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LesFlamands

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  1. [quote user="Bill"] Dear Charles   I  do mean , when I buy from an artisan, then I pay 7 percent vat on both work and materials..   your web site seems to confirm this is the case.. quote We are TVA (VAT) registered and most renovation work we carry out benefits from the lower rate of TVA, 7% in place of 19.6%, on both materials and labour.     However what else is not clear is the bricos , who so far have said its renovation and they charge 7 percent.. just for materials, but then maybe they dont know I am not vat registered.. (yet) . So what you are saying is they can not charge at 7 percent they have tyo charge at 19 percent.   I am using artisans, I might  (was intending to )  just buy some stuff myself thats all     rgds  Bill [/quote]   Bill, yes I'm banging my own drum but I do find it frustrating that so many homeowners assume it is exactly as per the UK when in fact it is the complete opposite. All Artisans are very careful with their pricing and any markup is minimal so with care on an average refurb most people would save significant amount of money using  Artisans as opposed to Auto Entrepreneurs whilst still benefitting from an invoice they can set against CGT and a guarantee.
  2. Artisans will charge 7% for renovation/refurbishment work. Any 'new' work should be charged at 19.6%. Artisans still pay 19.6% for materials - there's no magic ticket which allows you to buy materials at the low rate. Part of the idea of the low rate is to encourage home owners to use legit Artisans and benefit from low rate of TVA on materials as well as labour. If you use an AE or unregistered labour aprt from all the other downsides you'll pay full whack for all the materials, as you would if you buy them yourself. The consequence is that if you're doing a refurb which involves a lot of materials (new kitchen, bathroom, central heating etc. you'll be quids in using a TVA registered Artisan - plus you'll have an invoice which can be set against CGT when you sell and the work is guaranteed. Sorry to bang on but a lot of home owners don't seem to know about or understand the benefits of using proper Artisans - just because a lot of small tradesmen are busy de-registering for VAT in the UK to keep their prices down, it isn't the same here.
  3. I've had my R100GS for 22 years. I tried an 1150GS (same colour) for 3 years but never really got to like it, dead reliable tho'.
  4. [quote user="Théière"] Panic'd a few years back and did, those people never stop asking for something else +,+,+,+,+.   [/quote] Same experience - we offered a discount a few years ago to fill a sticky week, guests from hell so never again
  5. We get a lot of enquiries that have obviously been sent to a number of other owners. They usually ask if the property is available for the dates they want and for confirmation of the price. As both the availability and price are clearly stated in the advertisement   we assume 'confirmation' is the same as asking for a discount. We never offer a discount and never hear from these enquirers again so we assume they've gone for the best price/discount offered - is it you?
  6. Anglo Info - lot of scroungers on the local site here, all wanting something for nothing - even cars sometimes! [:D] And when they do turn up it's usually not the colour they were looking for!
  7. My lot (client and workers) are being processed by the authorities it turns out - nothing to do with me, but then neither did I get paid.
  8. [quote user="idun"] We lived on the first floor, where I fire was, so we would have needed things in the loft, very very well insulated tanks in the loft and you reckon that would have worked? Also, please remember we used a lot of wood, far more than anyone we knew, I do believe it was because of heating the water in the system, is this wrong? [/quote] It is possible to have the entire system running on gravity circulation without a pump. I've come across a number of installations where a large wood furnace is fitted in the cellar heating a large hot water cylinder 2 floors up and several radiators at ground and first floor level. A pump is used to get good circulation through the rads. but in the event of a power cut the gravity circulation is sufficient to sink the heat from the boiler without it reaching boiling point. This system relies on your house fitting the system requirements rather than the other way round! This would also be the issue with the accumulator on the gravity circuit - you have to have a space, preferably directly above the stove, to fit the accumulator. You then connect your radiator circuit to the accumulator with a circulating pump. Once again in the event of a power cut the accumulator should be large enough to sink the heat from the stove whilst the fires dies down. Boiler stoves are often not very efficient in terms of heating the water. In a purpose built furnace the boiler jacket wraps around the firebox and is still heated when the fire has died down to embers but in some wood stoves the boiler is fitted above the firebox and needs the fire to be going full blast to heat the water, which uses a lot more wood.
  9. Recently working for British clients who had unregistered UK workers on site as well (paid cash). Trouble started when we were asked to quote for other works and then told we were too expensive and the UK guys could do it for half the cost. The French system may mean that legit entreprises are very expensive but in my opinion if you embark on a renovation project in France you should be aware of and stick to the rules.
  10. [quote user="idun"] Les Flamands ours was really simple but it still needed a pump to circulate the water and therein lay the most simple of problems for us. The electricity going off, sometimes for minutes, sometimes for hours and as we have seen in the recent past, it can be off for days in very bad weather. And when it was off we could not use our fire, I would have loved to, but the water boiling in the system was frightening. My husband installed a system with spare batteries so that if the electricity went off the pump would change over to the emergency system. But strangely as soon as that happened we didn't have a cut in winter for a couple of years, and something went wrong with this 'emergency' system when he tested it. I would never have another stove with the heating linked in, for all it sounds like a good idea, I wouldn't. I now have two stoves and know that come what may, I can cook on them and heat the living areas. kiss is the best thing for me. [/quote] I have to agree that keeping it simple is often the answer. It may be possible using a large accumulator heated on a gravity circuit to overcome the problem of power cuts (from a safety point of view) and still have warm radiators when the fire has gone out - overcoming the two main shortcomings with wood burner central heating but the installation cost is high and as the boiler is not controlled you would still not be using the fuel efficiently. Stand alone woodstoves are a good solution for some houses but they are a lot of hard work.
  11. I've installed dozens of wood burner central heating systems usually based on the Villager stoves with integral boilers and sometimes with bolt in boilers. The systems need to be carefully designed so as to not overrun the boiler which can reduce it's lifespan. Also open vented to avoid problems in the event of power or pump failure. These are simple installations as the customer spec. is usually minimum cost, minimum technolgy. There are much improved systems available that overcome some of the safety issues and allow better regulation of the heat but these are generally a lot more costly and none of them overcome the need to keep putting logs on the fire. The obvious advantage of gas, oil and pellet boilers is that they can be switched on and off as required (by timers, thermostats etc.) and can therefore work out to be more economic in the long run.
  12. can't really say without looking at the job but it's not outrageous in my opinion.   Get another quote!
  13. If you're burning wood only you should not have any grate fitted. Steel plate stoves with a brick lining are best - some of the cheaper cast iron stoves crack. Make sure that the stove will burn at a low rate and stay in overnight.
  14. Finding work is difficult for everyone at the moment. I think setting up as AE may be your only option as none of the larger entreprises are recruiting at the moment. Any jobs going seem to be CDD due to the economic uncertainty. Whilst getting a 4/6 month contract may help in a way it's putting off the inevitable. I would bite the bullet now, move to your location of choice, register and start making contacts. By the way. I think you'll be eligible for a grant if you set up your own business after being made redundant (and exoneration of charges).
  15. Artisans register with Lapeyre who then pass on work if the client buying kitchen, bathroom, door, window etc. requires fitting. From the clients point of view this is a no hassle solution in terms of finding someone to do the work but quality can vary depending on the artisan.
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