#32 Demolishing the rotten porch - Couple renovating a stone house in Italy 

Yeah not looking forward to taking out that floor with a hammer drill! Might need to bring in bigger tools then ;-) Good thing it can wait a few years.

we hope so!

if he ever lets himself be touched we'll bring him to the vet to check his health and everything but for now he's a free cat and there's little we can do.

helping hands are lovely, but so is working with just the two of us! a good mix is what we need 🥰

He seems to be spending more time around the house lately, studying us or just sitting together in the sun - at a safe distance, off course. As soon as any dog comes near he's gone. Can't disagree with him entirely :-P

😅😅😅😅SE NAO VER, NAO SE PODE CRER!!!😂😂😂😂

as we understand from the locals here the arches are mostly to make the construction stronger. but drainage might be a part of that.

that's the plan 😊 it will become a residence!

Well wouldn't that be nice!

we couldn't resist doing some creative editing there 😅😉

the rotten porch will be firewood for next winter indeed :-)

he certainly likes having two human food dispensers around 🤣🤣🤣

@maryannknox7158 - we didn't get the ice, just more snow, about 18 inches here, by far the most snow of this unusually mild winter!

we hope signs of spring will be sowing up for you soon ❤️

oooh! happy to bring some spring vibes your way in the meantime ❤️

@maluneid5277 - that storm dumped almost 45 cm here to your south, biggest storm of the season by far! At least it will melt quickly...

many coffees and teas will be had on that therrace ❤️

it is self propelled! wouldn't want to push it up that slope if it wasn't 🤣

We might have some snow on tuesday still! But meanwhile happy to send sunny spring vibes your way. ;-)

we imagine so, they were built more or less simultaneausly. the good news would be if the floor wasn't reinforced concrete but given there are no cracks at all in that floor after half a century of heavy use, I suspect that they are.

Nor is it exactly small… 🤣🤣🤣

We think he arrived while we were away for the Christmas Holidays. If he had been here all along we probably would have seen him sometime between August and December. :-)

Velluto de poes is onze mascotte en onze muze :-)

all hope is not lost for the future 😉

👍@@storiesfromthecascina

❤️❤️❤️

There's no strict timeline, no. A lot will depend on how quickly we will get the green light on the project from the commune and province. But she will be moving over here this spring/summer. Let's hope the buraucratic process won't take too much time :-) Welcome to our channel!

We love seeing and learning about the bees too :-) And yes, there's some lemon balm near the cantina - not exactly in a convenient spot but will see if I can transplant it.

we think we might be getting close with velluto but it's hard to say 😅

we hope! ❤️ glad the flowers brought back lovely memories!

i have a love-hate relationship with ivy 😅 it's beautiful but in the wrong places it's really annoying.

So funny, that little boy 😊

❤️❤️❤️

The last generation of farmers who lived here didn't make cheese - they raised the cattle for meat production - but the generation before them might have, I'm not sure.

Thank you!

no, only when it's already designated residantial space. the stable is agricultural. and when you want to have that changed in the cadaster it needs to comply to the same rules as new construction. it's the same all over italy, not just piemonte, as far as we know :)

you can do that yourself in your subtitle settings. when you click the cogwheel on the video you can autotranslate to any language.

Yes there are ticks, mostly in april-may and especially in tall grass. When we have been working outside we always check for ticks + wearing long pants and showering straight after helps.

we have a busy april ahead with many helpers and also more to come in the summer! but we also definitely enjoy working with just the two of us ❤️

Dankjewel voor de tip! Wat hier tot nu toe misschien het beste heeft gewerkt is de stammetjes doorknippen en de plant dan een paar dagen laten hangen (dus niet helemaal opdrogen) en er dan pas aftrekken. Dat verzwakt de zuigkracht maar de slierten blijven wel flexibel en breken niet waardoor je grote stukken in één keer eraf kunt trekken.

there are, in the summer. the kid was careful and instructed + wearing closed shoes and working gloves. and he has ben livong in italy for a while so he's brought up with the dangers. also: in australia there are many more lethal animals. we actually had a conversation that day about how nice it is that in italy there aren't such dangerous snakes and spiders as down under 😉

We have a few main goals for every month that we strive towards, but a lot of what we can do also depends on the weather and other things that are partly out of our hands (such as the permission process for renovating in Italy, and the availability of professional tradespeople). I'd say it's a mix of being clear on what has the most urgency and going with the flow. It's rare that anything get's done exactly by the time we had in mind, but in the end it does all get done :-)

that's only.possible when the building already has a residential destination. anything that has an agricultural destination and that you want to turn into residential space has to comply to the same rules as a new build.

that's possible 😅 in dutch we say the numbers the other way round and i do mix them up sometimes.

it will replace our current workshop where we have all our tools for wood and metal working. 😊

We definitely hear you but there are a few reasons why we won't be going that route (even though we agree the stone roofs are absolutely beautiful and something to be preserved when they're there). It's a really interesting and valuable point you're making so I'll take the time to answer in detail ;-) We have friends nearby who were lucky enough to have the stone roof still in place and they have restored it beautifully. However, even when all the stone tiles are still there, it's much more expensive to renew the roof with insulation etc than putting on roof tiles. It's a specialised job that requires specialised workers and takes at least triple the work hours to complete. In our case we'd have to buy a complete stone roof and that is, sadly, simply not within our means. Also, with the added weight of stones and new insulation we'd need to put in all new beams to carry the load (adding to the cost and taking character on the inside). The marsigliesi tiles that are on our cantina roof have been there sinds the early 1930s so we feel they have also become part of the history of the house and as such they don't feel out of place to us. A third consideration is this: the south side of that roof is one of the few places where we can install solar panels on the property and to cover a natural stone roof with solar panels is just a shame (sadly we're not allowed to put solar panels on the ground where we are). We have two buildings where the stone roofs are still intact (the chapel next to the house and our off-grid cabin in the woods), and there we will do everything we can to keep it that way ;-)

@@storiesfromthecascina That is a shame, but I understand the constraints. I am no expert but perhaps there's a way to redo it that would allow for a change of tiles to stone ones if one day you'll decide to do so. Before taking a final decision I would suggest - if you haven't done so yet - to check with the Association Canova. They are based in Ossola valley and they provide advice for sympathetic restorations of traditional architecture, especially in Piemonte, where they are based. Good luck!

@@unternehme We've been following Ghesc Project on instagram for a long time :-) They do fabulous work!

the plan is a cottage for my mom 😊 and maybe in 35 years our retirement home 😉

as mentioned in the video, that is the plan! bur it will be a while because first scaffolding will need to go up to lay a new roof 😊

@@storiesfromthecascina Yes, I noticed later, but I still just had to say it. Such a nice spot. 🙂

It absolutely is!

i'm not sure what you're trying to say but if it is "women should cook and clean" i can tell you that we divide cooking and cleaning between us and that works really well for us 😉