Renovating an abandoned Italian house | Making home in a new country ep 1
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- Опубликовано: 5 дек 2022
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Hello everyone,
In this episode you will see how we tried to bring this abandoned Italian house to a state where we could move in and start decorating it in order to make it our home.
Since we don't know for how long we will be living in this house, and structural changes (like breaking out walls or re-modeling the bathroom) are quite complex and expensive, we decided to fix the house up to a state where we could comfortably live in it.
The house is very old (build in the early 60s), and has been closed off for 6 years.
So, after we removed the furniture a couple of problems showed their selves;
- electric system: the found out that the insulation around the electric cables had rotten away. So, we had to re-do the electric system. Here for we had the help of a good friend of my husband. He explained to us that it's not good for electric cables to stay without current for a couple of years. Of course, the main reason why our cables were rotting would be that they were put there about 60 years ago.
While changing the cables we also found out that our electric system was not grounded (no cable for earthing was leaving the house). To fix this we called an electrician.
- cracks and wall damages: the walls in some rooms showed quite a bit of damage. We called an architect to check for us if it was safe to live in this house, and he confirmed that the house was solid. The outer cement layer (non-portable layer) in the inside walls had corroded a bit over time. So, we repaired the walls with a quick drying cement ("gesso" in Italian). With pebble stones I made sure that the cement would keep its shape better while drying, as well as providing some extra structure to the wall. On top of the gesso i than applied a pre-mixed plaster paste. This costs a bit more than buying a bag of plaster powder, but for smaller surfaces like here it's easier to work with. Plaster can easily be smoothened with sanding paper with a small grid (180 to 240). An electric sander makes the job quite fast, but it will cover entire spaces in a layer of thin dust that you cannot remove with a domestic vacuum cleaner. In the rooms where I didn't want to produce any more dust, I evened out the plastered surfaces with a damp cloth.
- mold: when a house has been closed off for so long, you'll find aside from spiderwebs quite some mold. Especially behind bigger pieces of furniture that were standing against a wall. You can remove these spots with a professional mold cleaner. We also found an anti-fungal product that you can mix in with your paint in order to make sure that the mold doesn't come back. This is especially interesting for countries with high humidity (like Italy, where we live it's usually between 70 and 90%).
A special thanks to the following friends and family members for helping us: Amos, Davide, Eli, Jackie, Luigia, mama, Marco, Matteo, Mattia, Niels, Palu, Paola, papa, Roberto, Roxanne, Samuele, Sergio, Stefano
I hope that you enjoyed this video, and I wish you a lovely day!
A next making home- video should come up in January!
#renovation #interiordesign #construction #homedecor #homerenovation #homeimprovement #homedesign #homesweethome #renovations #movingtoitaly 
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![1 Year ALONE Restoring an Abandoned Smallholding [timelapse]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QfTlBepS0oI/mqdefault.jpg)
Great job! The prep for painting was well worth it as the finished rooms are perfect! thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much 😊
That final floor reveal was amazing. And, I love the bold colors you chose for the walls. Your vlog is so much fun to watch!
Thank you so much! 😊😊 Have a wonderful day
You make tedious work look so satisfying and calming, makes me want to come and help all over again. Great job, it looks amazing.
Thank you Niels! Your help was very appriciated! :D
Will follow you and look forward to next episodes. All the best!
Thank you! I will be happy to see you here again! 😊
I found you today and I thought I’d start from the beginning.
Oh, I'm very happy to meet you here, welcome! I hope that you enjoy the content! ☺️
Wow, i was really impressed when the floor could shined like new 😲
The magic of water, soap and a lot of arm-muscle pain! 😄
You did a great job!
Thank you 😊
I’m not even born in the ‘60s but I feel triggered that a 1960s house is “VERY old”. 😅
Sorry, it was more meant as "outdated" since it was built before certain modern requirements
(like isolation and windows thicker than 3mm) became a thing ;) . English is not my first language so you will hear some clumsiness here and there!
