oliveau
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Posts posted by oliveau
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I bought a 24' x 14' Polytunnel from UK 2 years ago. It's ideal for bringing on seedlings, and if I plant lettuce and potatoes in January we start cutting lettuce at the end of March, and digging potatoes at the end of April. I bought the recommended plastic - [antifogging etc] and it's looking good. We use a couple of electric propagators early in the spring, but as the soil warms up we sow seeds directly into the tunnel beds.
I found out after a couple of years that its not very clever trying to get the vegetable garden going in March, and I now follow the locals, and start outside at the end of April, but the tunnel gives us a good start as we can bring on plants ready to put out when the conditions are right.
I had a greenhouse in the UK, but now that space is not a limiting factor, I find the Polytunnel far more versatile, since it gets used for tomatoes, aubergines and peppers in the summer, and in the winter it provides shelter to overwinter the more tender plants from the flower garden, and allows propagation of geraniums. We also have a small bed of strawberries which we have been picking for a week.
Peter
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[quote user="Chris Head"]
I've found a pump I think is powerful enough .http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cs305s-11-2in-stainless-steel-sub-pump/path/submersible-pumps-clean-water/brand/clarke
[/quote]
Chris
A silly question - Why faff about bringing a pump from UK when the Brico shelves are full of them here? At least if it goes wrong you haven't got to take it back to Blighty. Most of the pumps [UK & France] are Italian anyway!
Peter
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Chris
I've read both threads through again, and reviewing your original requirments I concluded that it needs to be simple, so:
- Drop a plastic tank in the hole with provision for in inlet and overflow pipe.
- Put in an electric supply to a switched cable ending in a waterproof socket - switch either by the tank or at a suitable remote location.
- Drop a 15 or 22mm pipe into the tank, connected to a tap above ground, and the other end will go on the pump.
- Drop a submersible pump into the tank, with a float switch, so it will shut off if the water runs out. Probably a small Guinard stainless steel borehole pump, as it will develop better pressure.
- Connect your trickle hoses to the tap.
- Switch on!
- For added luxury, put a timer on the system - Hozelock or Gardena do them, but a simple timeswitch would do.
- If you want the water feature, use a separate cheap submersible - the 19 euro version I mentioned earlier.
I found that the pressure reducer supplied with the Hozelock trickle systems needs to be chucked away - it all works very well on mains pressure!
Bon courage, Peter
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[quote user="Jon"]
Do you have any advice on a company that provides European breakdown assistance for a long duration?
[/quote]
Try Saga - you will need the complete insurance package, but it's unlimited European cover
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Try a plumber's merchant
Peter
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You open it up for your afternoon swim - usually does the trick!
Peter
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Chris
I think I'd be inclined to bury a ready made tank, even if you have to alter the hole a bit. - Think 'septic tank'!
The common method of construction of tanks at home is by use of concrete rings - clearly not appropriate in your case, but you could use hollow concrete blocks on your floor slab, rendered as suggested before.
Good luck, Peter
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Whoops!
It seemed wrong so I checked again:
1 psi = 6.895 kPa, so you have a range of about 3.5 to 10 psi
Peter
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Multiply Kpa by 6.895 to get psi [seems rather a high pressure to me!?]
Peter
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Chaps
It's worth a couple or three quid to buy your own rain gauge from the local brico. It won't help with your present calculations, but its useful to know what's happening on a month by month basis chez toi [if I might presume to be so informal!]
Peter
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[quote user="billyo"]
Sorry to Highjack, Im looking to do the same sort of thing as Chris, but refill the tank purley on rainwater. The only problem is that I cant for the life of me find out how much rainwater the region recieves or how much a small veggy plot uses (about 10m2) to work out if its viable. Can anyone help, cause the inlaws are thinking Im nuts and taking bets on how long its going to take me to fail!
Cheers
Billyo
Should just mention that I live near Montpellier 34.
