We received a small bit of nice news today about a quality step-up in the ceiling beams with no additional cost. Here’s Kevin:
Sample: Swiss Stone Pine Pinus Cembra Click to EnlargeSample: European Chestnut Castanea Sativa Click to Enlarge
We had in the plan standard 16cm x 16cm pine beams. In getting ready to order the beams Alessandra and I got to discussing if a bigger beam might look better (though the 16s are perfectly nice and regularly used). We discussed this with Francisc and he came back to us with this: we will go to 18x18s and we will substitute CHESTNUT for pine, at NO extra cost … these will look better and add more character.
Here’s Kevin’s summary, with pictures of some examples of the additions.
Ground floor and exterior additionsClick image to enlarge
First floor design additionsClick image to enlarge
Of course, there is some added cost for these items. Kevin presented the following list. We need to look and see what, if anything, we’d like to cut out.
TIPO | ITEM
Costo | Cost
(Euro)
Long wall living room stone faced
€1,630
Add pigeon roosts external wall 4-6
160
Builder works for main entry door with arch Iron grill to choose, will be outside this budget
205
Construct wider sidewalks at back end of house, go from 80 to 140cm + 1/2 moon terrazzo at master Bedroom + wider sidewalk at wood store include works, materials, tile setting
3,745
Build 4 niches
300
Carpentry work niches
TBD
Sliding door et al for 1stfloor storage Carpenter
TBD
Build works for added window at stairs
100
Wall exits for A/C x 3 - Mobile units to recommend...outside this budget
150
Wood store in stone with coppi tiles
1250
Add 3 bathroom ventilation fans, SILENT models Units and Associated Works
600
Add 6 external water points + drains Note Faucet Styles etc. are to choose, costs Outside this budget
1200
Install Fountain outside, fountain cost Will be based on choice, outside this budget Cost of pump and electrical connections for fount.
235
Install country sink outside, sink cost Will be based on choice, outside this budget
50
Basic build works for recessed spots
220
Electrical and internet plan needs above STANDARD
1,690
€11,535
Plus carpentry works
Plus IVA
Electrical cost breakout
One big cost addition is in the electrical plans and costs over the amount built into the preliminary budget. I asked Kevin to break out those costs so I can see if there is any potential for savings.
Additions
Euro
Hard Wired Fire Alarms - 7
490
Outlets Over Base – 9
90
Light Points Over Base – 8
135
Irrigation System Predisposed
105
Kitchen Ice Machine
55
Floor Mount Plugs - 3
120
Pump Fountain
145
Associated Labor (discounted from actual of 850)
550
Total Electrical Additions
1690€
Cost Update
I asked about reducing the biggest cost, the 3745€ for the marciapiedi. Most of the incremental cost is for the areas in back outside the French doors. It seems wrong to have a narrow sidewalk there, so we’ll need to just absorb this cost somewhere.
We eliminated 2 of the “water points” (faucets) to save 600€ and one smoke detector at 70€ and Kevin was able to get the cost of the wood store down from 1250€ to 850€, so our adjustments will “save” 1070€ from the list of additions.
In total, the additions will hit the budget in these areas:
Builder budget: 8890€
Materials (tiles): 1675€
So final additions total 10,465€. Plus those TBDs for the carpentry.
Houses in Le Marche are, as far as I know, either made of stone or concrete. (In new construction, there is the need to meet the earthquake requirements. Only older houses would have actual stone construction.)
Exterior Walls
The exterior of these concrete houses is finished one of two ways: with stone or with what is called “rendering”, which covers the exterior surface with a mixture of sand and cement. The rendering is often then painted a color, so you see a lot of red, yellow, and tan.
Rendering is the cheaper option. In fact, Kevin had proposed at one time that we might want to render the side of the house which will rarely be seen, the north side outside of the kitchen. (It’s not uncommon to see houses that are part stone, part rendered.)
We had no doubt that we wanted stone everywhere. It feels more traditional. So our exterior will be done in locally-quarried stone.
Interior Walls
In many restored houses which were originally all stone, they will use some of the stone that remains and use it on an interior wall. It’s a nice look, and one we’d like to have, too.
We plan to face the inside of the back wall of the main room with stone, ideally using some of the stone from the ruin.
Location of interior stone wallClick image to enlarge
Sources: interior stone wall from http://youreprettybitch.tumblr.com/image/57592011958