Good job. WHAT a workout to do that all day long. Love the floors especially. I wouldnt choose such dark colours for the walls - my rule is to go a couple of shades lighter than you think - but i might change my mind when you have moved in.
Yes, it was quite heavy on my muscles! Every now and then I needed a little day of recovery in order to not get injuries. As for the wall colors: I always thought that I would want all the walls to be white and bring color with decoration. But somehow this house started talking to the adventurous side of my personality, and so far I am happy with the results! I might get tired of the colors in a few years, but in the worst case I will paint over them :) Have a lovely day Martina!
Just had this pop up in my recommended. Liked, subscribed. Welcome to the RUclips algorithm. Hold on to your hat!
Thank you for joining our journey! The algorithm is starting to help me indeed! It's very overwhelming and exciting at the same time.. Have a nice day! 🙂
I can't wait to see the finished rooms :-) All the best for your renovation journey!
Thank you! Have a nice week! 😊
Erika you are such an incredible person, amazing work am so proud of you guys !
Thank you so much Mustafa! ☺
Looks like a great project! Greetings from Naples Florida!
Thank you! Greetings back! 😊
You did a good job!
Thank you! 😊
Nice....happy to find you
Thank you! I'm happy that you're here :)
I am your 830th subscriber. 🤩
Oh that is amazing! Thank you for subscribing, and thank you for sharing! I always wonder who are the faces behind all these numbers. Have a lovely day! :)
Love it!
Thank you! :)
You are showing me a lot of necessary ways to clean and fix things!
Oh it is amazing to hear that the video brings some inspiration, that's really an honor to me ☺️
Wauw! 🤩 I really like your videos!
Thank you Roxanne, that makes me happy! :)
Professional tips.
1. Don't ever use silicone except in kitchen/bathroom contexts. Silicone isn't paintable. Around doors and skirting boards use an acrylic caulk which allows you to paint over it.
2. Get a larger trowel.
3. Use a wide pry bar to remove old wall material. Drive it into the material from the side and lever it up. Anything that's still well attached won't come away.
😃
Follow up tip. I almost never use masking tape for painting, but if you do a few things to keep in mind are:
Don't leave it on too long as it will tear the paint underneath.
Remove it immediately after doing your final coat. If you allow it to dry it will form a continuous skin with the paint on the wall and will tear some of it off. Also try to get as little paint as possible on the tape in the first place. Try to paint as if the tape isn't there.
Thank you for your tips, they are very helpful! For the silicone I should have clarified that it was a water-based one that allows to be painted over. Have a nice week! 😊
Happy New Year to both of you. Best wishes from Australia.
Thank you! Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! :)
I ❤ the stone sink, hope you keep it... or use elsewhere...
Yes we kept it! We actually tried to work as much as possible with the things that already were in the house and worked our way around it :) In the kitchen renovation video you can see it all! Have a lovely day :)
@@erika_katrien After watching this video l saw your kitchen update and saw the transformation 👌
Living in the USA we don’t have many homes with plaster except 150-250 year old homes.
Here it's not necessary a common thing, but depending on which countries/regions you visit you can find plaster in the houses. I never lived in a house with plastered walls before though! 🙂
Great work, just came across your vlog. The house looks good and you have made it look even better.🇨🇦
Thank you Shane! And welcome! ☺️
I was wondering what would be average cost for buying similar house , Move in condition but needs some renovations !
It is hard to say! We don't own the house so we have no idea about its worth. Though, it depends a lot on the position. This house is situated in a very popular village, which makes the ground more expensive. If you go to a village that is a bit more remote, you can find houses for very cheap! Though, that could come with costs of having to dig 2km to put an internet cable in the ground ect. Have a lovely day 😊
Thank you :) @@erika_katrien
Where is that in Italy
In the north -east of Italy. A region called "Friuli-Venezia Giulia"
How much did the house cost?
We didn't buy it, it's owned by a family member. Have a great day!