Steven Nixon<P>Many thanks<P><P>Steven Nixon<P><P> <P>

Well said chocccie, there are many things I admire about the Fench, one of them is how polite they normally are. I am not such a fan of their DIY plumbing systems. If it's so fantastic why is it a constant source of questions on the DIY Forums, and why do people bring UK plastic pipework with them to France for renovation? It is only useful if you are confident to install it. Surely the best way to carry out your plumbing in your house, is to use something you are familiar with and enable you to get the job done quickly rather than only using the 'local materials in the local way'. If the rest of the world applied that approach to French cheese, wine and cars where would that leave Les Flumands? As I am not allowed to advertise a company that will supply you with UK plastic plumbing and connectors for joining it to French pipework in this forum, may I say that the classified section of French Property News makes a great read. Bye      

The reason I, and perhaps many other people may prefer to have UK plastic pipe for plumbing in France, is that it is very easy to install and appears to be a far more advanced product than the range available in France. That is certainly my opinion. Fot DIY it is much much easier and faster than copper, and it is now becoming the norm for new build houses in the UK as well. The fittings prices appear high but are in fact only 10% higher than B&Q, 6% helps with shipping cost and the credit card payment system take the other 4% and they hold the money for up to six weeks. The high pipe costs include a significant part of the shipping cost because you are charged by volume not weight when something is light, and a coil of pipe is a lot of empty space. Overall, if I was faced with the choice of using French plastic or copper plumbing, finding a decent local plumber, or getting some UK plastic plumbing delivered directly to me and getting the bulk of the job done, then paying the shipping charge would seem a pretty good option. The above ground waste pipe in France is reasonable stuff ( but not to be mixed with UK ) and can be sourced locally along with other bits, but for the water distribution pipe, for the DIY installer, the PolyFit plastic pipe is ideal. Thats about it really.        

French copper pipe sizes are not compatible with UK sizes. French sizes are normally 12mm, 14mm, 16mm 18mm whilst UK are 15mm and 22mm generally. If you want to join French Copper to UK Plastic or copper pipe you will need a Connector available from a company based in the UK who will ship these connectors and UK plastic pipeork to mainland France. We plumbed our complete house in one day using this system. It really is very easy.