Guillaumy

Thanks very much for your replies.   Nick: We will be living about 20mins SE of Bergerac.   Will and Jc: This is the problem, conflicting advice.   We had decided after our daughters experience that it would probably be better to see someone in France, but I’m sure this is a minefield as well. Getting the right person etc. However, this will be the way we will go. Thanks again. Robert

Hi, I wonder if anyone can suggest a good Tax Adviser/Accountant. My wife, mother-in-law and myself are expecting to make the move to France sometime this summer/autumn. We (my wife and I) have no huge piles of money, investments etc. I, however, have a business, which I want to continue in France. My mother-in-law has a few investments and her UK house. The reason for this request is because our daughter and son-in-law, who are moving to Spain, have consulted a well know, well advertised, double-barrelled named tax adviser. Having paid over £1,200, for this initial meeting, the information and advice they received could have been read in any “living abroad” book and the majority of the “personal report” looked to have been photocopied out of their book. These were the people that we were going to use so we need to rethink. Thanks, Robert

Hi Ron, Don’t know if you saw this:   A Russian attempt to launch a solar sail vehicle designed to be propelled by pressure from sunlight has failed. The mission collapsed because the booster rocket suffered engine failure soon after it blasted into space, the Russian space agency said today. The launch late yesterday was part of a joint Russian-US project attempting the first controlled flight of a solar sail.   A news report in “The Scotsman” Wed 22 Jun 2005 May not be the Rosé after all!! Regards, Robert

Hi Angela, Thanks for the response. I have contacted Mike Webb and given him a list of work we need doing but he replied that he only “plasters”, he doesn’t just plasterboard and then finish the joints. Will have to keep looking.   Robert

Hi, We're looking for a plasterer to do some work for us in our house in South Dordogne. Preferably with some English. We have had one quote and are not happy with it. Any suggestions or recommendations? (Posted this under "Renovations" as well.) Thanks Robert

Hi, We're looking for a plasterer to do some work for us in our house in South Dordogne. Preferably with some English. We have had one quote and are not happy with it. Any suggestions or recommendations? Thanks Robert

Hi Benson, Thanks for your help. Much appreciated. Regards, Robert

Hi, Still struggling with our devis. Can anybody please tell me the cost of  “Airflex” per roll and what the roll dimensions are? Also, sheet size and cost for plaster board. Thanks, Robert

Thanks all for your comments.   Bob“Vehicle access for the delivery of plasterboard and insulation from the builders merchants” The access is good, no problem.   “Dry storage for the plasterboard and an area to cut panels and insulation to size before fitting” The house isn’t lived in at the moment, so there is plenty of space downstairs as well as on the first floor.   “Getting full size panels into the loft space - in many old French properties this is impossible” This I was expecting to pay for. The stairs are good and the bend gradual, but I do appreciate the “grunt” to carry the plasterboard up to the attic.   “The amount of work involved cutting full panels to size with associated wastage” This, again, I accept and appreciate.   Paul “Old lofts have difficult and uneven structures and the jointing, filling and sanding of joints can be very time consuming” It is quite an old house, around 1750, so yes, the joists are uneven.   “We use a different and far more superior product called Triso - Super 9 which is in a different class, it has 14 composite layers and will give the same insulation value as 20 cm of laine de verre, Airflex won't” I did a search on the Triso-Super 9 and found this (link below) - may need a complete re-think on the sort of insulation we have because what they claim for Triso-Super 9 are exaggerated!!   http://www.celotex.co.uk/pdf/TechBul004-05.pdf   We are FULLY prepared to pay a fair price for any of the work we need doing, but not "over the odds". I supose we must just bite the bullet. Thanks again, Robert    

Hi, A follow-up question from my last post on signing the devis. Just checking through the prices to see what we need to have done and what we can cut out. The plasterer has quoted for insulating and plastering the attic sloping roof. The area is 174 sqM, which is correct. He is charging: 6,900 euros for the Airflex, supplied and fixed. 9,200 euros for the plasterboard, supplied, fixed using metal rails and joints finished. Is this about right? Seems quite a lot. Thanks Robert

Thank you for your replies. Looks like we will have to get them changed. Here we go again Robert

Hi, We are about to start work on our house!! The devis has arrived and we are checking through them. We have been asked to sign them (4) and return them to the Mason. A question – When we sign and return the devis, are we obligated to have ALL the work done that is listed in the devis? Your advice would be appreciated. Thanks Robert

Thank you for your replies. Will, the ones you bought sound like better value. Perhaps I'll have a look round in the Brico's next time we're over.  

I know that this general subject has been covered before, but just wanted to be sure. There is a good offer on at B&Q at the moment for bathroom towel radiators. They are 600 x 750, chrome finish and 1000btu at £67 each, bought without valves and connectors. I think, from what I’ve seen, that’s a good buy. But, would they be compatible with French valves and connectors? Don’t want to spend the money if they won’t fit. Any help appreciated.

