Internet Tourists Reach 34%

34 PER CENT OF THE TOURISTS LEARN ABOUT BULGARIA FROM INTERNET

Thursday 27 Sep 2007 (From Sofia News Agency)

More than one third, 34 per cent, of the tourists who visited Bulgaria over the first eight months of 2007, learned about the country from the internet, State Agency for Tourism (SAT) research showed.

According to SAT head Anelia Kroushkova, the percentage showed that the agency should emphasise on promoting the country online.

The advice from acquaintances or previous trips to Bulgaria made the largest group, 36 per cent, come to the country.

The research also showed that the number of tourists who come on vacations in Bulgaria and stay in their own house or apartment increased, Focus news agency said. A total of 3.1 per cent of all the tourists to come to Bulgaria owned property in the country.

Mostly UK tourists own real estate in Bulgaria, Kroushkova said.

Interesting reading many no doubt would get information about Bulgaria from Bulgarian Real Estate Online website then....

Europol welcomes Bulgaria

Europol is a consortium of countries in Europe that take part in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal immigration, human trafficking, money laundering, radioactive substances trafficking and many other illegal activities.

Although Bulgarian became a member officially on the 1st of August this year, the official ceremony will take place on 3rd October in the Hague where the Europol Headquarters are based. Romania is also to be included.

The Europol leaders said that Bulgaria was a "necessary partner" within the Europol system.

This is more reassurance within Bulgaria and certainly a stick in the spokes to anyone who thinks that Bulgaria can be a hiding place for illegal practices, including expatriates!

Also this will give even more confidence to foreign investment and to the property market in general.

Inflation in Bulgaria - Good for business?

I seems that we have a growing unrest in Bulgaria regarding low pay. Firstly the teachers have been demanding 100% pay rise and are currently on active strike. Taxi drivers of course never miss a trick and joined the bandwagon. Then it was social workers who are looking for major hike in pay and now the forestry working force are also demanding another 25% on their salaries.

The government are going roughly half way to meeting demands of these different workforces which means that inflation in Bulgaria will also take an inevitable hike over the next year or so.

The knock on affect of inflation ends up with property prices increasing, good news to those who have bought already in Bulgaria with good prospects in return on their investments.

It is really a case of getting in while the going is still good with prices in Bulgaria being still unbelievably cheap. With all these wage increases other workforces joining the queue, it is surely only a matter of time before the true value of property and land will be realised in Bulgaria.

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Dirt Cheap Bulgarian Land for Profit

There is a question posed right now What are the prices of agricultural and are there regions that have particularly interest
because of low price and potential?

Agricultural land in Bulgaria is considered undervalued compared to other EU members. In 2005 farm land prices in new EU member
countries such as Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic were four times the cost of comparable land in Bulgaria.

South of Yambol and the Elhovo region in South-East Bulgaria has proved to be the areas with one of the best land investment potentials.
The reasons for this are that the area is suitable for development of wind power stations not only that EU funding is available for such projects.

It is still not final whether the pipe-line Bourgas - Alexandroupolis will go ahead. For this very reason many buyers are purchasing of plots
of land in the territory. This is in hope that their plots will be in the right spot and profits made.

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Bulgaria - Best investment in Europe?

A survey completed this weekend shows that the rise in property value in Bulgaria generally is still a good source of investment. It also said that Bulgaria remains the best investment in terms of value for money compared with the rest of Europe.

Bulgaria, which joined the European Union on January 1st 2007, has seen the value of estate grow by 18 per cent this year, according to research by Green Life Property Development.

The firm has also found that UK investors account for 20 per cent of property investors in the country, a figure which has risen in real terms but fallen as a proportion from 80 per cent in one year due to an influx of other foreign investors, particularly from eastern Europe.

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Bulgarian Summer Rush Over

Wow what a Bulgarian summer! July and August always brings about a mad rush of clients into the BRE office, this year was no exception, all staff here have been rushed off their feet.

It's often the case that many come here just for a holiday and end up buying property during that time. It is quite staggering how many case we see of this happening. Can you blame them as the price of some properties are the same cost of a holiday anyway!