[/quote]
Here's an Irish answer:
- An acre inch [ie the amount of water to give you an inch of rain/acre] is 123300 litres
- You have 100 sq metres which is .01Ha or 0.0247 acres
- You need (123000 x .0247) litres to give you the equivalent of an inch of rain or just over 3000 litres [.003 megalitres or 3 cu m.]
Peter
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Some interesting answers on this thread, so for what it's worth, I'll stick my 5 eggs in as well:
I use a Guinard 8000 submersible pump connected to 1" pvc to pump from the well to an outside tap. From the tap I can fill an above ground 700L storage tank [Plastic cattle trough, £90 from Mole Valley Farmers], or feed direct to sprinklers. The well is 30m deep, so a powerful pump is needed, and the Guinard is very good, giving me better than mains pressure when reduced down to a 1/2" hose pipe supply. I have mounted the on/off switch next to the tap so I can control the pump conveniently from the garden.
I have a submersible pump in the above ground tank [19 euros from Bricomarché] which I connect to the trickle hoses - 2 connected together work well, but for a longer run I could really do with more pressure from the pump. I installed an external plug socket to feed power to this pump.
The tank is mounted on a stack of pallets to give me a minimum head of 1m, and this is enough to water things like courgettes using Hozelock/Gardena low volume system -15mm pipe, down to 4mm pipe feeding each plant. [Gravity feed - no need to use the submersible pump]. 15 minutes a day is sufficient.
I find the trickle hoses, and the individual Hozelock drippers much more water efficient than blasting the whole area with a sprinkler.
I personally think it's worth spending money on a good watering system, rather than running around with a hosepipe every day!
Peter
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[quote user="Will"]A little bit of confusion seems to creep in here because if your vehicle is listed in the DRIRE database, they can issue an attestation that it conforms. There is a charge, but it is lower than the usual manufacturer's fee. (I cannot talk from experience because Peugeot France didn't charge us for a letter of conformity the only time we needed one). Of course, if the car's VIN is not on the database, and you can't get the paperwork from the manufacturer, then a DRIRE inspection is the next hope.[/quote]
How does one go about checking if one's vehicle is on the DRIRE database?
I have a 1989 Isuzu Trooper that I'm thinking of bringing over - It's an original genuine UK import direct from Isuzu, rather than a grey import.
Peter
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I have a similar thing, except that it's in the skimmers. A small black oily deposit forms around the top of the skimmer housing.
- I don't think it is from traffic pollution - there's little traffic, and anyway the pool has an abri.
- It's not from suntan oil.
- I wonder if it comes from the beetles that get in the water?
Peter
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I put in a salt water system with a new pool [10m x 5m x 1.8max] 2 years ago. It took 8 bags of salt at installation and a further 8 when the pool company recommissioined last spring. [I think they wanted the sales at 16 euros/bag!]
I had an abri fitted last July and since then I hardly need clean the pool or filter, and we were swimming at 21C by Easter without any heating having been used.
I put the pool back in service myself - 2 x 30 minutes of vacuuming to waste, a touch of pH minus, and no salt or choc needed. When I do need salt I shall use ordinary water softener salt from Bricomarché.
I have a 'Monarch' chlorinator [cost about 2000 euros] which chlorinates as required and it will indicate if the salt needs topping up. I run everything for 9 hrs/day in the summer, and 30 mins/day in the winter.
It's dead simple folks - I just get on and enjoy the pool!
Bon courage, Peter
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I'm told by my UK Peugeot dealer that the lights on modern Pugs [406 onwards] dip downwards only, but not left or right, and therefore don't need adjustment of deflectors. I assume therefore that this probably applies to other PSA group cars as well.
No doubt I'll shortly be corrected!
Peter
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Quite right - I had assumed that the leak was between the meter and the house.
Peter
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[quote user="RIK"]
I've been offered damp-proofing of exterior walls by silicon injection. Has anyone experience of the effectiveness or otherwise of this treatment?
RIK
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We had a problem with water penetrating the concrete block walls at the base of the sou-sol, which was cured by excavating down and applying a coat of black bitumen to the blockwork.
