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Keni

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Posts posted by Keni

  1. I find this item very interesting, my question is however, does anyone know of a depot around the St. Junien/Rochefoucauld/St.Mathieu area of the Haute Vienne? We have been looking and there appears to be one at Limoges, but we have had nightmares trying to get around Limoges - looking for the sheds as we call them.

    Thanks Keni & Chris

  2. Hello,

    can anyone help us.

    We have a small house in the Haute Vienne, in the centre of a small vilage. Opposite and to the right of us, but not actually visible, unless you walk  100 metres, is an old chateau. I have visited it - it opens maybe a few days a year, and does feature some historical items.

    Our problem is that our house is in need of serious gutter work and the rendering has blown from problems with the chimmney. We have had the place three years now and only want to get at least the rendering sorted. Each time we go to the Mairie, the Mayor says we have to go through Baitments de France for any front facing work, due to the historical importance of the chateau. Our friend opposite justs gets on with his work, having told the Mayor what he wants to do. All we want to do is get the major work done, but as I say, three years down the line we are no nearer sorting the problem out, and the damp/rendering is getting worse.

    Does anyone know if what the Mayor says is correct or could we just apply for a Permis de Construire and just do it, as they say?

    Thanks, Keni & Chris

  3. Having been looking at this for some time, I can say that with many of my friends in France, they either have a living of their own - eg property income in the UK or are happy to have what is called a micro enterprise in France. Many companies have this micro thingy, they pay less tax from having a lower turnover. This is what a lot of companies do when they close say, from October to March. They pay less all round, so a seasonal business seems to be the way many have gone in France. Having said that I know people who work over here for two weeks and they go home to France for just a long weekend, keeping the family going that way. It is interesting though as to how many small French companies have started up along our southern coastline and now have a small subsidery in France, to avoid the social charges.
  4. Thank you for that, this is Keni here again. The gas water heater is the old type above sink LM Leblanc. It is an instantaneous water heater with no tank attached. The water tank is heated from the water of the oil-fired Rosiere cuisiniere. The gas water heater is completely separate to the cuisiniere. The water from the cuisiniere is heated and sent up a a tank (fully lagged) which has an expansion tank attached (also lagged). There are no radiators whatsoever, although the cuisiniere is capable of running them. Do you know why there would be antifreeze needed therefore? The water heater draws the water directly from the main and as I say, has no tank attached.

    Hope this is clearer,

    Keni

  5. Hello folks, been a while since I managed to get to the site. We have just received a devis for a small problem that occured during the Christmas Holidays. Our gas water heater blew up (naturally - on the coldest day of the year), then I could hear water running and discovered the expansion tank had a hole in it. The thing we cannot figure out from the devis is that although we understand the bit about installing a chauffe eau gaz LM10PU (we think that is a standard gas water heater), the expansion tank we believe is the vase ouvert inox 22 litres. The mystery is the next bit - raccordement vase ouvert chauffage et raccords et calorifuge + mise antigel dans le circuit. - Charge is 400 euros.We have no circuit so why do we need antifreeze? The water is heated off the Rossiere thingy that you guys helped us with last year - it does heat the water to the tank, as we found out and the plumber says it should also heat a load of radiators! We have none.The final bit is the charge for 30 litres of antigel - 90.00 euros. So are we being ripped off - he is a local plumber. Any help as to what we are being charged for would be good.

    Thanks, Keni

  6. Hello, can anyone tell me whether out lighting system is just old or really old? It's an old property with electricity working great. We have both 2 and separate 3 phase systems in the property (for workshop), however the lights in the centre of the room have what we in the UK would regard as old braided fabric flexes. All the wiring is surface mounted in piping and seems fine, it's just the lights that seem to have the old type of wiring - is it safe? The fuse boxes are old and black but trip well when tested

    Keni (female)

  7. Hi, we have had quite a success with first of all using that Thompsons water seal product and then painting with a vinyl matt emulsion. The Thomson Water Seal also has a sister product for stains and that works well also.

    Although we still suffer with a bit of crusting and fluffing, this is definitely disappearing now we are also living in the house more. The emulsion - vinyl silk was also great on the ceiling - we used the black & white dog product.

    keni (female)

  8. We have found our bed attacked whilst we have been away, also our bedside cabinet - the verre de bois in our neck of the wood (ha), seem to eat everything. We have been down to the local co-op and purchased a large tin of Xylobois or something (smells bad and is quite lethal we gather). Been painting it everywhere - apparently the woodworm is active around now. We had all the powdered bits on the floor to guide us, but as the house had been empty for around six years, what could we expect. Good luck,

    Keni (female)

  9. Hi,

    I have mentioned this before, but if you want to find out about solar power, look to a local market! Our local Wednesday market at Piegut Pluviers often has the local solar salesman attending with all the information/brochures you need - I think solar is a good idea and we are beginning to look into that.

