Renovating a House Whilst Living in It - Our French Renovation, The Good Life

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There is an amazing choice of houses in rural France. You can buy habitable houses from less than 20,000 euros and I know of at least 5 abandoned Chateau's in need of restoration just a stone's throw from here. I'm not going to tell you how much we paid for our large 4 bedroom farmhouse but we could not re-new our average family hatchback for what we paid.
We have an acre of garden, a small lake, a barn and a little patch of woodland.

It had been uninhabited since the 1990's and was basically off grid. There was only well water, no sewage and the 1940's electrics had been disconnected decades ago. What it did have was massive amounts of charm and a rich history.

In rural France, many of these buildings are simply left to crumble, as the time and expense to restore them exceeds their worth. Even when finished; if done incorrectly; they can be significantly more expensive to run than their modern equivalents.

Our house would have been built from granite from the underlying land, trees from the forest and bricks from a nearby yard. As with many farmhouses there are virtually no foundations and the people that built this house were probably from the community with only limited building knowledge.

When you buy a house in France, unless you specifically pay extra, you don't get a structural surveyors report. They simply aren't common. The only fallback you really have is a few lightweight reports, for instance about lead paint. Unlike some house purchases, when buying a renovation project you will not get a electrical report because it's usually disconnected, there's often not a water report, or a efficiency rating report, a septic tank report because it's decades out of service etc. You'll only get them on a walk in home.

We looked at over 60 houses. I did more research on buying French houses than I did for my degree, if you are at all unsure, take a builder with you during your viewing, one that knows old French houses.

Old houses can present a myriad of challenges, such as outdated electrical systems, plumbing issues, or structural problems. A comprehensive plan and budget of the work needed on a house is vital when making a choice of which house to buy. Most of the materials we needed to fix this particular house were relatively cheap, what did cost us was the labour and some of the skills are fairly specialized to France and in particular to this region.

Now, you maybe asking why the move to rural France, as this all seems like a lot of hard work. The answer is simple, it's a incredibly slow, stress free pace of life and the local people are amazingly friendly. We have made so many new friends it's unbelievable. In summer, we can sit on the bench by our lake, watch the dragonflies, frogs, herons, kingfishers, fish and ducks. It's simply magical. We do miss a good campfire though....

The natural beauty surrounding our home is absolutely amazing. If you are an avid walker or you have a dog, you will be in your element. This area is known as the land of a thousand lakes. We always promised to each other that weekends were for exploring and relaxing. There are always markets and fairs and plenty of chateaux to see, the wildlife and birds around you changes on a daily basis.

Our advice to anyone starting a project like this is KIS. Keep It Simple. Old, houses were built with traditional materials, using simple skills and good old fashioned hard work. Nothing too high tech. The further you stray from this, the more your budget will wander. On the flip side, old houses are very cold and drafty, so try to stuff every nook and cranny with insulation, whilst sealing every draft you can find, as that will pay off exponentially. Investing in double glazing and insulating in our bedroom will pay off financially within the first 3 months of installation.

Our advice to anyone planning on looking at a renovation property would be don't jump at the first property you see, but it's a leap worth making. It is however very easy to go wrong, as some properties will be money pits. Do your homework or take a builder if you're at all unsure. If you are getting external contractors to do the work, get multiple quotes and make sure they have the right paperwork and insurance.

Luckily for us, although not everything has gone to plan, nothing has actually gone wrong. We have no timescales, so nothing has been lost.

Good luck to everyone planning to take on a renovation adventure.

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