Some of you may have seen the pictorial record that was created as a present for our 40th Wedding Anniversay [yes, amazingly some people do stay married that long - I was, of course, a child bride! ]. Although the redesign and restoration of our home in Spain was very much a joint effort the title was too good not to use.
I saw a television programme the other night which demonstrated how often property projects abroad go horribly wrong. To redress the balance I thought I would share some before and after pictures of our project. I think the fact that we used a proper Spanish Estate Agent [not a ex. pat Costa cowboy], made sure the legals were followed to the letter, all the building regulations, and all licenses applied for and received before works began was probably why our project has been a success. So if you are thinking about a project like this in the future - it can be done. Obviously we learnt an awful lot along the way and now have a great crew for any new work we undertake [David - Electrician extraordinaire, Juan-Lu - the rarity a Spanish Builder who always arrives on the day and time he says he will and who is even more of a perfectionist than I am; Rafa - our Plumber who was even prepared to fight the water board to repair a leak that was their responsibility.
It probably helped that Jack and I project manage relocations for companies and charity sector organisations here and have years of experience in space-planning and fit-out works but these television programmes seem to find people who make some very elementary and costly mistakes. Our great friend Lorenzo [who found our property for us] told us that it used to be joked that the when the British came on property buying expeditions they left their brains in the left luggage lockers at Alicante Airport.
Anyhow my lunch break is over so back to work!
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