Chancer
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Posts posted by Chancer
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Probably a hole in the vacuum pipe to the turbocharger wastegate actuator.
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While I was in Grenoble last year there was an articulated lorry selling army surplus one day a week at each town, it looked to be mainly clothing for la chasse.
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I may go into some more detail later about how some "friends" have left me wishing that I had charged them - I am not a gite or CDH just renovating an old and interesting property.
The key thing is that in each case they have invited themselves i.e. "can we come and stay".
After explaining to my neighbours why I was happier when they had left I learned a new French phrase - "Trop bon - trop c##"!!!!
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Is there the equivalent of steel wire armoured (s.w.a) cable available which conforms to the french normes?
I used it exclusively in my old trade (automatic gates), even if the cable is buried it usually has to come to the surface and be run along posts, walls etc.
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We have a good one called KAKI at Peronne in Picardie, they have another branch somewhere down south but I know not where.
I have bought loads of stuff there it is second only to the one I found in Auckland New Zealand where I bought a French army gore-tex bivvi bag big enough for an 8 foot giant or me and my two rucksacks to sleep in.
Might be worth dropping in next time you travel down.
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I was invited by some French friends (him English ex pat, her native French) to join them on a ski-ing holiday, they had already rented an apartment that was part of the French owners home, I don't know whether it would have been described as a gite.
Anyway we shared all expenses and generally took turns in cleaning up each day, but not to the extent of what I would call a "handover clean".
On the final day we ate breakfast a la francais, usual messy croissants and baguettes without plates, crumbs all over the floor etc. When I offered to clean up she (my French now ex-friend) told me in no uncertain terms "NON" - we are not paid to do that.
I don't know whether there was a seperate amount in the rental but to me it seemed bizarre to leave the place dirtier than we had kept it all week.
Anyway after the way she treated me when she stayed with me at my UK house this year I hope that she does not represent all French women.
As a separate question to the forum users when thay have let friends stay F.O.C how have they treated you or left the place? have you sometimes felt let down? and if it was a paying guest would you have felt the same way?
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[quote user="snoopy"]
! At the moment, we have no intention of buying a car in France, but we have talked about it. Presume the garage would sort it all out. Snoopy
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A garage may sort it out (or help you) if you buy a new car, but if you have no intention.............??
To answer your first question the equivalent of road tax is payable when you register the car in your name, or when you reregister your UK car.
It is a one off payment for as long as you own the car and increases according to a measure of fiscal horsepower rather like the post war British system.
When I registered my car (1.9Tdi) it cost about the same as one years (reduced rate) UK road fund license.
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Did you give your neighbour the consideration of asking/letting him know that a macon would be working from his property to repoint your wall?
I formally asked my neighbour (Airbus Industries) if I could have their permission to enter their tennis court to render my boundary wall, I knew that I had the right but it seemed like the right thing to do.
They gave me verbal permission and the keys and it was followed by a letter of confirmation which said I can enter when I like, they also said that I can keep the keys.
I do occasional small jobs myself from their property but would always let them know if another person was to be working there, after all it might be someone they don't like.
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[quote user="loirebabe"]
We have been asked a question regarding a devis to which I dont know the answer can anyone help?
The people have got a devis for the instalation of a new septic tank.
They have paid a deposit BUT not signed the devis.
On reading the quote there is no actual price quoted for the septic tank (the people involved do read french) .
Can they now pull out and get there money back? What if any are the implications?
Phil 49
[/quote]
Why do they wan't to pull out?
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Nick
Builders round here don't seem to use DPM's and can't get there head around why I would want to - perhaps it's the chalk soil.
Granted my house is so old that she was built without foundations also but recent extensions just have a layer of "sable rivere" laid on the chalk and then carellage on top, not even any concrete.
When I have tried to buy DPM material as merchants again they look confused at why I want something for this purpose and all I am offered are rolls of very thin plastic only suitable for paint masking or temporary protection, nowhere near thick enough to resist punctures by the poured concrete. One of the rolls was machine perforated (like shopping bags to stop children suffocating) when I pointed out that it would be like using chocolate for a teapot I was told "Ah but it will let the floor breathe"!
To be fair I have yet to see a damp building arouind here despite the solid brick walls and lack of DPM/DPC's.
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To reply to the original post, which I think is missing the letter A - i.e what is the difference between BA13NF and the slightly cheaper BA13?
The non "NF" (norme francaise) boards are invariably less dense, harder to cut accurately as the plaster can fall out of the cut edges but for me the real bugbear is the plasterboard screws very easily go straight through the board due to the lack of density. This is not a desirable quality say for a ceiling.
For those reasons I always pay the extra and only use NF boards, I have also found that buying from a grossiste usually results in a better quality NF board than from say Brico-depot, I know that they are both supposedly Norme Francais but one can still be a better quality than another, a good measure of the difference is when trying to cut a thin sliver.
I recently did some boarding in the UK and the boards from a dywall supplier were nowhere near as good as the French ones I use.
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I somehow don't think that the plumber will see it as his responsibility to prove to you that he is correct and to provide you with documentation.
He is probably more worried about having to stump up the difference his-self sometime in the future.
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Just try buying DPM material in France!
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If your old floor is not sound then for belt and braces security first clean with a neat or dilute solution of hydrochloric acid followed by a "primaire d'accrochage" and if the old surface is not reasonably level (like mine which was laid on a bed of sand) then use a "ragreage autolissant".
The primaire d'accrochage is also recommended if laying tiles or ragreage on top of green concrete.
