Richardk

Ahh....so I'm wrong in my thinking on how the UK works...in which case the as you say it seems that both the French, Spanish UK systems (& presumably all EU countries) work the same whereby locally everyone pays VAT whether tax registered or not. It's simply that those who are tax registered can claim the tax element back. Unfortunately I still need to find some official info to state this as I need to it to illustrate to a German s/w company where thy need to make some changes to some billing s/w we're starting to use! Any ideas on references anyone? English, German or French sources are good.

Thanks for that, however, I've already had a look through the site. If someone is aware of an actual web site page / document that would help. It's easy to find generic info on the charging of TVA, however, I've had more trouble regarding the specifics of charging a fellow French registered business.  All help appreciated....!

I'm looking for a link to some offical infornation on how to handle TVA between 2 French (TVA) registered business' based and operating in France. Does anyone have any ideas? I've spent a little time looking around but to no avail so far. I believe that the TVA must be paid at the time of purchase as opposed to simply swapping VAT numbers as 2 UK VAT registered businesses would do for example. This does seem a little strange though when the rest of Europe (to my knowledge) operates as per the UK system. Thanks in advance, Richard

Qillan  -  can I ask what size berth you have? We've just taken a berth in Spain but would prefer to be in France due to it being closer (obviously...). We need a 10m berth which in our experience are very hard to come by without purchasing a lease. If you're in a 10m berth I think we'll be talking to Gruissan very soon! Richard

Sounds like you're after somewhere really...really quiet to do some 'quiet' illegal landings! Good luck!

I'm looking to source an external metal staircase for a house located at 1,600 metres, hence potentially lots of snow and ice in winter. As such I'm looking for the type that look as though they'd take your skin off if you scraped yourself on them! Does anyone have any ideas of who makes this sort of thing and even better, where I could source it? I'm looking for either a company who trades online (or at least has a decent web site), or who is situated in the Languedoc area (specifically we're in 66). Thanks, Richard

Nick  -  take a look at the many free CMS (Content Management Systems) out there. Joomla is a great place to start. If you happy going with on of the thousands of off the shelf free templates and if you needs are simply you'll be able to get something up and running yourself fairly easily. WordPress is another (simple) option. Regards, Richard

Big Mac is rocking along here now! Like the sleeper option. I've done a little work on that and had asusmed I'd have to have at least two tiers. I noticed one of your pics incorporated two tiers but in effect on butting up to the other hence using as little overall space as possible. Like it. I was thinking more along the lines of vertical sleepers / lengths of wood cemented into the ground with a suitable backwards inclination (6 / 10 degrees)and then horizontal sleepers laid infront and attached to the verticals behind them. The reality is is probably wouldn't be old sleepers, rather new but treated wood from Point P who are just down the road. Right now, decking, gabions or 'sleepers' are on the shortlist.

Love the decking idea....hadn't thought of that at all! The Gabions are an interesting one an by co-incidence I emailed a couple of UK suppliers about it a few hours ago. I also don't find them ugly. I got a quote in today from a local building company to build a rock wall using those boulders which are so big you nead heavy machinerary to move them....17,500 euros they wanted... Has anyone any experience of using the gabions? Keep the ideas coming....we're on a roll!

It's not so much renovations, as sorting out a wall in the garden. Our house is on a 'terraced' hill side, not very steep but still requiring some attention. The bottom of our garden has a natural rough bank dropping down c. 5 metres to the field below. We'd like to have some sort of retaining wall built to reclaim the land lost to the bank (the garden isn't big anyhow) and provide better boundary definition. Length wise its 15 metres in a straight line by the 5 metres high mentioned above. We're not capable of building this ourselves and are a little apprehensive of the sort of costs we'd be looking at for this sort of project. Before we (potentially) waste local builders' time as well as our own can people share their knowledge of potential solutions as well as some sort of indication of the potential cost. Location wise is in Les Angles, which is a ski resort village in the Pyreneese (66). Many thanks, Richard

Nearly 2 years on, and the time has come to finish the project that the previous owner began. Whilst we have a working swimming pool, just about everything else needs doing. The focus right now is on how to 'finish' the pool house which is of a breeze block construction, as follows: The question is how to finish it off and what preparation would need to be done? I've read some great ideas on here in the past, hence rather steer people in a particular direction, I'd prefer to open it up to your (practical...) creativity and see what people suggest! Thanks, Richard Link repaired by a mod

Really I wouldn't be put off by there already being lots of other companies already doing it. If you consider that from a different aspect, it means there is definately a need for that type of business. I'd be more worried if there wasn't anyone doing it! The next part though is whether you can do it better / attract the customers etc.. And really, that's down to your skill base now, how you can augment it before commencing and the research you do to help you decide how to approach such a new business. It's possible, it won't be easy, it probably won't be much fun at times but if you achieve your goal it'll be extremely satisfying! Good luck.

