Anton Redman

Isabel 'phones and books an appointment before a trip to UK. Strange way to spend part of a holidaybut cost effective.

Full VAT at 19.6% and no abatement for owner occupation, some schemes where the property is let out. Situation is complete reverse of UK. The reason you see so many plein pieds unrendered is that they are waiting for the two years from occupation to go by so they can have rendering done as a repair / decoration of an existing house at 5.5%. Insurance and tax when you sell are also nothign like as friendly as UK.

Subject to the right thickness of tile cement I would not have thought it was a problem. Link below makes it look deceptively simple. http://www.thetiledoctor.com/howto/ceilings.cfm  

You can buy 'Tableaux Nus' , sadly nothing like as naughty as they sound, for 2 ,4, 6 etc modules from about € 5.

The requirement for tests also seem to be stopping Scout Jamborees as there is no equivalent overseas test.

Many thanks for the kind messages. I did find the thread about running a renovation in France from the USA as below : http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38027&highlight=judyinlosangeles  

Wrong direction and probably wrong quality but Brico Depot stock both flat and turned parts.

It worked now have the full quota of channels.

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]Sorry I can't help directly as I simply don't know but one point to be aware of is that most (all?) French stores insist that for an item to be returned it must be in its original packing.  Why? I don't know, it just is otherwise you have no hope.[/quote] Based on the electric kettle which was a water tight as a watering can which we returned to Limoges sone years ago so they can put the thing straight back on the shelves for some other mug to purchase.

Short answer yes : Either buy a Ski Digibox or ' freesat box in the UK

I stand ready to be corrected but if installed it needs a dedecated feed protected by a 2 amp disjoncteur but it does not have to be installed.

In always feel like the prick in the balloon factory of life when I start one of these postings. However, there are times when I wish somebody had pointed out some of this before I started our renovation.   Allowing for Notaries fees, estate agents fees, taxes etc. as soon as you buy a house the house has to go up in value by about 15 % for you to get you money back.   There is a post either here or on TF from somebody on the West Coast describing the grief she is having with a French Builder who is ill and has not completed the work for which he received a deposit. I believe she had purchased in Marseille.If somebody else can recall the thread and find it I think it would be worth posting. When you are at home you will be almost half the day away from a builder who you are trying to speak to in France.   We decided to buy a maison secondaire in France after we had been visiting France for 15 years as a couple. We had stayed in most major towns and spent holidays in the main regions. Despite that we choose somewhere that was great as an occasional holiday home but not somewhere we wanted to live permanently.   I used to visit three times a year for two weeks, work between 60 and 80 hours a week when I was there. Isabel joined me for four weeks a year and grafted every bit as hard. I enjoyed the work as it was a total contrast to what I did for the rest of my life. We also used to visit / take a day trip to Calais or Boulogne so we could pick up plumbing and electrical stuff between trips so we did not have to take half a day out getting to the local Brico Depot as soon as we arrived. Link below to the place we finished but it was too small only 100 square metres and was in the wrong place.   http://www.totalfrance.com/france/gallery/mandrake   If it were me I would visit France, take my time discover somewhere that appealed and then rent a gite or even stay in the same hotel a couple of times before buying. The money and time you spent should be repaid by a much better initial purchase. I know I am reasonably tough but I could not have finished it with out support and help.   I had no problems as regards quality of work with French prospective purchasers   Best of luck what ever you decide. aa

It is the debit card verification which tells me to be patient while the expletive deleated machine uses a dial up connection that causes my blood to boil.

I have found channels turn up for up to 48 hours.

Famous last words I thought : Select Channel 5 - scroll down to the time you want using the down arrows. Then press Select for reminder. Then Oval TV guide button - green planner - programme should now appear - redbutton ste autoview. Only works for normal channels not added channels but C5 is OK on my box which has no Sky Card. 

Enclose a copy with a covering letter to your bank.

Subject to never being played I believe vinyl will have a longer life than CDs but unlike VHS tape or colour cine film I beleieve DVDs and CDs have a sufficiently long life for it to be accademic. http://www.km-dc.com/dload/cd-rw_lifetime.pdf  

The advantages of three phase are that more power can be transmitted with lower transmission losses than using the same gauge of wire as an equivalent two phase system. Equipment that uses three phase include heavy industrial equipment, professional wood working equipment, large electic cookers, milking machines.

Suggest have a read through : http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/trusts/cgt/calculating.htm#2 UK rules are driven less by vested interests

The spikes are the opposite of what you need. They are fine for providing lateral stability to a fence but you will get that from the supporting frame work for the decking. The decking manufacturers will have recomendations on distance between joists and supports depending on thickness and quality of decking.

