever, please let us know if you have any questions or recommendations. We love hearing from you all.
Xoxo
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Structural integrity
Spoiler alert for those that haven’t been to Italy but it has a few mountains. I say a few but I mean hundreds/thousands/millions. I’m not sure which but it doesn’t really matter. You’re not here for that. All you need to know from this heavily fact-checked intro is that a chunk of these mountains form what’s called the Apennines. The Apennines run from Liguria in the north of the country, for just shy of a thousand miles, all the way down to Sicily in the south.
Without wanting to butcher one of the most integral elements of the Geography GCSE syllabus anymore than I did when I took the exam back in the day, but in the same way land comes together to create mountains, it pulls apart to create earthquakes.
Over the last few decades, given its proximity to the Apennines, the land our house sits on has weathered the full force of the 1997 and 2016 earthquakes. Hundreds of people died in these events and thousands of buildings were bought to the ground. Since no one has lived there for over fifteen years, naturally, the most critical concern we had for the survey was that it would reveal that the house is structurally unsafe for us to be in. It goes without saying that this would be a bit of a dealbreaker.
Thankfully, the surveyor confirmed that, in his professional opinion, while damage from the earthquakes are visible in the form of the odd crack in the wall (see above) they are not substantial enough to warrant concerns around the structural integrity of the building.
Heating
The surveyor was also eager to note that the house is devoid of a central heating system. Less than ideal. Ok, a little creative licence at play there: there is some heat available courtesy of a wood burning stove and fireplace. And hot water is also on tap thanks to an electric boiler, so it’s not all doom and gloom.
We were, however, disappointed to learn that as the building is not thermally insulated at all, in any way. Not even a layer of insulation in the attic. Then we learnt from the report that when any warmth from the house meets the cold Umbrian air through the dodgy windows, it creates what the report elegantly describes as ‘profuse condensation’ in the house (see below for the side effects). No matter how much I try to affectionately refer to the house as our steam room, the heating and insulation situations are clearly going to require a huge serving of that dreaded combo of work and money.
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As mentioned, we expect the second half of the report in the next week or so which should provide more on the state of the windows, wiring, and whether the house conforms to planning regulations. Stay tuned.
Before I go, I wanted to thank those that have befriended us on Instagram. It’s fantastic to have not one but two platforms to attack you on. I also wanted to offer a big thank you to those that have kindly shared our content with their friends. It’s great to be going through this with you so please do continue to smash that share button if there’s anyone you’d like to inflict the misery of having to read/file/delete a further email onto.
Xoxo