Jump to content

Valdo

Members
  • Posts

    8
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

Valdo's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

0

Reputation

  1. Thanks for all the messages - it does help to see that we seem to have indeed taken care of all the essentials (money/bank, health cover, schools).  I guess it is last minute panicking: when I moved to Britain I packed everything I had in the boot of my boyfriend's car and never advised anyone other than friends and family that I was leaving - all these years later, I'm not sure we'll manage to pack all our belongings at the back of the Luton and the list of people to inform is endless! Must be getting old.... And yes, our house is barely habitable: we have two (big) rooms where the four of us will live and the septic tank will not be installed until a few weeks after our arrival.  We have had mains water and electricity installed but other than that, I think we'll be 'camping' for a while.  Just as well summer is around the corner and it'll feel, hopefully, like a holiday until things are more settled and the major renovation works carried out. Cheers again, I needed that!
  2. I am moving to France in less than 2 weeks and I am calling out to all of you who have been through this already: how do you handle the stress!!!!!???? Despite a whole year of research and organising I am reaching meltdown point right now, trying to organise post redirection, child benefit/pension transfer, car insurance, life and endowment policies at this end while all I have to look forward to is a derelict house with a chemical loo and no shower.  Throw in a couple of young children and it's total panic.... I am terrified of forgetting to do something in the midst of the move and keep making lists I never read.  Oh, and one last point, just to point to the irony of the situation:  I am French but I moved here almost straight after uni and after 14 years in Scotland, I have no idea how things work in my home country.  Can somebody please reassure me that things will work out in the end? That it's really worth it?  How did your move go? How did you feel about it?  I never thought it would be so strange to leave.  Any advice welcome.
  3. Is the survey report you get when buying the house not good enough?  I know it's no guarantee that you won't get any in the future (hence my post) but surely I assumed it meant there were none there at the time of buying. Isn't that the whole point of them?
  4. Does anyone know if there are DIY termite prevention treatments available?  We're going to live in Charente-Maritime (17) where I understand termites ARE a problem.  We haven't got any in the house but would like to do our best to stop them getting in, if at all possible as the place is nothing but wood. Does anyone know as well if being really near to the water (and a very high water-table) is more of a risk or a godsend for/against termites (and capricorns while we're at it)? Thanks Valerie  
  5. Thank you all for your replies - gave us food for thought. We are not trying to apply 'English' thinking to our installation (which would be hard as my husband is Scottish and I am French born and bred).  I know the systems run in my relatives'homes in France: mostly electricity and it just doesn't seem very cost-effective in light of the rising energy prices.  My father installed an insert as well a few years ago and is quite happy with it.  We might use that as a secondary heating system to complement the stove (from a different fireplace).  It's just the fact that we have the opportunity to think and design the whole system from scratch through the renovation process rather than accept or make do with an existing system, be it electricity, gas or oil.  The stove fits into our idea of what the house should be like (it's an old farmhouse-type place so a stove wouldn't look out of place) and our wallet should look like in the long run...! Just like a lot of French people living in the countryside seem to increasingly favour solar energy, there's no reason they couldn't come around the idea of heating their house with a woodburning stove/boiler as well! We'll let you know what we ended up doing and if we came to regret our decision.... Valerie    
  6. We are moving to France in 2 months time and are quite set on installing a woodburning stove with boiler during the renovation of our house to deal with all the heating and hot water.  We are well aware of all the tax credit conditions, etc and have been trawling through all the 'flamme verte' approved models but can't find a suitable one with a boiler (they all seem to be individual stoves).  Even an internet search through the French manufacturers sites didn't turn up much and they are more expensive than the UK.  But when we look up the UK sites, there are stoves a-plenty, of the kind we would like to install and much cheaper than the same models in France.  So the question is: Is it worth buying the stove we want in the UK for cheap, drag it to France and install it ourselves, forsaking all the lovely money the French taxman would dish out? Or is it really worth just paying more for the stove in France and have it installed?  Has anybody had any experience of this and which way worked out cheaper? (it's all down to money really....) Also, if anybody has one of these woodburning stove/boiler, how much wood does it uses in a typical year (m3 and cost....)?   Thanks!  
  7. Hi Deismos,   It's for a 3 bedroom house - you can't use Eparco systems for more than 5 principal rooms (i.e. 2 'live-in' rooms + 3 bedrooms)
  8. French septic tanks seem to represent a bottomless pit of questions and issues and I'm sorry to add mine. We are buying a house in a hamlet with no plans (checked with the mairie) for connection to main sewers any time soon.  Because of the nature of the land, we have to install an above ground filtering system.  We have been quoted 8-10,000 euros for a 'normal' filtering system (which would take up about 90m2 of ground surface, 3 feet high) and 11,600 euros for a much less intrusive Eparco compact filter system. We would like to keep things as compact as possible to avoid uprooting all the trees in our garden but apart from Eparco, are not aware of any other compact filtering systems available or APPROVED by the authorities.  Anybody knows of anything else available out there which would be acceptable (above ground) for installation.  I know there are things called micro-stations but I believe they are only considered as 'pre-treatment', not filtering systems and as such would require more filtering at the other end anyway.  Can anybody shed a light?  Thanks!
×
×
  • Create New...