The hearing actually went pretty smooth, except for a few glitches. The expert didn't like the attic stairs and requested them to be either full sized stairs (for which we don't have the space and never had) or a pull-down ladder (ugly). Oh well... does save some space not to have stairs. Fire code doesn't allow storing things in an unfinished attic anyway, so it's just the ugly look of the ladder.
He also asked for inspection reports on the entire electrical system, so nothing creative there either. *blech*
Other than that we'll just have to wait until the legal stuff with the two properties is resolved and then we get the written permit.
The ruin next door didn't sell so far - not that I'm suprised...
As far as the windows go... they were a typical old-house project. I only managed to do one of the two since I had to fix a considerable amount of rot. I love the green though!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Bureaucracy
Talk about bureaucracy in every country... upon doing all the preliminary paperwork for the permit we found out our lot legally consists of three(!) lots, the smallest one being a whopping 15 square meter(!) front yard (a tiny 3x5m strip). Now after we submitted the plans the town suddenly told us we couldn't have our building protrude over a property line (even if both lots had the same owner) and we needed to officially join the lots. Going to cost roughly €50 and a stamp on the letter... so not that bad.
We also got the official invite to the hearing, it's going to be next Wednesday. We got a pretty good chuckle reading the invite... on the back it lists all the recipients, obviously including everyone who could possibly be related to any construction project... like neighbors (alright, that was to be expected), construction official from Korneuburg (not a surprise either), the gas company, power company (a bit weirder as we stated everything would be connected to the existing service), chimney sweep (we don't have a chimney in our plans), local MD(!) for sanitary affairs, Telekom Austria (phone) and last but most funny ÖBB line management... ÖBB is the federal railway company, and the next railway line is a healthy 10km away... that one left us scratching our heads.
I'm going to travel out next Tuesday and hopefully I'll get to strip, repair and repaint the two front windows (main house). The paint is flaking badly and some of the wood already feels soft in small spots. Note to self: never use acrylic paint outdoors. I bought marine grade oil paint. (we know the PO used acrylic paint because we found the empty cans).
We also got the official invite to the hearing, it's going to be next Wednesday. We got a pretty good chuckle reading the invite... on the back it lists all the recipients, obviously including everyone who could possibly be related to any construction project... like neighbors (alright, that was to be expected), construction official from Korneuburg (not a surprise either), the gas company, power company (a bit weirder as we stated everything would be connected to the existing service), chimney sweep (we don't have a chimney in our plans), local MD(!) for sanitary affairs, Telekom Austria (phone) and last but most funny ÖBB line management... ÖBB is the federal railway company, and the next railway line is a healthy 10km away... that one left us scratching our heads.
I'm going to travel out next Tuesday and hopefully I'll get to strip, repair and repaint the two front windows (main house). The paint is flaking badly and some of the wood already feels soft in small spots. Note to self: never use acrylic paint outdoors. I bought marine grade oil paint. (we know the PO used acrylic paint because we found the empty cans).
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