0The Plan ManAll the best,<br><br>StewartddMMyyyy0Falseen-USAll the best,<br><br>StewartTrue

It's a tricky one - is to be number one or three?? Both excellent in their composition, artistic flair, eye-catching interest, taste etc etc. Now, who was that photographer...! PS Charles - good job you're better at making wine than you are writing URLs - http://www.la-colline.com every time...

Roger, As with all stone walls, it is advantageous to allow the walls to breathe. The norm here is to repoint using a sand and lime (chaux) mix. Three sand to one chaux gives the strongest mix. I personally use a produce called Tradiblanc, which has a little white cement added to give it an initial 'grab'. You can use different colours of sand - I do 3 of white sand, 2 of grey (sable de batir) and one of soft yellow (jaune) to two measures of chaux - see www.gite-les-roches.com for the outcome!

This is very common when burning un-seasoned wood - the sap and dampness evaporates in the stove, goes up the flue, condenses on the exterior of the pipe and trickles back down. If the fire is roaring, it often re-evaporates - hence it is only noticeable as the fire goes out. The are two ways of reducing the problem - using drier wood, and better insulating the flue (so that there is less of a cooling effect). Best of luck! Stewart

Have I missed something? Two years ago I re-registered my Defender here - I went along to the local Landrover dealership, got them to acquire a Certificate of Conformite (agreed, a bit of a con at €180 for a photocopy), got some LHD drive headlights over the internet (don't get them from LR!!!), had them fitted and aligned, got a controle technique, went along to the local sous-prefecture in Bergerac armed with all the paperwork and a big smile (OK - it was a flirty one - there was the usual female bulldog with the awesome reputation on the desk - but incredibly the flirty stuff worked), and hey presto it was done. Likewise for my 3.5 tonne Ifor Williams trailer. Landrover UK wasn't involved at all, nor did a VIN come into it. Was I lucky, or has the system changed?? Stewart

SORRY!! - didn't finish the sentence... a qualified architect needs to sign tehm off if the entire finished habitable floor space exceeds 170 square metres. S

MickSyl has pretty much got it covered. Although it may vary from department to department, in the Dordogne a qualified architect needs to sign them off (as do you, the client). In my experience (and I have submitted a few!!), the more and the better quality, the better. Make sure you include the right level of detail - the colour of shutters can be a stumbling block for example. All the best, Stewart www.maisonplan.com www.gite-les-rochecs.com

I don't know your personal circumstances, but if it is unlikely that you will be drawing on an income you may be able to register as a pauper (regardless of your paper wealth), thereby avoiding half of the tax. Stewart www.maisonplan.com www.gite-les-roches.com

Generally the French will ask more than is the norm in the UK - usually around 10% of the asking price. It is very difficult to value property in France as there are so many variables versus the majority of Blighty where one particular house on a street is so alike next-doors. One key variable is how much is will cost to renovate to the sort of standard you seek (if at all) - so the maths goes: what would you pay for it 'done' minus the cost of works. Probably difficult to estimate!! Unfortunately, Brits have a reputation for paying over the odds, and so it may be that the vendor will hold out for you to up the price. Try and play it cool if you can. As an aside, when we bought we put it what we thought was an insultingly low offer, only to have it accepted a few days later. As things progressed, the vendor (the daughter and heir of the original occupier) asked if we would be prepared to buy it complete with junk if she dropped the price 2k lower still. We graciously accepted and so inherited a few gems and a lot of firewood! Best of luck. Stewart www.maisonplan.com www.gite-les-roches.com

Richard, You need to make sure that the flexible flue is suitable for a wood burner. In my experience, most are only designed for boilers (oil or gas), which have exhaust gases that are relatively cool. Woodburners, by contrast, exhaust gases which are much hotter, added to which there is a risk of soot deposits igniting - resultling in a much hotter environment. Flexible aluminium liners especially are not up to resisting it. The norm is to go for a steel or stainless steel liner once it is hidden in a chimeny, with enamelled steel comprising the exposed sections. Good luck!

