building – Trullo Genista

May 10, 2022November 25, 2022

Permission at Last. Time to get Going

I know! A scene we thought we may never see. This is an actual excavator digging the hole for our actual swimming pool.

In a bid to accelerate construction work in Italy post-lockdown the government passed legislation that basically said if you have had a construction permit request outstanding for more than 18 months, you can give 60 days notice that you are going to begin the work unless you hear from the comuné with any objections. We did all that but nothing seemed to happen. When the 60 days were up our geometra went to sign the letter that said we were due to start and sure enough it all went through.

Hole for pool filter and pump — The pump and filter space for the pool. Solar panels will sit above this area so the pool can be used right up to and including October

On the 4th May, as pictures bear witness here, digging began which means we hope to start having paying visitors in Genista in July/August. And being solar heated visitors can come right through October and enjoy a heated pool.

The Imhoff septic tank — A new septic tank. Least said the better but actually far more environmentally friendly.

On a slightly les savoury note, law dictates that a new environmentally friendly septic tank has to be installed as a result of the swimming pool work. Consequently, as you can see from the picture here, another big hole has been dug at a safe distance from the pool and a new tank installed. We haven’t inspected the work yet but we are desperately hoping that we don’t have to move any of the olive trees to accommodate this new installation. There’s a long way to go but having waited two and a half years for this when it should have been ready to start in October 2019, we were seriously bemused as to what was going on at the Comune. Was there something they weren’t telling us? Is there a problem that hadn’t been identified when the previous owner got his permit? All this stuff goes through your head and you begin to wonder if you’ll ever come out the other side. We will probably never know but right now it is onwards and upwards.

October 1, 2020October 7, 2021

Weeks not months…hopefully!

Writing once again from Puglia where we are not experiencing quite the same weather that we had this time last year. It’s been incredibly windy with the Sirocco blowing most days and some fairly spectacular rain and thunder to boot. But as can be seen from the header picture here we have new doors on the cupboards which means we can start to install appliances and store certain items down there to get them out of the house. The washing machine for example is now resident behind one of those white doors you see there. It’s difficult to get too excited by cupboard doors but given what this build has had to endure, every step forward feels like a significant one so forgive us if we get emotional about the smallest of things.

The new ensuite bathroom is now really starting to look nice. The towel rail, shower and sink are all in and it looks very slick. A few little snagging items in particular with the floor tiles have to be resolved but we’re pleased with how this looks.

The marble surround for the sink looks really nice and we’re glad we took that decision. But we still live and learn on the assumptions front. We just kind of assumed that they wouldn’t build a nice surround for the sink and leave all the pipework underneath completely exposed. That, perhaps, they might put some doors on the front? What we realise increasingly is that nothing should be taken for granted and that extras like doors have to be factored in. We have an ongoing joke at the moment that every time we meet the builder at the house he leaves a good few hundred Euros better off. But it’s all worth it to make the place look as good as it can be.

We’ve also ticked off another box with the gate posts. These are now clad in the same stone as the rest of the house which finishes them off nicely. All that remains here is for us to purchase a new house sign. Being in quite a rural and remote location it will help guests know that they have actually turned up at the right place. We know from experience that some of the later flights that tend to bring you in to Bari Airport result in your arrival at the house being in the dark. It can get a bit fractious if you are in a strange place and not sure where you are. GPS and Google Maps have improved this massively of course but a welcoming sign adds that little touch to round off a journey in the right way.

Pomegranate fruits in the garden in Puglia

As we speak, we have been assured the permit to build the pool should be finally signed off by end of October which is a blessing. Why it has sat on someone’s desk at the town hall since this time last year we can only guess but with lockdown and restructuring of departments at the Comune in Martina Franca to contend with, we are only too pleased that someone is still aware that we exist. We can gaze on this year’s crop of pomegranates and hope that by December we will have sunk a spade into the earth and begun the process. But we know from the past that until we have that piece of paper signed and in our hands we will not be opening the bubbly just yet.

But the next post on here should be one that shows the current building work just about complete. And we’re talking weeks not months.

July 17, 2020October 7, 2021

The View From Above

When we embarked upon this project, we would never have envisaged we’d have ended up here. My last blog was on 16th March when Italy was in full lockdown and the UK a week away. We would have wished that people like yourselves would now be enjoying well-earned holidays at Genista and enjoying all that Puglia has to offer.

