thunderhorse

Well, Christine, that is reassuring to hear. Many thanks for the input. Seems like quite a few in Deux-Sèvres are hooked on Xantias... or when I first heard the local garage pronounce the name, it was Zontia. [:D] Alcazar, you beat me to it. I suppose you want me to live in misery expecting any day that it will blow up in my face.[:P] How come it took you two Xantias to realise your mistake? Time will tell - but isn't that the nature of cars? [;-)]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]...2 litre diesel what?[/quote] That was the whole point. I looked at loads of road/test reports, and Googled owners clubs etc. If you had a good motor, they were highly recommended, if not, it was poo-pooed (naturally). And there was little feedback here, so no consensus of opinion. So after test driving Lagunas, Xantias and 406s, and finding four friends with the same make and who have been continuously pleased over several years, I opted for a ... 2001 (5 years old tomorrow) 2.0 HDI Xantia Plaisir - 91k km, one owner, roomy, reasonably quick, superlative ride, towbar and electrics, hatchback, 6 month g'tee (PMO), and as close to mint as I could judge. Hope I'm going to be a happy bunny. And thanks for the feedback, you guys.

Depending how 4rsed you want to be, I wrote a series of macros for Word. The macro is saved in Normal.dot. Now if  I want a particular accented character I just click a button at the top of the page.

Thanks for the advice. After careful consideration, I've just invested in a 5-year-old, 2 litre diesel ...

A die or a stamp is un poinçon, so you could start there.

There doesn't seem to be a suitable forum for this, so excuse me. Or the mods can move it... [:P] I need a second-hand motor, cheap, comfortable, roomy, diesel, and am actively looking at the above 4 - 6 years old. I'd appreciate any comments on reliability, costs of spares, gizzits etc. Not doing many miles/year, performance/economy isn't a desperate issue. May even consider a 406. If anyone knows of a reliable garage in southern 79 (Deux-Sevres), that would be useful, too. Cheers.

Any woodburning stove or fire causes a fair amount of muck and dust (fun,  innit [:P]). Wood can also be expensive if you pay through the nose for it, like anything else. Like all purchases, shop around. My wood man lives round the corner and his charme (hornbeam - very hot and slow burning) is the same price as oak (€25/stere), and €22/stere for chestnut (cut to length). I've heard of others paying €40-€50/stere or more. And my French neighbour's oil costs are rising alarmingly. I think if you've got oil c/h already, stick with it. But I wouldn't retro fit it into an old house, especially when oil is so volatile and only likely to rise.

Don't get confused. When you say 'petrol' chainsaw, I assume you mean 2-stroke e.g. 95UL mixed 30 , 40 or 50:1 with 2-stroke oil. There may not be many pure petrol chainsaws about, but there are pure petrol hedgecutters, for example. Easy to be confused. You're right to be forewarned. :)

[quote user="Le Scouse"]... Do I need permission to convert the attic space, perhaps for insurance purposes or is it a "blind eye" sort of thing?...[/quote] Blind eyes are absolutely fine, until something goes wrong, then you'll pay through the nose for the error. It usually pays to visit your Marie and get a definitive answer. Play ball, and sleep easier at night. Besides, playing ball may get the mayor to do you a favour one day...

Our boucher roof is exactly the same material and had been examined as part of the buying process. We were told that there is no problem with this material, unless it starts to deteriorate significantly ( a long, long time yet). As for support, the roofing timbers may well want beefing up. There's a helluva lot of weight going on.

Rigourette isn't in the dictionary, but rigour is, and has generally the same meaning as in English - harsh, strict, disciplined etc. Add the ette to render small or feminine and you may start conjuring up a meaning. The house may represent the previous owner's idea of a little piece of hard work. Just a thought.

Any doubts, I always use Monsieur/Madame/Mademoiselle. And then at the first opportunity, ask how they prefer to be addressed. C'est facile!

Popular figure, 90 sq. m! We had the same; getting on for a pallet and a half. Big wagon and jib to lift. Probably neck end of two tons, depending on thickness.

My neighbour next door has one of those large enamelled poeles in the kitchen, inches from the wall. The wall is backed with ordinary kitchen tiles, cement and grout. Although they get exceptionally hot, he says no problem. But that's French! But, if you considered fireproof cement as a render, wouldn't you consider fireproof paint over the top? The bricks are going to get hot (perhaps); a good strong mix of render ought to suffice, but experts will give you a more considered view.

Have the walls actually been crepi'd? Normally you can run emulsion straight over crepi w/o problems. Our walls are chalk plaster over stone and need to breathe (aspect rustique - isn't it always?!) but even so, they  covered with one coat of emulsion. I wonder if someone has slapped on a pure chalk plaster and that's why it sucks (no pun intended). :-)

3M (Trois M) in Ruffec - big DIY outfit. Had to order it, and should take a couple of weeks.

Although I used a 90deg elbow at the back of the poele - with a male and female fitting - I've now found that I could in fact have obtained quite readily a 90deg bend with a double female fitting! As it is, I've now ordered a T-piece (double female) plus tampon, so come the warmer weather it can all come out and I can turn the pipes the correct way up. Now I just need suitable lagging for the two metres running through the grenier. Thanks all. We live and learn!

Cheers!

[quote user="Baz"][quote user="thunderhorse"]Something is going wrong. I'm sick of unticking the email notification and the notify icon at the top of the thread, but it makes no difference. I still get the emails. [/quote] I think this will solve it as this is the method used for me by Forum Admin.  Go to edit your details at top of the page, at Private settings change your email address to [email protected]. I hope this works. Baz [/quote] And I just received two for Baz's post! It's getting worse, methinks. Admin!!

Something is going wrong. I'm sick of unticking the email notification and the notify icon at the top of the thread, but it makes no difference. I still get the emails. Can forum admin sort it please?

Is the live actually live? And what do continuity tests show between the socket and fuse board? Worth checking, but on the face of it, someone has merely disconnected the socket.

Your question only concerns pressure. At the end of the day you're talking about a distance of eleven feet. If the bottle was on the same level, would you consider it a problem? No. Therefore your concern is the height element. How high a platform would you consider in the utility room? Pretty low, because you don't want to lift heavy gas bottles. Three feet max, which leaves eight feet + for a pressured gas bottle to push gas to a hob. There are plenty of houses in France with gas bottles stacked outside, garage and sous-sol etc., and all the living accommodation above. Don't understand the problem.

I believe heat resistant also means shatter resistant, which ordinary glass certainly isn't. New woodburners are supplied with the correct glass, so... [:)] But there'll be experts on here to give you a more authoritative answer.

Corcoleum floors are magnesium oxychloride floors. This came up on a Google search. Did you try Google?

[quote user="jetlag"] ...on hands and knees with scrapper in hand ...now i am going to return to the floor for another half hour scrapping, deep joy[:'(]! Kimberley [/quote] I thought only wrestlers enjoyed scrapping. [;)]