Nearly Retired (I am now)

Thanks Jonzjob and Mikey - I was beginning to wonder if anybody had a solar heated pool. I've had a quick look at the Navitron site and have saved it for a longer and more careful study. It certainly seems to do the business and is a lot neater than all those black tubes all over the place. It's got me thinking about hot water for the house too. It might be an idea to install this as a secondary system. In other words don't upset the existing set-up at all, just add this by fitting an extra hot / warm tap where needed. I'm upgrading the bathroom and hopefully getting a new shower room installed so I've a bit to think about. 

Would watered down PVA work as well on slightly damp walls? We've got a couple of internal walls which can be a bit damp and everytime we come back to the house after a month or so away we find bits of stone on the floor. It can be a bit worrying as some of the soft stones seem to have lost about 30mm - 40mm thickness over the 30 years since the house was refurbished.

I might just get the roof done and worry about the solar heating later. The SolarMatt system looks easy enough for DIY and looks cheap enough at around £1300 for a reasonable sized pool. The website says it works well and needs no fixings. Any views?

At present our "swimming pool" only consists of 4 flower pots on the ground marking the proposed corners and we'll probably get it actually dug and installed by around 2010. (The weather at the moment makes me wonder why I'm even thinking of a pool! But it's sure to get hot soon - please).  I've seen a few websites but wonder if anyone has actually installed a solar heating system and could give an idea or two about the following:  The adjacent barn needs a new roof first, which partly explains the pool construction delay. It occurs to me that some form of solar heating panels mounted on the roof of the barn at this stage would be a good idea for the future warming up of the proposed pool. How do the panels fix to the roof?  Do fixings pass through the tiles and onto the timbers?  Do the timbers need beefing up? What do I need to think of when talking to the roofers?  Or should I not bother about making provision now and simply wait to install panels in a few years? Is it worth putting in solar heating anyway?  

Maybe try two-part Ronseal epoxy woodfiller in natural colour (creamy) mixed with a healthy dose of stone dust or chippings? I suppose any epoxy type car body filler would do, but they're often a greyish colour which is why I'd give the cream / off-white woodfiller a go.

Crazyfrog - if you want adaptors these ones do for most purposes (up to 6 amps) and are half of the regular shop prices. http://www.qvsdirect.com/Continental-Plug-Adaptor-pr-17236.html

Update - I bought one in Brico Depot Boulogne on my way down to Charente Maritime last week. 1.4m x 0.5m, 750w and €130. It comes with a thermostat incorporating a switch and a two hour max heat option for quick drying / bathroom warming. I'm pretty pleased with it. The instructions show that as a minimum, the switch part (bottom RHS) needs to be 600mm away from the bath. 

"This fluid soaks through the stone work, moving downwards and then sets which creates a barrier through which the damp cannot pass through from below. I'm not sure how effective this is, but he says they have  not received any complaints from their clients." .........YET! :-) That's probably because they're all still in hospital after the house walls dried out and fell down.

  "I'd be worried if the bottom of the door was high enough to open over a real doormat! " - hence the frequent need for a mat well. In all my years (lots - believe me!) I've lived in UK houses we've had a door mat outside and another one inside to make absolutely sure. In England at present, we have carpet offcuts extending about 2 metres into the hall too. Even so, when one young-ish offspring came home one day he stll managed to get dog poo on the main carpet.

When we bought our house the previous owners left a large "dish cloth" mat just inside the door. I dumped it and replaced it with a more UK normal door mat. An hour later I tried to open the door and couldn't - the door mat was too thick to allow the door to swing over it. So, it's now instal a mat well (Item no. 4634 on the To-Do list) and in the meantime, i.e. for around the next 5 - 10 years, use a large dish cloth.

Threw a towel over one once. It escaped and sat on the floor a couple of metres away. I was succesful the second time. They're certainly quick.

Kindly excuse me, I'd like to barge in and ask my own related question. We have standard softwood varnished shutters where the wood is in pretty good condition but they are faded with some bare patches and could do with a re-coat. We fancy the idea of green gloss paint instead of varnish.Any ideas for preparation methods and paint brands which would be durable ?

That's kind of you oglefakes - thanks. I must try harder to say what I mean when typing.

