nemltd

Hi My wife is accompanying my daughter to Pau to help her find accomodation for her 'Year abroad', her 3rd year of her university degree. I am hoping to find a chambre d'hote for 1 week in September, around the 18th to the 25th. They will need to be as close to the centre as possible. Any offers please? Kindest regards. Tony

Hi I am in Portsmouth and own a used car sales company, www.northendmotors.co.uk. I buy and sell the odd LHD car. If you want to keep your French car and sell it when you arrive back in England, then let me know what you would like to get for it, I could buy it for the company or I may be interested for my own use, to leave at my house in France! I am currently looking for an insurance company that will aloow me to leave a UK registered car in France and use it when I visit on holiday, maybe upto 8 weeks per year? Anybody do something similar? Kindest regards. Tony

Nubeginings Did you have any luck with your mason? Thanks Tony

Thanks Sue Do you wash the walls first, only our crepi is the rough finish, the hose with the pressure/trigger attachment won't touch it. Or do you just spray and leave it to work? Oh, what formula do you use, bleach to water? Thanks for your help Tony

Hi Jay Thanks for the link. It does almost convince me that I have 'trentepholia', just a couple of questions I need answering to be 100%, please see my latest post.  

Hi Val_2 Thanks for your posts, you seem very sure about this problem which is very encouraging for me. Do you have any idea why the rash seems to not like settling on the areas with the lintels behind the rendering, and the concrete beams, you can just make it out on the photo in my earlier post link. Our house is a concrete frame on the south elevations filled in by the red brick that seems pretty standard (in the south west). You can see where the concrete frame is, by where the pattern of the red stains are, also the window lintels are apparent by the same means. I just wonder why the algae would not form on the parts of the render where the concrete is behind, and only where the red brick is behind? This is my only reservation, if you like, as to the algae theory. If indeed something is bleeding through from the brickwork, it would make sense that is doesn't bleed through where the concrete is, does that make any sense? I have tried scraping the rash with a key, it just shows solid white crepi underneath, this supports the fact that it isn't bleeding through from the brickwork. I would value your feed back. Kindest regards. Tony

Pachapapa HLMs? & H2S? I bet it turns out to be obvious! Tony

Hi Pachapapa The bricks are the standard red style with the holes in them and the fluted edges. I don't know if they are fired, I assumed all bricks were. The link you posted shows problems with stone, so I guess the point is that I don't have stone! Sounds logical, I guess I just thought the translation 'Sick Stone' was a loose one. So probably not 'Sick Stone' then! This does point toward the other suggestions of a fungus of some type. Thanks, funny how when you hear things out-loud, they sound different! Tony

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2439130/ShowPost.aspx I did ask this question awhile ago without any real conclusions, I can't remember how I got the picture on the post! But you can follow this link. Thanks again

Thank you, I hope he has seen it. Probably quite simple, but I cannot work out how to get a picture on my post? I have tried just copy and paste but it won't let me..............help please

Hi I have a dark red/purple rash on the south elevations of our exterior walls, the walls are covered with white crépi. The rash is only on the elevations that are exposed to the southern sun and not the shaded areas or the north elevations, which get far less sun. Also, the rash does not cover the parts where I assume there are lintels above the windows and what looks to be the concrete beams that run horizontally along the elevations. Behind the crépi is a red brick. The French builder we have been using regularly is not familiar with the problem. One of his specialities is applying crépi, so I am surprised he has not seen theproblem before. The temptation is to say it is a lichen of some sort. If I scrape it with a key, it reveals the bright, white crépi underneath. It has been suggested that I have a problem called 'Sick-Stone'. Apparently this is where the acid from the bricks bleeds through the crépi render and manifests itself as this rash on the surface. They said the only cure would be to remove the crépi render and then seal the brickwork underneath. And then re-crépi and paint, if required. Any thoughts or knowledge of this anybody? Kindest regards. Tony  

Hi Val Could you get yourself a nice big farmyard cat? I've read the cat is a natural predator of the fouine. Regards, Tony

Hi Cooperlola My wife and I are moving to France in a couple of years and I am hoping to carry on in the used car retail business. I have noticed the lack of independent used car sites in France and your comment that cotisations are payable on turnover could be the reason why. If I sell say 6 cars in a month at 5000.00 euros each retail, that is a turnover of 30,000.00 euros for the month. The gross profit could be say 5000.00 euros, less TVA and preparation costs. And then of course advertising and so on. Maybe I will end up with some wages! If cotisations are due on the turnover then there won't be a lot left for wages!? Have I understood you? Tony

Hi Steve Noticed your post stating you are gardeners....................We have just had a Schedule/Estimate from an English couple for gardening work and pool maintenance. They have been doing something similar to you for around 7/8 years. The first cut was in March and we had an email from them apologising that it took 10 hours and not the 6 hours they quoted. But now the garden was under control then it would take considerably less time in the future. They would also like to add an hour per visit for extra strimming work, above the original quote. The garden was not out of control, on the contrary, we have been paying a French guy 2500.00 euros a year to cut and strim it. Getting a reliable service is not easy anywhere these days, so I don't really want to be too padantic about the quote, but at the same time it feels a bit wrong, just to accept the rise above the quote. What do yer think? Tony

Hi My wife and I are moving to the Midi-Pyrenees and I would like to carry on business in the Used Car Trade. I am reasonbly upto date with the various trading options, compliments of the 'Naked Accountant', but am wondering why there are very few used car dealers in France. I am wondering if there is a tax on turn-over, which would be quite prohibitive, when you consider the return on investment in the used car industry is really quite small. If there is an accountant, or anybody else for that matter!, that could help me, I would appreciate it. Kindest regards. Tony