It is now the middle of September and things have calmed down a bit but clients still roll in, mainly those with no children with school starting back this month. Also many take advantage of the cheaper fares over now that in some cases double during the peak tourist season.

It is often said by Bulgarians that May, June and September are by far the best times to holiday here. It's not so busy and the travel and accommodation is cheaper. let's be honest, the weather is just as good, in fact a more pleasant heat. Shame the market is so unfair to families with children.

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More Investment Promised for Bulgaria

Encouraging investments in Bulgaria

09:00 Mon 17 Sep 2007 - Elitsa Grancharova

The state will start encouraging new investments in the processing industry, electricity production from renewable energy sources, the IT sector and research and development.

The Cabinet decided this on September 5, approving regulations to implement the Investment Encouragement Act (IEA). The move is linked to previous IEA amendments and appendixes, which came into effect on August 30 2007....

The Cabinet said that the measures were being taken because the business sector had shown that there was a great need for new knowledge and practical skills to implement new technology.

The aim is to boost the competitiveness of Bulgaria’s economy by increasing investments in the development of technology and in other fields that have high added value.

The Cabinet hopes to make Bulgaria more competitive by recruiting new capital, as has been done through similar plans in other Eastern and Central European countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

A new procedure is also to be implemented to assess and decide on investment projects that will get help from the state budget. These will be assessed and chosen through a competition procedure. The appraisal will be done at two stages through the calendar year.

The criteria and the priorities for classification are also defined, and will be the basis for the methodology and assessment procedure, which will be decided by the minister of Economy and Energy, and will be published on the ministry’s website.

Taken from Sofia Echo News

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How to Re-Roof your Bulgarian Home

This has been written as an aid for those about to have there BG homes re-roofed. It does not go into full detail but covers the major points. This is intended as a guide only and will not be suitable for all types of houses. It is intended for a BG village house with ‘normal’ BG tiles and not Turkish ones. It will however help you if you have a modicum of common sense and are attempting it yourself or are employing trades men. No mention of safety is given here and again, I leave that to your common sense.

So, let’s start!

Stripping the old roof:

The first step is to strip the roof and find out what is underneath the tiles. You can get a good idea of this before hand by poking your head through your loft hatch and having a look. There are many variations on how this is usually done but they all follow the same basic principles. First is to put something on top of the roof trusses, then cover this with a waterproof material and then put the tiles on. In an older property you may have wooden slats, reeds or rough sawn boards which is then covered with mud. On top of this are the tiles. If you have rough sawn boards leave them. Everything else strip off (keep the old wood for your wood stove in winter)

Assessing the existing roof structure:

Now you have the bare bones. Check all the timbers and see which are damaged, rotten, worm eaten or too weak for the job. Replace these with new ones. I prefer 10cm x 10cm x 400cm square beams but this can change due to the nature and economy of the work.

Sheeting the roof:

Sheeting provides a skin to the roof structure. This is generally not done in the UK. Sheeting massively increases its strength and provides a flat level surface to put the tiles on. Sterling board (or OSB in BG) in sheets of 144cm x 244cm x 1cm are generally used. Thicker OSB boards may be used but again this is a question of economy and the problems that could ensue from the extra weight. Most manufactures specify to fit a WBP (weatherproof and boil proof) sheet in new roof structures. This is an equivalent to marine ply and is perfect for the job. However at about 400% more expensive and much heavier the economics and structural suitability of an old house, they may not be more suitable.

When sheeting the roof it makes sense to spend more time to make the roof flat and level. This is not necessary but gives an easier surface to tile neatly on and give a more aesthetically pleasing finish at the end.

Flashing:

Flashings are the vertical boards at the edge of the roof to which guttering is affixed. At this stage it will make your life easier to affix them now. Make sure they butt up neatly and have been stained, varnished, protected etc.

Waterproofing the roof:

This is simply placing a waterproof material on top of the sheets. Makes sure the sheets overlap by at least 15cm, overhang the lashings by 15cm and use your common sense. The standard material is ‘cherna hartia’ or black bitumastic roofing felt. I prefer breathable membranes (please see my other post on this http://www.ourbulgarianworld.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=254&topic=470.msg3103;topicseen#new ).

