Jump to content

Angie

Members
  • Posts

    400
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Everything posted by Angie

  1. Absolutely brilliant, just what I want.  Will get it on order this weekend.  Really appreciate your replies.  The tree planting etc. now doesn't seem so daunting.  Thanks again
  2. We have a large number of fence posts which we need to install later this year but the soil is almost always rock solid even after rain!  As we also plan to plant several dozen trees we thought we might use something called a post hole borer/auger.  Are these tools (either motorised or manual) available in France and if so, what are they called?  I have tried our local lawnmover and hire shop but they don't seem to understand what I mean, despite showing them a photo.  Don't mind either buying or renting.  Thank you in advance
  3. Thanks so much everyone.  Yes we are LBC fans and in particular Steve Allen!!  We are planning on installing FreeSat or Freeview in the spring so this may be our best route. I do have a new smartphone which I got for Christmas but have just figured out how to make phone calls on it so the radio aspect might have to come much later!!  Evenings on the terrace with a glass of wine listening to an LBC podcast sound like my idea of heaven.  Roll on the summer!  Thanks again
  4. Is it possible to obtain London radio stations in the south of France.  I don't have a phone line connected so obviously can't listen to them via the computer.  I was planning on taking a radio over to France for the summer as I like to listen to it in the garden, but don't want to waste the luggage space if it won't work.  Sorry if this is a stupid question!
  5. Another thought. If we remove the membrane underneath the "pebbles" will the gravel sink into the soil and compact much better?  I know the weeds will come up but it may provide a more firm driving surface. We are going to buy some concasse as suggested to top up the whole of the drive in the spring.  Does anyone think this will work OK if laid directly onto soil.  Am so fed up with these ruts!!  Thank you
  6. We had a quote about six months ago which was around euros130 per m2 but as you say, an additional few hundred for the pump plus 350 euros for delivery (10 miles).  This bumps the cost up considerably. 
  7. Thanks Andyh4, I think I am going to give this a go!
  8. Yes, by gravelly I mean "pebbles" which constantly move.  They were starting to compact nicely but we had a lorry delivery and they churned the whole area up and it hasn't recoverd.  Apart from looking terrible it is now very difficult to get a grip on as all the larger pebbles seem to have come to the surface.  We did actually order calcaire which was what we had down originally; the quarry incorrectly delivered these pebbles in a mixture of sizes and at first they looked rather nice but as stated above 2 years on they are looking awful and definitely encourage more weeds than the calcaire did (even though this time around we had a thick black membrane laid underneath).   I did think about the possible ice problem we could have with concrete or smooth asphalt.  Might be an idea to go for the asphalt scrapings at the top of the drive and in the turning circle (I'll have to check this out locally as have never seen or heard of them) and top up the remaining steeper part with calcaire which definitely has more grip. Thanks all for your suggestions, much appreciated.
  9. Having tolerated a gravelly drive on a very steep slope for many years we have decided we need a smoother surface to drive on.  However, because of the length (80 metres plus a turning area), we need to consider the cost and was wondering which type of finish would be the cheapest.  Not sure if its just around where we are but the majority of driveways seems to be in concrete (which we don't mind) but are other surfaces available?  Don't think I've ever seen an asphalt drive in a residential property round our way.  Any suggestions on economical solutions would be much appreciated. 
  10. We did exactly the same as you.  Had old tiles on top of concrete floor; used Marmox boards (which cost almost as much as the actual u/f heating mats!) and then laid the mats followed by the new tiles. These have been down for 5 years now with no cracking or movement whatsoever.  The initial heat up took around 2 hours but they stayed continuously very warm. The main electricity cost is in the heating up from scratch but the Marmox boards reduce this time considerably, however, we don't turn ours off at all now, its on 12 months of the year, 24/7. Thermostat set at a constant 25oC in an adjacent room and it costs virtually nothing to use because I assume as its on all the time we don't have the cost of this "heat up" each day - even in the summer its nice to get out of the bath onto a warm floor. 
  11. We are in Aude.  Thanks for this Pierre, it sounds promising.  We will have a good look around in the "yard" of our local builders merchants to see what they have lying around!  Appreciate this. 
