Signing the contract

Last week I went over to France to meet with Anthony, the builder and the plumber to finalise the contract. This was my first trip there in almost two years due to the pandemic and it was so lovely to be back. The plane flew along the coastline on the descent into the airport and I felt grateful to be able to see those views again - I know i'll never get tired of them no matter how many times I see them.

Being back at the house was both wonderful and slightly overwhelming. After not being there for almost two years it looked very tired and in need of a lot of love. The house smelt damp, there were weeds everywhere outside and a thick mulch had formed over the wilder part of the garden due to the fallen leaves and lack of gardening. Anthony had emptied the swimming pool ready for it to be pressure tested and so everything generally looked rather sad. However I know that with some time spent gardening and the renovation about to begin, this is the start of the project so it's only natural that things aren't looking their best.

I met with Anthony first and we spent a couple of hours in the beautiful October sunshine, enjoying a refreshing panaché, going over all of the questions I had before meeting with the builder and plumber the following day. The builder and plumber don't speak English so I tried my very best to follow along with their french explanation of the contract, however Anthony translated too as it was important that I understood it.

I was really impressed with everything they had put together in the contract and how Anthony has arranged the payments to be staged before each part of the work starts. This means that apart from the larger initial payment to start the project, at any time during the project I will only have to pay 5-10% up front at any time. Anthony will also be meeting the builders after each stage which is very reassuring, and I feel again very grateful for Anthony's involvement in the project.

The start date of the contract is 22nd November, and it will run for a maximum of one year, so this time next year the renovation should be complete - the builder said he doesn't anticipate it taking as long as a year, potentially only 8 months! After waiting so long to get to this point, this was music to my ears. Anthony wanted to take the contract away to read in detail rather than signing there and then, so I will be signing it in the next week or so ready for the work to begin.

The logistics of where to store all of the existing furniture in the house is something we've been thinking about for a while. As there is asbestos in the main roof, the garage roof and the pool house roof, all three need to be removed and replaced. The builders plan to start with the garage roof so once that's complete, all of the furniture can be stored safely in there while the main roof is then done. Before leaving the house for the last time before the work starts, we made a pile of all the smaller items that need to be moved into the garage once the roof has been done, and another pile of things that I plan to sell/donate. The larger items including the beds, mattresses, table and TV will also be moved into the garage.

As Anthony will be visiting the house regularly during the renovation, he suggested his son could come along with him and take care of the garden over the next year. This sounded like a great idea to me as there is a lot of work that needs to be done. I did have a local gardener do a bit of work for me but it was very expensive and the trees he chopped down were left in the garden, so I need to reconsider a long-term solution to this. In France it is necessary to gain permission from the Mairie to have a bonfire of all the dead wood (this is to help prevent forest fires) so Anthony has a date sorted to start burning everything that was left in the garden. Despite lots in the garden looking unloved, lots of plants (especially the wisteria around the house) have blossomed - so I'm really hoping the builders will be able to keep this.

The trip over to France felt very productive, and I'm feeling really excited about the project getting started now. We placed a camera above the house that will record the whole journey, so I will be able to follow along every day with what's happening. This will be the first time I've seen a renovation from start to finish so I'm sure I will learn a lot over the next year!