Simon Kennedy

Simon, that is a really good idea. If only. The metal conduits are pretty narrow, about 20mm diametre, so no, I don't think I can shove anything down there. Simon K

And let's not forget the question, two messages above: "Is there a way of avoiding spending the next week with a big drill and massette bashing away?" Simon

Thanks for the useful inof so far. Glad my thread sparked some controversy. (Hey gittit?) I have found all the wires are sheathed in metal conduits. Very sturdy, but I get the impression that this is now against regs. So I have to dig it all up yeah? I tried a little bit. It is three inches deep in very old, very solid concrete. To do it all seems a big big job. Is there a way of avoiding spending the next week with a big drill and massette bashing away? Simon

HI, Just started looking at the electrics in my flat. eeek Looks like about 1950. Some questions. There are two wires coming into the fusebox from the cutoff switch. This indicates that it is a monophase installation. Am I right? There is no earth to be seen anywhere. Pretty common in older installations I believe. There appears to be no fuse protection on any of the neutral wires in the fuse box. Only on the live. This, combined with the lack of an earth means it is major renovation time right? Rewire the place. New consumer unit, fit an earth and new wiring. It is a small flat so I reckon I will take on the wiring myself. All the wiring is in solid conduits as far as I can tell. So the task is simple yeah? Change all the cables for new (ie live, neutral and earth), fitting new sockets as I go and maybe laying another line for a dishwasher. The electric system is radial, so it is all pretty simple no? Mainly a lot of feeding cable through conduits. Tell me if I am missing something please.

We found some thick beams above what will be our shower area: http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/simonmotorbike/Flat%20bathroom/beams.jpg I need to cut into them in order to increase the headroom in the shower. Any reason why not? They are about a foot thick: four or five inches off wouldn't hurt now would it? They aren't supporting anything that I can see, other than stopping the three floors of concrete blocks above the window coming down. I guess that there is a treatment for wood out there somewhere that will stop them rotting?   Simon

I am renovating my bathroom. The space for the shower tray, once four inches of concrete had been removed, looks like this http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/simonmotorbike/Flat%20bathroom/pipes.jpg I want to put a shower tray on top. But I can't move the pipes around it, as one of the pipes is lead. As you can see (nearest in picture) http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/simonmotorbike/Flat%20bathroom/pipes2.jpg So I am thinking that I can raise the shower tray up on little adjustable legs - like those under fridges and washing machines. This will work yeah? What are these called in French and where do I get them? Any ideas? Thanks,   Simon    

Wow, there's nothing like putting an argument based on flimsy impressions in order to make a poor case. Every poll of the non voters put issues around economic policy as the principal reasons for the non: a rejection of the neo-liberal policies the constitution sought to enshrine. Which explains the opposition of those with most to loose from the destruction of the social democratic settlement. Evidence: 81 per cent of manual workers, 79 per cent of the unemployed, 60 per cent of white-collar workers and 56 per cent of “intermediary professions” voted “No”. This was an extremely political campaign, with clarity of message from the non. Why did France vote no? The media and right cannot bear the obvious answer: that the French No vote was exactly what it seemed to be, ie a rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty. No need to obfuscate the matter. But why did the north and the west bit vote yes I wanna know. Simon

Why did the north west vote yes? On the voting map the NW stands out boldly as bucking the trend. Why? Simon

I am in the market also: I am based in Nantes, have a PhD and lots of secondary school teaching experience. Any leads?   Simon