Waterproofing the gullies:

Where you have a gully where two faces of the roof structure meet, this is called a gully. In BG we used sheet tin for this purpose. Again make sure the tin overlaps from top to bottom and that it is about 70cm-90cm wide. It has to be this wide so it extends under the roof tiles. There are various tips and tricks to this but I will not go into this here.


Battening the roof:

Horizontal wooden battens are nailed on top of the waterproof material into the wooden roof structure. You start from the bottom and work your way up. Make sure the bottom row over hangs the roof and flashings by about 4-6 cm. This is so that rain will drip of the bottom row into your guttering. Determine the distance to the next batten up by the type of tiles you have. On long roof structures run a line (a taunt bit of string) from end to end to make sure the run of tiles stay level and straight.

Again there are various tips and tricks to use but you might consider treating the battens to prevent them rotting and vertically battering before horizontally battening to prevent water pooling behind the tiles.

Tiling the roof:

Chances that after you have stripped the roof you will find different style tiles. These will have to sorted into the different styles and make sure that you only use one type of tile on each roof face. You will also find that a lot or inadequate or broken. You will have to source more locally, think neighbours, friends, reclamation yards etc.

Tiling is a skilled job and there is far to much to cover here, Just think about what will happen when you get to the top, sides, gullies and chimneys. How will you seal the tiles again them? Will you cut and form flashing from tin metal or use a big dollop of cement? How ill you dress (cut) the tiles when you reach a gully?

The last job of tiling is to mortar in your ridge tiles. You will most likely need to have sourced extra because when the roof was stripped you will break a lot of them out of their original mortar. Pay extra attention here for durability and waterproofing are most important. The tradition method is to use lots of Var and cement and splatter and smear it all over the roof. This may be effective but it is not pretty.

Guttering;

If you have followed all the directions above then the tiles should overhang the roof and hang in roughly the middle of the guttering. The extra roofing felt/membrane should be trimmed so the in hangs neatly into the bottom of the guttering. This makes the roof work effectively with the guttering and will keep water out or your house.

Guttering can be a black art. You have to have a slope (or run) to move the water to the down pipes to prevent them flooding but on a roof which isn’t level (which most aren’t in BG), this can be tricky to make look aesthetically pleasing. My advice is to spend some times with string and spirit levels.

Placing of down pipes can be tricky. The generally have to sited in the most unsuitable places. Just bear in mind where all the water from the roof will go. This will put a lot of water at ground level in a small area. Just think where it will go and if it could cause flooding or damp problems. Most BG house don’t have a hard runoff sloping from the house like England.

You should now have a lovely renovated roof which is sympathetic to your local environment.


I hope this has been of help.


Jerrard
Jerico Estates

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Sit Down - No Chairs!

Now there was a very funny thing at the BREonline office meal on Monday Evening.

It took place at the Dublin Bar in Yambol and if you have ever been there you will have noticed the pictures on the wall whilst waiting for your rakia and salad. All around the walls are giant framed coloured picture of Cities from around the world, London, Paris, New York etc. very impressive indeed.

After some surveying of the framed work of art I noticed opposite from where I was sitting a picture of Sydney, Australia. The picture actually have in big letter the word Sydney embossed on the picture. Now I knew that the word 'Sydney' means 'sit' in Bulgarian and this immediately made me laugh as this was the only picture out of about 10 that had no seating area around it.

Well it was very funny at the time and even fellow Bulgarians colleagues thought it was as well when I mentioned it to them!

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Bulgarian Building Standards

Coming to terms with how things are in Bulgaria is a very difficult for some people and to deal with this it is very much a open mind that you have to bring with you.

As to laws and regulations laid down to building and renovation it is a case of bringing your own standards into place but at the same time using Bulgarian local knowledge.

In fact a partnership of foreign management and supervised Bulgarian workforce is the real secret of success, unless you are totally determined to cut corners and pay the price further down the line.

