Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Last replied
15 Jun 2019
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Details
Description
We are a young couple (Yana is 28 and Waldemar is 30 years old) who just bought our first house in rural South West Ireland.
Our project is to completely refurbish and modernize this old house that has been abandoned by the previous owner. This will include full gutting of the house (great fun for anyone who likes to break things!) and a full upgrade to renewable energy heating system, new water supply by private well, insulation upgrade, etc. But first, we need to completely empty the house and get rid of the previous owners belongings.
The work will begin on 2 July and we are looking for workaway-ers to come any time between then and 22 August (up to 7 weeks in total).
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Both hosts are multi-cultural and can provide language experience for visitors looking to improve their English and Russian (spoken by both of us) or German (spoken only by Waldemar). Before buying the house we have been traveling the world full time as digital nomads for over 2 years and would be delighted to share our experience and advise with anyone looking to start out on a similar journey. In your free time you will be able to see the best nature that South West of Ireland has to offer: see below for more info on the surroundings.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We are looking for help with manual labor and would benefit from hosting someone with building skills.
The initial work (early July) will be mostly emptying the house of old stuff: removing old furniture and general belongings, taking down kitchen cabinets, pulling out fitted wardrobes and bookshelves, etc. In total we have to clear out 109 square meters of house plus about the same area of garage, workshop and attic. Note that this part of the work is not suitable for someone with a fear of spiders and other creepy crawlies!
Then (hopefully in second half of July) we will completely gut the house: taking out old carpeting and tiles, taking out the old doors and sanding down the old paint from wooden window frames. After that the professionals will come to do their jobs of re-wiring, re-plumbing, re-plastering, etc and we will move on to landscaping.
We have approximately 0.4 acres of garden to revive: cutting down the overgrown grass, trimming trees and bushes, draining some of the waterlogged and boggy parts of the garden. We have almost no knowledge of gardening so would benefit hosting someone who understands plants!
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Russian: Fluent
Accommodation
We are renting a 4-bedroom apartment in Tralee town which will be our base whilst the house works are taking place. We will occupy only one of the bedrooms so there will be 3 bedrooms available for visitors. All bedrooms have a double bed and a private bathroom. We will share a kitchen and living room. Internet is available in the apartment. The apartment is located just a 2 minute walk to a large shopping centre and a 25 minute stroll to Tralee town centre. Train station and and bus services to other parts of Ireland are just 2km away.
The house we are renovating is a 25-30 minute drive away and we will provide transportation to and from the apartment to the site. Having a rental car wouldn't be a necessity, but it would make life easier if you want to be able to visit as many places as possible, as public transport is very limited.
What else ...
The must-see sites for anyone visiting this part of Ireland include Killarney town and KIllarney National Park (40 minutes drive from Tralee, train and bus also goes here). Here you can visit the Ross Castle museum, Muckross House and Gardens, or the old Muckross Abbey ruin with it's ancient yew tree growing inside the cloisters. You can also take a boat tour, ride in a traditional Irish jaunting car (horse and carriage), rent a bike and cycle through the woods or hike up to mount Carrauntoohil.
If you're able to rent a car then driving along the ring of Kerry is an incredible experience where you will see some amazing sights. The famous Dingle finishing village is an hour's drive from Tralee and makes for a lovely day trip. Make sure to drive out to the end of the Dingle Peninsula to see the incredible cliffs at Slea Head.
If you're not going to rent a car, besides Killarney you can also take a bus or train to Cork, which is the second biggest city in Ireland after Dublin, or to Limerick. Both journeys take approx 1.5 hours by train. An overnight trip to Dublin is also possible by both train and bus. The train takes 4 hours and the bus a bit longer.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
