Fear is that anxiety about a real or imagined risk or damage.
My definition of fear and experience in the field when restoring an old house would be “an unrealistic fear that the client has generated through misinformation”.
Every customer comes to us with an endless list of fears. In reality, more than half of them are engendered by the famous word of mouth from people who are not from the sector and who seem to have been experts for 40 years. For example;
- “I have been told that renovating an old house is very expensive”,
- “I’ve heard that they have woodworm and that you have to tear everything out”.
- “A friend of mine says that at the town hall they give you a lot of problems…”.
It’s normal to be afraid, you shouldn’t be scared. The fear of the unknown or of what is unknown, if we add to this the comments of the people closest to you, can create limiting beliefs in the face of such a project.
Fears, doubts… disappear as we confront them.
How do we deal with the fears of restoring an old house?
Very easy. By looking for a professional who can solve all these doubts and who can generate that union of harmony and trust that are the key to working together.
Our way of carrying out a project (and it is not the best or the worst, but ours) starts with a first contact with the client of 30 minutes maximum in which he tells us all his needs and fears. We listen and write down everything and then we explain if we can help or not. If there is no feeling, a distrust will creep in during the project, which is not advisable because it will be affected and will be reflected in the project.
Real case
I tell you a real case of some clients who told us when they met us that their biggest fear was that the original details of the house would not be taken care of and preserved. They had invested a great deal of money and effort in acquiring that old house and logically this is a very special client because they really know what they want and how they want it. They advised him a “sensitive” professional and when he entered his wonderful house the first thing he said to them was “all this shit goes outside because it’s old” referring to the floors. Clearly that was the end of the visit and the opportunity for this gentleman to help them in their dream.
What do I want to tell you with this anecdote? That you should not take the first professional that comes along and that you should inform yourself very well and above all that he gives you the confidence to carry out a project of this scale. No professional can tell you what you can or cannot do in the renovation of your old house, the only thing he can do is to accompany you on the way to this transformation of your life and advise you in the fields that he controls. But at the moment you are telling your clients that their wonderful house with hydraulic floors, wooden beams and carpentry in good condition…. “are not in fashion”…. you have already lost them.
Of course they know that it is not fashionable. They are very special clients who know what they have in front of them and that their preferences are not fashions but other values that come intrinsic with the house. They love every material, every detail, every room… they do not contemplate fashions at any time.
Lovers of old houses need sensitive professionals who understand that every detail of that house was created for it and is an indivisible part of it. They bought it to give it a change of life, to breathe other sensations and create unique family memories that will pass from generation to generation.
Steps to follow
In our first contact you will be the main figure in which you will detail your needs, your preferences, your life values, the reason why you want to restore an old house and live in it, how many people will live in it, what kind of job you have, what is your favourite food… the more we know about you the better the project will be developed and the better it will be adjusted. In this meeting you will be able to ask us anything you want without filters so that your level of fear and doubts will be reduced as much as possible.
Once we have analysed all this information we can generate a final vision of what you are looking for, we will start to develop a project in which your needs are covered and you can start to imagine that magical, safe and unique place you have always wanted.
This does not mean that it cannot be modified and we will continue to get to know you until we reach the point of tranquillity. Of course, the project has to be clear before the execution of the reform, otherwise this can lead to confusion, time delays and an increase in the budget.
We will be with you throughout the process and you will be informed and participate in the process because getting involved creates a special bond and generates more confidence, peace of mind and excitement in this familiar place where you will live for many years, creating new memories and life experiences. Feeling active is also a weapon that reduces fears because you can see for yourself that everything you had imagined was not so.
For example, can hydraulic floors be preserved? This is a question I get asked in every house I go to. My answer, “of course they can be preserved”. They usually ask me this question because this type of floor is directly on top of the ground, which is how houses were built in the past, and with the passage of time there are some areas of land that have become more compacted or, due to the use of weight, have sunk a little more and they are not floors like the ones we are used to seeing, completely level and without joints. I explain this to them and then I ask them “could you live like this?” They always reply “of course”, so we keep them. Another thing is that there are areas that are too uneven and therefore we are going to adapt them to make your life easier and more comfortable while preserving these wonderful tiles.