Work done to correct regulated specification will stand the test of time with this set up. Many building companies here now have this working hierarchy in action BRE Building Services for one. Many of course don't but that's the choice in the building and renovation market.

You have to understand the Bulgarian mentality to understand why regulations are ignored in the main, then you may come to terms with accepting this as the Bulgarian way.

There is of course no excuse for foreigners who come here and feel that this loophole in regulated practices in the building trade can be ignored to the detriment of clients they hood-wink. These clients are preyed upon from the point of their naivety and business exchanged just from the point of English speaking comforts. This is very short lived as in many cases, The 'Queen's English' brigade move on with their pockets lined with the crown jewels and the now much wiser clients dethroned of their right to regulated adhered renovation finding their castle crumbling around them.

How many times have I heard of these stories? Too many! When will people learn that you pay peanuts to monkeys in the main or for a better analogy, you pay beans you get cowboys!

Just one other point about guarantees - Many have guarantees as a selling point but a guarantee is difficult and in some cases near on impossible to take up. The assurance factor is suddenly taken away with the frustrations that set in with, not least because the work that been done in the first place was not up to standard. In Bulgaria, building and renovation in many cases guarantees currently are just about as practical as an ash tray on a motorbike!

Welcome to Bulgaria a world of differences you have to be here to believe!

But all said and done, that's one of the beauties of the country and its people who in the main build and renovate things as cheaply as possible! The term 'long term investment' really doesn't have any meaning here - They live in a world for today!

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Bulgarian Holiday Systems

September the 6th in Bulgaria is Unification Day where the country has a public holiday to celebrate this significant date in their History. A Day in 1885 where the unification of Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia took place.

This day falls on a Thursday, not a convenient day for an extended break so the Friday was also included as a Public Holiday but not for free. The following Saturday is now deemed as a weekday and for Banks, public servants and indeed most other businesses is now to be a full working day.

This has been done on many occasions before where an extra day to extend the uninterrupted holiday period over a weekend - and why not?

At BREOnline the offices will alway be manned throughout of course for clients.

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Crime in Bulgaria

It is a fact that crime in the British Isles in the highest in Europe and many are just wanting to escape from this society that now doesn't effectively look after its law abiding citizens.

Wherever you go in Europe therefore the crime rate in lower than in Britain and Ireland, so why choose Bulgaria?

Well Bulgaria in many areas are totally free of crime and the need for policing is non existent in countless countryside locations. The law is upheld by the community and the major, the respect in this structure of hierarchy work very well indeed for the residents of the village communities.

There are of course bigger population location such as tourist towns and big cities that naturally attract crime. But then what country in the world can boast of no crime in these places? Still, Bulgaria rates very low on the risk of being a subject of crime even in theses places compared to many other places in Europe.

From many angles Bulgaria is a place where you are safe to walk the streets both by night and day and not many European locations can boast that. The risk of being mugged or having you house burgled is very low indeed in Bulgaria as most of the Bulgarian population are law abiding people and care about the community they live in.

So if it is a safe place to visit for holidays, invest or live you would be hard pressed to find another country that can offer this in Europe.

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Hotel Stays in Yambol - Why?

Don't want Hotel stays in Yambol? There are alternatives.....

Let's not forget the other services that Bulgarian Real Estate Online provide, rental accommodation for your stay in Bulgaria not just for house hunting trips but for holidays as well.

Essentially Hotels are the same all over the world, comfortable but sterile and paying 'through the nose' for it as well. Why not use an alternative?

Self-catering accommodation is always available at very reasonable rates. So much better than Hotels no matter good they are or how long or short your stay.

There are a variety of accommodation available and a choice of town or village locations all with the same high standard of renovation and modern living to make you stay here both more affordable and enjoyable.

This is an extension of the services offered when you become a client of Bulgarian Real Estate Online. We cater and care for you from day one onwards, there is no expiry date on the services we provide our clients.

Just check out the types of accommodation on offer on our site:

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Indoor Cricket - No Thanks!

With a disastrous season for crops in Bulgaria this year the field crickets have invaded many Bulgarian homes looking for new sources of food. This has become a nightmare to many a country dweller many in the southeast region where the mainstay of crops are grown!