[quote user="Jay"][quote user="nemltd"] I remember on our last trip out, I checked my mirrors, and nothing. And then, from nowhere, Barry Sheen! Weaving from lane to lane, noisy exhaust, like a bloody Spitfire going past. Talk about butterflies in the stomache! [/quote] You should have heard him coming - that's what loud exhaust pipes are for!!   http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2434414/ShowPost.aspx [/quote] Pardon

[quote user="JK"]nemltd, If you were doing 130kph and the bike 190 the closing speed is 60kph. To close one kilometer would take one minute. To close 200 metres would take 12 seconds. That's a long time in your mirrors! The great thing about the autobahns is that people actually DO expect something coming up behind and look properly.[/quote] Not Jeremy Klarkson is it?!  

I think its all about 'playing within the rules'. Dangerous drivers exist everywhere. Have you ever been doing 130k/ph on a French toll road (dry weather conditions) and doing your best to assess the road ahead, when a fellow road user on the inside lane decides at 90k/ph, he is going to pull out in front of you? Now who is the prat? Is this slower driver trying to 'police' the highway because he doesn't agree with the 'rules', and thinks you are going too fast? Or is he just a prat, a bad driver or both? Or maybe he just made a mistake? I have to say that I have made the same mistake travelling at 130k/ph, checked my mirrors to pull out and overtake. By the time I have looked back in front of me and double-checked the mirros before making my move, some prat is up my arse doing 189k/ph or similar! It is easy to be caught out, especially by the motorcyclist who thinks they are Barry Sheen, and thinks we should all have his acute road 'sense'. I remember on our last trip out, I checked my mirrors, and nothing. And then, from nowhere, Barry Sheen! Weaving from lane to lane, noisy exhaust, like a bloody Spitfire going past. Talk about butterflies in the stomache! I think it is a matter for your own concience. An old boss of mine once said to me, "If it feels like its 'taking the piss', then it probably is"!

[quote user="Sunday Driver"] Your wife cannot sell or otherwise dispose of the car unless her name appears on the carte grise.  You can find details of the procedure for adding her name to the carte grise from HERE. Once that's done, if you wish to sell the car then normally you both have to sign the carte grise and declaration de cession.  However, you can provide her with a simple proxy letter so that she can handle the necessary formalities without your signature.   [/quote] Would the signatures have to be signed at the showroom, or could the OP just sign the CG before going away?

[quote user="Northender"] With inflation running at 1.6%  thats 187 euros cheaper than last year in real terms. Snap his hand off. [/quote] Also, the car has gone a year without more mileage being driven. This must increase its price, because its lower mileage for the year! Its getting cheaper all the time, if you really fancy the car, I should bide your time, and make him sweat a bit more. After all, the longer you leave it, the cheaper it will be!

Try disconnecting and reconnecting the car battery and then manually locking/unlocking the car. This may reset the system and the key often does not set the interior part of the alarm. It could be the interior sensors setting the alarm off. Door/Boot/Bonnet switches have also been to blame in the past. If a switch is faulty, it can fool the car in to thinking it is open, setting the alarm off when you lock it. Very unlikely the LED is flattening the battery, but something else maybe if the new battery is going down. Sorry, just realised the date. Hope you got it sorted! Tony

[quote user="Polly"][quote user="steve"]Not as much as 'hunting' oops thread drift! Steve [/quote] or the hourly rate for a gardener! [/quote] Now that was a 'proper' post!

Theiere Sorry for going off on a tangent, but I have to congratulate you on your Tag line, it makes me chuckle every time I read it! Quality! Tony

Thanks Alex, Woops! A bit on the large size! At least you can see the 'rash' now! Tony

12 to 18 months ago I researched all of the 'green' and 'cheap-running' heating options. If you talk to a specialist on Heat Pumps about underfloor heating, he will advise you that a secondary form of heating will be neccessary. Unless of course he is advising AND selling it to you! Looking to the forceeable future, "You are feeling the cold and want to turn the heating on to warm you up" Forget the heat pump and underfloor heating! A good oil boiler such as 'Chappie' will get you feeling toasty very quickly, and you will soon be turning the thermostat down because its too hot! In this context, forget about Heat Pumps and Underfloor Heating, they just will not create the same temperatures.  The COP boasts of geothermal/air pumps sound good on paper, 1:4 energy ratios etc., etc. But the bottom line is this, when you are cold, then you want heat, quickly. The Chappie range of boilers are very effiecient at doing this, Heat Pumps are not. By the way, I don't sell Chappie boilers, I have just spent hours researching both sides of the coin. Our Chappie oil boiler heats our water and radiators in the winter, in the summer we turn it off and use an electric hot water balon. This system gives you maximum comfort and convenience and also, the running costs are no more than the Heat Pump when the secondary heat source is included in the costs. Consider also the proven track record of the conventional oil systems, and they are also more friendly to the environment than they were. Maintenance is another consideration, try to find an expert to come and fix your Heat Pump/Underground system..............Much easier to find a conventional heating engineer. I think the fact this subject is discussed so many times on this forum is evidence enough that the boffins are not quite there yet when it comes to replacing the good old boiler. It may seem a little selfish, but I would leave the Heat Pump systems to the 'Rich-Guinea Pigs' for now. Good luck. Tony