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.

@S25 - Sean

Um... that'll be 500 euros PER SQUARE METER, I suspect, not 500 euros! :-)

I'd imagine my neighbour came in under that as he did pretty much all the work himself. But materials ain't cheap these days.

I have a 25 m2 cabin in Cyprus using prefab construction, and it's definitely at the cheap and cheerful end of the range, not the fancy thing my neighbour put up. It's already cost well over 20k. Just the new septic was 2.5k, and getting the water and leccy connected was another couple of grand. It's cheaper in Bulgaria, but not by much.

I have a friend in Plovdiv and he imports prefabs from Turkey (even cheaper than Bulgaria). He has a cheap range that looks like a prefab house, and an upscale range that looks like a contemporary villa with traditional construction. He put one up for his own house and it looks great. But it's 1k-1.2k euros/m2. Maybe the cheap range is around 500/600 euros per m2.

Prefabs are relatively quick and easy, but they still cost plenty of money.

A cheap option for living space, potentially, is to buy a cheap caravan on Ebay, and then tow it with you when you make the big move.

@gwynj

🤣 yeh I looked on alo dot bg and seen 500 euros, thinking that's cheaper than a wooden shed. Looked again and your spot on as usual price per square meter. So for my plot it'd be 25k minimum the shell than at least another 10-15 for all the connections and installations. I did find septic tanks on there for 2k which is shocking, I've seen the 10x that in UK. Still reasonable targets over time.

The other thing you might want to consider is that in order to be legal, all but the most minor renovations require a permit under the SPA (Spatial Planning Act). It's worthwhile reading up on the subject before you find yourself involved with building inspectors, or the cops.... 😎

Jim makes a good point -- you won't get a cheap prefab that will exactly fit the footprint of the original house, so planning permission would be needed.

And yes, as Gwyn said, 500 EUR will buy you a very decent garden shed but won't get a house.

Jim makes a good point -- you won't get a cheap prefab that will exactly fit the footprint of the original house, so planning permission would be needed.
And yes, as Gwyn said, 500 EUR will buy you a very decent garden shed but won't get a house. - @janemulberry

Actually, it doesn't matter if it DOES fit the footprint, it - and considerably even more minor renovations/changes - also fall under the SPA. Anything that isn't explicitly excluded under the requirements (set out in Section 150/151? IIRC) needs a declaration by a qualified person (architect etc) to that effect. If my failing memory serves, it's close to being the case that anything more than a new lick of paint or new roof tiles* needs permission. Some people do just ignore the regulations but the authorities are clamping down on it and flouting them can lead to a hefty fine - or worse!

*New rafters/roof timbers must have a permit but not the roof tiles, again IIRC...

@JimJ

Thanks for the heads up, will research those laws. Same here in UK though we got permitted development and then the planning regs. Mainly for safety reasons than bureaucracy like a lot of folk think. Roof timbers and structure work can be dangerous if not approached in the right way so makes sense. Ya wouldn't want families with kids in a building that might have something collapse in the middle of a heavy storm.

@JimJ

Oh my! Okay, I didn't know that, as I'd been told that provided it stayed within the same footprint, no approval was needed. Looks like I broke the law with my roof repairs in that case, as they did need to replace some of the rotten old rafters.

@janemulberry

Shhh don't grass yourself up Jane aha haha 😆

@janemulberry
Shhh don't grass yourself up Jane aha haha 😆 - @S25 - Sean

Too late - the carrier pigeon's already en route.... 😎

LOL. I shall be dreading every knock on the door from now on.