The crickets get through the smallest cracks in doors and windows and work their way from the attic into light fittings and sockets that are poorly fitted. The typical Bulgarian rendering or lack of rendering of walls lead to other access points where an ever ending trail of black field crickets enter the comforts of the living areas.

At Bulgarian Real Estate Building Services, if you have had a home renovated by our team this becomes much less of a problem with the quality of renovation done to a standard that expatriates want. This leaves the nightmare of swarms black field crickets in the house a non event. With the sealed double glazed units that remain water tight and the luxury of the very effective fly nets as part of the door and window systems installed, there is no entry point for these hopping invaders.

Walls that are as true as the plumb line that they were built against prevent gaps in light fittings and socket placements, again no black creatures can find there way through these seemingly purposely built in defenses.

While the rest of the southwestern Bulgarian countryside is fighting for privacy from this cricket invasion, many homes renovated by our team can rest in the knowledge that they are cricket proof. The Bulgarian black field cricket is indeed a testimony to the quality of renovation provided by Bulgarian Real Estate Building Services.

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New Danger on the Roads in Bulgaria

New Danger on the Roads in Bulgaria

Yesterday, much to the surprise and delight of everyone, Margarita passed her driving test on the first attempt. No need to worry for a couple of weeks though as it will take that time for her to attain her first aid certificate and apply for the license

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Patio Building in Bulgaria

Building a patio in Bulgaria is easy as long as you follow the simple steps and plan ahead before diving into it.

Planning ahead is the key to success here and some time spent thinking about what materials you will want to for your finished Bulgarian patio.

There are a number of choices such as concrete, paving slabs, brick, wood or a even a mixture of these. You will many suitable materials in Bulgaria for patios as every house has one but not necessarily bought from shops more likely recycled - nothing wrong with that.

You need to know exactly what your Bulgarian patio is going to be used for not only will it determine what size it will be and if for dining you need to consider the size of your dining room inside your Bulgarian house to compare the types of dimension you need. Building a Bulgaria patio too small for the purpose is a mistake that many people actually do make, even Bulgarians!

Have you accounted for how many guests, including your frequent Bulgarian neighbours, you will have? Is there enough room for the host to wander round to serve everyone and refill those rakia bottles? All these and many more will give a a better idea on what area will be most practical.

If your Bulgarian patio is adjoining an existing building you need to allow some 15 cm below the internal floor level to the top level of your patio this applies to concrete, brick and paving based materials.

The construction of your Bulgarian patio follows very basic rules and is not difficult but the rules have to be adhered to for many years of a trouble free Bulgarian patio.

The patio must be firmly bedded onto a mortar mix to ensure solid base, this is very important and should not be constructed on sand. The reason is quite simple it will erode away leaving an uneven surface.

A concrete mix is the next layer to be put down over a hardcore base if the patio is to be subjected to heavy traffic.

The depths involved here should travel 5 cm for the paving, 5 cm for the mortar and 10 cm concrete or hardcore.

You need to allow a slope away from the house of with a gradient of approx 2 1/2 cm per every 5 metres.

Lay the pavings parallel to the house one row at a time using a straight edge and level as you proceed. Using a string line to guide each course it essential for lining all pavings in straight rows.

Pavings should be allowed to set overnight before jointing using a damp mortar (as opposed to wet). You need to clean away any excess mortar off with a damp cloth or sponge as you go to keep pavings clean.

All the joints should be full or have a slightly rounded finish, there are specialist tools for this but being Bulgaria improvised tools are just as good.

After these simple step you Bulgarian patio should have many seasons of use trouble free, now where did I put the salad and rakia?

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Buying Boom in Bulgaria Continues

Figures are just out proving that Bulgaria is just as popular as ever for real estate investment.

Foreigners have spent EUR 817,000,000 on property in Bulgaria for the first six months of this year!

These statistics were made by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) data and came out on 14th August 2007. This is a staggering 79% improvement compared with the the same six month period of last year.

