jonin85

We had a drip from the groupe de securite. My daughter forgot to turn the water off when she left at Easter. Whilst the house was empty water gushed from the groupe de securite - fortunately the chauffe d'eau is in an outbuilding so no harm done (apart from the water bill?). Our neighbour kindly turned the water off at the meter. We called in a plumber - he changed the pressure reducing valve and the groupe de security (he didn't need to empty the chauffe d'eau). This did the trick - the water pressure in the house is slightly less now, but still OK. Hope this helps.  

Ron Avery is spot on. Pre-1985ish corrugated roof sheets are probably asbestos cement. The asbestos fibres are bound into a cement matrix - only dangerous if the fibres are released into the air by cutting dry with power tools or breaking them (e.g. letting them fall to the ground then walking or running over them with vehicles). If the roof sheets are in good condition they can be safely left in place. If the roof has to be removed the sheets should be lowered to the ground (whole if possible), sprayed with water to prevent fibre release in case the sheets are damaged, bagged, labelled, stored in a locked skip (so they cannot be stolen) then sent to a tip licensed to receive asbestos. In UK you don't have to use an HSE licensed asbestos removal contractor for asbestos cement (you do for all other forms of asbestos). All this makes disposal expensive. Jon

Hi, We have a maison secondaire in SE Vendee, with coppiced hazel trees in the garden. I found a dead Glis Glis on the lawn (we suspect the local cat killed it), then a live one in our shed, when I was cutting down the invading bamboo. We did hear some scratching sounds in the narrow gap between the clay roof tiles and the internal ceiling boards. According to the Reader's digest book 'A field guide to the animals of Britain', the Fat Dormouse (Glis Glis):  - the Romans used to keep them in captivity, overfeed them, then eat them; so they are also known as the Edible Dormouse  - introduced into Britain (Tring, Hertforshire) in 1902 - they are now found in many woodland and suburban areas in the Chilterns - not spread very much although seen as pests in some areas - spends most of its time in tree branches, foraging at night, so not often seen - damages trees by chewing bark, buds and growing shoots - in autumn may enter a house or shed and gnaw woodwork or stored food then hibernate - dark eye rings, grey body fur, about 6" long (head and body) with a 5" long tail; the illustration in the book shows it with a bushy tail - the one I found had a bushy tuft at the end of its tail - by autumn it may double its summer weight of about 5 oz - they seem to like hazel nuts (plenty in my garden) - they are very cute - I couldn't kill one, unless they are damaging the house - no evidence of this - I expect the French eat them - does anyone know? Jon