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23 Jun 2026
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Description
My wife and I are in the business of renovating old houses in the Lake Como area.
We are British, but we fell in love with the area, and are now based here full time. The Lake is very famous as a Summer spot, but its also amazing in the Winter. It has very little rain, is very calm and peaceful. If you're brave enough, the cold swimming is fun too.
We are not professional builders, more like advanced DIY-ers... and we are looking for help to do the work. We can pay and we can provide accommodation, as we have other houses in the area. We are very flexible about the amount of work you might do, but we are looking for people who have some experience with DIY, or at least are fast learners!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Creative DIY projects
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Lake Como is a great place to get a feeling for Italian culture. Its cheap, its fun, and outside of peak tourist season its very relaxed and easy to interact with the locals.
Very few people here speak English, so its great for learning Italian... and people are friendly when you suck ;).
Before we came here, Emily worked making software for a London-based startup, and I use to work in the events industry.
I can teach people how to build houses, or furniture. I am hoping that people can help me improve my Italian, or German... or rock climbing ;)Host offers payment in line with the minimum wage
This host offers accommodation and payment.
Help
We need House renovation help!
There are 1000 jobs to do, some of which require some skill, some none at all. You can work whatever hours you like, and take on whatever jobs fit your skills.
You can also use our tools, you dont need to bring anything at all. If you know what you are doing, great. If you dont - we can teach you!
There is no minimum wage in Italy, but we will pay €8 an hour. We are aware this isn't much, but we will sort out your food & accommodation!
Some of the things we need to do are:
- Tiling
- Rendering
- Plumbing stuff
- Painting
- Laying flooring
- Installing windows
- Installing a kitchen
- Installing a new balcony
- Endless cleaning.
- Joinery / furniture making.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
German: Intermediate
Italian: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
We are native British speakers, but I speak German and would like to keep learning more... and we are both learning Italian.
Accommodation
We are quite flexible on this, but the idea is that we will build a basic but fullly functional apartment at the house (which is very big). You can live there as long as you like. We imagine the project will take about a year.
What else ...
During your time off you can explore the local area and surrounding towns. You can take the ferry across the lake to the famous towns of Varenna and Bellagio.
If you like hiking, you can explore the mountains with Emily and Bella (the dog).
If you like rock-climbing, we can do that together!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Given that we are doing house building work, we need to stick to normal hours, and we cannot make noise at night... so the work you do with us would need to be at some point between 9-5 local time.
Space for parking camper vans
Campers are welcome, but we cannot have you at the house here, as you cannot get a camper up the road to the house, which is v steep and small. There are however spaces nearby that you can park. We also own a small plot of land about 200m away that might work. There are also lots of KILLER places on the Lake, which might be nicer.
Can possibly accept pets
We can take dogs, but only if they play well with other dogs (as we have one here), and if they dont want to sleep on the beds or sofas. Our dog is a floor dog. :(
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Bella
