JP

BTW, Bill .... yes, they will do all plumbing, electrics & whatever else may be needed - once you have chosen your fittings, furniture etc. you pay €100 for one of their recommended ateliers to come round, verify that everything works, enough quantity etc. & to produce a firm quote for removal of all old stuff, prep & fitting of new stuff - I used that quote to get a much better offer from our existing builders

Well, the devis from the Lapeyre recommended guy was astronomical.  We ended up using some other builders who were doing some bedroom renovation for us, ended up being about a third of the price - they have done a great job as well.  In at 8am every morning, 30 mins for lunch which they take in the garage, then finish at 5pm - same on Saturdays although they arrive at 9:30 (at our request) so that we can have an uninterrupted family FEB ;-)  Overall v v happy wih their quality, although the tiling is not perfect - same story on a previous bathroom that we did, not great quality on the tiling, unless I have v high standards & it is v hard to do (am not a tiler to say the least).  These guys started mid Jan & they have gutted / renovated 4 bedrooms & 2 bathrooms .... will be finished by the end of this week.  Well chuffed!  Quality of the fittings from Lapeyre has been v good, although getting money refunded from them a nightmare. We changed our order & got a credit for some taps / shower fittings & then took some tiles back as we didnt like them whe we got them in the bathroom.  They can take your money in a heartbeat from your card, but getting it back involved an extra form, a RIB & all sent to head office for a refund in 6 weeks!

Well, stage 1 done - chosen all the units, bath, showers & tiles for the two bathrooms (& the Lapeyre sale started, talk about good timing !) ... atelier to come in next week for the devis to depose / pose

My solid wood flooring in the lounge is in a state - it is the original floor & has been patched up / bodged many times by previous owners - lots of tongue & groove parts that no longer fit, some bits have had a foam filler squirted underneath to help support it, v big gaps that are collecting all sorts of nonsense & several areas where a foot is bound to go through soon.  Looks like a replace is needed & am resigned to the cost of that, but, I would like to buy the pre-treated solid wood & avoid the dust & hassle of the ponçage - all the locals that I have contacted seem to only do the 'raw' wood & want to sand at least 3 times - this will cause an unholy amount of dust that I want to avoid with three kids in the house.  Does anyone know if this treated solid wood flooring is available in France or what the french term for it is? Thanks ... JP

Cool ... many thanks for the replies.  We are in there tomorrow to arrange the final planning & get a Lapeyre guy out to complete the detailed devis, will let you know how it goes.

Cool ... many thanks for the replys.  We are in there tomorrow to arrnage the final planning & get a Lapeyre guy out to complete the detailed devis, will let you know how it goes.

Hi all, After a number of projects with local tradesmen (in 78600) that have been difficult to manage, overruns on the devis & not great quality, I am considering a change in approach for replacing / updating two bathrooms.  The French company Lapeyre (www.lapeyre.fr) supply all sorts of stuff & have a fitting service - has anyone had any experience of using them for work & also the quality of the stuff that they supply? Thanks .... JP

I renewed my UK licence when I was living in Singapore, just did a change of address to my parents house ..... no need for proof of address & new licence arrived in post no probs.

Cool thanks, will have a look in PointP.  I was in Gedimat (nearest to us) & they only had the square 'beton' ones or industrial standard metal man hole covers etc ....

Does anyone know where to get these to allow me to patio over / around an inspection point for our mains drainage http://www.combinedharvesters.co.uk/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1042&idcategory=62 Thanks .... JP

Thanks for all of the thoughts, appreciated.  We have just received another letter from the mairie, it seems that they gave us the location of the original 'proposed' connection point to the mains which was by our drive, on the opposite side of the property to our fosse ..... this meant that half the garden had to be dug up to route new pipes all the way around the house down to the drive.  We have now received a tech drwing showing the actual location of the connection point & it is just over our wall, about 10 yds (metres) from the fosse .... a heck of a lot less work.  The only part of the house below the level of the mains is our sous-sol & we only need sink / washing machine waste water pumped out of that .... no need for a mini-sewer plant.  I will get our local chap to install a pump to push that water out (me not Mr DIY!). No option to not connect, local by-law is that all houses have to be on mains drainage within two years of being sold ... we have only been in since March but given that our fosse has stopped draining & needs to be emptied once a month, we might as well bite the bullet, connect to the mains & not have all the hassle of digging up the drainage pipes to find out where the blockage is.  Cheers all .... am now confident of a much leaner quote, without the excesses of labour & machinery that we just dont need ..... amazing what people try to get away with & also amazing that, had the mairie not spotted the mistake, we could have had a very expensive & unplanned bit of landscape gardening done for no reason !

