Useful information on a variety of topics

Restoring a farm house

Swimming pool

Pool and house maintenance

Specialist work

Banking

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Restoring a farm house

Here is a brief introduction from a structural engineer specialized in the restoration of houses, farm houses and historic houses in Le Marche.

Today, when restoring a farmhouse, there are various standards and requirements that have to be satisfied such as energy saving, acoustic and seismic. This means that the roof, the first floor ceiling and the walls must be insulated, that an acoustic mattress must be placed within the floors and weight distribution must be properly managed (rigid floors, ties and beams etc.)

Another important structural requirement regards the foundations, because they are often superficial and damaged by external humidity. Furthermore, good insulation on the ground floor requires an excavation of circa 40 cm so that small plastic igloo-like structures can be inserted so creating an area where the circualtion of air is allowed.

Moreover, the ground floor is originally often used as a deposit or stable and if made habitable must have an internal height of at least 2.7 meters.

Finally it is not always a good idea to knock down the whole building because walls are often in good condition and have interesting architectural appeal.

Ing. Vitale Grisostomi

In order to help understand what the costs of restoring a farmhouse are, we have included an example of an actual restoration of a farmhouse carried in 2005 but updated with the current building costs (as published in the official Marche Regional Price List for Work and Building Materials - BUR 2006).

The farmhouse in question, which cost circa €1.150/sqm to restore, like so many to be found in the Marche countryside, had the following characteristics:

• An outside staircase (the stables on the ground floor made total separation of the floors a necessity)
• Brick walls (internal and external)
• A terra cotta tiled roof
• Ceilings in wood and terra cotta
• No foundations

The external brick walls were sandblasted and a modern annex was rendered.
The costs below refer to a restoration of a high standard using natural materials where possible and conforming to all building regulations.
Building permission usually takes 8 weeks and the work about 9 months.
The architect, whose cost is circa 10% of the build cost, dealt with all planning and administration issues, provided plans, was responsible for site safety, project managed the work, organised surveys and provided progress reports.

Swimming pool

Swimming pool
	€32.000 Swimming pool €5.000 Digging and 55sqm of paving €1.500 Geologist (sampling and report) €7.000 Architect €45.500 Total

Pool and house maintenance

Specialist work

• Trompe l'oeil and frescos. Clarissa Parish has gained a reputation for producing works of art to the highest creative and technical standards. She is known also for being able to stick to the given budget and to meet tight deadlines. She has spent the last ten years working for a huge variety of clients, both in the private and commercial sectors. She has a team of artists, all professionals in their own right, who work with her, in her studio in London and on specific sites. www.clarissaparish.com

• Ironwork. All the ironwork produced is hand forged. The range includes gates, balustrades, railings, security screens, indoor and outdoor furniture. Although traditional intricate designs are a speciality, we recognise that simpler designs, executed to a high standard are often required to compliment the rustic style of the traditional Marchigiani home. www.ironworkmarche.com

Banking

Bank accounts in Italy differ in several ways from accounts in the UK or US, principally because there is a monthly charge and a state tax in Italy.
The monthly charges are normally between €5 and €9. In addition account holders are often charged for individual transactions including:
Cheques, direct debits, standing orders, bank transfers, credits to the account and even each line on the statement (!)
In addition to interest due there is often a standing charge (€25-50) for being overdrawn, for example when an account is overdrawn for more than 5 days in a 3 month period.

Some banks have charged “Maximum Overdraft” rates. In addition to the interest and the standing charge there is an additional interest rate charged on the maximum overdraft. E.g. An account is overdrawn by €1,000 for 4 days and €5,000 for one additional day. The costs would be:

• Interest = (4/365 x €1,000 x 10%) + (1/365 x €5,000 x 10%) = €  1.10 + €1.37 = € 2.47
• Standing charge = €25
• Maximum Overdraft = €5,000 x 1% = € 50
• Total cost of 5 days overdraft = € 77.47

Charges for crediting the account can often be 0.10%, so crediting €50,000 to your account can cost you €50 !
Account holders are often given preferential rates when they open the account and are not always clearly informed when the conditions change. So a monthly charge of €5 can rapidly become €9 per month, plus €1 per month for internet access and charges for individual transactions.
Interest is normally non existent or nominal, rates of 1% on balances of €100,000 are common.
There is a withholding tax of 27% on bank interest, so only 0.73% would be credited to the account.
The state charges €34.20 p.a. in tax for having a bank account.
It is very difficult to get details of the bank charges applied to the account though a typical account can cost €120-200 p.a. depending on the volume of transactions.

Bank hours are normally 9:30 – 12:30 and an hour in the afternoon. Some open on Saturdays for a couple of hours in the morning.
Tim Wills, who collaborates with Vinci Propreties, can explain the details. He has 23 years experience in international banking in the City, Frankfurt and Paris. He has lived in Le Marche with his wife, who is a lawyer and their triplets since 2003. He speaks English, Francais, Deutsch e Italiano.

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