Costs of materials

[Oboulez]

I put this poser on 'Money saving expat', however it might be better placed here. We are about to buy a property that needs a new bathroom & kitchen, new floor and wall tiles etc, plus a brighter paint job. The house actually is in very good nick, just owned by some old folk, so rather old fashioned.

Our thoughts are on buying kitchen from Ikea, so possibly not much difference in price, but would it would be worth buying the rest in Britain & transporting to Charante?

Plus, does anybody know where you could sell quallity second hand bits? e.g. the house has an absolutely immaculate enameled wood burner in a rather gaudy and old fashioned colour. Cheers

[Russethouse]

Plus, does anybody know where you could sell quallity second hand bits? e.g. the house has an absolutely immaculate enameled wood burner in a rather gaudy and old fashioned colour. Cheers

Le Bon Coin ?

[crossy67]

If you know what to get and where to get it most things can be bought here for similar money.  All except paint, buy decent quality UK paint and bring it with you.  I have not had any problems with French paint but it is expensive, I paid €32 (ish) for a 2.5L tub of white emulsion for bathrooms.

[tonyv]

I certainly bought my IKEA kitchen in the UK 2 years ago. I reckon I saved 50% on the price. I was also able to speak to the "consultant" in English. However, it did involve taking my trailer back to the UK, i.e. extra petrol, and tunnel fare, so the saving was less dramatic.

I suggest you compare prices beteween www.ikea.com/fr/fr/ and http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/ to get an idea of the difference today.

[Anton Redman]

As above Ikea have to guess their exchange rates for the next 15 months when the catalogue goes to print. I have known prices to be up to 70% dearer in both France or Uk depending on which items. 25 % difference very often.

Paint UK, tiles can be worth the trip to Spain.

[just john]

If you are crossing the channel anyway, I found pretty much everything is a better price in UK unless you have to add the cost of travelling, somethings you wouldn't buy in UK though like taps, or electric sockets for example.

[Quillan]

Castorama and Brico Depot are owned by the same company that own B&Q so much of the stuff is about the same. You can visit Castorama and Brico Depot online, Brico Depot do a catalog which is sort of like a bible when doing DIY. Leroy Merlin are also online and produce some better stuff. Links below.

Leroy Merlin

Brico Depot

Castorama

[HoneySuckleDreams]

This is the bible I use.

It's the Chausson on-line guide. It gives quite a comprehensive overview of what the materials are and how to use them and the interactive website is pretty good

 

https://asp-indus.secure-zone.net/v2/index.jsp?id=821/896/1634&lng=fr