Sunday, November 22, 2009

The attic project update

The architect came on Thursday and we thought he was great. He looked at the house, at the various rooms and, of course at the attic! He sees great potential and so do we. So what do we have to do?

First of all we need to ge permission from the owner of the apartment underneath us with whom we share the roof. We know the couple living there and we had the feeling they were renting, but anyway, I sent Mike to talk to them and sure they had no problem at all with us converting the attic and will give us the name of the owner (we feel it maybe the County Council). Hopefully we'll get the contact today and I'll follow this up next week.
Next we need the approval of the Directors of the Managment Company, we knew we had to have this and one advantage, according to the architect, is that they are the developers of the estate, so they know about buildings and stuff (ie if the project is good and adds value to the property they'll be able to see it).

Once we have this in place the architect will apply for planning permission to the Council. Ideally we want to open two windows in the wall and we hope the neighbouring unit won't object (we already have 3 windows on that wall, it shouldn't be too unrealistic).

The architect will get back to us in the next week or so with a budget proposal and a list of things to do. The job itself, once we have planning permission, should only take 4-6 weeks and it would be better if we move out (and move back in the granny flat I was renting when I first move to Ireland!! The landlady became like family to me and came to our wedding in 2007).
I think spring sounds like a plausible time for the job, watch this space!

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the attic. We are in the middle of a bathroom remodel (x2), I will be doing a happy dance when that is done!

Stopping by for an ICLW visit...
No. 2: the unfair struggle (mfi, speedskating, nanowrimo)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you have a great plan! I am sure that it will be stunning by the time it is finished!!! Good luck with everything.

C said...

Happy 100th post! You know I'm crossing everything, wishing you the best, and praying fiercely for a successful cycle in the new year!!

Heather said...

Wow, this sounds like an exciting renovation. And the timeline is very reasonable. I can't wait to see before and after pics.

nh said...

Sounds like a good plan. Don't forget the pics.

Amy said...

Good luck with your remodel. I can't wait to hear all the details. I have to admit that I would lose my mind if I had to go through all those permissions in order to renovate my own home.

Best When Used By said...

All the typical red tape to get construction approval, but once you get beyond that - it should be great! You don't even seem bothered at all about having to move out. It's going to be beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Ooh sounds so exciting my friend! Once all the red tape is taken care of that is - sure that doing that part of the job won't be *much* fun but once you get going - yahooo!

xxx

Miriam said...

Have fun with the renovation! I love changing stuff up around the house.

Kristin said...

Good luck with the house remodeling project and I hope and pray your cycle in January is a raging success.

Momasita said...

How exciting! It really sounds like things are lining up for you. I would love to re-model our home, but we can't afford to do that and persue ART at the same time.

Photogrl said...

SO exciting!

Good luck with the remodel!

Stefanie Wolfaardt said...

Good luck with everything, and please remember the photos

Fertility Chick said...

Sounds very exciting! I can't wait to follow the progress of the project!

I have an award for you on my blog when you have a chance!

Laurel said...

We want to put a detached studio on our lot but the county doesn't let you run water to detached buildings. Grumble.