Chamonix studio renovation - build thread
Discussion
Many thanks for the encouragement. It really does help on the tougher days.
I can't wait to take some photos of the place properly finished and looking like the vision in my head. I think that might be late Feb though, once I've had a chance to gather up some objet d'arts for the walls.
I can't wait to take some photos of the place properly finished and looking like the vision in my head. I think that might be late Feb though, once I've had a chance to gather up some objet d'arts for the walls.
Day 42
My last day on the renovation before I move in, along with my girlfriend and my dog, at the end of next week.
The overwhelming priority was to get to a stage where the shower and toilet were functional. There is a great deal left to do but most will have to wait until after the school holidays in early Jan because, as of today, we're forbidden to do any works in the apartment.
Time to hang the WC. We'd used a flex waste pipe to help minimise the depth of the concealed cistern, and reduce the toilet's projection into the small bathroom. That seemed like a good idea at the time, but the waste pipe is a necessarily tight fit when it comes to hang the toilet. With a flexi and a completely sealed WC unit, making a connection was quite the challenge.
After a few botched attempts… success. I just need to trim the foam sound absorber, as soon as I can buy a sharper Stanley.
I christen her The Throne. God bless her and all who shit on her. (possibly NSFW)
The shower area is tiled, except for the side wall. This should be OK temporarily as it's been tanked and the whole floor has had a perimeter of silicone as well as the tiling. The screen will have to wait until January as the Self-Levelling Compound Debacle has raised the height of the floor by 10mm, which means the screen is 10mm too tall to fit. I'll have to channel out the ceiling. I love channelling.
The flooring was also finished, save for the staircase. I used QuickStep's system, which I would recommend in a heart beat, at least for ease of installation. I used their Incizo profile to finish the bedroom floor right up to the glass balustrade. In the background you can see the flooring disappearing underneath the fireplace.
Back to Blighty in the afternoon. A little bit dejected at not having finished the place before our special winter season but pleased at the level of finish and the integrity of the vision I had for the place. It's taken 8 weeks to this point. I had originally hoped to have it all finished in 6 weeks, but I think it's a 9 week job to do it full justice.
My last day on the renovation before I move in, along with my girlfriend and my dog, at the end of next week.
The overwhelming priority was to get to a stage where the shower and toilet were functional. There is a great deal left to do but most will have to wait until after the school holidays in early Jan because, as of today, we're forbidden to do any works in the apartment.
Time to hang the WC. We'd used a flex waste pipe to help minimise the depth of the concealed cistern, and reduce the toilet's projection into the small bathroom. That seemed like a good idea at the time, but the waste pipe is a necessarily tight fit when it comes to hang the toilet. With a flexi and a completely sealed WC unit, making a connection was quite the challenge.
After a few botched attempts… success. I just need to trim the foam sound absorber, as soon as I can buy a sharper Stanley.
I christen her The Throne. God bless her and all who shit on her. (possibly NSFW)
The shower area is tiled, except for the side wall. This should be OK temporarily as it's been tanked and the whole floor has had a perimeter of silicone as well as the tiling. The screen will have to wait until January as the Self-Levelling Compound Debacle has raised the height of the floor by 10mm, which means the screen is 10mm too tall to fit. I'll have to channel out the ceiling. I love channelling.
The flooring was also finished, save for the staircase. I used QuickStep's system, which I would recommend in a heart beat, at least for ease of installation. I used their Incizo profile to finish the bedroom floor right up to the glass balustrade. In the background you can see the flooring disappearing underneath the fireplace.
Back to Blighty in the afternoon. A little bit dejected at not having finished the place before our special winter season but pleased at the level of finish and the integrity of the vision I had for the place. It's taken 8 weeks to this point. I had originally hoped to have it all finished in 6 weeks, but I think it's a 9 week job to do it full justice.
Edited by Gruffy on Monday 16th December 01:47
You'd have thought so, wouldn't you?
There was some good progress in January/February, but I have a couple of days work left to do. Right now I'm fully occupied with ski-touring and my design work, but I've got some time booked in next week to finish it before I head back to the UK after Easter. I'll post some tasty snaps at the tail end of next week.