I wrote: "When people stop me in the street and ask my opinions on something, I suspect something fishy and then walk on with my mouth shut!" Oh dear! I didn't want to upset anyone. That's the problem with non-verbal non-visual communication. The complainants didn't see my grin, raised eyebrow etc. Maybe it's time for an old duffer to learn these emoticon thingies. It was lighthearted comment which I thought might lead someone from admin letting us know why they were asking. Surely not an unreasonable thing.    

When people stop me in the street and ask my opinions on something, I suspect something fishy and then walk on with my mouth shut!

Update: We went for day trip today - it was either that or lose the "free crossing" voucher. Out and back - departure and arrival timing was spot on. The check-in was momentarily confusing as they now have different booths for different classes of tickets. A sign on the booths said that changes to tickets now cost £15 or €22. Wasn't it £10 a short while ago? Dover shop and lounge looked a bit small and sad, but there were signs of decorating in progress. To compensate it was cosy and personal as obviously it was only for the Speedferries users.  Speed One may have had a month's service only two weeks ago, but my seat was wonky, several light bulbs were blown and the hand dryer in the ladies didn't work. The window frames have had a coat of gloss paint and it looks like the Premier Class glass partitions upstairs have been extended in length. Long delay exiting Boulogne when the french decided to see everybody's passport - I have never been stopped here before. No customs back at Dover just a police BMW with 2 officers waving everyone through. All in all it was just about what I expected - a bit shabby but a great price (especially free!). Long may they continue.

A corner of my house in England was damp-proofed this way by the previous owner and it has been fine for 20 years now. The theory is that the bricks absorb the silicon in all the little pores and so water cannot get through. A fine theory, seems to work in bricks but I'd have grave doubts about using it in stone, lime mortar and rubble filled walls - of which I've got lot in France. In the unlikely event that the method really completely prevents moisture ingress in this situation then the pointing dries out and the walls fall down. Take care. 

PS I hope I haven't broken any forum rules by naming. But I'm neither praising nor shaming  - just asking. 

When I told someone that I had maybe 100m2 - 200m2 of stone pointing to do in France one day, he suggested I take a look at www.progrout.co.uk. For £200 (ouch) you get what looks like a heavy gauge plastic funnel and screw thingy with a nozzle which is powered by your battery drill. My friend hasn't seen or used one and nor have I. I'm not connected with this company in any way, but just wonder if it might help a d-i-y er like me. If it speeds things up and does the job properly then good - but if you spend your time cleaning it, clearing blockages and buying new drills after wearing one out every week then maybe it's not for me.

Thanks Dick - it looks like a lot of experimenting on the underside of the seat panels is going to happen. PS I like the room in the Oak Beam thread - you have been busy.

I don't want to spend a lot of money on furnishing a house that I occupy for maybe 2 months a year. We have a fine new light oak kitchen table (bought cheap) and I can't find oak chairs that are within my budget especially as I need 8. I can't find anything under about £70 each. The table is danish oiled. What if I bought some cheap unstained plain vanilla softwood chairs and stained them light oak? Any ideas on a stain or oil or even a coloured wax please? I would plan to use UK products.

Oops! PER is mentioned in nearly every reply and I missed it and took it all as copper. Note to self: Must concentrate more.

On the few occasions I have used a pipe bending spring I couldn't get it out again ! ! Someone once told me, or was it on this site (?), that you can fill a pipe with sand, stop it at both ends to keep the sand firmly in place and then try and bend the pipe. I've never done it, but unless I hear otherwise on here, I'm going to give it a try the next time I need to bend a pipe. A bit of heat on the copper can only help too.

Clair, I have spent more time than is normal in French brico shops wandering around looking at all the stuff I can get / use. I must have been so pre-occupied around the wood areas not to have seen the glass - I'll make a point of looking next time.  P.S. I need some "L" shaped moulding to finish off a velux roof window installation and there seem to be lot more sizes / shapes of softwood moulding offered in France than here.  

I and the hand plane have never really got on. Maybe it was the bluntness of the blade or it was set too deep or at the wrong angle, but all mine (2) are rusting in a box somewhere ( I never bin anything!). My life has been transformed by the electric planer.