Dinks

[quote user="Sans Souci"]He did offer the solution that if we used a wood stove, we could have a pipe that went only one meter up into the chimney and close off the base of the chimney.  That would essentially dump the smoke from the wood stove into the chimney and prevent it from rolling back into the house.  [/quote] Don't for heaven's sake go down that route! The previous owners of our house who had installed the woodburner themselves did precisely that and we ended up with a chimney fire where the soot and tar had fallen back down and accumulated on the plate where the base of the chimney had been shut off. That ignited and hey presto - showtime! Fortunately we were in at the time and took quick action so there was little damage. We have now installed an inox flexi liner (Mr Bricolage) which goes all the way from the woodburner up the chimney and out of the chimney pot where it as securely affixed. It is amazing just how much better the woodburner draws now that the liner goes all the way up.

This link has some useful info; There is a page on the French Entree site which has some useful info We have found the French plaster to be a complete nightmare to work with and nothing like the nice brown and pink plaster that you get in the UK. French plaster seems to 'go off' at the drop of a hat, but we have found that mixing it 50/50 with some 'Colle pour plaque de platre' delays the hardening effect somewhat. But unfortunately, no matter what we do, it still seems impossible to get a nice smooth finish on things like plasterboard, so we have had to settle for the 'rustic look instead!

Panda, unfortunately, I think you are spot on. They were just ignorant lemons who knew no better and they have put other people's lives at risk as a result. But still, the work that they did was <b>illegal</b>, that is the bottom line and they should somehow be brought to account. However, we cannot afford to pursue the legal route so guess we are just going to have to foot the bill, get the burner installed correctly and then carry on rectifying all of the other balls up that they have made in the house. My only consolation is that it will be LOVELY by the time we are finished with it! I just hope we don't bump into them again at some point in the future, as my husband will have some choice words to say to them if we do and I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of them!

Thanks for the reply Tony. I have done more reading on the Interweb this afternoon and the more I read, the more I am coming to the realisation that we are just going to have to let these people get away with what they have done to this house and the danger that they have put us in. We do not have the funds for a legal process. We don't need the stress of what looks like would be a long, drawn out process. It just galls me to know what they have got away with. I dread to think what they are doing to their new project. Re the electrics, they attempted to work to the French system but no way does it comply to the 'normes'. I wish I could post a picture here, as I am sitting looking at a bunch of wiring, caked in filler, that we uncovered from between a beam and the plasterboard mess that is the ceiling. I can see two more bulges further along the beam where more wiring is no doubt covered - no conduit of course... a serious risk of wiring overheating. Appalling.

"The wiring may have been like that for a long time" - er, no, they renovated the house themselves and certainly the installation of the electricity was all their own work! ALL of the modernisation work in the house was done by them over the last 4-5 yrs. They were a British couple who were using the house as their first 'renovation' project.

I of course meant 'no newly felled or unseasoned wood is used', not 'newly burnt'!!

Thanks for your answer. The previous owners advised that the chimney was swept in the spring. The woodburner is a basic one from Mr Brico - can't find a makeor model on it, but it is of the 'budget' variety. The wood burned is all dead, seasoned wood of various types - no newly burnt, unseasoned wood is used. The other major 'bodge' has been the downright dangerous electrics - we had to rewire the whole of the first floor as soon as we realised what we had on our hands...live wires where there shouldn't have been live wires, various earthing problems, loose wires in sockets, incorrect grade wire used, wire buried in plaster where conduit should have been used...... Bodger Bill at his best :-( Re the damage due to the fire, we have been lucky as it was confined to the ground floor ceiling/first floor floor section where the conduit actually terminates up the chimney - we were in the room as it actually started, heard the noise and could see the orange glow above where the conduit enters the ceiling and were able to act quickly. Not enough damage to warrant advising the insurers to be honest. But it is the cost of the reinstallation by a professional which is our major concern.I gather that if we do it ourselves our insurance will probably be invalid?

We bought our house a few months back. Today, we have had the pompiers here dealing with a chimney fire that (they tell us) was a direct result of the woodburner having been installed incorrectly.... the 'conduit rigid' leads from the stove into the ceiling/ 1st floor where it enters the chimney, but there it terminates - the conduit does not go the full length of the chimney, which we understand to be illegal! There are other aspects of the bodged installation that they also brought to our attention and what we would be interested to know is, is this an example of 'vice cachée' that it could be worth pursuing? The cost of reinstalling the woodburner to comply with regulations is likely to be significant. not only that, but these 'bricoleurs' need somehow to be made aware of the dangers they are playing with! Any advice gratefully received.

Oooo, the hubby will be well pleased! :-) He misses his UK parsnips

I have heard good things about a reservation service called Stopover Connections Ltd - http://www.stopoverconnections.com is their website. They don't charge an annual fee. They just take a commission for any bookings that you get through the website. Nothing to lose as far as I can see...? Unless I am missing something. May be worth dropping them a line.

[quote user="Fullwoods"]i have used Foreign Currencies Direct  01494 725353 for a number of years and never had any problems.  they are efficient, helpful and my money usually reaches my french bank within 3 working days.  i also have a standing order set up with them and therefore avoid transfer charges, its completely free.  [/quote] Are you sure about the 'within 3 working days' thing? According to their website "You can choose for money to leave your account on the 1st or 15th of each month. We will buy Euros on the 7th or 21st (after your sterling has arrived), and your bank will receive the payment abroad 2 working days later." That sounds to be like considerably more than 3 working days! I am interested because I did our first 'regular transfer' payment with Currencies Direct this month, having opted for the 1st of the month option by direct debit. The funds left my UK a/c on the 2nd and only reached my a/c in France on Friday 12 October which I found quite appalling. However, having spoken with HiFX, it seems that this 'délai' is normal but I find it totally unacceptable.

