Alan Zoff

Also bear in mind before overdoing it that roof spaces require adequate ventilation. Otherwise you can have condensation and associated damp rot problems. (I am not a builder in any sense of word but was told that sealing up of all the gaps was the cause of roof problem with our UK house.)

Interesting to read the very different views expressed by travellers and their differing experiences with SpeedFerries. Personally, I have been disappointed with their poor lack of punctuality. I appreciate they are cheap and basic and I am not bothered about frills on board. However, I think you are entitled to expect something called SPEED-Ferries to get you there quickly and punctually (i.e. from quayside to quayside) and that never seems to happen when I'm on board. But then again, I'm convinced there is someone controlling traffic lights who quickly flicks them to red whenever they recognise my car. So if you want to get there on time, the answer is to avoid travelling the same time as me.

Thanks VJ.  Presumably all of what you say applies equally on each side of the Channel. (UK electricity authorities/consumer unit manufacturers take note.) The stuff you can learn on a Living France website! Alan

Thanks Nick for the very full reply. Sorry to have made you work so hard with this one! Alan

Thanks Nick (and Alcazar). I will of course follow advice but must say I'm a bit baffled. Whatever the French system is, all I intended doing was the same as in UK - connecting live to live, neutral to neutral using similar single phase power supply. Why is it safe in England with the cut-out on the live (phase) side only and unsafe in France? Unless of course they are less particular about how they wire up their sockets but, as in the UK wiring I have done, I was going to double check that all outlets were correctly wired for polarity before applying power. (The appliances sold in France must surely be correctly wired as they wouldn't be able to export anything to UK.) I may be missing something more technical - or perhaps very basic! - but seems to me the only real risk is that someone else might come along later and assume that the system had double pole cut-outs - and therefore not bother to think about polarity when adding new sockets. 

Nick Damn! There had to be a catch.  I have a spanking new UK unit kitted out with 12 new breakers. What's the safety issue? Aren't we using same power?

Thanks again Nick Am sending this from England so don't have the equipment in front of me and can't quite visualise it exactly till I get back there in fortnight's time. But yes there is a test button next to fuse box. [The French vendor had some new wiring done by an electrician about 10 years ago when cellar was kitted out with a boiler and washing machine and may have installed an EDF test switch then. However, the wiring to the main rooms is anything but modern and in some cases downright dangerous - no earth pins in sockets (or where there are, no earth wires), thin 2-core lighting flex running between main power sockets (sometimes via lights), exposed live terminals, no earth cross-bonding of metalwork, etc. So I plan to sort out a number of DIY improvements till I have funds to get electrician involved. It's for my use only at present and got to be safer than what's there now. I have a spanking new consumer unit so thought I might as well connect that up while I'm at it.] If I have understood you correctly, seems as if I should be able to isolate power from the test switch unit and connect my new consumer unit directly to it, without having to go via fuse box. Cheers. Alan

That's right, propane outside, butane inside. My Indesit bottled gas cooker had options for both types and storage for the bottle (if butane used). Even if you use butane, you will have to comply with ventilation requirements as long term use can cause a harmful build-up of burnt gases. The appliance instructions should specify the ventilation requirements. Don't see much point in bringing Calor from England as I guess French bottle stockists won't be too keen to exchange replacements for French bottles when you run out.

Thanks Nick. I would prefer to wire new unit directly to the input but I assumed I would have to involve the EDF bods for that. Or is there a way for me to isolate power from input in order to make a direct hook-up to new consumer unit myself? Alan

Regulations apart, is it possible/practical to wire a new consumer unit to an existing live fuse-box which has a main cut-out switch, as a temporary measure?

Many thanks for those book details posted last week, Ty.

Good advice there from Will, Sandie. In general, contributors to Forums such as this try to be helpful while there will always be some who regard it as their private domain and an opportunity to show off rather than share valuable information. Beware also of people claiming to be experts. It is easy to give very positive advice when you know that you are not accountable. So do your home-work, ask lots of questions - and above all get out there and get a feel for the place to make sure you will fit in before making any irreversible decisions.  Good luck.

