wiskersnatch

[quote user="Cathy"] So the EU has decreed that B&B owners are not allowed a dog in the kitchen.  Read: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2113345/Dog-ban-means-hundreds-of-BandampBs-face-closure.html Do any of you keep a dog in the kitchen?  I do at night as it's the warmest place. [/quote] That seems odd because I have often seen dogs in restaunts here.  One I go to about 3 times a month (always on a Friday) has a family whocome in and the dog sits at the table with a bib on and the family feed it scraps.  I have no objection to this, in fact is is kind of quaint and I presume the dishes are washed.  Our dogs (all 4 of them.. all westies)  live in the kitchen and we never feed them from the table and they are as good as gold.  What is the big deal? Cathy... you crazy woman you..   I think you are having a joke with us.

Syrup & Honey.  Just about the best song of all time.

I agree.  Various things kill people and they are not mutually exclusive.  Drugs (which includes alcohol), guns, crazy drivers and a plastic bag, orange and stockings if you are a tory MP!

Thank you but I am spoken for.  I am sure she is lovely but I am old fashion when it comes to that sort of thing. 

We have several friends here, French and British and most of them seem to think drinking and driving is OK.  Back in the Uk the way they really beat it (I know there are some who still do it) was not to make laws or to 'bag' people, it was to make it socially unacceptable. I fear that here it is still seen as an OK thing to do.  It is up to all of us to tell our friends who drink and drive that is is simply not acceptable. Drink drivers KILL PEOPLE!  Losing a child is just something no one should ever have to endure.   To lose a child because someone wants to drink and drive is beyond evil.  If you find it embarrasing to tell your friends off picture a child mangled in a car's wheels and try again!

[quote user="Dick Smith"]When WBB says that his brother has gone back to his maker it is more of a manufacturer's recall. [/quote] Hello Dick, I guess I am missing out on an 'in joke' but I am relieved his brother is not dead.  Forgive me for saying so but as I mentioned to the other man I have read alot of threads on this site and find also that your contributions have been most valuable.  I feel stupid for not having joined before.  Be gentle with me in future should we lock horns about any particular subject... I am only little. Do you know people, this is like walking into a pub and meeting loads of interesting folk...[:)] CY  

I do hope you mean that your brother was sacked from here and not realy dead..  But look... is this a digression ?[:D] I look forward to talking to you on other threads..  I warn you I have lots of opinions and all of them are right![:D]

[quote user="Frederick"]  It would appear some of my fellow villagers here in  Dorset must have done just what you have Wiskersnatch as by 10 this morning the garage was closed for fuel ...none left ....Those who did not panic buy.... now have a 16 mile return journey to fill up this weekend .....so they can find fuel to get  themselves to work next week.......I am sure many will not be happy knowing some people will be looking at drums of fuel  stored in their sheds next week when the supply is back on ...fuel that could have avialable  for many today ..I wonder what the fire departments think about all these people who are storing fuel on their premises in plastic containers. ?   [/quote]   Fair point and one I considered when doing it but then what exactly does the gouvernment expect when it says 'don't panic buy'.  Puts me in mind of Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy'  ... DON'T PANIC .  I do feel a certain social guilt but it is over ridden by the fact that my children need to go to school and I need to drive to work.  If I could be sure everyone else was a nobel as you then I would be too.  I refer to you as nobel with the utmost sincerity.  You are a minority though

Thanks woolybanana'sbrother Of course digression is necessary and often useful, I don't disagree but some of the threads start out as questions on say for example taxes or driving and end up with one or two (often the same one or two) exchanging abuse as to how one or the other writes or spells.  That surely is internicine and pointless.   I have read many of your psots and I consider your points to be made very well.  You seem to approach the limits and not break them, you are not rude or nasty but sometimes quite forthright... No problem with that but others, as soon as they seem to be maybe contradicted or something, get really difficult.  I know anyone reading this will see what I mean. Before joinng this iste I read posts on it and as a consequence was able to easily get my car registered here, able to sort out a few other issues too.  Some of the older member (longer memebers) have saved me a fortune in time and effort and I fear that if all this arguing and oneupmanship continues we will lose these poeple and this site and basically a free and useful fountain of experience and know how. Just my point of view!

