Chippiepat

appears to me that it's more for pointing patio's than walls. Have a look in screw fix cat. they do a mastic gun type of pointing tool for about 30£ this is what I'm going to try & if it's no good havn't lost too much.Most of the work to my way of thinking is raking out the existing joints.

slab, insulation, heating pipes, screed. Finish.

If the block wall you are building is just to give you a flat finish internally and is non load bearing still cant see the need for a footing, sorry to disagree Dave but I have built many a non load bearing wall off of the slab in england all under the supervision of the architect & local building inspector, & we are in an area that suffers from clay movement.Agree totally about the floor insulation & venting the existing wall.Can't really see what the idea of the wall is? Big Mac,To the best of my knowledge the depth of footing is determined by the suitability of the ground that it bears on & just to say go 1M deep means nothing, & I certnainly would'nt disturb that much ground around my existing walls if I didn't have too, if done in bays these have to be tied together properly or you just end up with many 1500 individual footings not acting as one. 

If Iv'e read your post correctly,? your building a new internal wall 12m long inside the existing stone wall, if this is the case & the new block wall is non load bearing a footing is not necessary, I would simply build the wall off of the new concrete base with maybe one or two piers to break the run.If the new slab is to be laid on compacted hardcore or sub base then 100mm concrete with mesh reinforcing should be adequate( possibly thicken the slab to 150mm at the edge under the wall) Can't help you about the insulation, I am not a qualified engineer but have been involved in the building game some 30yrs, I'm sure if my reccomendations are incorrect someone will soon be along to put them right. Good luck, Pat

Must admit all the floors I've done up til now, I've just used "Liberon" Black Bison wax.Used this on an old parquet floor in u.k. bl**dy hard work but the results worth it,although it does need looking after.Used the same or french equiv. for pine t&g on our property in france,again good results but also needs looking after.I'm a great believer in allowing wood to breath & always prefer to use wax finishes wherever poss.the same wax is also great for old beams.Reading your post prompted me to do a quick search (as I am about to embark on another project that will have all new timber floors) & came across this site that you may find interesting. www.woodfloorpolish.com I was keen on thier BonaKemi product that seems to fit the bill for french house,i.e.hard wearing easy to apply. Pat

Might be worth having a look at the colours available in "Procolite" or "Parex" these are ready mixed tyrolene type finishes ideal for pointing.The beauty is that the colour will be consistant no matter how many mixes you have to do. Pat.

Just heard from reliable source that all invoices from registered artisans can be off-set against c.g. wether t.v.a. registered or not. Makes sense to me. Pat

Don't mean to spoil your party, but have you read the other thread somewhere about the quality of Lapeyre's plumber & tiling contractor

If the rabbet in the sash & the frame is deep enough you could have d.g.units made & simply swop the glass over.The actual glass unit is not very expensive, ( well in the u.k. it's not. ) Pat

I keep reading in various threads that only invoices from TVA registered artisans can be off set against capitol gains.I am about to register as an artisan but hope to opt for a tax regime that does'nt involve me in t.v.a.( can niether charge or claim back ).Does this meen that although I will be invoicing clients legite, ligit, lagit LEGALLY(sod it cant spell legitimately ) these will NOT count against C.G. Pat

  How do you arrive at the hourly rate? Assuming 35 hours a week @ 30e per hour = 1,050   if I want to reduce my hourly rate to say 21e per hour but am willing to work 50 hours per week, 50 x 21 = 1,050 could I do this and still earn enough to pay cotisations etc;? I am serious, because I plan to do a lot of work for a close friend who I want to charge the minimum, but As I will br registering I need to earn enough to pay the cotisations.

 because he's failed to effectively project manage.  Not yet heard of one that has. Pat

I would allow 2 days Labour, 1 for the ceiling & 1 for the walls. Assuming artisan @ 250E per day Approx price 500 E plus mats; I'm no plasterer but I skimed my own with " Lutec 2000 " and  am really pleased with the results, not quite as mirror like finish that a good english plasterer would acheive but;;the french plaster does'nt seem to be as fine or trowel up quite as well as english finish.And, who wants perfect walls in a french house?

I bought my belfast sink over from the u.k. Bought everything else, (taps Waste etc; ) in france. no problems.

Thought this might be useful www.whitepaintcompany.com english paint in france, buy on line. Pat.

Just a note; mainly for Quillan & Nick, Was just researching for information on stone walling when somehow or other stumbled into a site thought may be of interest to you, & probably many others, apologise if you are already aware of it. www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk Pat 

I would imagine it depends what type of stone it is.I believe it is priced by weight so I would phone the reclaim yard at confolon ( 0545 30 72 04 ) & ask for a price as if you were a customer.Wish you had posted this last year as I was looking for corner stones for the extension I was building, in the end got some granite kerb stones off of a french friend, for the price of a drink & cut them to size myself

PLEASE........ get it right, I've just read the slating that poor old Owen got, could'nt read too much of that again. Pat.

thanks for reply Val, I understand the tva bit, what I'm unsure of is that I read another post somewhere that said only invoices from a "t.v.a. registered artisan" can be offset against capital gains? as I will not be t.v.a. registered & my invoices will show no t.v.a. will my client still be able to offset the renovation cost against c.g . Pat

I am about to register as micro enterprise as I have a barn to convert for a friend, as micro I will not be registerd for tva. 2 questions; will I be able to purchase materials at the 5.5% rate?, 2ndly having just done a search on the forum for t.v.a.I read that a t.v.a.receipt is required to offset expences against capital gains, does this mean that all the works I carry out on the renovation although invoiced & carried out by me as registered artisan can not be claimed against c.g.? seems a tad unjust. Any light thrown on this much appreciated, Pat

Quillan, thanks for the links, notice that you posted regarding the same in January, seems to me the problem is getting a supply large enough to run the system,my knowledge of electricity extends to changing a fuse in a plug.Still feel I want to go the way of heating electric though, have you seen the water filled plug in rads www.easy-heat.co.uk Would be interested to hear what you finally decide on. Pat.

just trying to avoid gas or oil tanks,seemed easy to me, install boiler & plug in? Have tried to research a bit & found many boilers for domestic use, whats throwing me a bit at the moment is calculating b.t.u's required & k.w's.required to give b.t.u's (if you see what I mean).Guess I'll go & pick the brains of my plumber & electrician mates. Pat 

I am thinking of using an electric boiler to run central heating & hot water in a three bedroom barn conversion.Has anyone first hand experiance of electric boilers re; efficiency etc, not too concerned about running cost. Many thanks,Pat

[quote user="flower"] Hi Dick,  . The reason we need something is because we are taking away the middle section of two main beams which help support the A frame. They are supported elsewhere on the top of the stone walls and we have been advised that the tie bars will just be a precaution as they ahould already be supported well enough. If we can use the steel rods where would we find these? I can't find what they're called in french.[8-)] Many thanks. [/quote] Sounds ify to me,If your cutting these out yourself I would deifinately seek advise beforhand, if your paying an artisan, then assuming he is qualifed in this field, he should know what extra strengthening will be required and where to buy it.

Cheers for your comments, I've looked for sometime & indepth about registering in france & I've found the most difficult thing seems to be to work part time. Ideally I would like to do a project, have a few months off & then start again, perhaps this will now become easier with (as I understand) cotisations being linked to earnings.Guess I'll register & see where it takes me.