robbie

if it is quite full I wouldnt peronally want to hide it under a stone flag if I intended to renovate at some point, I would ask one of the local farmers to empty it and then fill it in........ I have no technical information regarding septic tanks and this is my personal thought [:)]

We have recently purchased property which had a wood burner installed. This has been removed by the previous owner. The chimney does have a liner in it. The flue liner can be seen disappearing into the chimney and there is a gap around it within the chimney itself. I would like temporarily to revert back to using an open fire from a simple fire basket. Is there anything I need to be made aware of?? In my simple mind I can just remove the few couplings the previous owner left and insert the fire basket. (This is not relevant to the reverting back question but might help to understand why I ask. The long term is that I have a new inset burner and surround to install which will require a complete new chimney to be built through the house and roof.)

I think the cost of 'having a go' versus replacement costs and the looks of the things are inportant. If they are not to be seen as a major focal point then a little scuffing or flaking may not deter from the overal look anyway. As long as you are prepared for a possible failure at some point then you wont be disappointed. Major things though is to thoroughly prepare to allow the best results to show through and hopefully last. Let us know what you decide, most interesting.

I wouldnt want to do this without someone professional doing it. How many cars have you seen with plastic bumpers and flakey paint!!!! Well, I can only imagine the shutters ending up like that too if it isnt done absolutely perfectly in the preparation......

doesnt help me to find out if I can run the heating on the higher grade diesel. I know the veggy oil works in the car, I have tried it...

I was actually thinking of it the other way round. I always carry a jerry can (20ltrs) of extra diesel in my car when I travel down, just in case. When I was down in Nov, the heating tank was very very low and i was concerned I wouldnt be able to get fioul in time before it run out. Would it have been fine if I had put the 20ltrs of car fuel in the domestic heating tank as a temp measure. I know the cost of the fuel is higher but it would have kept us warm as a last resort. Fortunately on this occasion, the guys delivered the next day and we were fine.

in addition to this you could take off air vents from within the chimney surround and send to the upstairs bedroom via a small fan unit. It might give you the best of both worlds. Just a thought [:)]

Is it correct that this is in effect 'Red Diesel' in France?? I guess it would thereby run in the diesel engines we have Just curious, i am sure it is just as illegal over there as it is in the UK

Looks like I got off lightly then cos I can only see this bit of wiring which is wrong.... The rest is fine I think and even this boiler wiring is 'fine' apart from the colour convention used [:D]

thanks guys for the responses, it only confirms my thoughts that the guy wasnt really sure of what he was doing, probably not an electrician. I have traced the wires and all 'seems' fine except for the colour convention and the fact that Live and Neutral are reveresed on the pump. The system has probably been working fine for years and I didnt have time to alter/rewire to a true convention due to time restraints. As I am the only one likel yot work on the wiring over the coming years I will change it when I get time later next year. To complete the work, I made the simple decision to insert all of my wiring and equipment between the two pole switch and the flex, then pickup the existing wiring 'as is' and it did work fine.

I have recently installed some eqpt to my heating (Frost and pipe stat along with a timer) but the existing wiring between the main on/off switch on the wall and the boiler had a red connected to the earth wire behind the main two pole switch. White went to Neutral and Black went to Live. Is this 'normal'?? The wire feeding the two pole switch from the consumer unit was correct (in my mind) red-live, blue-neutral, grn-earth As I didnt have time to find out the answer while I was in France last week, I have connected the wires back again using the existing 'convention' and it does work fine

The Notaire was surprised at the final signing too, she said it was very very rare to have one of these pass certificates. It should be done again in 5 years time I think or if we sell.....

There is someone in Limousin who has just ripped up over 30 sq mtrs, PM me if you want me to find their address for you

We have just pruchased our house in Haute Vienne and the fosse septique was given a full clean bill of health, apparently something which isnt done too often, so I dont know if to file the certificate or frame it!!! Hope it all works well for you

I found this link http://www.bt3central.com/archive/index.php?t-2400.html dont know if it will help though, I didnt read it all

oh oh...... I dont know the answer but have the feeling it wont be an easy or cheap remedy :( Hope you get it done though

Bricomarche also have 'off the shelf' stairs. the website is www.bricomarche.com

I had a quote from an English guy registered in France for his work to repair a roof and it was around 150 per day PLUS whatever he needed to hire to get the job done. These would include all things such as scaffolding, roof ladders etc I would NOT expect everyone to have EVERYTHING for the work he might come across, it just isnt viable that way. Nor would I expect ANYONE to attempt to do a job for me WITHOUT the right equipment and if that means paying for the hire then so be it.....

someone has suggested that 5 degrees may not be warm enough to reduce the risk of damp and mould. What do you think?? The house is sound and I have not seen areas of damp/mould so far. Do you think it needs to be warmer?? The other guy said he leaves his at 10-15 degress and his problem went away

is the diameter of the flue the same as the diameter for the burner outlet?? ie that there are no reducers anywhere in the flue. If there is then this could also be a problem. If the flue diameter is reduced then it will increase the velocity (not volume) of the drawn air and possibly allow too much heat into the flue, again with serious consequences. If this is the case then I would recommend replacing the flue to a larger size to match the burner Just a thought

Frost Stat and Pipe Stat in series wired across the timer unit will solve the problem. Be careful if you go down this route as there are two type of piep stat, one for 10-40 degrees and the other for 50-95 degrees. Obviously for the frost protection, you will need the one which operates 10-40 degrees

My understanding is that they do not comply with French regs and therefore in the case of a fire, the finger may be pointed to the english hardwire socket(s). A better idea I think is to have several English extn leads dotted around the house and simply change the plug to a French one. That way when you leave or go home or out you can then simply remove the plug and there will be no backl;ash from an insurance company in the event of something going wrong

after much diggin around, I am going to install a timer/programmer (battery backed) and alongside this a frost stat/pipe stat configuration. This should give me the flexibility for a series of eventualities. All I need now is enough oil in the flaming tank!!! Thanks guys for your responses and suggestions. I am off to France in dec and will hopefully resolve this issue then. I just hope the frost hasnt done anything in the meanwhile :)

I think the route is to fit a frost stat and timer. I am looking to seeif they are as simple to install as th eones in the UK. I am sure they will be. I will probably buy one from here anyway and install it, at least the instructions will be fine for me to follow :) Thanks for your advise guys

thaks for the advice, I have no issues in the wiring side of things, just need to make sure I get the correct components I guess. I will make a visit to my local plumber/heating merchant and see what they can offer. I would rather pay a little more for UK kit so I know I can get the job done without language barriers when I go back in a week or so. I only have 2 days there so need ot make sure it is done for when I leave cheers Rob