[quote user="Judith"][quote user="Quillan"] I often also think that perhaps we would see more new members if some of the older members were better behaved. What I mean is that if you look in a lot of threads you get members making one line glib comments then running away or just simply taking the thread way off topic with totally stupid comments. If you tried to see the forum as others might i.e. from the eyes of a new person visiting for the first time perhaps you might understand the reluctance of people joining. [/quote] Quillan,  well said.  I sometimes feel like saying "Children, children!" It would indeed be a shame to loose such a valuable source of free information for those of us who love France, simply because one or two members can't resist the temptation to show off! [/quote]   I agree.  I am new to this site and forums generally.  I joined two others today, both for France and spending timeon them makes me realise just how bloomin good this site is.  The rules are simple enough and even if you don't read them it is only a matter of politeness.  If you are rude or nasty it is likely that you are breaking the rules.  I have looked at loads of topics on this forum which I have found interesting and wanted to make comments but by the time I have read down the list of posts it seems the original theme is gone. Let's all undertake to treat each other with couresy.  We all have something to offer and we all have much more to learn.  Instead of harrassing our moderators lets just take a minute to think how hard a job they have to do for OUR benefit.  It is a thankless task and all they seem to get is abuse from some silly people. Please don't now all correct my spelling or grammar.  There are other sites for that. CY    

[quote user="BIG MAC"] Why use rebar rather than the French Semelle de fondation (prewired and constructed cages for your edge thickened slab , pile cap, ring beam)? PS I am a contracts manager who deals with the reinstatement of subsidence damaged buildings. Chalk is fine as a bearing so long as it is not allowed to form a slurry. Frost heave in clay is actually the expansion of the water contained within the clay matrix, clays can be very plastic, high plasticity clays can also lose a considerable amount of their volume through dessication (Drying out) this happening beneath foundations is what we normally would term "Subsidence of the site" Deeper foundations (Inc piling) seek to place loads into lower strata less affected by these volume changes, in many instances piles will be sleeved and a voidformer placed beneathe the RC slab in order to creat an opportunity for soils to expand and contract without adverse effect on the structure above. Found sizes given above are for 1/2 brick walls (Why would a garage need more) Most French Brico sheds will stock the reinforcement required in easy to handle cages.   [/quote]   That's very interesting.  You obviously know that although my reply to the original Post may seem long it only brushes the vast topic of foundations.  As it happens our house in the UK had to be underpinned.  The reason for this is that it had for years been in a moist area with no real problems.  A new barage was built about 30 miles away as a flood defence and this lowered the water table in our area and caused huge problems for our village.  The underpinning cost over £10k and after we had real problems getting house buildings insurance.  Eventaully we did but we were told we had to have a full survey every 10 years.

I think we all know the bloke in the pub.  Can tell you how to keep your British plates and how to avoid tax, which route home to drive when drunk and how to basically abuse our French hosts' hospitality.  Having said that, he can sometimes be a larf.

[quote user="Nearly Retired"] He's not wrong this wiskersnatch. Any background or link to MICE? [/quote] RICS and a few others but out of touch with the latest stuff.  By the way.  If anyone wants free building advice I am happy to help.  Just ask on Private Message.  You could ask me or the bloke in the pub. [:D] 

We have about 30 old plastic 20L drums from paraffin over the winter.  We have filled 15 of them with diesel (sorry if that is spelt wrong) and plan to fill the rest up too.  I know some would say that is panic buying but if the UK drivers are striking how long before they do in France (I know the issues are different).  The thing is the UK have seen the price rising but here in France the rate of increase has been even faster. Anyone else doing the same thing?

