myabruzzohome's activity

I'm enjoying reading these posts and I think that I can agree with some of what most posters are saying.The secret with all forums it seems to me is to never get to the state where you get upset or angry then post straight away ! Sometimes I feel irritated by something ; usually its about hunting or people who seem to see everything throuh rose tined glasses so I try to 'switch off' emotionally although I cannot often resist posting !Another thing; it would be great if people didn't just appear ask a question then clear off - or adverise their hotel etc then clear off. I can think of one or two forumnites who posted lots on their extremly complicated lives in Italy ( a woman who was livng on her own digging out a well in her bikini , having a ding dong with her ex husband etc ?? what happened to her?) get everyone quite involved then just disappeare into thin air. 

Its the mix of clay and sand that does the binding but I'm not sure that but having this type of mix you would not encourage  weeds to take root ? Whereas just gravel would not ?The crunch you mention could be a deterent to anyone creeping around ! You could plant low spreading thymes into it.The best thing is to create a border so the gravel cannot be kicked off the terrace or easily trod into the house.If you fancied a really artistic project you could make a mosaic !  The mosaic pieces can be pricey but if you can beg lots of broken tiles/pottery your costs would be minimal.You would need a flat level surface to begin with then its just a case of spreading a base to set the mosiac in and grouting it when finished.

I think we need a photo.To my mind cracked scruffy cement terraces /patios can make a house or appartment look really awful.A cheap option would be gravel or stones laid on top with a nice edging ( old bricks or you could use raileway sleepers)No-one will know that this covers a multitude of sins!

We bought an old stone house and the roof was the first thing to get repaired.Unfortunately the geometra associated with a well know Estate Agency in Pescara engaged a local team of cowboy builders whose handiwork - after 4 years is starting to let in water so we are now facing another 1,500 euros to have some remidial work done.So be very careful if you do need to employ a builder to do the work.Scaffolding is expensive - your 1,000 euros should just cover that never mind the work and materials.Is there a seismic band already built in ? If not you will need one but I suppose that if you dont want to sell and rent your house you can live in it yourself without one ?I'm not sure what the law is in these cases.

Nigel  I think you are overeacting but I can understand where you are coming from. Anastasia was kicked off this forum so she is hyjacking another forum purely to wind you up - precisley why she was evicted from here in the first ,second or third place! Her posts were always original and thought provoking but if anyone took the oppersit view then you got flammed.I dont think anyone should be using forums like this to 'wipe the floor' with another person.That just infantile.Somehow you have the impression that everyone is against you - don't forget only a few people bother to post and if there are people who want to post in support of A why are you getting so wound up about it ? I'm sure that most people will sympathise with your experiences with the bad tenants ( me for one) so why alienate them by being so defensive?I will be eternally grateful to the 'old' italy forum and I've actually got pages of info that I printed off and still refer to at times. I try where possible to give advice based on our experiences in Italy as do many 'old' forumites.I thnk that primarily this should be a place to exchange information, viewpoints and advice with perhaps an area where people can post slightly more lighthearted posts.The whole forum needs a redesign - and soon please!  

Much more like it!Bravo

Maureen you are better as Allan suggests finding a local Geometra even if you need to hire a translator - our builder tells us that Penne is now overrun with British builders and other tradesmen all working mainly for Brit. It could be that they will all be very well qualified and knowledgeable about all of the various laws that cover things such as building in earthquake zones and will be able to give you the correct certificates at the end of the project. But check first!The above company may well be an excellent one but do not fall into the trap of thinking it would be best to deal with Brits because of the language problems.My advice from bitter experience would be not to rush into anything and make sure that if you do engage someone you get references and go and look at some of their projects.you are welcome to pm me if you want some details of Italian builders etc.

Its true this forum is a bit on the bland side and personally ; though the above mentioned person  Ana whatsit slagged me off plenty of times on the 'old' forum and I had trouble understanding the blabber coming from a few other more 'eccentric' forumnites I miss it - and I prefer the old forum to this one.Never mind it can't be too long before someone comes along to stir things up a bit!

I've given up on qui as no-one I speak to in Abruzzo seems to use it!

You also need to consider if you can put the boiler well out of the way as there can be noise .That's the same with any type of boiler though.Having no spare room we will need to buy a boiler that's inside a pellet stove.These are fairly common in Italy but cost a bit more than a boiler you can hide away such as the type Adriatica has.Most of them are very fancy not really in keeping with the rustic appearance of our house so we continue to look for a plain cast iron one with no embellishments! Unfortunately these seem to be sold only in the US.