huntgl

What has broken, the frame or the wood? If it's the wood, there's a guy on ebay that sells plywood replacements if i remeber correctly. They're about 80 quid

Thanks for that, Chancer. I was pretty sure that it was nothing more than a 1950s style render, as it would have been all the rage then in terms of dampproofing (I think). The only thing that was concerning me was the fact that it is only rendered in cement/concrete up to 2m high. I find that a bit starnge and wonder why they didn't just do the whole wall. Thanks again  :-)

Hello all :-) We have a house in central Bordeaux that was built in 2 stages. 1920s ground floor of stone, with a first floor added in the 1950s which is made of wood. The plan is to remove the render from the entire house, leaving the interior walls exposed and insulating and weatherboarding the exterior walls. I've begun removing the rendering from the interior walls, but an electrician friend has got me panicking a bit as he has mentioned what is called a 'concrete belt'. The walls are rendered in cement until about 2 metres, and after that it is just plaster. The cement render is about 1 cm thick at the front of the house where the stone is 25cm thick, and 2 cm thick at the rear where the stone is 20cm thick. I think that this is the same rendering both inside and out. Is it possible that this render is actually some sort of stabiliser for the stone which was added when the 1st floor was installed in the 50s, or that it is just simply a 1950s style damp proofing? I don't know what the foundations of the house are; I imagine they are stone. Many thanks for your help, Gary.

Hello :-) I'm trying to get ahead of the game for once. My wife and I are looking for a rental in the Bordeaux area for a 6 month period (a longer term may be possible) from July/August 2015. We have a small dog and 2 cats. We are property owners here in Paris, but are looking at the possibility of moving away within the next couple of years. If anyone has anything they think might work, please let me know. I would be very happy to talk to you about it over the phone if that is better. Thanks, Gary.

This may not be the right place to post this, so if someone can steer me in the right direction I would be grateful I'm looking to rent a house with a garden for myself and my wife, one dog and 2 cats. It's a bit of a long story, but following the death of my mum, I've inherited her dog and I would prefer to vacate our appartment in the 10th arrondisement in Paris for somewhere with a garden near a park. My wife works in Creteil, so the Val de Marne region is best really. If anyone has a place to rent or knows someone that is looking to rent a place, please let me know as I'd be very interested Many thanks, Gary.