Hindhaugh

I have some scaffold and other 'bigger than a van' items that I need to take to 36 from the Midlands in May, any advice re best value hire of flatbed trucks, could do the return journey over a long weekend. Do any of the normal hire companies do hire of flatbed trucks to France at sensible rates?. Have travelled in vans, cars and motorcycles over the years but never needed to transport anything that would not fit into a long wheelbase van before! Thanks for any tips! John

I am in the process of drawing up plans to renovate an existing old cottage in 36 that has an existing traditional beam and earth first floor, the upper floor (loft space) has access from a domer type door at the front of the cottage this would have been used as the hay loft ect. I will be removing the existing earth floor, replacing the existing ceiling beams with 15cm square oak beams as original. THE QUESTION: I could simply put an insulated timber floor over these beams but it appears that it is possible to cast a lightweight conctrete floor on top of ceiling panels placed over the oak beams. The timbers are supported with props etc whilst the new concrete floor is cast. From the ground floor it looks like a traditional floor with beams etc but it has the benefits of concrete. Anyone out there with any tips or experience of casting this type of lightweight concrete floor. Do I require special concrete etc - note this is not a beam and block system I am describing - its a one piece slab. The idea is shown on pages 78 and 79 of 'How to renovate a house in France' but no great detail is given. Thanks for anticipated advice from you old hands! JohnH

Has anyone experience of using the concrete beam and block floor system? Presume you buy beams the length required and 'x' number of blocks and once all in place pour concrete on top and 'hi presto' floor done! Any info on approx price, the blocks I have seen being used appear to look like standard concrete building blocks, is this correct? Thanks John

Hi This can vary from oak to softwood. I have made new shutters for some windows over the summer using 'kits' from Leroy Merlin. They come complete with long threaded steel rods etc etc, made a good job. You do need some skills but any competant DIY person could easily manage and I used the original hinges from my very old shutters. OK not in oak but I am sure they will last me out! Regards Busy Bee

Busy drawing up plans for renovation of small house, can anyone brief me on the regulations relating to the toilet location in particular; Do I need a ventilated lobby if including an 'on-suite' in bedroom, can I locate the toilet, washbasin and shower in one room (as seen many times in gites etc), do I need a minimum volume etc. I know the UK rules and after 35 years of touring France I have seen every combination of alteration the big question is WHAT is correct and allowed! Thanks in anticipation Busy Bee!

Yes, everyone is going along the same route which normally works but make sure you have searched every nook for water leaks etc. The previous French owner of our cottege had those dehumidifier 'tubs' that operate via crystals on all the window cills and around the rooms when we inspected the house, the place was damp with a capital 'D'. I discovered leaking waste pipes, bath wastes, dripping water joints hidden in walls, external waste pipes that fed onto the ground and back into the walls these had been leaking for years and years - all done by the plumber from hell! We have replaced and corrected all the plumbing and dug out around the cottage inserting drainage pipes and a 400mm wide lead strip against the wall from ground level before backfilling. After some months with a big dehumidifier the place is a sweet as a blooming rose and dry with a capital 'D'. John

Hi So many variables to this question, certainly in our cottage finding suitable 'off the shelf' units would have been impossible so something 'made to measure' was the only option. If you have the money then you simply call in a specialist company or supply them with accurate sizes and have it built. My choice was to do it myself, kitchen cabinet construction is far from rocket science and many of the French DIY sheds sell every type of fitting, hinge and board you would ever need - and more! You also need some power tools etc However...you do need a bit of DIT skill, having served my apprentiship as a joiner and cabinet maker makes the task easy for me but that said it is certainly not difficult compared to many of the tasks you read about on this website. The other advantage is the cost which can be less than 20% of the charge made by companies - but for some people cost is not a problem! The big advantage is the finished product, cut to go around every pipe and curve, shelves at heights to suit your own items and of course the satisfaction of doing it yourself. John

Need to produce some plans for work I wish to do on my small cottage in dept 36. I am fully conversant with the UK system and of course good plans certainly assist, but how much detail compared to the UK planning authorities do the French planning authorities require?

I hope to begin some renovations to an old house attached to a barn in the spring of 2006. How detailed do the authorities require the plans to be compared to those I would have to produce here in the UK?

