sunny

Hello, We are thinking of removing the tiles in our living and dining room, and having polished cement floors instead. a) Can we use the underlying sub-layer of cement - even it out and then add colour and polish? b) Our house is in the southwest - so any issues you thinking with cracking and moisture? c)Is there any natural breathable material alternative to get the polished cement floor effect? Many thanks for your advice. BP

Hi Ben, Really sorry to hear this - you must be so upset!  We had a similar situation in the UK and lost our deposit, because the landlord came up with fake reasons (i.e. a crack on the wall near the ceiling - well, yes, it was a new building and it was settling, so yes there was a crack - but we were renters, not the builders, so don't see how it could be our fault...) The best you can do is to write to everyone with a registered letter.  Your bank manager is obviously incompetent and just doing a CYA.  Can you send him a registered letter, clearly stating that * despite your conversation, he did not cancel the direct debit * he deducted money for damage without consulting you * and despite frequent reminders, he has not returned your deposit to you. I would then follow-up with a copy of the letter to the bank's omsbudsman.  I think each bank has one.  .  Try the mayor and see if they have a person who can help you find a consumer advocacy group Best of luck - it is hard and stressful, but hopefully you can get this sorted out soon.    

Lulu, Around Toulouse might be an option.  Pretty good weather, and decent internet connection in many places in the broader region.  I would provide a bit of a different perspective regarding language.  I think it would help a lot to know Fench, but if you are going to run an internet business to UK/worldwide customers, I don't think you have to be fluent before you get to France. You might want to consider options for having your business registered in the UK/elsewhere in a proper, legal way, so as to avoid France bureaucracy and taxes (if possible!) Have a great time looking and enjoy the search process!

Alan, Thanks for your post.  Sweet17 also mentioned getting an independent lab analysis.  I think there are a few in France, and I can probably get the name of one from our notaire (he is really helpful!). So with your encouragement, and advice from everyone in the Forum, I am going to write (hopefully) an "immaculately-composed" letter [:D] and then follow-up with an independent test, if need-be. Thanks again to all for your advice and help. BP

Found some cost estimates on the web - hope these provide some help http://www.francethisway.com/renovation/cost.html Text of the article was included below, but has been removed by a moderator due to copyright issues.

I would agree with some of the other posters that if you can find something renovated to your taste and budget, go for it.  We bought a house we love, that needs some renovation (adding some more bathrooms and redoing the kitchen) but no major structural work.  It is still a pain to get work done and make the house warm and cosy for winter (sometimes I think it is impossible with these old stone houses). If we had to do it all over again, we would buy a new modern house (hopefully interesting, not just a standard, suburban one). If not that, then a fully renovated older property. If you do decide to go down the renovation route (and it is hard not to fall in love with the possibilities of some of the older properties), the main thing we have learned, is that it is not always best to use local 'talent', ....and it does lead to awkward situations if you are not happy with the work done.  While we were looking for our house, we had seen one property in Bordeaux that had been beautifully renovated by a building team (I think from Paris...?). The work was superb and the finish was to die for!   I wish we had gone down that route and used the best recommended workmen, irrespective of their location.   Doing the work yourself is an option, but I don't know anyone who has gone down that route, so cannot recommend or suggest and pitfalls.  But I'm sure a bunch of folks here can share their experiences[:D] Good luck and have fun! 

[quote user="Ron Avery"][quote user="Sunday Driver"] As P-D de R says, the survey was commissioned by the vendor, who supplied the report to you.  Your decision to buy may well have been dependent upon the report (supplied by the vendor) being clear.  If you have suspicions that the report did not reflect the true position (and you'd need a bit more than some builder saying he thought it might be asbestos), then you will probably have to get another independent survey carried out.  If it doesn't turn out to be asbestos, or if it is certified as safe, then the original report was correct and you will have incurred an unnecesssary expense, although you will have peace of mind.  If it does turn out to be asbestos which poses a health hazard, and this was omitted from the original report, then you have recourse against the vendor - who then has recourse against his surveyor. [/quote] SD I had assumed probably wrongly, that BP had commissioned his own survey.  Of course if he is talking about the standard lead, asbestos etc surveys, the his first action is to go to the Motaire and ask him to sort it out with the vendor, but I cannot see how any loss has been incurred if BP does not even know it is asbestos.  I think we will leave it there and see what he says if he comes back. [/quote] Thanks everyone for taking the time to help.  It is the standard survey, but I don't think it matters whether I commissioned the survey or the seller - it is a part of the legal sale process to protect the buyer and seller, with the cost borne by the seller.  I thought as well at first, that I had to take the case to the seller/vendor.  My notaire said that the person responsible is the surveyor - his report is a core part of the sales agreement, and the seller is not really responsible for what the survey hides... Now, was the survey inaccurate? I think so...and our builder is a respected, old French artisan who would not make this statement lightly - he is not a cowboy type chap. Of course, to first get the surveyor's perspective, I need to write to him... and for that I turned to help from the forum Thanks also to the OP who pointed out the babelfish translations. LOL! 