A great tip for grouting is to mix it very wet, spread it around with a raclette, relax with a beer for 45 mins - 1 hour and then pour sawdust on top, finally sweep up with a fine but stiff broom. No cleaning needed and leaves the joints looking perfect.
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What about a "woodsman" section for budding porn stars?
Or to be more sensible how about an area for photographs for when someone has created/renovated/repaired something that they are very proud of and want to share with others?
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I recently took a French "toilette suspendu" (cistern built into) wall back to UK for a friend, I warned him that here the soil pipe is 100mm as opposed to110mm in England at that he may have to adapt it, he had no problem.
Today I tried fitting another one in my first flat conversion (again bought from Brico-depot) and it wouldn't fit the 100mm soil pipe but would have slid nicely into a british 110mm one! - Now I see that Brico-Depot sell a 110mm to 100mm adaptor, I cant see any other reason for stocking such an item.
I can confirm that the spigot on the pan is 100mm.
Dont know about the sortie height but as mine was clearly made for the UK market and it has the same sortie height as my French pans I believe tham to be the same.
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Not particularly relevant but while travelling I contracted Falciparum Malaria in Vanuatu and was treated in Cairns hospital Australia.
I had a private room, perhaps it was luck of the draw but as I was unconscious most of the time I really don't know.
At the end of the treatment I asked about paying/travel insurance etc and was told you don't need to pay because you are British but they never even saw my passport.
Contrast that to the UK authorities who were only too keen to kick me out of the health service when I moved to France.
Oh and when I returned to the UK to convalesce I was made to take a "right to reside test" and a "habitual residency test" (amongst other beurocracy) in order to claim sickness benefit, why? - because I had been out of the country more than one month - I kid you not!
The questions included "when did you come here and why?" - I replied with my date of birth and that I had no choice in the matter! "Did you bring anything with you?" I replied that persons unknown had removed my only possession, my umbilical cord!
They then completed the rest of the forms for me.
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Don't throw the toilet away, it will make a fortune on E-Bay
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UK Twin + Earth has an earth conductor that is only single insulated whereas the phase and neutral are double insulated and as [posted the earth conductor has a smaller cross sectional area..
The French eqivalent (R03V not exactly equivalent as it is round not flat!) has all 3 cores of the same section and insulation.
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Yes please! also metal fabrication and welding, paint spraying, plastering, bricklaying etc.
Have to think of a suitable heading.
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I have lived here (on and off) since April 2005 but not yet filled in a tax return.
I have had no income other than interest from UK building society, which is taxed at source. For the tax year 2004/2005 (I was on a mature gap year) I reclaimed the tax as the interest that I recieved was under the threshold and will do the same for 2005/2006.
The UK tax office have written to me to say that I no longer have to submit a return unless there is a change of circumstance. I will be spending the majority of my future time in France (with occasional UK visits only) but will not have any French income for at least a year.
So now I want to submit a French tax return, my questions are:
When does the French financial year start?
Where do I get the forms?
Arguably for 2005/2006 I was not fiscally resident here but if I were to submit a return for that period would I have any tax or social charge liability on my interest income for that period of less than £3k?
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Nick
See my posting re "strange earth behaviour question" - too long to rewrite.
As you seem to have much more practical experience than me (especially of French electrics) does it make any sense to you?
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It was probably caused by a motor interference capacitor (I cannot remember the exact technical term but have some of them in my box of electrical bits) the one I am thinking of has 3 wires to be connected between live neutral and earth and is probably a dual R/C (resistor capacitor) network.
I used to use them as a last resort when older washing machines/dishwashers caused burglar alarm systems to false alarm, usually when system was set at night and machine was on timer.
Never needed them on modern machines so I concur that they are now fitted for C.E. emissions compliance.
"The machine was switched off" - probably by a single pole interruptor so a 50/50 chance that it isolated the neutral return path leaving the internals live (remember French electrics are not polarised). So a potential of 240v was present on the machine case (via the R/C network)and the disconnected earth wire. If this voltage was passed to earth by your wife, or by the now reconnected earth wire the tiny current resulting from the resistor would be less than the 30Ma needed to trip the RCD but enough of a tingle to frighten your wife. You (dependant on your resistance or footwear) may not even have felt it.
I bet your wife no longer feels it now the earth is connected but is reluctant to try!
The 70v ) I believe is the result the impedance of the meter on the miniscule current.
Incidentally I also have a similar fault on one circuit (my house has 80 year old wiring and very few earths) which shows 190v and lights a neon tester similar to another posting here.
Answering this post has finally put my mind at rest as the the problem that I have, but just to be sure I am going to lick my finger and give it a swift prod! (maybe I should wear clean pants!) - don't try this at home!!!!!
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The box says "crepinette pneumatique".
It's like a spray gun but with a gravity fed open hopper instaed of a closed siphon cup.
I have also successfully used an underseal or "schutz" gun, the type that takes screw on cartridges, I always clean out the tins after use and keep for spraying crepi or textured paint etc, cheaper but time consuming for large areas.
Access via neighbour's land
in French Legal Issues
Posted
Glad to hear it has been resolved, good luck with the future relationship with your neighbour.
Perhaps I may hijack the thread to ask if anyone could give me an indicative cost of repointing a brick built maison (per square metre)?
I have recently been given a devis which seems to me very expensive (they all do!) however I have seen the work that he did for my french teacher which was very good, she had to wait one year which I will also have to.
My price roughly corresponded to what she paid per metre (allowing for differences) so if he is booked up that far ahead I guess it must be the going rate but wonder what others have paid.