  12. Hi Couple of questions please. Are there similar places in France as in UK where you can get reclaimed "house" bricks?  We don't need these to match existing but would prefer an aged lock to those available in the Bricos.  Only ones we've come across are in the Brocantes and most are around a fiver each.  As we need around 150 this is too expensive. Also, is it the done thing to ask a local builders merchant if they have any broken paving slabs we can buy cheaply for a crazy paving project?  I know in the past we have been more than successful in the UK buying such things as local companies have been more than happy to offload them, but not sure if its the done thing in France. We've seen loads of chipped and cracked slabs in our local French materieux. 
  13. Thank you so much NormanH - will definitely visit on a Thursday.  We have been on a Monday before but didn't notice the fish stall; that busyness might explain why!  Appreciate this
  14. Thanks all for your replies.  NormanH, will give Mirepoix a try as that isn't too far - we like the town so not a problem.  The fish in our supermarket is very hit and miss quality-wise, but always expensive!  Haven't seen any trout for sale along the valley so shall have to keep a sharp eye out.  Love trout!
  15. Thank you ericd for your prompt reply. Does that mean that we will be paying an extra 11 euros next year then?  Or is this a red herring! 
  16. Is really good fish and shellfish only available in France on the coast?  If not, don't suupose anyone could recommend a good fishmonger or fish market within say a 20 mile radius of Quillan.  Most of the fish we've bought locally is pretty ropey and quite expensive.  Don't mind paying for the really fresh stuff though. 
  17. This note appears in the final box on the detail du Calcul des Cotisations. we know what it says but not what it means!  We have six acres of agricultural land so 11 euros doesn't seem relevant. Any info would be much appreciated.   "La base communale des terres agricoles exoneree est de 11 euros l’exoneration de taxe fonciere batie s’applique pour la derniere fois cette annee a tout ou partie de vos biens situes.."
  18. "remember houses are sold on completion not on exchange" - that's exactly what I said! Well I have never, ever paid or received a deposit in the UK and have been buying and selling houses since 1974 up until recently. I have used different solicitors and again, no-one has ever asked. Blimey, ever wished you'd never asked the question!  
  19. Oh, totally agree.  The system in France seems a lot fairer and as you say, wastes less time and obvious emotional upset for both the buyer and seller.  We've also lost a few houses in the UK whereby we've had surveys done, spent money on solicitors and then the seller has accepted a higher offer!    When we bought our property in France 8years ago we did have to hand over 10%, so maybe, as you say, things have changed since then.
  20. Well in my experience of buying property in the UK I've never had to hand over 10% deposit for the new house before I've sold the home I'm living in. All monies are handled by the solicitor and settled on the completion date.  That's how I work that out.
  21. Was just wondering. When you own a property in France and then want to sell and buy another (in France), how do you actually "find" the deposit without getting the money for your property first (as you would in the UK)?  Do the French generally have 20, 30 or 40,000 euros available or is it usual to borrow the money as a type of bridging loan.  Our French neighbours are doing just that at the moment but don't have any spare cash.
  22. Really appreciate all these answers.  We did put hardcore underneath the strip of cementing that we did and are going to lay some more in the larger area than we plan to do; we have also got the metal mesh to go in.  From what you've all said we used too much sand in the mix.  As its not such a big area we will probably lay another thin layer of the 4:1 mix of ballast and cement over the top and hope this cures the current problem.  So pleased I asked all you fonts of knowlege before tackling the bigger project.  Going to start in 4 weeks time so it should be cooler and so hopefuly the concrete won't dry out too quickly. Thanks again as always
  23. Around 8 inches, 5:1 sand/cement.  Last November.  Thank you
  24. We recently laid a strip of concrete, it looks fine and is nice and smooth.  However, after it gets wet and when we sweep it there seems to be a thin layer of sand on top as though its finding it's way to the surface or is drying out on top.  As we are now going to tackle a larger area can anyone advise on this as we don't want it happening again?   Do we need to use more cement. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
  25. Yes, this does sound like what they are.  I did initially think of red spider mite but the magnifide images on the internet made them look a lot scarier than they actually are!  They haven't bitten any of us either and yes, they are in absolutely everything.  Thank you
×
×
  • Create New...