There was some good progress in January/February, but I have a couple of days work left to do. Right now I'm fully occupied with ski-touring and my design work, but I've got some time booked in next week to finish it before I head back to the UK after Easter. I'll post some tasty snaps at the tail end of next week.
prand said:
So Gruffy, I'm fed up of seeing this thread sit here in my bookmarks without an update. Now the ski season is good and over, did you manage to finish anything off? 
I'm assuming you had the most outstanding few months in the alps too?
Me too. The guilt feels so heavy I'm assuming you had the most outstanding few months in the alps too?
It is almost finished. There are a handful of aesthetic things to be tidied. Probably 4 days work to do it all justice. We got lucky and had friends of friends wanting to rent from us indefinitely and they've been in for the past two weeks. My own work got so busy in April that there just wasn't time (or the necessity) to finish everything.
It's so close it's really frustrating, but I have to wait for a few non-stock items to come in (skirting board caps, laminate trim pieces) so it wasn't possible to finish before the end of the season anyway. The phone line needs extending and running through the conduit in the wall (currently trails below the storage area) and the fireplace needs some plastering attention from somebody who knows how to wield a float properly.
I chopped down a friend's silver birch (it was blocking his view of the Aiguille du Chardonnet) and that's currently drying. Later in the summer I'll pop back and install it inside the apartment, on the corner landing of the stairway. It will 'grow' out of the stairway and extend right into the ceiling with some of the branches left in place near the top. I just wanted to soften that corner of the apartment.
Made friends with a gamekeeper from Exeter while I was in Chamonix. He's hooking me up with a big red deer skull and antlers. That'll go on the opposite wall.
I don't have any recent photos of the apartment on account of the last-minute rush and the fact we'd already rented it meant there wasn't an urgent need. I'm back in September to finish it off and get some snaps for winter marketing (the tenants are out in December and we start letting weekly via Airbnb/PH).
So, instead, an update on how great life in Chamonix is:
Each morning I walk the hound in the forest…
…or he comes ski-touring up a mountain with me
This is a great shot to show how amazingly well located the place is. That's the lift for Grand-Montets on the left and on the right you can see Mont-Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi. These are arguably the two best lifts in the world for backcountry skiing.
Rode a lot of pow
When the snow stopped I tried a bit of ice climbing
Then started doing more touring
Sadly I didn't get a weather window for Mont-Blanc, so another season passes without ticking that one off. Next spring!
Then cheated a bit
Found some new office space
Was reborn
MitchT said:
You're a designer and you can actually afford property! I must be doing something wrong. Love the web page BTW - very clever
I'm 'reassuringly expensive', but the toy is also getting sold to fund this. I only intended to rent for a season but the sums made no sense. It was a stretch but with an 85% LTV offer it would have been foolish not to buy. Now that it's rented it pays for itself and I like to think I've added a decent chunk to its value.As for the website, well, you know what they say about necessity being the mother of invention. I keep promising myself I'll find some time and replace that holding page (much like finishing the apartment then) but those pesky clients keep giving me paying work instead.
Edited by Gruffy on Friday 9th May 10:16
I was in Chamonix last week attempting to nail the finishing touches and get some nice photos for the airbnb listing. I managed most of them but lost my second pair of hands so couldn't attempt installing the (now-dried) tree on the stairwell.
The hatch on the stair landing is now finished but I didn't get a photo. That's a shame because it's been a real triumph. 2 cubic metres of extra storage space that would otherwise have been lost and the finish is really neat.
The apartment went up on airbnb last night and we'll be offering it to people from December onwards. Happy to offer better rates to PHers. Here's the listing - comments welcome.
Chamonix apartment rental
The hatch on the stair landing is now finished but I didn't get a photo. That's a shame because it's been a real triumph. 2 cubic metres of extra storage space that would otherwise have been lost and the finish is really neat.
The apartment went up on airbnb last night and we'll be offering it to people from December onwards. Happy to offer better rates to PHers. Here's the listing - comments welcome.
Chamonix apartment rental
When I bought it we were only looking for somewhere to rent. It was just that the numbers made buying a no-brainer instead. I was assuming we'd be there for the odd week and a couple of weekends but SWMBO has got the bug badly and is even more keen than I am now. Unfortunately she isn't self-employed so we're going for Christmas and NYE to make the most of her holiday allowance. But we've also got a handful of weekends booked in and a week at the end of February. As we're able to leave our kit in the apartment and fly with hand luggage we'll take advantage of any powdery gaps ad hoc.