Thanks for this everyone, how do I view the pics?

Would like to remove existing earth floor in old cottage to install staircase to roof space and correct some settlement. If possible will retain existing beams 'for show' and put suspended floor over existing beams. The earth floor has traditional red tiles on top (in roof space). Any tips out there from anyone who has removed one of these traditional earth floors?

Thanks for this everyone, as I thought I can now go ahead on October with peace of mind! Will now see if I can find anything on removing traditional earth floors...life is so interesting whan you have a house in France!

The important thing is to allow the walls to breath. I have a big end wall on my cottage and its facing north so receives a lot of rain over the winter. Prior to painting recently I gave it a treatment with 'Thompsons' water seal and it appears to be doing a good job. Thompsons continues to allow the wall to breath , but cannot say I have seen anything in France. My end wall took 7 5 litre tins.

I need to replace a traditional toilet with a modern flush loo. To the eye the actual modern French loo sold in brico stores etc looks similar if not identical the the UK product, other than the cistern that may have a smaller water capacity and a half flush feature? Is this a correct assumption?

From my experience the cost of 'artisans' is very high, but they do a very good job, My French friend has recently had his house painted - a modern rectangle with garage in basement. To have this painted cost 11,000 Euro, I was amazed as the shutters etc were not done as they were in great condition, but he was happy and the job was spot on. It's a strange and expensive world!

Have just received forms from Credit Agricole re Tax Residence this follows the EU directive of the 3rd June 2003 that comes into force the 2005 tax year. I presume everyone with an account in France must have received these forms? The accompanying letter states that this tax declaration may in the future cause me administrative or tax inconvenience.... now thats nice. Any of you wizards out there with any advice, hints, tips and of course we need to ensure that our already high tax is not pushed up....help!

The builders merchants in my region (36) only appear to stock what I would class as very 'rough' sand, nothing like the standard sand I would buy or find at any UK builders merchants to mix for cement etc. They have fine sand in sacks, the sort one would use in the UK for going between drive blocks etc. The question is where can I buy what I would class as 'standard' sand?

We use Nationwide who make no charge for the transfer, but not at all sure if we are receiving a reasonable rate. All of this would of course be avoided if we were part of the Euro community....another can of worms John

I am in the process of putting some new drains, fosse etc in at my little cottage in 36. It appears to be a sensible idea to build a collection tank into the system allowing shower, washing and other non toilet waters to be used for watering plants, grass, washing cars etc. Anyone any experience of this. An overflow from this collection tank would allow excess water to travel on to the fosse as normal and though a grease trap.

Re sand, we have a cottege in Indre(36) and I wanted some standard builders sand, the sort you would have delivered in the UK for cement mix / brickwork. Our local builders merchant in France only appears to stock sharp sand in bulk or very find sand for filters in bags (similar to that sold in the UK for brushing over block drives). I have wandered around the large stockyard but fine sand does not appear to exist as I know it. I bought one of those massive cement pointing guns - looks like a mastic gun on steroids. This requires fine sand but as I say cannot find any - suggestions?

Thank's everyone for this, I have Emailed the Notaire but he appears to be a Slowtaire. Was not sure exactly what papers I should have in my possesion but I will continue to chase things up, it's what we all secretly love about France - its just slower....

Hmmmmm, I am in the process of fitting a new fosse and as is the case with most things we have gone around the houses 5 times so far but this has informed our progress. My French friend tells me that all water that falls off my roof, falls on my land etc should remain on my property BUT everyone in the village has pipes either showing or 'secret' that take water to the ditch at the side of the road. This is of little legal help to you but you may have to visit the Marie for advice.

Well we have slow and we have escargot slow... we signed and paid the Notaire for our house in April 2004 but to date we still have not received the final title deeds for the house. The Notaires booklet suggests this can take between 2 and 8 months but soon 10 months will have passed. Anyone else had similar long waits for the official house deeds to arrive?

Seems such a common sense item to me and available anywhere here in the UK, in fact some area's even give them away free from the local fire station.

Renovation Grants : I am sure some info on the grants available for renovation of old property into gites must be available somewhere - anyone have first hand experience of where to start and the procedure? J&M in 36