Today is 2 weeks since we arrived. Today we have running & functioning plumbing again! Thank you Jesus. We are so grateful our neighbor Giovanni recommend his neighbor’s brother – Giulio, an old school plumber. As I explained in my previous post, he came Friday to see the issue. Came back Saturday to expose the pipe and then Mike put in 5 hours of labor chiseling the concrete, breaking through the tile to get to the corroded pipe. Giulio was able to cut the damaged section, rethread the pipe and installed a new updated style “flex pipe”. This is insulated and resistant to corrosion. The other pipe was probably original! It was old and gross. The part they couldn’t get to, is embedded in concrete. We pray that is actually protecting it. He was efficient and did excellent work. He checked the water lines & discovered there was very little water pressure. The hot water heater valve was clogged with dirt from the pipe bursting (it brought in dirt and gook) so he had to change that valve and then that was fixed!! He even took with him 4 bags of concrete and dirt/sand from tearing up the flooring! Talk about a thorough job! *You‘ll see the hole in the photo! Unbelievable.
Mike had managed to move the washer machine up to the kitchen during the week, so we were able to do laundry at least. But now, we have an operating shower & bathroom downstairs and hot water in the kitchen again. The washer is staying in the kitchen though. Mike made a countertop for it and it looks totally fine! It opens up the bathroom space also. So things are falling into place. By Wednesday our modem should be ready at Vodaphone in Rieti. We didn‘t have to pay out of pocket. For 200 mgb it’s $35.00 month including the modem rental fee. They’ll bill 2x month payable online. Much better than the first company who told us 30 days for a technician to come to the house.
Our sweet neighbors had their baby boy last night. He is so precious and mommy & baby are doing excellent. We saw the overjoyed grandparents today ~ they’re just so excited and are truly the nicest family. We’re so happy for all of them, truly blessed we’ve met!! We feel like we’ve known them forever. They’re so kind & generous. After renovating their home, they had left over tile, they offered it to us for our kitchen. We graciously accepted the tile and walked over in the rain to grab them. We live just a few minute walk apart, however the return is all up STEEP hills! so carry 2 ikea bags full of tile was treacherous on Mike. The cobblestone and pavers are often covered in a green moss and extremely slippery when wet. They invited us in however for coffee & homemade crepes! So well with the effort of transporting tiles back I’d say… you should ask Mike his opinion.
We have/had 70’s style (to me anyway) cabinets in our kitchen, a yellow wood veneer style.
Mike took those down (which left massive holes in the wall). Luckily he found some old spackle in a cabinet & that did the trick. We had a backsplash of white speckled tiles w/some hand painted ones scattered throughout. We had purchased some “all purpose white paint” at Leroy Merlin, and I got those all freshly painted today! A fresh coat of white paint goes a long way to give a clean look!! If anyone knows why there‘s a little foot stuck to the kitchen black splash tile ~ I thought of bringing it home to the kids as a souvenir lol.
Tomorrow we will head back out to the hardware store. Mike will get concrete and refill the flooring and then we will start the task of trying to match up the floor tiles. What a mess this made. So unfortunate because fixing that flooring WAS NOT on our to do list. But, now it is as we have a massive hole exposing dirt, concrete and pipes. But, we’re so grateful it didn’t cost thousands of dollars! We are also submitting the invoice (once Gilio sends us one) to our attorney in hopes they are able to get the seller to reimburse us for this damage. So fingers crossed on that.
It’s been raining for 3 days straight and it looks like rain for the rest of the week. It’s pretty raw out and in the 50’s. Not terribly bad, just chilly without a heating system. We are using the plug in space heaters. But have been blowing fuses. The electric company is suppose to upgrade our power any day now. We purchased a newer oil one, that heats up the space pretty well. We decided to look into a pellet stove. Our neighbors just had one installed and it works amazing! We are pricing them out now, and the option of installation- using the existing fireplace chimney (we“re not using) or placing it in the living room.
We stopped over our neighbor Giovanni & his wife (who speaks no English) last night. He helped translate the plumbing situation for us. His parents have both passed, he and his sweet wife moved into their home. Like us, their home is attached to the ancient wall, but it’s truly magnificent. He has the most gorgeous terracotta tiles throughout Incredible original doors and beams. Walking upstairs around a narrow staircase reveals the most incredible brick ceiling – which he said is part of the castle. It was jaw dropping gorgeous. Each home we go into is truly beautiful beyond words. The character and history is absolutely fascinating. I love the original details. Our home had renovations listed in 1967… that was the last update. Definitely not a year I would have chosen. I would have preferred 1400. We learned yesterday this village dates back to 1100-1400…. And we thought living in Historic Sandwich (the oldest town on Cape Cod) 1637 was old!!
