moos

Thanks for the expertise, everybody.  I guess there is a logic in the regs. It's just that they seem a little perverse when on one hand we're being exhorted to moderate our power consumtion, be more economical,  and then find obstructions and disincentives. Rainwater saving  is a an example:  (I realise I'm digressing here, but anyway) : You get crédit sur l'impôt, but only if you have a system installed by a professional . I'm not knocking the water tank professionals, but it discourages you from sinking a (much cheaper) concrete fosse septique and using that to collect your rainwater for garden watering etc.  Most rural houses in France have a  home-made concrete collection cistern. Plain and simple. 

Has anyone managed to instal fewer than the required electric sockets during a newbuild and still get past consuel?  It seems that you are required by law to have at least 3 sockets in the bedroom, and a oven feed and electric hob feed in the kitchen whether you want them or not. The reasoning seems to be that you may not want them, but the next occupant might. Any suggestions about how to legally have a minimal rather than maximal electrical system?!

One of the "betons cellulaires" blocks widely available is "Siporex" and is widely available (in the South-West) at builders merchants like Gedimat,ou Point P.  Siporex on their website say they you can use their products for soubassement walls, but I'm not confident in that. Incidentally, so do some of the Monomur or alveolaire clay block manufacturers.- Anyone out there have experience of using Monomur below ground level?

Hello there. I don't know if this is much help, as we haven't yet got very far, with our new-build.  But, yes, you can do it yourself, and there are lots of french websites and self-building forums to give advice, if your french is ok for that. We wanted to go down the eco-build route using timber frame and straw bales, and  did the preliminary designs ourselves, then talked to the village carpenter who recommended an architect to draw up the plans. This has been fantastically valuable, since as well as getting the "permis de construire"  he's also made some brilliant ammendments, and drawn up very precise plans for the construction details, to send out for quotes.. We are going to manage the project ourselves, (encouraged by the architect, who's not at all phased by two women wanting to take this on)  We're going to do the straw-bale infill , and part of the masonry.  One  thing to bear in mind is that as "maitre d'ouvrage" you have to fork out heavily for insurance of the chantier. We haven't got to that , so can't say more about it as yet!  If you want to do something a bit out of the ordinary,  I strongly recommend getting an architect.  Good luck. It's really exciting, as well as nerve-wracking!.  

Thanks, Iceni. Funnily enough, down my way, (Gers) there are many more expresses, but as you say, don't know what that proves! Basically, I'm looking for a cheap-to-run-and-maintain small van, and the only real contenders seem to be the express and the C15. If anyone has a better idea, I'd be delighted to hear it.  

Having been the happy owner for some years of a diesel 1987  Renault Express, I'm thinking of looking for a slightly newer van, and while I favour another express,( a newer, about 1994, model with power steering,) several local artisans reckon that the Citroen C15 is better built with a more solid motor. Both seem to have about the same fuel consumption.  Does anyone out there have any experience of either or both.?.    

Hello, there. Just a little point. Parpaings are the bog-standard (heavy) concrete blocks used extensively. (They're cheap)  Beton Cellulaire is a particular lightweight insulating concrete block, usually sold under a brand name such as Thermalite or Siporex. Important not to confuse the two. Siporex also offer an extra thick block which has sufficient insulation qualities to dispense with a twin-wall construction or additional insulation. Possibly interesting to self-builders. Happy building!  

Thanks for the help.  Actually these are forms for 2004 - they were offered so I assumed those were the current ones and since my friend hasn't already made a declaration for that year, it seemed a good thing to do so.  Do you happen to know the 'reasonable' rate of exchange for 2004?  If I get stuck I shall email you directly.  And thanks for the offer.  Moos

Thank you for the advice.  At the Hôtel des Impôts when we collected the forms, they did say they'd help so I shall definitely do that.  BTW what supporting evidence do they ask for?  Moos

I'm helping a friend complete a Déclaration des revenus (Forms 2047 and 2042) for the first time and wonder if anyone knows of a site in English where I could get some help.  My French isn't bad but this is defeating me.  Am I right in thinking that it's necessary to convert all her pension income into Euros, at the rate of exchange applying at the time each payment arrived in her account?  This does seem rather fiddly given the amounts involved!  It would be great to get some help on this and other aspects of the forms.  Moos

On my phone I've noticed that 3131 doesn't immediately acknowledge a call. Sometimes it takes hours. If I've been out for a while, and check the phone when I come in that evening, it will tell me "il n'y a aucun nouveau message". But the next day it will have a different story and tell me there was a message the previous day. Anybody else have this minor irritation?

Hi, there. I've just been finishing off some guttering, so it's been on my mind.  A few things to watch out for. Make sure you get the right size of gutter for the amount of water shedding off the roof. You've got a choice of two sizes. It's more likely to be the bigger size. The end pieces are called "fonds" but you can get an end section which has a fond and the downpipe (tuyau de descente)  entry bit already soldered on. Well worth it, as I belatedly discovered, but check that you've bought the left or right-handed version depending on which side your downpipe is to go. Good luck!

