Helping Hand – stress-free Istria!
The Helping Hand team
Money down the drain? Upgrading Istria’s sewerage system
Do you live in Istria or have a holiday home here? Need some help...
We are Helping Hand – Nicky, Elbina and Phil. We all work closely together...
Helping Hand handles a wide range of projects of varying sizes, with our approach...
An update on the changing sewerage situation in Istria and its impact on home...
A string of problems, inside and out, test my resolve, and mistakes test my temper this week. Do we find solutions and, most importantly, do I finally lose my cool? Now the pool won’t fit… I started this week with a visit to the house to discuss the garden with my gardener, Davor....
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Kovaci will be a holiday rental property. So as well as complete restoration, it also needs furnishing from top to bottom, and equipping with everything from light fittings and wardrobes to teaspoons and linen. In early February, while the builders continued working and P went to the UK, I started furniture shopping. Would I...
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Like most of Europe, Istria continued to freeze in the second week of February. But despite over-night temperatures below -10°C, work moves forward apace in the house and many decisions need to be made. With P away in the UK, I go furniture hunting and … complicating my life even further … started daydreaming...
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Week three of our Istrian house restoration project sees temperatures tumble and my confidence falter, as my translator Miran disappears … and things don’t seem to be going quite to plan. Abandoned? Week three did not start well. First, I was unable to reach Miran by phone to set up a progress meeting...
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In Istrian villages, older properties often lean against one another: buildings on one plot can get muddled with those on another, boundaries can criss-cross and so on. Very picturesque, but it means that during renovations, something that seems straightforward can rapidly get very complex, involving more and more people. Our place in Kovaci is...
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Work progressed very quickly in the first week of our Istrian house restoration project. Will things continue as rapidly and smoothly in week two, when the plumber and electrician arrive on site, the roof’s replaced and the sink debate runs on? One sink or two? Week two started with me investigating bathroom sinks...
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When house hunting, our ideal property would have been detached, on a big plot with distant neighbours. Unfortunately our budget didn’t stretch to that and the property we bought was an old stone Istrian house, part of a terrace in a village location. With sea views, the coast less than ten minutes drive away,...
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Are you looking to buy a holiday home abroad – and hoping to fund your dream with some rental income? It may come as a surprise, but not all ‘tourist’ properties can be rented out … no matter how suitable they may look or what you are told. Before you make a possibly expensive...
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In January 2011 we acquired a property in Kovaci, a district of Kaštelir, about 10 minute’s drive from the Istrian coast. Renovation work started as soon as we were given the key, and I’ll be bringing you regular reports, following our restoration progress. But before we start, what exactly have we bought and what...
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Busy, busy, busy. At last, we reached final contract stage for our new house. Then, with it barely paid for, we started gutting it. So inevitably, this week’s focus has been restoration, but we also find time for lunch with Pip … and I get a history lesson. We take ownership… Life in...
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Because of the problems of getting tourist rental classifications for new houses, we had decided to look at old properties only and our last hunting session threw up a good possibility in Fabci. But there was another possible option: how about a finished, built-for-rental development, which came with all the necessary paperwork? What’s...
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Upstairs there is space for two double bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor, and a huge, en-suite double in the attic. It’s all in much better shape than downstairs. While old and dilapidated, the walls and floors are fine and just need refurbishing. The roof is in fantastic shape without a single leak....
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Downstairs, the house is divided into three rooms. Standing with the front door to your back, the stairs are on your left, the old kitchen is in front and the living room is on your right. The house clearly hasn’t been occupied for decades and, this floor at least, needs totally gutting. Amazingly it still has...
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The property consists of a traditional three-storey Istrian house, a barn and two outhouses on about 500m² of land. Looking from the parking at the entrance, the barn and house face each other at the end of a long thin garden. The outhouses are set next to each other on the left-hand side of...
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We only bought the house yesterday (Monday). By 9:30 am today (Tuesday), the builders are ripping it apart.
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