With Bulgaria's excellent climate, Black Sea Coast and winter skiing resorts combined with probably the lowest-priced properties in Europe, foreign investment has been here for many a year and last year these attractions hit an all time high. Foreigners spending will certainly exceed last year's figures based on the figures just out.

British people bought more houses in Bulgaria than any other country, mainly on seaside resorts which made up almost 16% of the total money spent on properties nationally.

With Bulgarian now firmly in the EU as from January this has seemingly had no effect on the market as property buying laws have not changed. Foreigners could always buy real estate before with of course the exception of the land itself which has to be bought by a registered Bulgarian company set up by individuals.

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The New BRE Website

The New BRE Website is here. In line with our philosophy of providing the best service to our clients, BRE have launched an updated web site which retains all the features of the old site but has many new features and enhancements. The new site embraces the latest web technology and is a complete departure from the system used on the old site.

This update was not taken on lightly. It is a mammoth task to upload around 2,500 properties (which will take some time to complete). Each listing has 12 images associated with it so around 30,000 pictures, 2,500 descriptions and a further 28,000 items of data.

As you can imagine, this takes a lot of time and resources, but before this job can be started, the site has to be designed, built and tested.

I would like to thank everyone involved (mainly Deyan and Velina who have spent many hours in front of their screens) in helping to make this site what it is and a special "Thank You" goes to Borislav Angelov, affectionately known as "The Boy Wonder" for all his help with the technical issues and to Margarita for being a "computer widow" while I built the site.

Phil Rose

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Eco Building in Bulgaria

Eco building in Bulgaria is something that is attractive to a lot of people. The idea of saving the environment and saving money at the same time is a ‘win-win’ situation. But before this article discusses the various types and aspects of an ecological build or renovation, it is important to discuss quick and easy ways of saving money first.

There is little point having an energy efficient house if you don’t have an energy efficient attitude. Some simple and cheap ways to save money are turning of your electrical appliances and not leaving them on standby; swapping your light bulbs for long lasting ones; fixing that leaky tap; turning down your boiler; fitting draught excluders on windows and doors and not draining the bathwater until its cold (you paid to heat it up!).

Other ways you can save money and the environment but require a bit of forethought are to thoroughly lag your loft with insulation (including that draughty loft hatch); fit double glazing, externally or internally insulate your house (external is generally best), install under floor insulation, buy energy efficient appliances like dishwashers and fridges and have an efficient heating system installed.

If you have done these thing already and want more information please read on.

There are many different aspects of an ecologically friendly build. The first one of these is to use environmentally friendly products and the most environmentally friendly product is a recycled product. Bulgaria has a great tradition of reusing building materials. Bricks, roof tiles, timber, stone and many other things are reused out here as a matter of necessity and practicality. This means you are off to a good start before we have even begun!

There are two main types of eco builds, a purposefully designed new build and a renovation or retrofit. The latter is the most common so we will start there. The information that follows is as simple as possible, to allow it to be accessible to the layperson.

A renovation of a property is a wonderful time to do an eco build but it can be done afterwards (i.e. as a retrofit). The three things you want to be saving money on are electricity, hot water and heating. If you get it right you won’t just be saving money but it will be free!

Generating your own electricity can be done in many ways. The most well known are PV (photovoltactic) collectors. These clever things turn sunlight into electricity and power things from satellites to calculators and they can power you house as well! The system has a few other important parts and they are somewhere to store the electricity (no sunshine at night!) and something to regulate your electricity. The electricity is stored in large 12volt battery banks somewhere dry and warm inside your house. Clever electrical gizmos regulate the highly variable electricity that comes from you PV solar panels and protect and extend the life of your batteries. This is because the amount of electricity produced depends on the amount of sunlight. Brighter sunshine means more electricity. Other gizmos convert the 12volts back to the standard 240volts that we are more used to although large numbers of people when they have this system opt to have as many of their appliances run on 12volts as possible and not 240volts. This is because converting 12volt to 240volts uses up a lot of electricity and makes the system inefficient. It is now possible in some parts of the world to sell back your excess electricity to the power companies.

The PV solar panels have to be carefully sited. They can be roof mounted, on racks in the garden or even on the house walls. They must be pointing towards the sun (south facing) and at the best angle to catch as much sunlight as possible.