Yes, I'm very pleased with the results. I read through the thread again last night and it was quite a strange experience. The original apartment feels like something we saw in a movie; I can't really believe it's the space that we bought. There are still some rough edges that I'd like to resolve. The rendering on the fireplace is the one that irks the most. That rough finish is everywhere in France but I didn't want to settle for that so I may still change that when I get a chance. Our current tenants have been in since May and seem to love the place, which is a satisfying feeling.
I'd recommend Chamonix to most people as a destination. It's a unique town and I love the culture of the valley. It's nice to go beyond the tourist veneer and feel the real personality of the place. There's such an energy there, it's quite addictive. Of course you've seen from the photos I posted during the build that it's a truly stunning part of the world at any time of the year too. This was taken while I was out cycling last week:
And this one from the top of Les Grands-Montets, the lift above the apartment:
Investment wise, I'd love to know, but it's very hard to judge accurately because it's quite an unusual property. Everything else is cheap-as-chips with 'Alpine charm' so I think we'll only really know when we accept an offer. It's made it tricky to price for airbnb too but it went up 24 hours ago and I'm already having enquiries, so that's not a bad sign.
Yes, I'm very pleased with the results. I read through the thread again last night and it was quite a strange experience. The original apartment feels like something we saw in a movie; I can't really believe it's the space that we bought. There are still some rough edges that I'd like to resolve. The rendering on the fireplace is the one that irks the most. That rough finish is everywhere in France but I didn't want to settle for that so I may still change that when I get a chance. Our current tenants have been in since May and seem to love the place, which is a satisfying feeling.
I'd recommend Chamonix to most people as a destination. It's a unique town and I love the culture of the valley. It's nice to go beyond the tourist veneer and feel the real personality of the place. There's such an energy there, it's quite addictive. Of course you've seen from the photos I posted during the build that it's a truly stunning part of the world at any time of the year too. This was taken while I was out cycling last week:
And this one from the top of Les Grands-Montets, the lift above the apartment:
Investment wise, I'd love to know, but it's very hard to judge accurately because it's quite an unusual property. Everything else is cheap-as-chips with 'Alpine charm' so I think we'll only really know when we accept an offer. It's made it tricky to price for airbnb too but it went up 24 hours ago and I'm already having enquiries, so that's not a bad sign.
Du1point8 said:
Is this one in the same block?
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/prope...
Looks very similar to your original
It's definitely part of the Residence Grand Roc though there are three blocks. This one is the mirror image of mine albeit on the corner, so it has a couple of extra windows. Asking €27,000 more than I paid for mine.http://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property/prope...
Looks very similar to your original
Yes, an exact mirror, aside from the extra window visible in picture 4. I think all of the apartments are the exact same layout (or mirrored) across the three blocks. They've snuck some weird little apartments on the top floors, under the eaves, but I wouldn't touch those with a barge-pole. Very gloomy with tiny little windows and reduced headroom.
Not at all. The numbers are all in the thread anyway.
Asking price was €144,000.
Paid €132,000.
Renovation €32,000 (all costs, including travel, accommodation and furnishings etc)
But obviously I was only paying for half of the labour (at mates rates) and no costs for design, speccing and sourcing etc. At the time I remember doing some napkin maths and figured it would cost about €60,000 to do it for others. If you had to jump through the proper bureaucratic hoops with the co-propriete and get permission at each step, probably necessitating more French workers, then I think you could easily see that go up to €70,000-75,000. A local friend is using a (rare) hard-working team of Poles to renovate his place. They may also be able to bring it in at €60,000 but IMO it's absolutely critical to be on-site yourself to keep the quality high, whether you're using UK, French or EU labour though. It's the little details that make all the difference and they're a PITA to do properly.
If you can find one of the apartments at a good price then I still think you could make a return if it costs €60k to renovate to the same standard.
Asking price was €144,000.
Paid €132,000.
