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Ngcr2004

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Everything posted by Ngcr2004

  1. I was most interested in your post on the Cheque emploi system and would much appreciate your view. Is the nub of your post that the overall costs, when taxes and social security payments are levied, make the Cheque emploi system too expensive overall for major building projects - hence, really only suitable for baby-sitting, small-scale gardening etc?  I ask because the patron of our building company just decided to go into administration in the middle of our large-scale barn conversion project. Here in the north of Haute Vienne we get some serious rain at this time of year and although the roof is finished, there are few more windows and doors to fit plus lots of plumbing, electrics and platre panels to fix. The French artisans are all fine workers and we would be willing to employ them directly under an "approved" scheme and they are also willing. But obviously the Cheque emploi system would be prohibitive if we also have to bear the cost of tax, social security etc in addition to regular pay rates. If a recipient is prepared to accept a pay rate that allows for the other charges, could it be workable for any scale of employment or project, nothwithstanding the admin required for each worker?  We are not in business ourselves and are no longer an employer - thank God! 
  2. We would be most grateful for any local contacts with artisans who can be recommended for the following projects in Northern Haute Vienne, South Indre area: 1) Stone Barn Conversion. We need a good builder with traditional stone mason expertise 2) A joiner who can produce oak windows and doors. 2) A specialist Fosse Septique supplier/installer who can also undertake other ground work projects ( excavate drive way and swimming pool) Many thanks.
  3. Whilst our barn conversion proceeds, we need to store our furniture and effects. A dry secure barn or something similar would be ideal. Probably for a minimum of 12 months starting in a few moths time? We are just south of St Benoit du Sault (South Centre 36) and north of Lussac Les Eglises (North Haute Vienne 87). If anyone has something suitable near N87 or S36 to accomodate a large removal van full(!), we would be very pleased to hear from them. Many thanks
  4. Anyone able to rent us a secure barn or building? We need to store all our furniture and effects whilst our conversion project is completed. Minimum 12 months? We are just south of St Benoit du Sault (Centre) and north of Lussac Les Eglises (Haute Vienne). Many thanks
  5. We urgently need a decorator(s) to gloss and paper 2 compact apartments in south Indre. Most walls have been stripped ready to start. Either decorator living in the area or may consider an experienced husband and wife team wishing to take a month's working break from the UK. Paint, paper, steps, working trestle, table, ladders, brushes etc supplied - "stay on site" accomodation may also be available. The location is centre of picturesque, busy village, 3 hours drive south of Paris, just off main A20. All ideas welcome! NGCR
  6. We urgently need a decorator(s) to gloss and paper 2 compact apartments in south Indre. Most walls have been stripped ready to start. Either decorator living in the area or may consider an experienced husband and wife team wishing to take a month's working break from the UK. Paint, paper, steps, table, ladders, brushes etc supplied - "stay on site" accomodation may also be available. The location is centre of picturesque, busy village, 3 hours drive south of Paris, just off main A20. NGCR
  7. We would be grateful for recommendations from anyone who has a happy experience working with a Fosse specialist in or near the St Benoit du Sault area? We are going to have to install a big 'un so we want to ensute that we start off on the right foot! Many thanks.
  8. If you have a sensible business proposition for a self contained, locked and secure shop, we would be very interested to hear from you. We are renovating and creating nicely appointed 1 and 2 bedroomed apartments above our traditional French shop in the very heart of a truly beautiful medieval village in south Indre, just a few minutes from the A20 motorway. Opposite the shop there is a busy restaurant. Next door there is an antiques shop and a patisserie that produces the most fantastic pastries. There is also a bar just across the road. The village is always busy with locals and some tourists the year round but the volume of traffic going right past the door significantly increases from early Spring through to late Autumn. The shop comprises a large and bright sales area with another spacious lockable room. There is also a loo with small wash basin plus an enclosed area at the rear of the shop with a large sink and hot and cold water. There is adequate lighting and electricity points in all areas. We are open to any serious proposition that will give a reasonable return and dissuade us from turning the shop into another super apartment. All emails promptly replied to. We look forward to hearing your idea!
  9. Many thanks for the additional postings - yes I agree about Solar and geo Thermal and have broadly costed both sytems.Sadly the installation cost of Geo Thermal appears to be very high by comparison although the payback is good and not so subject to day/night variation of course but on a cost bais it looks as through a combination of solar and wood with back burner to both provide the primary supply of water and heating in the appropriate seasons, with some form of higher cost back up to fill the gaps. By pressurised, do you mean simply pumped or totally closed with a pressure vessel for expansion? Thanks again NGCR
  10. I fully accept your view that a pressuised system is more user friendly but as I will be using a wood burner with a back boiler coupled with a oil boiler, as and when required, won't I be stuck with a pumped and vented heating and hot water system? NGCR
  11. As a later respondent has quite correctly noted, a key reason why I asked this question about what we could refer to as a “Typical UK cold / hot water” system (which I agree should be a vented system), is because I wish to use a back boiler as a primary heat source. This is because I have a plentiful supply of free wood on my doorstep. In these circumstances why would I wish to demonstrate my integration into France by rushing blindly into using a Chauffe Eau (CE), simply because it’s French and I am now in France? In my humble opinion, the CE system is a primitive option created at low cost to meet a basic need for hot water. But CE’s exchange relatively easy, go-anywhere, cheap installation for high running costs. Hello? Any electric water heating system HAS to bring high running costs, unless one is parsimonious with baths, showers and hot water – which we are not. CE’s also offer an uncertain life span. This doubt is I believe reflected in the terms of the guarantees generally offered on CE’s. Furthermore, as a range of “UK type” replacement parts, including ballcocks (pardon my French) are available in France and with all this wood waiting to be cut, I ask again, why should I not install a “UK type” system? As far as re-sale is concerned, I believe it would be a mistake to regard the french as small c - conservative, from a plumbing or indeed any any perspective. In general, I regard the French as some of most adventurous in terms of different methods or new technologies. And a simple hot water / heating system of this kind would hardly be viewed as "rocket-science" by the average French plumber. Also anyone buying our house will also have all that free wood piling up. Therefore, for me, and I suspect most French people, practicality and cost will always over-rule "French is Best" or a “When in Rome” argument. Besides – I need the exercise associated with cutting and splitting all that wood! Very many thanks for the on-going advice. NGCR
  12. Any advice from French plumbing experts gratefully received on this one. Is there any reason why I should not install a typical UK style hot water tank with a cold water tank in the loft, provided that adequate frost protection is installed? Certainly, the standard UK 1/2" and 3/4" brass plumbing fittings can be used with smaller French olives and fittings to convert them to fit the undersized French copper pipe. This means that I could use a conventional UK sourced hot water tank and locate a cold tank in the loft, to be suppied from the cold mains. I see this as preferable to using an electric chaud-eau system and would suit me as I plan to use a large wood burner for hot water and rads in the winter, supplemented by an oil boiler as and when required, and for summer use. Many thanks NGCR
  13. By any chance can anyone recommend an architect in the northern Haute-Vienne / south Indre borders area for a sizeable stone barn conversion project to start Spring 2005? Also details of any recommended builders in the area would be very much appreciated. Many thanks ngcr
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