Pat76

Thanks for the very helpful replies. Hopefully my poplars will be sorted soon. Pat

Hi I am looking for a tree surgeon to remove some very tall poplar trees, so far without success. Does anyone know of any tree surgeons working in the Charente/ Dordogne area? we are near Aubeterre/Chalais. Thanks Pat /

Hi Theiere (sorry, can't do accents!) Thanks for the reply, and the link. Pat

Hi I have searched but have been unable to find the information I need, so sorry if this has been covered before. We are planning to start our new plumbing this summer, and were hoping to source what we need in England. Currently our water supply arrives from the water meter in a black plastic pipe, about 20 mm in diametre. We are planning to put in John Guest plastic speedfit fit pipework, which would have to be connected to the black plastic pipe. My question is, has anyone done this, and are the connectors readily available, either in England or in France? We would need to connect the black plastic pipe to 22 mm John Guest speedfit pipe. Thanks Pat

Thank you for taking so much time to give me such a comprehensive reply. Pat

I said "odd" because I thought the whole point was to use these heaters when it's cold!  I clearly have missed something, but I'm happy to try to learn. (notice the word "try", but I will do my best) If the temperature drops below 5degrees, as it does in winter, will the air units work? Thanks for the name of the heaters, Cendrillon, I will look at them. Pat

We looked at air units in Brico Depot when we were in France last week, but the ones we saw said something along the lines of  " effective at temperatures above 5 degrees" which seems a bit odd, but perhaps we misunderstood. As to oil heating, we have been put off oil by the cost, which goes up and up. When we move to France we will be living on a fixed income, so we are hoping to keep our outgoings as predictable as possible. Basically, we have a couple of woodburners, and are looking for a form of background heat so that when we get up on cold mornings, we are not freezing while the fires get going. We are now looking at night storage heaters, which run on cheaper overnight electricity, and give an even background heat in the morning. Does anyone have experience of these? Thanks for all the replies, Pat

Thanks for that, Quillan. We are having a serious rethink - much as we would like underfloor heating, the geothermal idea is not going to work for us, it would not be cost effective based on the quotes we have had. We will check out the air source which will undoubtedly be cheaper. Do you know if the air source unit is noisy to run? A friend has the individual air source units and they are quite noisy, but they are a few years old.   Pat

Thank you both for your replies. So, basically we would need additional heating throughout the house. We have a couple of woodburners, and we were hoping that with the underfloor heating they would be sufficient, but that seems unlikely (it's quite a big house) Back to the drawing board. Pat

hi Crossy67 Thanks for taking the time to reply, I'm very grateful. I have done a lot of research on the net, and in books and magazines, and we have considered the air source as well. I was hoping there might be someone who has actually installed something like what we are considering (air or ground source) who could give me their advice. I recently read that the running costs can be quite high, in terms of electricity to run the pump - I wondered if anyone had experienced this.   Pat

Hi I wonder if anyone can give me the benefit of their experience. We would like to install underfloor heating in the downstairs of the house we are renovating, and we hope to use geothermal heat to run it. Has anyone done this? I would be really grateful if anyone who has could let me know if they are happy with their system, and any problems they have had. We have enough land for the geothermal pipes, and we have to lift the floors downstairs and will be installing plenty of insulation. We are at the planning stage, and any help/advice  would be most appreciated. Pat 

Hello I'm not sure where to post this, but here goes- My son has completed a short work experience in France which was organised by his sixth form college, and we are thinking about him organising one for himself, for next summer, prior to starting university. We wondered about him volunteering at our local Mairie, because we are friendly with the Maire, and we organised a work experience in England for his son last year, so feel reasonably happy about approaching him. Before we do, my question is, would it be allowed? Obviously, I don't want to embarrass him. So, can any helpful person tell me if foreign students would be allowed to work voluntarily in a French Mairie? Thanks Pat

I don't know if it would be too far away from you, but we used  Maitre Alexandre Desautel in Aubeterre Sur Dronne, Dept 16. He speaks excellent English. Pat

Hi again We have spoken to our neighbour, who has told us that the  bill is indeed for an inspection of the fosse. His advice was don't rush to pay it, speak to the Mairie in the summer, so thanks again to everyone who took the time to reply. Pat

Hi again Well, the letter certainly looks genuine, and the cheque is to be sent to SPANC, so perhaps we are just unlucky. No phone number, so we will be speaking to our neighbour before we pay it. Thanks Pat

Thanks to everyone who has replied. No, we were not there, it is our holiday home, and we recieved no notification of an inspection visit. Normally our neighbour would contact us if anyone had been to the house, and since the access to the fosse is between our house and his, I'm sure he would have noticed! All we have received is one sheet of paper,  from SPANC, no explaination of the charge, just "Diagnostic de l'existant", plus T.V.A. amounting to 51 euros. No report, or any indication of a report to follow. I have seen previous posts about these inspections, but surely they would have to let me know they were coming, or can they just turn up? Thanks again Pat

Thank you, Clair. I really appreciate your quick answer. Pat

Hello Please can anyone shed light on a bill I have just received for 51 euros, from SPANC? It gives no information as to why I am being charged this money, apart from saying "Diagnostic de l'existant". Does anyone know what it might be for? Thanks Pat

Hi All Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but if anyone is interested, this is a really easy way to help care for animals in need. Just go to the website www.theanimalrescuesite.com and there is a button to click to help the site get donations from advertisers. It only takes a moment and costs nothing. If you add it to your favourites, it makes it even easier to click every day. I am told the site is in danger of losing funding because of lack of uptake. Please help. Thanks Pat

I'm not sure if this counts as "bargain", but for the quality and quantity of food it is very good value for money. Les Grandes Aulnais, Cressac, south of Angouleme, between Blanzac and Chalais, Dept 16. Choice of menu 17 to 25 euros. They are rather heavy on duck, but we are vegetarian and they always make us something wonderful. We have never had a less than excellent meal there, although we only go when we are on holiday. The wine is not included, but the set menu we have is aperatif & nibbles, soup, crudites, vegetables, main course, cheese, pud. The only criticism I have is that the menu does not change, although the ingredients do, depending on seasonal availability. Most of the vegetables are home grown, and the ducks are home reared, they are often wandering about while we eat. There is always a mixture of French and English people there. Pat

Thanks Sue.

We bought our French holiday home over 20 years ago, after viewing 5 places, making our offer and paying our deposit in the space of 4 days. In that time, a friend and I have made a little hobby of looking at houses for sale in our near area, not seriously thinking either of us might find something irresistable... Then in 2007 I happened to see a very pretty house, took my husband to view it, and suddenly we were in love, despite the huge amount of work needed, despite the cesspit, despite the dirt, we bought it. It has meant selling our home in England and downsizing, but we both knew instantly that this was the place we want to spend our retirement, hopefully we will move there permanently at the end of next year. It feel great to say that, next year. Pat

Hello As a side question, would there be any problems plumbing in a washing machine? I mean, would the pipes be compatible, or would I need adaptors to connect them? Thanks for any replies. Pat

Thanks Clair.

Hello Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I have never looked for weed suppressing membrane in France. Is it readily available, or should I bring it from England? Thanks for any help. Pat