Dave, Thanks, but unfortunately there isn't much in the way of stone!  What there is we'd keep and re-use. Most of the waste is really ancient and rotten tiles, parpaings, and seriously rotted beams, joists etc.(firewood?)  

Thanks, Ron for the helpful comparative figures. Just got to do some more sums now, but it's useful to know that demolition can be such a useful economic possibility! Moos 

Does anyone have any general idea of demolition costs in relation to re-roofing costs? I'm looking at a house (mitoyenne) which  has a large surface area, and therefore a lot of roof which would need replacing including all the timbers. One possibility would be to demolish about a third of it to make an open courtyard instead. Would this significantly reduce the renovation costs, or is demolition a mightily expensive proposition with landfill costs etc?  And does demolition attract the 5.5% TVA as restoration work does currently?  

I don't think I've ever seen tap & die sets in the average tool merchant. But I remember watching a local plumber (in the Gers) set up a mobile on-site workshop to do some largeish diameter galvanised pipe work, and he was cutting threads and doing a lot of complicated and beautifully creative work. So you might try asking your local plumber or heating engineer if he can help you out. Good luck

Teak oil is another useful oil. Like tung oil it includes hardeners. But with any oil, it's best to rub it in with a lint-free rag and then rub it some more, rather than just painting it on.

The previous owner had left the base of an ol treadle sewing machine which was cast iron and heavy. I used it as a table base, and bought a piece of exterior grade plywood (contreplaqué) from the builders merchants, and a sheet of zinc, which I cut with snips and tin shears (cuts really easily). Then hammered and bent it round the plywood, finishing off by nailing the bent over bits with copper hardboard pins. It stays outside all year round, and very quickly acquired that nice dull mottled patina. Looks great, though I say so myself!

Hello, there. You could try looking up : www.info-encheres.com.  This lists various auctions, either through notaire or tribunal, and maybe one of the notaires specialising in auctions in your arae will be listed. Good luck.  

I'm not that surprised. It seems to me that BF deliberately make their site difficult to move back and forth,so as to wear you down and stop you trying to find the cheapest crossing. I used to travel a lot with them when they gave out a leaflet with all the prices for any crossing. When they stopped that and forced you to give them a date before they would offer a quote, it irritated me that they said this was more helpful to theie customers. After tediously trawling back and forth on their site, and still being shocked by their prices, I abandoned them in favour of plane/train.  I'm sure there must be plenty of people who just want to get to France cheaply, and aren't looking for lavish accommodation or facilities. Aren't there?

I'm looking to rent somewhere to park (reasonably securely!) in Auch from time to time, and for periods up to 2/3 months. but have drawn a blank so far. Does anyone have any suggestions? Garages or parking places don't seem to be obviously available, at least not in the local "petits annonces", and they are just too small for the immobilieres to bother with. Any ideas welcome.   

As far as I can see, the ceiling fans you can buy in France are more or less identical to their English counterparts. They're all 230/240 v and have one neutral,one live,and one earth wire.so straightforward to instal. I brought one from the Uk, (because I happened to have it already,)and wired it into the lighting circuit, along with a seperate control box. Works fine, no problems.  

Thanks for the advice. I'll go up into the loft and see how many sockets are already on that run.

Does anyone know if it's easy to wire in an additional wall socket? In the UK on the ring main you could quite easily add a spur. In French wiring, would you have to wire the new socket right back to the fuse board on its own cable? I only want to add one socket a couple of metres from an existing one and am trying to avoid calling in the electrician just for this. Am I being foolish?!  

I'd agree with val2 that watching TF1 for the news is an excellent way of getting a good overview of french (and world)news. I'd also recommend the radio; France Inter has an interesting and informative slot between about 7 and 10 a.m with interviews, in-depth reportage about latest events worldwide, and quite an eclecticism. You can also pick it up in the UK on Longwave, and in fact I tend to listen to it in preference to the BBc when I'm in the UK.It has a much better and more analytical coverage. For example after the sige of Falluja, they featured on-the spot interviews with ordinary iraquis and critical analysis that is harder to find on the BBC. Ditto interviews with Palestinians about their day to day lives. something you don't hear much of on the BBC radio. Another useful thing for getting more out of french radio is going to the website of radiofrance. I was really impressed with them recently.- I'd heard some interesting music on France Musiques many months ago, bit couldn't remember exactly which date. So I e-mailed RadioFrance and gave them a rambling description of what I was trying to find, and they replied within a few hours, giving the entire playlist. They also told me what the signature tune was to a particular programme I was curious about. One other suggestion, though it's digressing even more from the original posting, is to buy Telerama, which is gives all TV listings, but more particularly, detailed radio coverage, which is not easy to find. Its also gives sharp and trenchant currents events/culture/media coverage. Maybe not to everyone's taste, but I'd strongly recommend it