Don't buy a knocker downer - Oops 🤪

@S25 - Sean

Everything looks prettier with snow on it. :-)

@gwynj

For sure, it's an absolute mess lol. Location is beautiful surrounded by farms, near a couple lakes in the south. But cheaper than a night out in London, and definitely worth the price just for the plot itself. 😉

You'll know when you see it, Sean.

The good news is that even if it is past salvaging, if you build new on the same footprint you don't need to get building permission, which I've read is an even bigger hassle in Bg than in the UK. Though you may find it is still  repairable. There was a place in my village that looked a total ruin, yet has been very nicely renovated. At least the one you are considering has some roof remaining!

Our Bg place has some wall cracks that concern me, wide enough to poke a finger in. But hubby mentioned it to one of the locals who assured him that the house is solid and has been like that for many years without any further movement. From what I can tell, it has no foundations at all, they just built straight on compacted soil. But cracks and past subsidence might actually not be too concerning if the house has done all the movement it's going to do. My old house back in Australia was a similar age and also built on very reactive clay soil and on a slope. When we took the wallpaper off it was clear there'd been huge wide cracking several inches wide many years in the past which had been patched up but no other foundation work done. Every year as the soil got wet in winter and then dried out in summer fine hairline cracks would open, but no worse. Thirty years later that house is still is great condition. Applying UK building rules to an old village house isn't always necessary. If an old house hasn't fallen down yet, chances are that when given a decent roof and rainwater drainage, and if vegetation is kept away from the base of the walls, it won't fall down in a hurry.

The cost of getting a water supply if there isn't a usable well there is probably a significant concern. That and whether the remoteness will work for you. Some villages are literally down to a population of less than 10. Ours was down to under 200 (from a peak of 2000 in the 1950s), but thankfully has started to grow again due to expats and returning Bulgarians. So I'm hopefully we'll keep our little shop, cafe, and bus service. If you drive and are young and fit, that's not likely to be an issue for you now.

@janemulberry

Your house has a semi-easy fix by the sounds of it. In the space between brick, in areas where the cracks have formed, scrape the grout and insert helical wall ties. You'll need a bonding agent, like a cement glue before re-grouting the brick. If you use these 1 meter long bars every 4-5 courses, it will help tie it all back together and ensure your repair lasts. Helical ties, are basically a fancy reinforces type of rebarr.

Jane you're very perceptive lol. The village has 150 ish or less residents, mostly aged 55-80. And you was right about plants and trees near the building. That's what's caused the collapse I think. There's tree's literally growing out of the base of the walls, in a few areas around the buildings. I don't mind cutting them down but getting the roots out will be a proper pain 🤣

Thanks for the advice on wall ties!

Tree of Heaven (aka tree of hell) and elderberry are probably the most likely culprits for tree growing from under the walls. Wild plums and black locust are also possible. Unfortunately none of these are easy to get rid of because they regrow even more vigorously after being cut back. Tree of heaven and black locust both will also regrow from roots a long way from the original trunk, you think you got it out, but nope! I ended up with a tree of heaven growing between gaps in the floorboard inside because the tree outside had been cut down! Repeated cutting will eventually tire them out, but it takes a lot of cutting and is a battle of who tires out first! They also produce a lot of seeds, so cut them back at the first sign of flowering so they can't set seed.

If all else fails, these trees have been known to get even the most dedicated organic growers reaching for the Roundup! Painted directly to the cut stem it's said to kill tree of heaven, though it may need a few applications. I prefer to avoid chemicals and haven't needed to try that yet. Thankfully the ToHs growing from under the bathroom wall and the porch seem to have given up after repeated cuts, so there's nothing too close to the foundations. But I'm losing the fight with the wild plums in their bid to take over rest of the garden!

@janemulberry

Now it makes sense why farmers in Hertfordshire have tons of wild plum in the hawthorn hedgerows, hardy and self seeding, keep birds off their crops I guess.

Sounds like a right battle, and of course if you  use roundup everywhere you'll contaminate the rest of the garden, which I'm sure is lovely.

Now on a research expedition trying to find out about these tree of heaven things. Never heard of them before. Do they actually have a purpose, like can they be cultivated and used for anything other than firewood?