I am not sure which section of the forum this post should be in, so excuse me if I have got it wrong! We remortgaged our UK property in order to buy our house in 09 which is now our main residence - the UK house is let out on a long term basis. However, I am having trouble getting insurance to cover the mortgage should either of us pop our clogs. UK life insurers will not cover us because we are no longer UK resident and French insurers will not cover a UK mortgage.... so are there any solutions? Just to make things more complicated, our main hobbies are mountaineering, climbing and skiing which are considered 'high risk'! Does anybody have any ideas how we can get cover??

We have now landed back in France with the intention of making it our permament home, so as such we are now 'French residents'. We have a UK registered car. Our UK insurance does not in theory cover us any more as we no longer live in the UK. I understand that French insurance will only cover a car registered in France. Whilst we obviously intend to re-register the car in France, how do we get insurance cover for the interim period?! Any advice appreciated.

In the experience of those who live or who travel around the Paris area, is there any particular time of day at which the péripherique, approaching from the south west, heading anti clockwise up in the CDG direction and then on to Boulogne, should definitely be avoided? I expect to hit it at around 16.00 hrs tomorrow (Wednesday) and can't decide whether to take that route or the Orleans/Dreux/Rouen option where I find the single carriageway a pain. Any thoughts appreciated.

I am trying to find somewhere in 09 (St Girons/Foix kind of area) or within easy reach of the A64 heading towards Toulouse from St Girons which may sell solid wood bedroom furniture. Google has drawn a blank, as has a search of these forums. Does anybody have any ideas? Many thanks

My problem is that I submitted a question via that form last Friday because the Freebox is not synchronising, received an acknowledgement but have never received any reply. The form has blocked me from making another submission because the first one is still waiting an answer! I now have no way of contacting them to try to solev my problem. Anybody got any bright ideas??! The Tchat thing on their help pages also does not work - possibly because I am having to use bas debit at the moment.

Thanks, but yes, that is also mentioned in the manual and did not work. With regard to taking it to a friend's house, we have only just moved here so, as yet, don't know anybody!

Thanks, but yes, I have covered all of the obvious things and followed the manual to the letter! I can't help but think that it is due to some problem between France Telecom and Free - an exchange problem or something. Either way, I can't get any answers

I am in a  non-dégroupé area and have signed up with Free, have installed the Freebox according to both their online manual and manual that came with the box and am confident that it is set up correctly. However, the blinking rectangle isn't changing as it should. I have followed their trouble shooting guide to the letter but no change. I have spoken with a 'technical advisor' but his advice has not helped and their online help system also does not come up with any answers. Does anybody have any idea how to resolve this problem? The previous occupiers had an orange livebox which they used without a problem so I am getting exasperated!

Does anybody have a number that I can dial for France Telecom from the UK? All of the numbers I have found are 4 digit numbers which can only be dialled from within France. Unfortunately, I will need telephone access from day one for business reasons so need to get this arranged in advance if I can. Fortunately, the present owners are not taking their number with them, so that should lessen the complications somewhat.

Norton is one of the most invasive programmes you could possibly install on a PC and causes more problems than it is worth. Go to this link and download the Zone Alarm firewall for free; http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp As others have said, you are asking for trouble if you don't have a firewall and are opening your computer up to all sorts of unwanted attention from bots, spiders and trojans which will make a mess of your (and other people's) PC. I would also advise you to download AVG free anti virus which is an excellent free and easy to use antivirus package http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5 Please see this link for an explanation as to why you have received thousands of unwanted emails. Basically your email address has been 'spoofed'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spoofing

So we are signing the acte de vente on the 30th May, the property already has a phone line (and ADSL) and we will need phone access from the day that we move in. The current (British) owners are giving 24 hrs notice on the 28 May that they are resiliating the telephone line - they will need telephone access until the last minute. France Telecom tell me that only then can we apply for a line and then it will be up to 7 days before the line is available. Is this really the case?? Even for France, this seems extraordinary when the line is already there!

Not sure which forum this post should be in, so apologies if I have chosen the wrong one! I am looking at sorting out the buildings and contents insurance for our new (old!) house in 09. I have had a quote from Intasure so far which seems very reasonable. Does anybody have any experience of them? What are people's opinions about using a UK firm rather than a French form for such insurance? I have heard that the claims process when going through a French insurer can be painful!. Also, I have been told that a buildings policy HAS to include 1. defense penale et recours 2. catastrophes naturelles and  3. fonds de garantie Attentat.  Catastrophes naturelles is self-explanatory but can anybody shed any light on the other two for me and would these generally be covered by a UK policy? Is the first one legal cover?

[quote user="briwy"]    Dinks I dont know if France is the same but when I had ISDN in the UK there was still a wait as you have to have special equipment installed to handle the ISDN line. Would the present owners let you have another line installed before you take over so that you can numbers etc registered in your name so it is ready for when you move in. [/quote] That would have been ideal, but unfortunately, they will need the line the day before we move in, as he works from his laptop like me! So they are not prepared to do the changeover until the final minute :-(

Sorry, I should have said ISDN dial up as described on this link; http://www.ilink.fr/eng/acceseng.html