What it's acutally for is to raise the level of what will be a terrace by c.3.5cm to match in with an adjoining established terrace. Currently I have a solid, sound area of concrete. Subsequently it will be tiled.

We need to 'fill' a void of c. 3.5cm in height which currently has a concrete base. Upon looking round at forum posts relating to screed thickness people always say minimum 5cm. Further conversations and reading has 'led me to believe that there are two types of screed jobs  -  bonded and unbonded. Whilst the latter should have 5cm's or so, the former can I believe be much less - even just a couple of cm's for example. Can anyone verify this?

I'd appreciate any informed input people can make to this. We're in the process of getting quotes in for the following: 115 sq metres of poolside to have a screed laid (4cm) and then tiled. The surface on which the screed will go is concrete which is already in place. workman to provide everything except tiles which we will sourceAny ideas on what sort of cost we're looking at here? So too, should we expect to work on a per square metre rate for tiling as you might expect if getting a bathroom done, or should we benefit from economies of scale here? Thanks, Richard

Anyone know of a company offering change over services for Prades in the Conflent Valley, PO? Many thanks, Richard

Anton  -  thanks ever so much. Extremely helpful (as ever...)! Richard

Thanks for that, looks very useful. It is the exterior I want to do, and if we colour match to the house we're looking at one of the yellow tones. When you say the local sand gave your house enough colour, I assume it must be a light shade of yellow then? Does it compare to any of the colours listed on http://www.parexlanko.com/pro_nuancier_48.php? I'm intrigued as to what finish you can get just dependent on the coour of the sand.

We have a breeze block constructed outbuilding, only c. 3 years old which I'd like to render. I've read with interest a post from 4 years ago which talks about rendering. I want to colour the rendering, either to match the house (c. 12 years old) or, something completely different. How do I go about colouring it? Obviously painting the finished render is one method, but I'm sure you can pre-colour the render somehow.....? Many thanks, Richard

I'd like to construct a small fence  -  c. 10 to 15 metres in length using round upright posts and then two horizontal round poles which slot into holes within the upright post. The sort of thing you often see around houses in the mountains if that helps. Does anyone know if the holes in the upright come pre-drilled or not? We're talking quite big holes here, hence not an obvious one to do yourself. Thanks, Richard

Thanks for that....just realised my possible mistake. As we haven't got to the finite detail as yet, what is the total for both came to 22sqm? Would that change things?

Possible. In general we won't have a problem with height, however, there is one beam which once we've screeded and then tiled would bring my head awfully close to the beam. Anyone over 6ft would have to duck. I'm also not sure what spec a floor should be and don't want it all cracking up in years to come due to it not being good enough. That said....our bank balance loves the idea of not digging it up....

We want to put in for permission to extend part of a balcony which runs the length of the back of the house by around 16sqm. I understand that we need to complete a Déclaration Préalable. Additionally we want to build a small storage area (c. 4 sqm) to the side of the house which will also provide side access to the property. In essence the property is on the side of a hill, you walk in at 1st floor level and go down to the ground floor. We want to provide side access on to the top of the new storage unit, with associated steps down to the garden. Not big overall, but very useful for us. So...two projects. Do we do seperate Déclaration Préalable or...something else? All views appreciated. Thanks. Richard

We're looking to convert the ground floor or our property which is currently a garage. It's split into two level with one having a height of 2.25m and the other 1.9m at the lowest points (under concrete supporting beams running across the building). Think an oblong in shape and that's broadly it. This image should help to visualise the beams etc.. The taller area is approx. 70sqm, and the shorter area 80sqm. The previous owner told me the floor is 5 to 6cm of concrete, and that the walls go down about 5 courses of blocks - they are breeze block, but haven't verified what size. We're located in 66, it's pretty dry here & I imagine the gound is hard as ... rock. We plan to convert all of the area with the 2.25m height, and want about 30sqm of the lower area. With the beams as they are to use this we have to take up the existing floor, dig down and relay. Damp proofing is a consideration here, although not quite sure what to do. Our choice is whether to dig up, then down over the entire 80sqm, or target just the 30 which we need. Either way, we're getting professional help. Q1. Realistically, how easy is it to dig down just for an area of 30sqm within a larger area? Or is it an all or nothing thing for example? Q2. What would a new ground floor be composed of? xcm hardcore, ycm concrete, etc...? Thanks for your advice.

That'll be a no then.....really....no ones had to try and do this?