There are numerous makes on the market, and now is a good time of year to buying a cheap one (many of the Bricos, Leclercs etc do 'arrivage' sales where they buy in huge stock at the beginning of a season and sell it off cheap on the basis of once it's gne, it's gone). We bought a stove in this way a couple of years ago, and although got a good powerful one at a great price, we have lived to regret it. Why? It heats well, and is controllable, but it eats logs and generates lots of ash which needs cleaning once a day - quite a chore. We have just bought another, this time a Jotul, for a different property on the recommendation of friends (indeed everyone who knows them raves about them). They have a cunning system of burning gases a second time, making them incredibly efficient, generating little ash, and employing a system of cleaning that is easy and quick. There are a number of stockists about, all of whom are supposed to sell at MRP at no below. Don't believe it - we have got ours for less and with the flue included. Also look at the tax issues - if it is an old house, tax is at 5.5% rather than 19.6, although they will need to 'install' it. Also, if you pay income tax in France, you should be able to get a 40% tax refund on it at the end of the year. The Jotul site is at www.jotul.fr, prices at around €800 for the size of room you mention. Lots of styles available. Happy toe warming!

Are you able to name names at all? - I would be very interested to know of such a lack of professionalism so that I can pass on corresponding advice to clients. Let me share another new build horror that happened to owners of a holday home nearby. After completion of the build they moved in, furnished throughout etc. As it was only a second home, they could only visit occssionally. On each visit it smelled of damp. They investigated as best they could to no avail. They informed the builder, who said that it was due to the place being shut up in their absence. Many months later, they were moving some furniture, leant against the wall and fell through it (or at least the drylining). It turned out that a plumber (sub-contractor) had failed to seal a joint properly, it had leaked continously, flowed under the parquest floor and been soaked up by the rockwool insulation in the drylining. These things happen - what was scandalous was the way in which the contractors absolved themselves of any responsibility and planted their heads well and truly in the sand. I am not sure whether it ever got resolved. It would be nice to know that there were efective safeguards that one could put into place for such an eventuality - if anyone knows one I would be very interested to know! Renovation can also be fraught with problems, it has to be said. On the plus side, a client has just hacked off the crepi of a facade with a view to repointing, only to reveal an old, medieval window long since blocked up. A rare joy!

[quote]I am a trainee lawyer in England (22yrs), and I am able to speak advanced French. I have been researching life in

It may well vary a little from region to region, and extras can certainly add up - but in my opinion the figures quoted are in the right ball park. One thing I would add is this - don't go for a much cheaper quote. With my surveyor's hat on, I have visted a number of pools recently that a near worthless - either cowboys from out of town, or labourers who work for reputable swimming pool outfits installing pools themselves on the week-end on the black. Only go for reputable local companies who will give you the obligaotry 10 year guarantee. Why? Consider how much of a pool is buried, inaccessible, and near impossible to repair. A leaking pipe can cause untold problems, and without any comeback on the installers, you could be left with a repairs bill exceeding the original installation. Bon courage!

Fonroque, Dordogne - started with one wife, one son, one dog. Despite living in a caravan for first nine months, now have one son, two daughters, dog and additional cat. Same wife. The big V planned soonest. Any recommendations gratefully received!

We put one in - nothing very special although at 14KW relatively large and powerful. We opted for this particular model because it was on promo. It eats wood and leaves lots of ash, and is a pain to clean. We are just about to buy a second for another room, and having down lots of research amongst friends, are going to go for a Jotul. More expensive, but apparently well worth the money - more efficient, less ash, easier to load etc. The choice of wood is also very important - again more expensive but representing better value for money, dried oak wins hands down. One does need to have a supply of dried softwood to get the thing going initially, however. Happy toe warming!

[quote]We sort jobs out. And as soon as the cleaning starts, all the luggage should already be out of the door and being packed by who ever got that job and the cleaning done by the other or others. We alwa...[/quote] Will you come and stay at my place please?!! As a gite owner it is always interesting to watch groups come and go, and to see how they get on with all manner of 'life in a gite'. It seems to me that it is very much the groups that interact well, who really enjoy the place and the area, are the ones who leave it in the best possible condition.

Quite a while ago my website was visited by a spider sent by an organisation that compiled copyrighted material. It was aimed at teachers and lecturers to automatically compare student submissions with stuf posted on the internet to sniff out blatant plagiarisers. Regrettably I forget the details - has anyone heard of such a tool, and whether or not it can be used to track the copying verbatim of one's work?