[quote user="Ron Avery"] "There is a process for this.  We write an official letter to the surveyor - he writes back and states his position". BP  What is an official letter and why an official letter at this early stage.?  Seems to me you could just write and ask if he tested for asbestos on the area concerned, if he says he did then you are happy aren't you?   However, if you want to go official and incur costs get the notaire or an avocat to do an "official" letter.  If you want to write a formal letter yourself  have a look as Hoverfrog has said in google.fr put in "exemple lettres légale" [/quote] Hello Ron, Thanks for taking the time to follow-up on the thread.  Exactly as you state - I want to ask the surveyor regarding the testing for asbestos in that area.  I imagine I could write a few lines in English and then do a babelfish translation.  I am pretty sure that will come across as a pretty semi-literate effort and might be better to get a formal letter, written French style  In case you think this is just silly, pause for a minute and think how you would react if you got a badly written note vs. a well written, firm letter.  I suspect you would take the latter request (and sender) more seriously.  I would, and appearances do matter in getting work done, especially in a small village, where everyone talks. The first think I did, was look at what Hooverfrog sent, and from what I saw after a fair amount of surfing, was letters to employers, letters for maternity leave etc., nothing that seemed remotely suitable for this purpose...

[quote user="Benjamin"][quote user="BP"] In that case (and scenario 3), as we understand from our notaire, the surveyor is legally responsible to rectify the problem Anyone with any sample letters to help guide us...? [/quote] Am I being thick here? If you're talking in so much detail to your Notaire what's wrong in getting them to do it for you? [/quote] The rub is that the notaire is very friendly with the surveyor - he would prefer that we use another lawyer and not reveal to the surveyor that we have already talked with the notaire. In any case, the original post was about getting  some sample letters that people may have used in the past, to guide us in writing to the surveyor ourselves. Then, based on the surveyor response, we decide if we wanted to go the full monty and hire a lawyer to take it all the way to court, or just bury the matter. Lots of interest and feedback, but no sample letters yet...    

[quote user="Ron Avery"] if it isn't an asbestos product you will replace it with what? [/quote]   And Ron...if it isn't an asbestos product, we don't change anything and everyone is happy:-)

[quote user="Ron Avery"] BP That is exactly my point, somebody looked at and thought.......  Without repeating my post, it will last for years if left alone and if it isn't an asbestos product you will replace it with what? Unless it has signs of cracking or splitting I would advise leaving it alone.  You could think about covering it, if you are really concerned as that would allay your fears and keep the fire retardency of the roofing.  Getting back to your original point. how can you really write to a surveyor and ask for replacement of roofing that a builder thinks is asbestos? [/quote] Ron, There is a process for this.  We write an official letter to the surveyor - he writes back and states his position - e.g.,  he didn't notice that area, or he checked it out and it is not asbestos, or it may be asbestos, but he didn't feel the need to report it because it is outside...in the first two cases, a third party surveyor will do a  professional lab test to see if is asbestos, and if it is, then there is negligence on part of surveyor. In that case (and scenario 3), as we understand from our notaire, the surveyor is legally responsible to rectify the problem Anyone with any sample letters to help guide us...?

Hi Ron, Thanks for your reply. When I said "removing the asbestos ourselves", I didn't mean actually doing it ourselves, but meant hiring a professional to remove it, at our cost.  I am not sure it is asbestos - we had a builder look at it and he thought it was asbestos.  Now, it may or may not be in good condition - I don't know...and how will I know when it starts deteriorating...? I would much rather remove it and not have to worry, rather than leave it and perhaps have problems later on...    

