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Owens88

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Posts posted by Owens88

  1. Hi

    We want to re-life a bath rather than replace it. In the UK there are people who will come out and re-enamel your bath in situ. Does anybody know of a) the word for such suppliers and b) anybody like that in the Pyrenees Orientales (we are near Prades).

    Thank you

    p.s. We once did a diy effort using stuff from a tub. So question c) is where might I find this local to me in 66 and what I should ask for.
  2. There was a painter by the name of Jock, who was very interested in making a penny where he could, so he often would thin his paint to make it go further. As it happened, he got away with this for some time, but eventually the Church decided to do a big restoration job that involved the painting of one of its biggest churches. Jock put in a bid, and because his price was so low, he got the job.

    He went about erecting the trestles and setting up the planks, and buying the paint and, yes, thinning it down with the turpentine.

    Jock was up on the scaffolding, painting away with the job nearly completed, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder, and the sky opened.

    The torrential rain washed the thinned paint off the church and knocked Jock off the scaffold and on to the lawn, among the gravestones, surrounded by telltale puddles of the thinned and useless paint.

    Jock was no fool. He knew this was a judgement from the Almighty, so he got on his knees and cried: "Oh, God! Forgive me! What should I do?"

    And from the thunder, a mighty voice spoke...

    "Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!"

    Apologies but your question reminded me.

    John

  3. 'In all seriousness, if an electrician doesn't know that all of Europe uses the same 230V 50Hz supply, or if he believes his customers may not'

    But don't forget that in the UK we boldly regard our supply as 240 volt not 230.

    The answer is in the small print. The specs are written with such a degree of flexibility they could have been written by somebody practicing for the banking regulations. The bottom of the UK spec matches the top of the french so in theory we all have the same.

    In practice French 'leccy' is very variable. In my village the 'pression' (I think that is the word - dangerously close to beer!) varies over the year.

    I have even been known to complain and get EDF to send a man out !

    SO there might be more to what a local says than we think.

    J
  4. This program exceeded expectations. I thought Simon Cowell was bad, I have winced at the self aggrandising statements by would-be Apprentices but the 'Dragons' in these rooms must qualify for Oscars in self confidence (or being up themselves).

    'if somebody pays more than me they have got it wrong' says the guy who paid 5 times more than anybody else offered for a chunk of Concorde metal.

    'I am a straight talker' says the guy who leans forward with full dramatic intent and intones 'final offer...£240,000' pauses for thirty seconds then says 'squeeze me' (which I and the vendors interpreted as 'come back with a counter offer).

    On balance I have more respect for orange-skin auction room guy. At least he doesn't take himself so seriously.
  5. My only reservation is that you saw it on an auction site. Can you check whether they are on other sites? Do they have their own web site? How long has that been going (and who owns the site, try a whois lookup)?

    None of these are definitive in their own right but if , say, they have been 5 years on h*** r***s or V********s then 'probably' they are ok.

    As others have said, the process is a normal one.

    Have a good holiday.

    John
  6. Yes we also leave a condiments cupboard which renters add to and we occasionally 'prune'. The variety is nice.

    There will generally be rice pasta soup etc.

    To not leave toilet rolls is disgusting.

    We also leave spare bulbs, fuses, a torch, maps...

    However we only expect guests to leave the place 'reasonable' as we pay for a changeover clean. We do like it if they point out breakages as it is nigh on impossible to inspect everything.
  7. Despite the fact that I rent out an apartment/gite (separate thread of discussion!) I often wonder whether some people would be better in a hotel or B and B.

    Let us face it. Even the minimalist of self catering also involves shopping and on a short break might not be worth the effort.

    In fact I did recommend that to some would-be renters recently !

    I prefer people to end up happy.

    John

  8. To add my two pennorth.

    We started off with a lady who 'met and greet' managed the property and the changeovers and the laundry. A fair fee per rental was agreed and I doubt that either of us was 'out'.

    She left for the UK and we got a local company. Slightly better rates initially but on a steep escalator year on year. Unfortunately their quality had a negative correlation to their prices!

    Now we have a 'per hour ' relationship which is very much based on trust, but we want the quality.

    None of this answers the original question. Sorry. However I hope to have added illumination about the problem.

    John

    But sorry if you think that was all waffle !
  9. [quote user="David"]

    DraytonBoy - our roof is also held on with crotchets, with some nails thrown in. Some of the crotchets and nails are rusting, but we were told that the slates themselves were in poor condition. Unfortunately we cannot get up to see for ourselves, only with binoculars from below.

    We do suspect that the roof tiles were disturbed by this company when they were in the loft space putting in extra insulation, and that the roof may not be as bad as they say.

    David[/quote]

    Sorry if this sound pedantic but do you mean slate or tiles? Apparently tiles can degenerate and become soggy. I didn't know that slate could!
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