FromDieppe try : N27 South SP Rouen At Totes turn West oonti N29 SP Le Havre On Yvetot By Pass turnSouth onto D131 SP Bourg Achard or Foret de Brotonne Cross Sienne on Pont de Brotonne (now toll free) Join A15 Direction Paris Next Junction Take A28 SP Alencon From A 28 : Join A28 Direction Caen Leave at next Junction SP Yvetot or Pont De Brotonne At Yvetot join N29 SP Yerville then Totes It is marginally slower if you are going up to Calais but for Diepe Ii think it should be quicker but apart from the Cows roundabout it is a more interesting drive

Sourced an amp in Leroy Merlin this afternoon which will work with any supply between 5v and 12v. Sat Cure have something similar. I will have another try tommorrow assuming weather is good. Not checked any other TNT receivers but 5 volts may be the spec for them. Can anybody advice what theirs puts out ? Do integrated TNT TVs have any facility for utting a low voltage up the coaxial feed ?

At a friend’s house in France who was given an Atlanta DTT 570, Digital Terrestrial Receiver from Engel Systems SARL as a received as a birthday present so taking it back is not an option. The existing aerial is pointing in about the right direction verified by comparison to local houses,compass and  satellite dishes. It is roof mounted on a pole about 12 metres in total off the ground. On terrestrial analogue SECAM the picture is very snowy. Co ax run from aerial is in good quality cable but about 10 metres long. The terrestrial analogue picture is no better than we got when we took an indoor aerial outside to watch New Years celebration on French TV a couple of years ago.     The box pick-ups two locks on auto tuning but does not show any channels. On manual tuning channels 62 and 30 show about 40 % quality and 30 % signal strength but do not lock. The connection to the Antenna is through a masthead amplifier which has one other lead which disappears through the roof void but no longer receives power. Figures below are the best I can obtain for local reception strength   TNT-R1 23H 229° 32.5km 48.8dBµV/m on (France2, France3, France5, Arte, LCP, chaîne locale) TNT-R2 59H 229° 32.5km 41.7dBµV/m on (Direct8, France4, BfmTv, Virgin17, Gulli, i>Télé) TNT-R3 62H 229° 32.5km 42.3dBµV/m on (C+HD, CanalJ, C+Ciné, C+Sport, Planète, Tps Star) TNT-R4 44H 229° 32.5km 32.3dBµV/m on (M6, W9, NT1, Paris Première, Arte HD) TNT-HD 41H 229° 32.5km 32.7dBµV/m on (TF1 HD, France2 HD, M6 HD) TNT-R6 30H 229° 32.5km 47.5dBµV/m on (TF1, LCI, Eurosport, TF6, Nrj12, Tmc)   Distance and direction to the transmitter are correct. Nearest other transmitter is 150 kilometres away. I do not know what the installer who provided the above figures was using as an antenna   What would you do ?   A.      Buy a masthead amplifier which can be powered by the 5 volts DC the TNT receiver can supply ? B.       Put up scaffold and try and align the antenna better using the TNT decoder box. To check signal strength C.       Wait till November 2011and analogue switch off and see if the digital/numerique reception improves D.      Buy a log periodique antenna in France E.       Buy an appropriate antenna from Satcure and pick up when I am in the UK in December F.       Buy the E book on UK digital TV G.      Any other ideas ? Will a masthead amplifier with no power act as an attenuator?

Stand corrected on Fransat. I am trying a very cheap TNT box at the momement post to follow. Fransat is the next stop.

Almost any French purchased numerique/digital TV satellite receiver will do a good job of receiving the free to air channels but versus you recently deceased system you will have the following down sides :  The initial set up will involve entering loads of parameters for channels from a site such as lyngsat. When as occasionally happens channels move transponders you will lose them till some kind soul updates the lyngsat list. You then have to sort out those channels you want  http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/skyuk.html   The Electronic Programme Guide is very limited and shows only what is on now and what is on next with almost no programme details.  Finding the alternative feeds for sports events like Wimbledon or Snooker is very difficult  The numerique receivers to avoid are those for Fransat, TNT par Sky and canal Plus which have been often set up so that you cannot add the extra frequencies you need for UK free to air.  The choices for sourcing either a replacement sky digibox or a ‘freesat receiver are in declining cost but ascending ease.  From one of the business specialising in UK TV in France check English language press about France or google UK TV in France.  Ebay etc classified ads for boxes.  Have friends buy in the UK and bring out.  I have an Optex 9510 which I keep in case either of ourt digiboxes breaksdown.  The ski gnome is a door stop unless you buy a replacement digibox