Thanks Nick, thanks Peter.   I realise that each area etc can use their own formula to calculate the capacity, but 12,000L for max 14 people???   Found this info (not French though): Capacity = 2000 litres + 180 litres/person. The number of persons is based on the potential occupancy of the building. For example, if it were proposed to erect a four bed roomed dwelling house and each of the bedrooms are capable of sleeping two people, the potential occupancy of the house would be eight. In this case the minimum capacity would be: Capacity = 2000 litres + 180 x 8 = 3440 litres   Also on the Hepworth Drainage site (I know, again not French), a 6,000L Septic Tank is suitable for 15-22 people. So on that basis, I should be able to house 30-44!!!   Yours totally confused Robert

Sorry this is another Fosse question but we need some information urgently. We are renovating our house and two barns in dept 24, which will end up comprising of 7 bedrooms. We have a fosse of 3,000L that was installed about 20 years ago. We understand that this is not going to be big enough and that we would have to install an extra one to comply with regulations. However, I have received an email from our architect, who informs us that the relevant department has told him, that we will have to install a fosse of 12,000L. This seems very excessive as all the technical data I have read on web sites (UK) suggest that 6-7,000L would be more than adequate. Is there any French web site that gives the size required for the amount of bedrooms you have. Thanks Robert

Hi Mark, Will have to try and sort the white b*****s out when we go again. Hoped they weren't mozzies but wondered if they might be. We were all bitten last visit. I should have used the mozzie net we bought with us for the proper purpose instead of cutting it up to make a fishing net!! As far as the water purity is concerned, I was going to get it tested. Sorry about the suspense, by the way. Hope they're not too tight. Robert

Hi Valerie, Thanks for the fabulous web site. Have been through it and there are some that it could be, but not sure. The little tinker that I caught was about 3cm long which rules out quite a few of those on the site. The one that is closest is the Common Spadefoot Toad. The thing that intrigues me is that it seemed as though they were coming to the surface to breath. Tadpoles don't do that do they? I watched them for ages, saw them rising to the surface and looked very hard to see if there was anything there that they were feeding on.... but nothing. Anyway, thanks again and I will post again if I find the answer. Robert

Hi, Thanks for your input. Valerie - I would have thought that had it been a hatching of toad spawn, they would have all been about the same size. Salamander tadoples? It could be, I have no idea. Have never seen any and couldn't find any on the web. Pixetoadstool - The picture was a JPEG and I added it through the "insert picture" button on the task bar. I will have to wait until we go back to France and see if I can net a bigger one and either take a better photo or/and ask a neighbour (which would have been the most sensible thing to have done). Mark - Interested about the fish in the "sump" to keep the mozzies at bay. This seems like a good idea. Our neighbour has a v. large trough and a cattle watering pond, FULL of goldfish/carp. Perhaps that's what they are there for. We had (apart from the tadpoly things) little clouds of white specks wriggling just under the surface. Hope they weren't mozzie lava because the tadpoles didn't touch them. Thanks again Robert

Sorry, I can't seem to alter the photograph to any other format. I can see the photo when I log onto the forum. Can I send a picture to anyone via email? No, it isn't a newt Millymollymandy. The larger ones, although I only saw them for a few seconds as they came to the surface, might have had appendages (ie legs or fins) but this small one has nothing. It looks exactly like a Tadpole but could not have been because of the time of year.   Thanks for you interest. I'll keep trying with the photo. Robert

Let me try to cut and paste the photo again.    

Hi, I don’t know if this is the right place to post this but here goes. We spent a week in our house near Bergerac the last week in Septemeber (3 weeks ago). We have a well in the garden that is about 4’ x 5’ that was overgrown, but has now been cleared. I noticed this trip, what looked like some sort of fish coming up to the surface, either eating something off the surface or coming up for air. I made a rough sort of fishing net and caught one of the small ones. (see photo) It looks like a tadpole!! There were lots in the well and I saw some that must have been 3” to 4” long. What are they?? Thanks Robert  

Thanks Val2. Area of liveable 180 sqm plus 2 "derelict" outbuildings. Total property area 2,700 sqm. Guillaumy

Hi, We also have a house that is being renovated (south 24) and have received a Taxes Foncieres bill at our current address in the UK. Our amount payable is €653. Is it worth questioning this? We have had the property for 18 months and have lived in it for a total of 14 days. Any advice gratefully received, Guillaumy

Molly, Please try this link. There are DEFINITELY gas ovens on this one. Robert http://www.armenager.com/arm2001/result.cfm?S_P=01010212&S_M=NONE&S_PAR=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C07%2C0%2C03&S_O=REF