Other ways to generate electricity are through wind power and water power. Wind power works in the same way as the large wind turbines. The wind drives the blades around to produce electricity. If you have a stream or a lake on your property you could harness the water via a water wheel to produce electricity. Both wind and water store and resupply the electricity in the same way as PV solar panel system above.

Generating hot water is probably the most popular option due to cost of initial outlay and pay back times. There are many different systems available but they all work on the same principle. This is to collect heat from the sun and store it as hot water. It is in effect liquid sunshine. The suns rays are collected by solar panels; these transfer the heat into water that flows within them. The hot water is then piped inside to be used later. The most basic system available in Bulgaria is an old oil drum, painted black and placed on a roof to heat up in the sun shine. The system can been seen on many old Bulgarian houses but the problem with it is that although the water gets hot during the day it cools quickly at night. This means no hot shower in the morning and is the reason why the hot water should be stored inside your house.

The system has a few more components like pumps, specialized boilers, reservoirs, expansion vessels and a computer brain to tell them all how to work. The best systems are those with the least number of components (more reliable), low maintenance, highly efficient, long life span and elegant in how they work.

If you are having an eco renovation you could have one or both of the two systems mentioned. There is a lot more to it than mentioned here and no two systems are the same. This is because the electricity and water usage will vary between households and therefore the demands will be different. The location of the house also has an effect on the sizing and placement of the systems

The most practical heating method for an eco renovation is the wood burning stove. Other options are available but they are not efficient unless they are in a specialized new build. You may think that buy burning the wood you are damaging the environment but in comparison you are not. In Bulgaria they have managed forests and when they cut down a tree another gets planted and this means you are not contributing to deforestation. It also means that the carbon dioxide released during the burning of the wood is reconverted back into a tree in time.

Most renovations have a wood burning stove and most have a pumped system that will heat radiators, so as to not just heat one room. This is where most people stop but it is possible to have your wood burner drive under floor heating and provide hot water to shower and wash the dishes. If this is linked to solar hot water panels you have plenty of hot water in summer and winter and a lovely warm house, with warm floors in winter. Of course this is no good if your house isn’t well insulated (including underfloor) and double glazing.

With a new build you can do all the things mentioned above but better. The house can be built to be perfectly aligned to catch the suns rays efficiently in both summer and winter. It can be massively insulated to require less heating in winter and be cool in summer. In fact, a house can be built to require no heating at all. Ever! It could be built to require no heating in winter, no cooling in summer, be electrically self sufficient and if you have a well not be connected to the mains water. This house could be built in the middle of nowhere and function perfectly, even with broadband internet. The layout inside could be light, modern, spacious with all mod cons or rural and rustic. The details of this however are beyond the scope of this article.

This article has hopefully given you a broad overview of what is available. There are many other areas not covered including log cabins, rammed earth houses, rammed tire houses (extreme recycling), adobe, straw bale and daub building methods, passive solar houses, sunspaces, trombje walls, solar swimming pools, reed bed filtration systems, composting toilets and many many more.

If you are interested in any of the above projects or would like more information please contact us.

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Wood Decking Maintenance in Bulgaria

There may be many people in Bulgaria who have decking as an outside part of their garden or yard. These wooden structures should have many years of life in them but they do need looking after.

Every year you should make an inspection on your deck and look for loose boards and rotting wood. Rotting wood is present and associated with discolouration or mold. There will be a softness when pressed on with something solid such as a screwdriver. If there is any evidence of soft wood or dry rot you need to replace these before moving onto the next stage.

Prepare the wood surfaces by getting rid of loose surface finishes and paint.
You need to use a sharp paint scraper to scrape away any solid stain, paint or other debris. If it doesn't not come off by scraping the sanding method will have to come into play.

If its a film finish you have, e.g. varnish or paint, chemical stripper will be needed. Rubber gloves and eye protection should always be worn with this treatment.

