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epinay

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  1. Hi As I understand it you can do more or less anything INSIDE your house without a Declaration de Travaux.  It's only if it affects the outside - ie altering doors/windows/external walls/roof that you need to complete the form. Regards, Diana  
  2. Thanks, Anton I'm obviously not as au fait with the french technical terms on the form as you - I was a bit daunted and when my fluent friend kept reaching for the dictionary my heart sank even further.  We are in a rather scenic/touristy/medieval town though so maybe we'll have a go like you did with some photos.  I don't think our alterations would be spotted by a plane though, and it's in a single skin breezeblock extension that aesthetically should never have been granted planning permission in the first place! It's reassuring that you can apply retrospectively if you have to though. Any more input / opinions / advice or experience of just going for it very welcome.  Diana  
  3. I don't agree with Val - it can be a DIY job.   My husband has done two loft conversions single handed (well, I don't count) and they were fantastic.  Not just in appearance - they are as structurally sound as anything we could have paid someone to do.  You do have to measure very carefully when ordering the staircase, but both of our lofts/stairwells had sloping ceilings and by careful placement of the staircase/opening, you can make sure you allow for headroom.  If you are a competent and experienced DIYer it should not be beyond your capabilities and will cost a fraction of what you would have to pay someone - and in my experience you get exactly what you want and you are in control of the quality of workmanship, which is not always the case when you employ someone.  This website http://www.stairplan.com/wheredoistart.htm will help you work out the rise and going that you need to fit the space you have.  I can't advise you on cutting the joists - my H isn't here to ask, but he has done it and the attic floor and staircase is as solid as a rock, so it can be done.   As I remember,  actually installing the staircase was the easy bit - one minute you have a gaping hole in the ceiling, the next you have a proper upstairs that you can walk up to.  Bon courage, Diana   
  4. OK, I'm convinced!   Would anyone care to walk me through the form? ?  I went through it with a friend who is a french teacher and it was her confusion that put me off - if she can't make head nor tail of it I don't have a hope.  She seemed to think we need to get plans drawn up though I'm not sure she's got that right.  I was hoping a before photo with dimensions and maybe picture of proposed door would be good enough.  HELP PLEASE!!  I've already downloaded the Declaration de Travaux form and instructions that go with it - if anyone is interested you can get it here: http://www2.equipement.gouv.fr/formulaires/formfiche.asp?IdFormulaire=43  and instructions on how to complete it here: http://www2.equipement.gouv.fr/formulaires/docassocies/50014.pdf here's hoping, Diana  
  5. Oh dear!  Thank you so far and please keep 'em coming - we're off on Friday and want to have made a reasonably educated / risk assessed decision by then.   As far as I understand it a new doorway doesn't need Permit de Construire, just Declaration de Travaux, so maybe it wouldn't be as severe an infringement?  Also, the new doorway won't be visible from the road as it's at the back of the house, and only one neighbour at the back will be able to see it, so unlikely to attract complaints from passers by like the postman - who clearly needs to delevop an interest or something. All opinions/experience welcomed. Diana  
  6. Hi charley I'm replying because no one else has.   I'm no expert but as far as I know you don't have to protect the face of your stone - it's fine as it is.  We read a lot about stone having to breathe, and I don't know about that, but our stone houses have never been sealed in any way, and they've been fine.  Hopefully someone who is more of an expert than me can back this up with techical info if you feel you need it. Regards, Diana  
  7. put in a new opening for a door and small window in an existing single storey lean-to block extension at the back of our stone house, WITHOUT a Declaration de Travaux?  I've read the form and it all seems so unnecessarily detailed and time consuming/costly that we are tempted to just go ahead and make the opening, put in the door and window and ignore the red tape.  I know some of you will come back at me with only doom and gloom about french burocracy, but if it's not the guillotine for us, and might only be viewed as a minor omission/infringement - the formalities of which which can be easily sorted out if required when we eventually sell  - then we would go ahead. Apologies to all of you who insist on going by the book (well done), and opinions please from anyone who might know the consequences of what we are considering. Thanks in advance Diana
  8. Hi I'm not sure it's true anymore about low offers being accepted in the way you describe.  Our experience has been that we have received (and had to pay) the asking price or close to it when we have bought or sold in France. I think it depends on the area and population.  If it's a sought after area with plenty of employment or tourism you might expect to pay the full price.  If it's out in the sticks and been on the market for a long time a low offer might be accepted.  We have sold twice and received the asking price both times - but we are in a very sought after area and the houses were lovely.  We have bought twice and likewise paid the full asking price -people were queuing up to view our new house (bought recently) so we didn't waste time haggling - we wanted the house so offered the full price to secure it.   If we were the only people interested we would probably have offered 10% below asking price to start with.  If it was in the sticks and been on the market for ages we might have offered 20% below asking price.  In the end, I think it all depends how much you want the house and what it's worth to you. I'm not an expert but hope this helps. Diana  
  9. Just wanted to add another suggestion for a good website designer.  Sonus Media did ours back in 2001 and it was really excellent - our gite was fully booked throughout 2001 - 2003.  You could update the availability yourself or have them do it for you and it was very reasonably priced. This was the web address: www.sonusmedia.co.uk/sites Regards,  Diana    
  10. Well, maybe we did panic a bit, (thanks Andrew) but we will sleep well tonight and the next,  and the floor won't be as bouncy as it would have been with just one beam, and it will add character (which was sadly ripped out in previous renovation circa 1950), and we can have an open fire if we want, and I'm sure I can think of lots of other benefits to this more expensive 2 beam route we have hurriedly opted for in a state of nervous anxiety, just to reassure ourselves that it will all be worth it.  Like the floor may be able to take the weight of a bath now, which we had previously ruled out.  And we can have an open fire...... which is all we ever really wanted! Thank you all. Until our next conundrum.... Diana  