But its not all bad news. As I write this, the builders have been back on site for two weeks. Most of our issues currently are overcoming small hurdles such as availability of tiles and wall toppings. It could be a lot worse.

You’ll see from the image at the top of this post that the new roof is now complete on both the new extension and the old part of the house which we’d had to get re-done as a result of some clear evidence of water leakage inside the hall.

Here you can also see that the new doorway has been cut to the right size and the plastering is finished. The issue with the tiles in the shower is not fully resolved yet. We have found someone who will cut the bigger tiles down to a smaller size so we can bend them round corners but they are still looking to charge us more than we would wish to pay given this is an oversight on the part of the builder who designed the shower curved. That was not our choice so we don’t believe we should have to pay. But we’ll see.

One huge improvement just now is the paving across the whole property has been cleaned up and repaired where necessary. This has included the digging of a channel from the front gate of the house to the cisterna enabling us to make use of the agricultural water supply which comes at a much cheaper price than the regular water suppliers. We’re a tad concerned that they seem to have used slightly smaller stones to over pave the channel which makes it stand out more than it should. It’s clearly visible on this photograph. However, we are hoping that it will bed in with age. All in all though it’s looking a lot tidier and a lot more finished. We are definitely getting there and all things considered we should at least be finished in time for next summer.

Just one major issue still now remains. The ongoing saga of the permit for our swimming pool. Back in December (I think it was) we were told it would be issued in January. Then, in an effort to curb corruption, the entire Communé was subject to a total overhaul and all departments were switched around. We were still hopeful that by February we should have it in our hands despite the change of offices. Then of course lockdown happened and, well, who knows?! It could be anywhere. We remain hopeful. Our next trip, Covid and airlines permitting, is on 28th July. We pray that our arrival fosters good news.

October 14, 2019October 7, 2021

Bunking off to Savelletri

The weather hasn’t been all that good the last few days so building was on hold for a while. But as the skies cleared up and the temperature raised again we were able to resume.

The footprint for the new bedroom with en suite bathroom has started to emerge. The entrance to this part of the house will be from the slatted doors that you see in the photo, that currently form double doors from the hall to the outside.

Equally encouraging, the ‘illegal building’ is also taking shape. What we see here are the cupboards and work surface also emerging from the newly plastered walls.

The really great thing about the upturn in the weather and the satisfactory progress is we were able to leave the guys to it and take a trip to Savelletri which is a really beautiful holiday resort and fishing port about 15km from Trullo Genista just beyond Fasano. My brother and his wife were visiting having made the most of the all too brief Exeter to Naples flight with Ryan Air – sadly only scheduled for one year.

Savelletri. Worth a visit to the coast to go for a swim or for lunch

We met them in Savelletri for lunch at a place we have visited a number of times called Taverna Di Umberto. It is a really relaxed place to spend a couple of hours offering really good food at really excellent value for money. The peppered mussels in particular are tremendous but frankly if you like seafood in general you won’t be disappointed here.

More to follow shortly….

September 30, 2019October 7, 2021

Puglian Earth

On arriving at the trullo for an extended stay on 26th September, I was greeted by a deep red hole in the ground next to the house. Excavation on the new extension had finally begun but there was still something missing.

We had agreed that for logistical reasons, and to save time, we would excavate the swimming pool at the same time. However, on close inspection, this was going to be either the shallowest pool of all time or clearly that had not happened. There must surely be a good explanation.

Definitely no sign of a swimming pool there!

Our swimming pool building project is being handled by Puglia Pools in Locorotondo. I called them to discuss this matter only to be told that we were all ready to begin excavation when our geometra discovered that our permit from Martina Franca Commune was in fact invalid.

Now, those of you familiar with buying property in Italy will be fully aware of this. For those who aren’t, a brief summary of how it works. When you make an offer on a property, you do it in writing. Alongside that offer are all the conditions of sale that you wish to see met before you agree to complete. One of those conditions in our case was that a valid permit to build a swimming pool was approved on the site. What we recently found out was that, for reasons we can’t discuss here right now, the permit was deemed invalid. We may have to take this issue further but hopefully not as a new permit is likely to be issued in January.

This puts us three months behind schedule for pool building. However, this should still give us plenty of time to complete the job in time for the summer. In the meantime work continues on the other building work in earnest. I’m looking forward to seeing it progress. More to follow.