First off it is unwise to build anything without proper foundations.  If you don’t know for sure what it there you must assume nothing.  The depth and type of foundation will depend mainly on the proposed loading and the ground conditions.  A strip foundation for example for a garage may be a certain size but useless if not buried deep enough to avoid frost heave (in a clay area).  The permutations are vast but some general principles apply always.  If the ground is very soft you must dig until you reach firm ground and if that is over a 2 m you will need to think about piles or a raft.  As you will know there are various types of foundation.  The most common on domestic dwellings is the ‘Strip’ foundation. For a house, in firm ground with no clay,  a convenient way to calculate the size is to take the wall thickness and measure out and down from each side at a 45 degree angle.  This will automatically give you an approximate size.  (As the loading bears down at 45 degrees).   The top of the foundation should be a minimum of 600mm from GL (in firm ground).  If you have clay and frost the distance must be NLT 900mm to avoid frost heave.  The concrete should be C30 as a minimum (just ask for 30 Newton concrete).  Lots of builders use C20 but frankly the cost difference is so small it is better to go with 30.  By the way, I have used concrete in various places and have to say French concrete is as good as I have ever come across.  As a minimum your foundation should run 150mm each side of the wall (so a 250mm wall would have a foundation 550mm wide, round up to 600mm).  This is enough to support a domestic dwelling of 2 stories.  It will certainly be enough for a Garage.  A raft foundation is basically a big slab, most of the slab should be the thickness of about 150mm to 200mm (depends on loads) and the edges, which shall bear the major loads should be deeper (imagine a waffle inverted).  The problem you may have is that the base, although solid is unlikely to be reinforced and a raft needs to be reinforced.  It is not a good idea to treat any slab as a raft because a raft is designed to float and has specific areas designated for heavy loads (most often its perimeter but also other areas sometimes).  Your slab is likely to be a floor and not designed for huge point loads i.e. walls supporting a roof.  It may well support cars and tractors but when you introduce walls and roofs and wind loads and snow loads etc you are in another world altogether.   If you introduce new heavy loads to the edges you are likely to crack it, unless it is extremely thick or reinforced or both. Typically Rafts are used in areas where ground conditions vary, so if there is any subsidence the whole structure moves, sinks etc and does not crack. Rafts more often than not do not have piles, they are meant to float (that is a relative term)  when they do have piles they are not, strictly speaking, raft foundations. They are piled foundations. Remember,  concrete is most excellent in compression but less than useless in tension and varying ground conditions gives areas of tension and compression.  Any point you have the ground pushing up and weight (walls) pushing down will be a point of tension.  Reinforcing (metal) is great in tension, which is why it is used. Of course a raft may be the same thickness all over but that is a waste of concrete. Piles are another form of foundation.  These can be used in extreme soil conditions such as marsh ground.  Each pile or set of piles (they are often grouped) has a Reinforced concrete pile cap and these can support reinforced beams or a reinforced raft (Not really a raft as it can work without even touching the ground, a raft is deisgned to float).  Piles are costly and not often used on domestic dwellings. Piles can be driven (a big hammer) or poured.  If poured a hole is bored with an auger, a steel reinforcing frame usually dropped in (not always) and concrete poured in and vibrated.  Piles can be driven till they meet hard ground or can, where hard ground is not available at a reasonable depth, can rely on friction, even in very soft ground. After driving or pouring a pile should be loaded with a known load and its movement can be measured.  There are tables for the movement allowed, you just need to know the imposed and superimposed loads, the safety factors are built into the tables.  Needles to say piling is an expert job.  I mention it here as you may find it of interest, I don't suggest you pile. I hope that even if you don’t find this useful you find it interesting.  It is a vast area and many people tend not to give it due consideration.  My guess is that this is because foundations are hidden. But back to your question.  I have a suggestion which may be helpful. Instead of using the slab as a foundation why not dig around it and drop in a strip.  I would recommend also installing about 4 x 8mm reinforcing bars.  In a row, evenly spaced. These need to be covered in concrete so use spacers to support them before you pour the concrete.  (Spacer you can buy at any builders' merchant).   The cost is low and the added strength is huge. For real 'belt and braces' install bars in the bottom and the top (50mm cover).  If you do this you will be sure to have a very strong base to build upon. Also, try digging down beside the slab to see its depth. Did you know that concrete gains 50% of its strength in the first 7 days and continues to get stronger for about 50 years.  There after it losses strength very, very slowly.  When poured in huge mass concrete does ot go off quickly.  Apparently inside the Hover Dam there are areas where the concrete is still soft!   Regards   CY

Thank you Pool guy, you seem to know what you are talking about.  Certainly worth some deeper thought.    Cheers

Not to worry Cathy. I posted it as a general question. The Well Water Thread was good. Off to Chemists now on my way to the shops.  Hopefully none of the kids will get dysentery in the meantime.   Have a nice Saturday.[:D]

Up until April we were able to but (edit - Buy) paraffin for the heaters at most brico places.  It seemed to disappear overnight and at the same time the garages here started selling something called ‘Petrole Lampant’ or something like that.  Is this the same stuff.  I ask because on the pump at the station there is a sticker which says not suitable for mobile units.  All of our heaters are mobile.  Have Leclerc stopped selling the 20L drums of it?

Many thanks Cathy, That is most helpful. Can I ask you another question please?  I am in a bit of a rush.  I have looked for a thread on it but can't find one.

Is it safe to fill a pool with water from a well?  I am supposing the chlorine in the pool will kill any harmful buggs.  Where can I get the water from the well tested if I must?

How is the dog after biting an Aussie?