Thanks for the tips, think when I head out next month might be worth getting a tree identification app on my phone. If I can rescue elder trees, could replant some of them in an area where I'd hoped to plant a mini fruit forest.

Figured I could run French drains away from the house and channel towards a flower bed area, then channel to a pond, and let excess rain flow towards some fruit trees, with the intent to protect the house while restoring the water table underground and stop the grass drying out in summer. Food for thought, pardon the pun lol.

@S25 - Sean

As @janemulberry says, there are some tumbledowns that get renovated. in our village, pretty much everything has been renovated rather than pulled down. But there are quite a few new builds too, especially if the plot has a nice view. A few of the houses were in a shocking state, so I was quite surprised how far gone they could be and still be savable.

On the other hand, one of my village neighbours is a super handy guy (he's the local borehole empresario) and insists that Bulgarian houses should be knocked down, rather than renovated. He recently demonstrated on his new house which he self-built using prefab style construction: concrete base, welded/bolted steel frame, SIPs for walls and roof. It's very simple construction, essentially just a big box (of about 170 m2 in his case).

He put in underfloor heating powered by a ground source (borehole) heat pump, with solar hot water and solar panels on the (flat) roof. He installed floor-to-ceiling windows at the front, and just a few small windows and ventilation on the sides/back. He's put on some fancy cladding/finishing on the front and roof. It looks great, and it's a very fine example of such construction. I'd imagine it's very comfortable and very cheap (or free) to live in.

If your inclination/skills are up to such a project, it might be worth considering if yours is too far gone. As @janemulberry says, you can build on the same footprint, but that might be too small. If you PM me, I can share Google StreetView as his house recently appeared.

@gwynj

I said a prayer and asked God to help me navigate this BG thing a couple days ago. Now I'm not expecting people to believe but literally for 2 days everything seems to be lining up perfectly.

Found an English quantity surveyor who's semi-retired, has agreed to attend the day I view for a very reasonable price. He's been out there 10 years, with 5 properties and can advise if the house is salvageable and best safe practice going forward. Then this morning my agent emailed and drops a link for prefab homes that start around 500 euro for the base shell. Just incase I need to knock down. 

And then I open the notification and find the same suggestion in this thread. Would be very interested to see a prefab home complete.

I have watched them being put up on t.v, and about 13 years ago worked with a firm labouring on 6 bed mansion buildings, they had plant room for exactly that, huge cylinders for ground source heat pumps for hot water and underfloor, with the solar set up and mains board. Back then I felt like I'd stepped into a new world helping build these places.

Granted, I never installed them I was just the donkey onsite, but you learn a lot as you go.

Thanks for the tip 👍

French drains or swales and rain basins are an excellent idea, Sean. I need to work on improving the water flow at our house, and these are all in my plans.

@S25 - Sean

You really have to weigh up the costs and see if it is all worth the effort, sweat and tears to renovate it, how long it will take. My first house I ever bought was in Blackpool, I totally gutted it, lived it while I was doing the work and while still working in my day job. Nearly killed me, but I was still young. Would I do it now, gawd no. But I did double the value of the house, so was worth it.

@SimCityAT

Definitely agree. Doing the entire thing solo on a shoe string budget no builders. Just the price of materials really but I know they'll be reclamation yards scattered and people pulling houses down who want rid of materials, brick, roof tiles, and things like that. Think stone, sand and cement will be the largest costs other than wood.

Think the main issue is my dog. I can't leave him in the UK with family for a month each time. Will have to figure out his doggy passport and get him a spot on the plane 🤣

@S25 - Sean

Would be so much easier if we could book a seat for the dog wouldn’t it 😂

@jeanmandredeix Absolutely, when I was reading about pets and passports somewhere it said they can go on the plane in the foot well in a carrier. Be funny to see someone do that with a German shepard 😂

Mines a Jack Russel so he'd probably fit but for 3 or so hours I don't think he'd be my friend for making him do it lol. He's way to old to go through the cargo system, no idea what to do the second time I fly out and try take him with.

It takes three days but it may be easier to drive rather than fly with a pet.