It really rather depends on the materials, and the initial cause of the damp. If you have an old house, it probably has not got a dpc. I suggest professional advice from a 'maitre d'oeuvre'.
Peter
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[quote user="Richardk"]As I understand it the cost per metre squared for new build is somewhere between 1,200 to 1,500 euros. Does anyone have a feel for the cost when converting a sous-sol to habitable space? We're interested in the concept but would like to understand the financial side a little more.
Assuming you are paying someone to do this, does it make little difference to the above and hence you're still looking at 1,200 euros or so? Or can we halve that to 600 euros for example?
Any knowledge people can shed on this appreciated. Let's base it on a 100sqm space for ease of calculation.
Thanks,
Richard
[/quote]It all depends on what you want to do! We converted our sous-sol which was just concrete block walls, concrete ceiling & floor when we started, but already had windows, which we renewed anyway. Well worth doing to provide for instance an office and a summer kitchen/laundry room - not forgetting the cave de vin as well!
The easiest way is to add up the costs of the materials, which you can price at the local brico, add in 200 euros/day for labour, then add 20% for contingencies. You will have to take a guess at the labour hours, because only you know how much work there is to do!
Peter
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[quote user="shimble"]
reading through my electic books ive come across something im not sure about:
I want to wire in a hotte(cooker ventilator) in the kitchen in one book i can wire this from my normal sockets and in another i need a dedicated line,aswell as this i am planning a vmc unit and ive also found reference that all ventilation should be wired to the same disjoncteur. So where does this leave me? Can i run the vmc and the hotte on the same dedicated line should, the hotte be own its own dedicated line and the vmc on its own dedicated line, or should the vmc have a dedicated line with the hotte on a normal socket line?
If anyone can clarify this for me i will be all ears for the information many thanks.....
[/quote]
I have a vague idea that all your wiring has to be installed by a qualified electrician [or at least checked out by one], otherwise your house insurance isn't valid.
I'm sure someone will confirm or deny this!
Peter
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What you are proposing is a technique called 'slip lining' and it's not a problem with big pipes. ie 3" and above. The problem is that you will be reducing the diameter of the supply pipe, thus reducing flow rates, but more importantly you will have to faff about with the connections at the meter end and where it comes into the house in order to marry up the reduced pipe diameter to the existing fittings. You would really be better off to relay with the same size.
We had about 50 metres relayed 2 years ago for a plumber's charge of 250 euros. The trenching was done by the maçons because they already had a machine on site, but if you allowed for a minimum charge for a half day hire of a minidigger of say 200 euros I don't think you will be far out- it's actually less than an hours work, but you might have to pay for half a day.
If you can find a plumber who has a digger it will probably be cheaper. You might even find a local contractor with a digger who will do the trenching one evening for a bottle of whisky!
Peter
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G. I have sent you a pm
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Ab
In general, the older the better for burning, so the 2000 trees should be good, unless totally rotten.
The 026 should be fine, but try getting the chain professionally sharpened with an electric grinder. Possibly even treat it to a new bar & chain! When the bar wears it allows the chain to run at a side angle, and then the cutters and rakers attack the wood at the wrong angle, and it don't cut too well!
Chestnut - Open fire: It will spit and pop like mad and you'll set the house on fire. Stove with doors shut, no problem.
In general for any wood 1 year old is just OK, 2 years plus is fine.
You could of course do what the French do & treat yourself to a circular saw log bench from Bricomarché.
Happy sawing, Peter
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Have a look at my post of 11 March, under the thread 'Do you like where you live?' - It might help thin down the options.
Peter
Let's see how long we can keep this thread going!
in The Lighter Side
Posted
The object of the excercise is to continue the story, [and it doesn't matter how silly it gets, so long as it makes you smile], by finishing the last sentence and then starting another. So here's the starter:
The little fat gendarme rose ponderously to his feet, brushing the remnants of his mid afternoon patisserie from his tunic as he did so, and headed towards..................