Hi all, We are moving from our fosse septique to mains drainiage, required by the mairie within two years of moving in.  We have just received an enormous quote for €18,000 to do this - seeing as the mains connection is available right outside the house & that what we require, in laymans terms, is the pipes being dug up / replaced & re-routed to the mains connection point  this seems unbelievable.  One item on the quote that we dont understand is the supply & fitting of a fosse relevage?  Anyone know what this is / why we would need one?  Also, any comments, apart from OMG, on the quote!  

OK - Thanks for that, will ask our man about a ballon.  Insulation is not great - we seem to have cheap'ish double glazing, wooden frames in an old'ish house & stone construction - its beocming apparent, after moving in in Mar, that the previous owner did everything on the cheap.

Wonderful, thanks

My 15 year old inherited Protherm has given up the ghost.  Am having a new one fitted, anyone know the French for 'condensing boiler' plus any advice in terms of what to ask for?  I have a 3 story stone house, about 180 m2 living, 10 iron radiators & 2 'seche serviettes' to heat, plus the water tank so am thinking about 30Kw?  Thanks ... JP

I have asked them for references, just waiting for that info to come through.  I am merely seeking as much info as possible, as one would on anyone / anything before parting with severl thousand €

Mmmmmm, noone used them?  Woodworks, Grande Rue, Maconnerie 16200, Courbilac

Am looking at getting the original wood flooring in the lounge replaced, it is v. old, lots of gaps & loose planks.  I have had a quote from a local 'artisan' who I have direct experience with, have just got another quote from 'woodworksfrance' & was wondering if anyone has used them can recommend? Thanks ... JP

Has anyone used 'engineered wood' floorboards & what the equivalent is in French/is it available here ?

We got ours from Leroy Merlin , very happy with the finish & quality

... sorry, meant to add, we looked around for mortgages & found the best offer, for us, through International Private Finance Ltd - they act as a broker for BNPParibas (perhaps others, dont know) - great service - ask for Monica de Ronde as she handled our application etc. brilliantly.  They got us a better mortgage than my own bank here, CIC.  JP

We have just bought in 78 (Maisons Laffitte) & are siging the AdV in about 3 weeks.  After looking around for the last 6-9 months I could see no real price changes so that shouldn't affect your timing.  As for the spring, I would say that yes, there could well be more - the place that we got was originally put on the market in Aug which the Immobilier advised against as 'the French dont buy in the Summer' .... they kept it on the market & dropped the price & we got out offer accepted end of Nov.  Try www.pap.fr as well as an agent - this is the site for people selling without an agent.  After doing this for the first time through an agent I really cant see where they earned their hefty commission.  Best of luck ....

Just to square the cricle as they say .... Notaire informed me that new mains sewerage has been laid in the area but that existing householders are not being asked to connect.  When you buy, as the new owner you are obliged to connect within 2 years.  The mains runs right outside so its is only a few metres - no drama there.  As for the current FS, that was emptied last year & the grease trap cleaned .... so, happy days until Feb 2012 when I wil have to fork out to connect to the mains .... JP

Not sure if anyone is interested, but .... CdV all signed, Notaire was fantastic & translated the whole proceedings into French so that Anna could concentrate on looking after our youngest & she even provided a few toys.  All went swimmingly well.  Signed & initialled numerous pages of the CdV plus the Diagnostique & the proof of work done to the house / receipts etc. & then handed over a big cheque for the deposit & a much smaller one for the Notaires charge (€300).  Then received 2 more copies of the whole proceedings via registered post ?! Am now into the throes of planning the changes that we want, its either a veranda or, if we cant get the Permis (we are in a restricted area, within the 'Parc' of the Chateau, so they are a bit fussy, but many others have done external work) then it will be a bit of remodelling inside.  Found a good architect to help us & she has some great ideas .... fingers crossed.  AdV scheduled for no later than 15th Feb.  All in all, a very good experience so far - if only I could say the same about the trauma we have had in trying to cancel our car insurance when we took out a policy with a new insurer that was cheaper .... what a palava ..... Cheers all ... JP

Hi all, I have seen a few comments on the gradual inspection & replacement of old "fosse's" & that they have to be SPANC compliant ?  Being on the verge of signing a CdV on a house that has a fosse, should I a) be concerned about this? b) ask for some sort of SPANC compliance / inspection certificate (do they exist?) c) Put a 'clause suspensive' in my CdV (is this possible, my immobilier seems to think not ?) d) what other precaution could I take / advice could anyone give ... am I unduly worried about the fosse not being up to snuff & being landed with a large bill to have it replaced or to connect up to the main sewer (made available in the last couple of years) Advice / thoughts would be very much appreciated JP