Calling Ty Korrigan. Can we have details of the book you used when wiring your place, please? I'd like to get hold of a copy. Thanks 

Hey Ty, The name of that book would be much appreciated!

I was afraid that this might be the case. You are right. The floor described as "parquet" in my French house is not a collection of small brick-sized blocks packed tightly together as it would be in England but rather strips of half a metre or so which seem to be bonded to a sub-floor. So I can well imagine that even if I can get them up without damaging them, it could be difficult to relay them smoothly. But will have to give it a go.  I wonder if I might be able to take all the lifted wooden strips somewhere to get the undersides sanded smooth again before they are relaid. Possibly not worth the hassle but will post the results in due course.

One of the advantages of hardwood is the LACK of maintenance required. My French house has 100-year-old windows which lost their paint years ago and look set to go on for another 100 years!  The only problem with them is finding a way to draught-proof them without ruining the appearance.  I know I would always regret swapping real wood and original features for plastic, whoever made the new windows. So they are staying, and any additions will also be made of the real stuff. I suppose though it depends on the style of the property. Plastics suit modern houses so it makes sense to use them, whereas trying to make a new house look old often ends up with a naff result.

Looking forward to hearing how you get on lifting parquet. Part of my downstairs floor has sunk a little due, I suspect, to damp rot affecting the joists carrying the oak "parquet" floor. (The floor is a little "springy" and there's a sweet sickly smell at times.) Have tried to examine it from outside through the air vents in the lower walls but without success. Therefore, I need to lift the floor to find out what exactly is going on underneath and to replace joists if that is the problem.  The floor looks perfect from above and I would like to reuse the parquet but can't seem to shift the strips/blocks without damaging them.  So any suggestions will be appreciated.

Allier, top of Auvergne, on edge of Foret de Troncais. As close to centre of France as you can get. Herefordshire of 50 years ago but cattle white rather than red.

Small village in Allier, top of Auvergne, on edge of Foret de Troncais. About as close to the centre of France as you can get. Herefordshire of 50 years ago but cattle white rather than red.

Small village in Allier, top of Auvergne, on edge of Foret de Troncais. About as close to the centre of France as you can get. Herefordshire of 50 years ago but cattle white rather than red.

Can't argue with price but surprised to read someone say slow Call Centre is only fault. I have made 5 return crossings with SpeedFerries over past 18 months and they have steadily got worse. The scheduled departure and arrival times seem to mean very little, largely it seems because of the haphazard management of the loading of the vehicles. Last time it was like watching something out of Keystone Cops at the Dover end.  The Captain always manages however to come up with some new mumbled excuse for the delay. The company also seems to rank bottom of the pecking order at Dover in terms of priority - ferries always being given precedence.  As a result, any advantage of a supposedly fast crossing is often lost due to silly delays, even in excellent weather conditions. Shame, really, because with a little more attention to detail, it could be a very good service. Or have I just been very unlucky?

Not just me then. Thought I must have dreamt having seen my post - or that someone had censored me out.

As the Which? (Consumers Association) guide to UK house wiring (by Mike Lawrence) says, the skill required is less than that required to wallpaper a wall. And a doddle compared with plastering! Of course the stuff's dangerous, but so is climbing a ladder, which (or rather falling off) apparently kills more people than DIY electricity accidents. The secret is knowledge and respect. Read up on it, be sure to follow the procedure carefully, check it and check it again. And if you are still in any doubt about your ability, yes call in an expert. I too have been looking for a guide to French wiring in English but will now try the recommended French texts-with-dictionary approach. Frankly, however, the principles must be similar to UK, even if practices (radial circuits and the protective conduits) differ slightly as we are using same power to all intents and purposes. Check though that earth to your house is supplied by EDF and that you don't have to rely on your own earthing rod(s). Also check that metal items in house are cross-bonded to earth - lot of French property (and UK come to that) seem to skimp on this vital precaution.