Hi JR, Did not see your message till now.  Hope you are feeling better and well on the road to recovery.  We can agree to disagree on whose responsibility it is - as I mentioned, we did check with the notaire and he was quite clear that the checks had to be truthful and accurate...and he felt that the surveyor's insurance will have to take care of the asbestos removal (I guess it is similar for termites - if the surveyor says that there are no termites in the place, and it turns out there are, the buyer is not responsible to remove the critters).  I do need to send an official letter to the surveyor, at the very least to let him know that we are displeased because he did not do his job properly...it is a pain and probably will cost us more in the time and effort to do this, than just remove the asbestos ourselves...but I am really reluctant to let the surveyor get away with his negligence (was it because he knew the buyers were foreigners?)....  

[quote user="Eos"] Thanks for your comments BP. I did read the letter with an open mind and have answered with one too as I believe all feedback is a good thing & I want to provide value for money at the very least. As I said in the original post, some points are unprovable on either side at this stage but some more are inaccurate at best and just not true at worst. I leave a guestbook asking people for their comments, good, bad, or indifferent & my rental agent always makes a follow up phone call. At neither point was any issue flagged. I guess you can please some of the people etc... [/quote]   Eos, I can understand that you must be a bit disheartened (don’t be!), and it is good that you are trying to understand the customer's perspective instead of dismissing his/her letter outright (as some of the comments recommend) Just a couple more thoughts from my side: Don't try to be judge and jury here - i.e. your comment "some points are unprovable" - well they may be, but nonetheless, if you approach it from the perspective that "customer is king", well then accept the complaint and try to fix it, rather than rationalize why it may not have been an issue (I know it is hard not to take it personally, but at the end of the day, it is a business and customers judge what is good value for their money, not you...)  Little things such as fused light bulbs may not seem a big deal to you, but they may really tick some people off. I, for example, think a hotel/holiday accommodation have not done their job well if lights are fused when I check-in.  (I don't want to change bulbs on a holiday - I do that at home...) This lack of attention to detail really irritates me, and yet it is quite easy to fix by having the housecleaner check lights are working as a part of their cleaning routine... Does your agent really call up and talk with each customer after they have left – it would be really surprising if he/she did not sense that this batch of guests were unhappy – is it in the agent’s interest to communicate these complaints to you or will he/she try to gloss them over?   Again, don’t take it too hard, but I do want to push forward a pretty hard stance on this. I am surprised at the lack of customer orientation I often see in the gite section of the forum...fortunately I must stay in places not owned by some of the folk here, as the places I have stayed in are mostly lovely, and with great service.  There are some places I would never go back to, but thankfully, these are a minority – and no, I never make a complaint upfront as I often sense that the owner/manager doesn’t  want to know my thoughts anyway...

To the original poster,  I would be inclined to give the customers the benefit of doubt.  After all, it takes time to write a letter and very few people will make all the effort if they didn't feel let down by their holiday accommodation. Read it with an open mind, don't take it personally, and be thankful that they bothered to take the time to write, even though it wasn't right after their vacation.  Perhaps you can take heed of what they say, write them a nice note letting them know that you acknowledge their concerns.  Perhaps in the future, send a follow-up customer satisfaction form to guests right after their holiday to get instant feedback...?

JR, If we had known that there was asbestos, we would have made it a condition of sale to have the owner remove it - that is the point of all these surveys BEFORE you finally buy the house...otherwise what is the point of even having the check done...?  For example, if the termite check indicated that there are termites, it is not the buyers responsibility to correct... BTW, the septic tank survey showed some problems, and the notaire gave us the opportunity to renegotiate the price (we didn't - we had already suspected that  was the case and factored it into our offer) Back to the original topic, I am looking for a sample letter which one of you may have used that was effective in a  similar case (broadly defined) - e.g., were you very direct and to the point, or did a more polite, indirect "let's solve this together" type of letter work better? Please, please,  share some samples....