  11. Good Morning Andrew I hope you slept well, because I didn't.  And we realised that we might never sleep soundly again, but hey, Fortune Favours the Brave.  Hang on though,  don't fools rush in where angels fear ..........?   Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference .  Sometimes it has to be pointed out to you.  SO, you may be relieved/ joyous / overcome  to know that we have already contacted the builder and instructed him to carry out the beam either side of the chimney scenario - so that's 4 lovely green oak beams in all.  All the more character being re-injected into our little cottage . Thank you,  Andrew ,  if not for one day saving our lives, or major fire damage to our house, then certainly for showing the way to peace of mind, sound sleep, problem-free insurance and no major flue issues to address.  So, to my lovely new green oak beams, which is where I came in..... As there's not a lot of original oak in the house apart from the attic (which we will treat), I don't think the new wood will be savaged overnight by anything too lethal (and we aren't in a termite area), it seems that we can safely do NOTHING to the green oak beams and simply enjoy them as they are. Merci et bien cordialement Diana    
  12. Dear, dear Andrew I like the way you have really thought about this - so many people we tell it to haven't had the stamina, imagination or staying power... We thought long and hard about the two beam solution as you have suggested.  That was our Plan A.  We are on Plan B - the one beam solution so that the joists (put in during the earlier conversion) which are currently resting on the block wall could stay and rest on the new oak beams.  Seemed logical to us (also to the builder).  The reason we didn't go right back to the original (you are absolutely right, it would have been the best idea) is that it would have turned the house into a shell, which was more than we were prepared to undertake.  As it is, when they took out the huge original beams (in prior renovation circa 1950 or so) which went from front to back, they replaced them with smaller joists which go from front to centre block wall and back to centre block wall, stopping and resting on centre block wall - which we are replacing with said GREEN OAK BEAM (Blimey, I hope it's worth it!) to support the joists. Re concerns about the beam being near/in the fireplace - I know it sounds mad but don't we often see old fireplaces with beams going into the chimney  - I know I have.  The fireplace is 4ft 6ins wide and we were thinking that a flue, 16" away from the beam,  surrounded by fire-proof insulation, and the beam enclosed within fireline plasterboard would be OK.  After all, look at all the oak mantels you see in open fireplaces.  I know, I protest too much! We had two builders out to quote for the work and neither of them raised an objection.  But we are nervous and appreciate your very sensible opinions.  If we definitely shouldn't do this we have to act fast as the builder is going to start any minute, if he hasn't already!  And we are in UK at present so its a bit daunting. Thank you so much for your interest.  I'll let you know how we get on.... providing the house doesn't burn down.  Regards, Diana  
  13. I love the way you all really listen and pay attention!! It's OK, there is already a flue liner in situ - it's 150mm or 6" near enough, and all the stoves we have been looking at are no more than that.  But, we are not sure if the flue in place is a flue for a GAS appliance, and if so, we think we will have to replace it with a solid fuel flue. Does anyone know an easy way of telling the difference?  Could it be as simple as if there is soot it's a solid fuel flue, and if there isn't, it's gas?  Sorry if that's an idiot question. Diana
  14. I Know, I know !!!!.....when we've all stopped laughing I'll try to explain. I can hardly believe it myself, but it's true - imagine one room downstairs with a fireplace in the middle of the longer wall.  Then in circa ??? someone wants 2 rooms.  They build a block wall smack down the centre of the room, including into the chimney (right up to and including the first floor!) and then block up the fireplace.   They had 2 small rooms and no sign of a fireplace.  Now, we have revealed the fireplace, but to see the whole thing in one eyeful you have to stand in the doorway of their block wall and quickly glance left and right and pretend the wall is not smack in the middle of your view.  Anyone watched that Dustin Hoffman film where he has to screw up his eyes to make snake eyes?  That's what's required here.  Got it??  Probably not -  it's hard to imagine, and I've seen it!   In short, half the fireplace is in one room, and half is in the other.   SO.. we are removing the wall up to and including the first floor, and installing one oak beam in the ceiling of the first floor (where the wall is being removed) and one oak beam in the ceiling downstairs (where the wall is being removed.  So we will have one room downstairs, with oak beam going into the outside wall / chimney and we will build partition wall upstairs to divide into two bedrooms (more or less as before, but the load on the oak beam will be less than if we had left the wall upstairs), supported by the new beam downstairs.  Hence why we are removing the wall on the first floor too.  I wish I could draw you a picture - if someone tells me how to upload a photo you might get some idea of the situation We were advised that beam going into the wall of the chimney would be OK if fire retardent material was used and the flue was so many cms (can't remember exactly) from the beam.  Because the chimney is so wide there is room to manoevre to flue to the far side of the chimney, away from the beam.  But yes, it worries me too - hence the question re fire retardent material.  Diana    
  15. Someone 'modernised' our old stone house about 50 years ago by taking out all the original joists and beams (maybe they were riddled with woodworm or something) and built a block wall right through the middle of the house - including through the fireplace and chimney breast but that's another story (which has caused us no end of problems as we are opening up the fireplace).  Anyway, we are removing the block wall and installing green oak beams in the ceilings to provide the support that the wall was built to do in the previous renovation.  So from the above posts about OAK, I take it we are doing the right thing installing GREEN oak beams?  Please confirm, and also please advise me what we should do to the beams - I don't want them to look treated in any way and would be happy to just leave them to dry and age in their own way.  Will this be OK? Also, advice on how to fireproof the end of the beam that will be in the chimney?  We are installing a stove, so not an open fire obviously. Look forward to your replies. Thanks, Diana    
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