    Keni, (female)

  10. This is something that intrigues me as well, we are in a small vilage in the Haute-Vienne, but have the Chateau problem opposite. However, I would love to know whether we could install solar panels on the rear of our roof, away from the Chateau. Anyone out there in the Piegut area might know about a guy who attends the Wednesday market - he carries all the info etc., and as the local guy (a bit like double glazing I suppose), he has all the leaflets on installation with grants etc. Does anyone know whether we could get away with this idea at the rear of the property?
  11. I don't know if this is of any help but when we had a few problems, we used a British Company called Thompsons or Thomsons Water Seal. They have quite a few products in this range and we were in the UK and brought some over. They have an sealant for walls, a sealant for painting over and quite a few other bits and pieces, It does seem to have done quite a good job on our walls. If you are in France you might find something on the internet. Hope this helps. Keni
  12. Our French builder quoted just under half of that for the British guy living in France. Also the French guy quoted for 5.5 % TVA (VAT), whilst the British guy quoted at full VAT. Watch for the Siret No.etc on the Devis and invoice. When you come to sell, if you can prove the work was done to quote, with Siret and showing the VAT you can often get a reduction against capital gains, as I understand it. We have learnt the French know their system and are not happy about foreign workers coming into the country taking their living (where have we heard that one). Good Luck
  13. Just a thank your to all - especially Cacknanty, for all the help - by the way Cacknanty are you anywhere near Limoges? Just a thought you seem like someone I could do with for help (Keni by the way is female!). I have printed off all the information, when I'm next over there  we'll certainly be looking at firing up the old thing.
  14. Well, that certainly gave me a good laugh - it was the reply from Chris that started me laughing, I's still wiping the tears away!. I make it about eleven hi's. This site is worth it's weight in gold at times, just when you're reading some information along comes the mighty hand and it all gets screwed up. Thanks again for the laugh. Keni 
  15. Hello, have just joined the discussion.This is exactly one of the things I am looking for. Although our place in the Haute Vienne hs an aerial, it will not work with my tele - this this cos its British or something. So can one of those digiboxs (from a local British well known food store that wants to now sell electrical things as well) for around £50 work in France? Sorry am ok on building/decoration and plumbing just the electrical/tele side not too sure on. There is a local site advertised near us as bigdishsat.com but I cannot get through to them - have tried for months.

    Thank you to all.

  16. Many thanks to you all for thoughts so far. I think we're on the right track.

    This item in question is white with a rose flower motif thing (I'm good at things), by the name. The smaller left hand door definitely hides what appears to be a glass bowl (for want of a description) and I would say the controls. There a two small plates on the left, with as I said the front one opening onto a large hole - does this all fill with oil or flame? There was only a small oil drum in the Sous-sol, so that is why we thought it was a joint oil and wood fired burner - there seems to be no direct oil filler though.  There does seem to be a huge exhaust running through the building so I presume that gives off heat as well.Thank you to all. Keni

  17. Happy New Year, first of all.

    So, the story so far is this - we have an old place, usual thing, doing it up (sloowly). In the kitchen is a Rossieres? Oil burner cooker thingy. bearing in mind it has not been used for a few years, and appears to have pipes coming out of it to what we believe is a water tank in the loft, does anyone know anything about these oil-burners? Is is oil only, or can it burn wood. Supposing it is connected to the water system, because of these pipes, how does it work - does anyone know anything about where to get an instruction manual? The condition of it seems ok - just unused, there is a left door (small) with controls, plus when you life up one of the plates on top there is a huge hole, so does this mean we can put wood in it? Any answers, we would be grateful - before we chuck it out. Keni

  18. Happy New Year, first of all.

    So, the story so far is this - we have an old place, usual thing, doing it up (sloowly). In the kitchen is a Rossieres? Oil burner cooker thingy. bearing in mind it has not been used for a few years, and appears to have pipes coming out of it to what we believe is a water tank in the loft, does anyone know anything about these oil-burners? Is is oil only, or can it burn wood. Supposing it is connected to the water system, because of these pipes, how does it work - does anyone know anything about where to get an instruction manual? The condition of it seems ok - just unused, there is a left door (small) with controls, plus when you life up one of the plates on top there is a huge hole, so does this mean we can put wood in it? Any answers, we would be grateful - before we chuck it out. Keni

  19. With regards to the fibro cement roofs, we have a small property in the Haute Vienne area. We were interested to discover upon purchasing, that our survey pulled up the fact that this fibro stuff has asbestos in it. We immediately went into to overkill and started getting quotes to replace the roof. One year on, we realise half the village has this stuff on, it is stable and the quotes we have had to replace it vary from around 10k to 16.5k euros, with a third builder looking at present to see if it actually needs redoing. Bearing in mind all the water its had chucked at it for the past year, there is only one small leak. We think the problem is now our guttering and barge-boarding, so will wait to see the verdict on that. Any other thoughts though about this asbestos thing? Thanks

  20. We have a problem too - it appears, having spoken with a builder, the problem is not so much the damp walls as the fact that somewhere along the line,saltpetre is the problem. This is something to do with lime. I know now that lime, on contact with cold water, bubbles and fizzes and creates damp - we have a problem trying to stop the bubbling and fizzing on the inside of our walls, and it grows a crystal fur of sorts. We have tried the Thompsons Waterseal range of products - they do work to an extent, but it is trying to stop the limestone/mortar reaction. This is where you need to start. If the house is built of limestone, it absorbs the water and that is when you have to start scratching your head. Try the Thompsons stuff - it is good, I'm sure there is the equivalent products in France.
  21. We have acquired our little cottage - finally. However, as we gather the electricity might have actually been installed by the previous owner, so many years ago (he did the plumbing as well), how easy is it to check over the wiring - does one just call in an electrician (who will then suck in his breath no doubt and proceed to tell me to re-wire the whole house), or can one purchase a meter as in the UK to check all is well. The wiring is suracfe wiring in conduit. Many Thanks

    Keni (female)
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