Our Istrian renovation, looking back now, wasn’t really a renovation. It was a series of jobs (some quite big, so we’re not underestimating what was done) carried out by different people, with differing levels of availability and skills. All of the work was carried out over a long period of time, meaning that nothing was really co-ordinated, but the big advantage to this was that we weren’t always living on a building site. The big disadvantage was that when we weren’t living in chaos, and everything was lovely and just as we wanted, we knew it wouldn’t be long until it was a building site again. We were working largely with individuals, too, meaning that they all operated differently, in terms of start times, lengths of days, billing, what tools they had and what they didn’t have. All a bit stressful at times. This time, we’ve done it all very differently.

So, what did we do?

Firstly, we appointed a family team of builders, right at the outset. They are from the town, so are known locally. They specialise in renovating old townhouses, so know the quirks of these types of houses. They know all of the local suppliers, so as well as sourcing everything, they could get the best prices. They are a team, so there’s always sufficient tradespeople to work on the project, without us having to wait until someone became available. They are professionals – each member of the family team has a skill set and they work on that skill, from start to finish, whilst co-ordinating everything with other members of the team. They keep meticulous records – time spent, money spent, changes made. Absolutely invaluable when it comes to paying, as everything is evidenced. They have all the tools/equipment needed to carry out a full renovation, without us having to rush off to the DIY store and buy something. They have a wider network, so if there’s something they don’t do, they can source someone who does.

Secondly, we kept our own records – we had a file for outcomes of meetings, things agreed going forwards. Everything was documented, because in the initial days of a full on renovation, so much is happening, and decisions are made being quickly – and in our case often from a distance, not on site – that things can just be forgotten. We kept all orders, receipts, delivery notes. We diarisied everything, and notes were jotted down, as a fallback, in case we forgot anything. Highlighters became our great friends.

We had regular site meetings with our project manager and main builder, so that key decisions could be taken quickly and any problems ironed out efficiently. Both sides kept notes and we swapped these, so that we were all on the same page, at all times.

Because we were working with an experienced team of local builders, they also knew all of the permissions we had to apply for, and did this on our behalf, with the local town hall. This made us feel very reassured that everything was being done properly – and did make us think that we might have been very lucky to fly under the radar in Croatia, as we didn’t apply for any permissions to do anything. Although, when the the little house to the rear of the main was demolished, we did have surveyors come out and redraw the boundaries – perhaps the MOST important thing, certainly in Istria, where land definitions are everything.

So, if you are thinking of, or are, renovating certainly in Andalucia, our key takes from our own experience, are as follows :

• Appoint, and work with, a team of local trusted builders – if they’re local you should be able to see examples of their previous work, as we did;
• Make sure that records are kept on both sides, but especially on yours – keep all receipts, information relating to delivery, emails, make notes of all meetings, keep records of all financial agreements and transactions;
• Meet regularly – it wasn’t possible for us to be on site all the time, as we were living two hours away, at the start of the renovation, but we did have regular facetime meetings, as well as calls.

If you’re renovating, we’d love to know how you got on/are getting on. And, if we can offer any advice, I’d be happy to chat via email – helen@wearelife.co.uk