J.R, I talked with my Notaire and he said that the surveyor should have noted the asbestos in terrace (outside area, but attached to the house) in the survey and since he hasn't, it is negligence on the surveyor's part and he would need to rectify at his own cost (or rather his insurer's cost).  So think we are ok here...no?  I looked at the letters on the web, but haven’t found one that resembles what we need to send...any other suggestions or examples to share?

[quote user="ErnieY"] But you'll not be able to do that until you have the phone in your name and your new number to give to an ISP. Did you have your line installed or transferred before you moved in BP ? [/quote] We went through the notaire and he had a person who handed all the sales (I guess a  type of agent).  The agent was brilliant - he transferred the utilities, the phoneline and also got the internet set-up when we moved in.  He did ask us for some information to do this - I think it was passports for the utilities and perhaps our bank RIB for direct deposit for FT...I can't remember....Since we pay our utilities by check, I imagine he did not use the RIB to set those up. Hope the OP can get broadband - it helps when you are settling in and want to find out "How to...." from  google or even better, the friendly folks in this forum!

And while you are at it, I would strongly recommend that you ask your agent to get broadband installed as well.  We asked our agent to do it, and we had broadband working the day we moved in.  He later told us that it took many, many calls with France telecom to get it done - bless him for all his efforts! Congratulations - I am sure you will have a wonderful time in January!  We love our France house in winter and really enjoy sitting by the fire having hot chocolate

Thanks Savvysarthe, good to know.   Also think that in the UK, BT and Sky offer free calls to France and a bunch of other European countries.  There is some international plan you need to sign up for and I think they charge 5 bucks a month for the plan, with no charges for the actual calls. When my OH and I do are in different parts of the world, we talk via Skype for free to each other.  The voice quality is remarkably good (as long as you are not using dial-up). 

[quote user="woolybanana"]Can't agree BP. 16 is too late in the education cycle for them to recover in a foreign culture, unless they go to one of the international schools. The bac is a very unforgiving remorseless process not to be undertaken lightly, and certainly not as a complete outsider.[/quote] Fair enough, though I suspect we do agree to an extent - an international school, and a bigger city would be the way to go...

Scooby, The guy we bought our house from said something very similar....and he is French, and moved to our charming, rural part of France from Paris some 20 odd years ago.  Never really integrated, methinks.  He had a low opinion of the 'provincial minds' and I suspect he was not the most popular with the villagers either...and when his kids grew up, he packed them off to the ecoles in Paris...

Why are you guys so mean on this forum.  So, Jura has a difference of opinion...so what...?    And yes, perhaps she is angry and thus is not so laid-back in her messages...again so what? That doesn't mean her opinion is not valid.... Just because you guys are having a wonderful time in France (and I must admit I am too) doesn't mean that everyone needs to be ra-ra.  So lighten up folks - in my humble opinion, Jura is making a really valuable contribution to the topic and while I may not agree with everything she says, I do pay heed to her experience For Di - whatever my opinion is worth  -Teenagers are often lazy and want to be within their comfort zone (ok, it is a generalization). It is good to shake them out of it and experience something new...makes them stronger and more flexible in dealing with all the adversities that are inevitable in their grown-up lives.  Just make sure you provide them an environment that helps them succeed and not throw them off the deep-end (e.g., as Jura says, don't move to a remote barn in the middle of nowhere)

[quote user="pale pink specs"][quote user="BP"] And I especially do not allow shopkeepers in France to have a superior sneering attitude - I am the customer and I can speak gobbley-dook if I want to, if they want my money, they earn it by understanding what I need...most people back down pretty soon and start being helpful (I think it is my no-nonsense attitude but the OH says it is my sweet smile) [/quote] OMG - where do you live... I'll make a point of not going there!  [:-))]  dare I ask... do you have a sweet smile? [blink] [/quote] Hello pale pink specs, I don’t know if I have a sweet smile, but some combination of firm eye contact, a no-nonsense attitude and a smile seems to be work fine – not only do we get good service in most places, I often get people offering free extras – a sweet, crunchy donut from the coffee vendor in New York, to a perfectly ripe avocado from the vegetable seller in the farmers market in France... (not that we are looking for any freebies, it is just nice to know people in different countries are friendly to foreigners)   So please don't be afraid to come where we live...  But back to Di – please do tell us if you have decided your next steps...

Thanks Hoverfrog.