Follow the chemical stripper directions exactly, Usually you'll just administer it it in smaller sections, then scrape the loosened finish away from the wood. For stubborn areas you may have t wait a while then apply another coat. Tight corners can be reached by using a putty knife. You need to rinse the stripper away usually with a hose to give you a bare wood platform.

It is very important for the decking now to be cleaned and to do this you will need to apply some decking cleaner. There are a variety of deck cleaners or deck restorers on the market even in Bulgaria. They usually fall into three types:

Chlorine Bleach cleaners
These are to be avoided as they will harm the wood and leave an unnatural whitewash appearance. They are also known to cause fuzzing of the wood fibers. Why they sell them for these jobs is still a mystery.

Oxygen Bleach cleaners
This type, when mixed with water creates a hydrogen peroxide and soda ash cleaning base. Good for mildew stains and graying caused by ultra-violet sun exposure and also a good recommendation for cleaning the wood of dirt and deposits. Rest assured the wood will return to its original colour after using this type of decking cleaner.

Oxalic Acid Based cleaners
This type is not effective for the removal of mildew stains but is effective for removing tannin stains.

Your deck cleaner is purchased now you can get to work.....

It would be a good idea to protect any surrounding shrubbery with some plastic cloth or sheets. It might also be a good idea to spray down down the surrounding area so there is standing water this will immediately dilute any deck cleaner accidentally off target.

Mix the deck cleaner according to directions and put on your eye protection and rubber gloves, very important this even in hot weather!

Spray the deck cleaner according to manufacturer's instructions usually telling you to take on small sections. The deck cleaner will do the business.

Let the cleaner set for a period of time as recommended by the manufacturer, usually between 10 and 20 minutes.

Once it has been working for the specified time, then using a hard bristled push broom, scrub the deck clean. Work with the wood grain, not against it.
Rinse with water and repeat the process on the next section of deck.

You'll need top wait a couple of days without rain before finishing the project. Buy a clear or semi-transparent stain if you want the grain of the wood to show through or a solid stain if you want the finish to look like paint. Don't just use paint.

You should make sure the stain or sealer is labeled "Water Repellent" Especially important in Bulgaria not to use clear finishes such as polyurethane or varnish as they will degrade under the strong sun's UV rays.

You can use a roller on big flat areas but the wood might be very porous and absorb the sealer or stain quickly so don't be stingy otherwise you'll have to do it all over again.

A Brush will be required for railings, balusters and between the decking boards.

Once dry you should be clear for another few years at least but you will need to still check on a yearly basis.

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BREonline

Not many people know about how good things are, we all complain but far too few give credit where credit is due. This is what this particular blog is about, given due thanks to those who deserve it.

With out the support and professional guidance from Phil and Margarita Rose and all the staff Bulgarianrealestateonline.com I would not be in Bulgaria right now.

I bought my house from them blind which goes against ever principle of buying abroad. Reams of information about hte property I chose was sent online to me the UK. Even the advice from bulgarianrealestateonline.com was exactly that - don't buy blind! I was very insistent though as they did they utmost in filling me in with everything about the property and the area. The countless questions that were answered honestly and all within a few hours of being asked was extensive. When I finally got there the property was exactly as I expected, I had the house of my dreams made real online!

Their hospitality when I first visited Bulgaria was fantastic in fact Bulgarian, everything was catered for, transport, accommodation, solicitors, banking, renovation, car purchase, tax, utility bills, telephone connections, and much, much more.

Even having a major car accident Phil and Margarita were first the scene sorted out the police, insurance matter and even offered me their own home for convalescence for long I needed. There are many other instances of support well beyond the call of duty to many clients.

Most Estate Agents give a good service until you have competed the purchase then back off. Bulgarianrealestateonline.com go beyond this and it's not just for me, they do this for every client.

What can you do to thank this company and it's people for changing so many people's lives for the better? How can you repay the kindness and overwhelming support given in helping to settle over here? And where can you ever get this kind of treatment not only in Bulgaria but worldwide?

My vocation is to tell people about what life is like here and what goes on. This is something that many people should know about. Be very clear in you head that I don't work for bulgariarealestateonline.com and remain a free agent saying what I feel under another company. If I had something bad to say I would say that as well.

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