Renovation €32,000 (all costs, including travel, accommodation and furnishings etc)
But obviously I was only paying for half of the labour (at mates rates) and no costs for design, speccing and sourcing etc. At the time I remember doing some napkin maths and figured it would cost about €60,000 to do it for others. If you had to jump through the proper bureaucratic hoops with the co-propriete and get permission at each step, probably necessitating more French workers, then I think you could easily see that go up to €70,000-75,000. A local friend is using a (rare) hard-working team of Poles to renovate his place. They may also be able to bring it in at €60,000 but IMO it's absolutely critical to be on-site yourself to keep the quality high, whether you're using UK, French or EU labour though. It's the little details that make all the difference and they're a PITA to do properly.
If you can find one of the apartments at a good price then I still think you could make a return if it costs €60k to renovate to the same standard.
Building regs are EU and are quite reasonable. My place conforms but I also had my own level of quality which was that it had to be what I'd consider 'overkill safe' and give me longevity so that it didn't require excess maintenance for the next 20 years and/or before I sell it. The bureaucratic nonsense comes from doing works on an apartment within a co-propriete building. I worked on the basis that it was easier to seek forgiveness than permission. This was wise, as it turned out.
When I did speak to the syndical about fixing something to the wall in the bathroom (I can't remember why I started the conversation now) hey said they'd send somebody round to review my proposal before granting permission. This was drilling a tiny hole in the bathroom wall (which is 15-20cm thick reinforced concrete) to put a screw in to hold the shower. They said they'd be quick and could have somebody there in just 5 days time. Then it would be assessed by the panel and I'd have my answer a few days later. Bugger that.
Given the extra rules about when you can and can not carry out works (8:30-12:00 and 14:00-18:00, no holiday periods) you can imagine how impossible it would be to make any real progress if you had to follow that procedure every time you wanted to do even the most minor job. I can't even begin to imagine the nightmare it would have been to get prior approval to replace the mezzanine floor.
When I did speak to the syndical about fixing something to the wall in the bathroom (I can't remember why I started the conversation now) hey said they'd send somebody round to review my proposal before granting permission. This was drilling a tiny hole in the bathroom wall (which is 15-20cm thick reinforced concrete) to put a screw in to hold the shower. They said they'd be quick and could have somebody there in just 5 days time. Then it would be assessed by the panel and I'd have my answer a few days later. Bugger that.
Given the extra rules about when you can and can not carry out works (8:30-12:00 and 14:00-18:00, no holiday periods) you can imagine how impossible it would be to make any real progress if you had to follow that procedure every time you wanted to do even the most minor job. I can't even begin to imagine the nightmare it would have been to get prior approval to replace the mezzanine floor.
We'd have crossed that bridge if we came to it.
I went to great lengths to be reasonable to our neighbours. To clean up constantly and do whatever I could to keep the inconvenience to the absolute minimum. I have to say all of our neighbours were really good throughout the whole build. The only troubles we had were from the caretaker, who was a notorious pain in the arse and we were warned about him from other friends who'd stayed in the block in previous years. He's the sort that considers himself an enforcer rather than somebody who is paid by the residents to help them. Luckily he retired this summer and we're now voting on how many people to replace him with. The syndic has suggested we should hire four employees at €140k pa. I am suggesting otherwise!
My approach was to give them no reasonable cause to grumble. Other renovations were happening in neighbouring apartments in the block, with their workers often making noise out of hours. I did similar during the final week but tried hard to give them no excuses.
I went to great lengths to be reasonable to our neighbours. To clean up constantly and do whatever I could to keep the inconvenience to the absolute minimum. I have to say all of our neighbours were really good throughout the whole build. The only troubles we had were from the caretaker, who was a notorious pain in the arse and we were warned about him from other friends who'd stayed in the block in previous years. He's the sort that considers himself an enforcer rather than somebody who is paid by the residents to help them. Luckily he retired this summer and we're now voting on how many people to replace him with. The syndic has suggested we should hire four employees at €140k pa. I am suggesting otherwise!
My approach was to give them no reasonable cause to grumble. Other renovations were happening in neighbouring apartments in the block, with their workers often making noise out of hours. I did similar during the final week but tried hard to give them no excuses.
It certainly made things a bit easier when it came to using the skip and getting materials in and out, but I don't think I'd have changed the design at all for an apartment on a different floor. It just would have meant a bit more swearing - nothing more. Only the joists would have needed lifting via the balcony if we were on a higher floor and they weren't too heavy to manage if that was necessary. I did see another apartment with a pulley system set up on the balcony.
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