Jamesdee Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 We are about three weeks away from having our house handed over to us but we are unhappy about a number of things that just are not quite right. One major problem is that we initially asked them to prepare the house for a wood burning stove and in the contract they have written "creation d'un conduit de cheminée". this turns out to be a pipe in the floor of the lounge near the outside wall. This pipe goes down for about half a metre and then turns at right angles and goes out of the back wall. We went to Weldom to ask them to install a stove for us and they could not understand what we had in the house. We have asked the builder to explain what we have but to this point we have not received a reply.Can anybody advise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil & Pat Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Looks like they have provided a pipe for air to enter the room for combustion purposes. How does the smoke get out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesdee Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 That is what the guys at Weldom suggested. There is nothing else though. This project cost us 1500Euro plus 19.6% TVA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroisChatNoir Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 were they aussie builders? maybe thats why they think down is up! seriously tho' I think you need to get your money back and employ a chimney expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesdee Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 This is a large nationwide building company. If they have screwed up they have made a real mess of our salon in the process and even more of a mess clearing it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinfrance Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Conduit de Cheminee =duct the fireplace Yes to feed air to the wood burning stove, and save a cold air been drawn at floor level,and making you feel cold, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosub Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 The air vent pipe in the floor is a legal requirement if you are going to have a fuel burner of some sort, it would usually be done at the time of laying the rest of the plumbing pipework into the concrete foundation, it would add very little to the cost. The €1500 you paid would be about the right cost to fit a chimney normally a ready made to fit type, you may not be able to see it from inside the house it's suspended in the loft space and the hole through the ceiling to connect the fire to the chimney is made by the person fitting the fire. You should of course be able to see the chimney from the outside coming out from somewhere in the roof, if you can't then you need to speak to your builders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosub Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 You should have in your "Notice Descriptive" under Conduite de Fumee, the full details of the chimney and associated pipework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesdee Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 Thanks very much for your comments and reassurance. There is a chimney poking out of the roof. I presume we will get the "Notice Descripive" when the house is handed over but I shall ask the builder for a copy of that now. Another concern is the general standard of the finish. We wanted to paint the place ourselves so they builder agreed to hand the place over "ready to paint". We reckon we have a couple of weeks of rubbing down before we get to the "ready to paint" stage but we cannot get the builders to accept that our concerns are anything other than a culture difference between what the British expect and what the French would accept. I mean the tiles in the bathroom end with just the raw tile edges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinfrance Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 In all my years in the housing game the painters did there own pret,e.g rubbing down and cleaning off before painting.Not the rest of the tradesmen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosub Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 [quote user="Jamesdee"]Thanks very much for your comments and reassurance. There is a chimney poking out of the roof. I presume we will get the "Notice Descripive" when the house is handed over but I shall ask the builder for a copy of that now. Another concern is the general standard of the finish. We wanted to paint the place ourselves so they builder agreed to hand the place over "ready to paint". We reckon we have a couple of weeks of rubbing down before we get to the "ready to paint" stage but we cannot get the builders to accept that our concerns are anything other than a culture difference between what the British expect and what the French would accept. I mean the tiles in the bathroom end with just the raw tile edges.[/quote]You should have had the Notice Descriptive at the very start of the build (and signed it) It describes every single process of the build and materials to be used, how were you able to check the specs without it?"Ready to paint" is a joke.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesdee Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 The feed back has been really useful. Thank you so much. The "Notice Descriptive" has at the back a "Demande d'Avenant" and this just lists the " Creative d'un Conduit de Cheminee" I guess I now need to say to the builders can I have the Notice Descriptive for the Conduit de Cheminee. So far as checking the build I have to confess that my french is not good enough to understand the Notice Descripive in detail but we have gone through it as best we can but we have looked more at the quality of the end product rather than the technical detail.I found the comments about " ready to paint" most helpful. I guess we just need to shut up and get on with that but there are a few things like the tiles and the railings which have been installed that are so badly finished they just look awful. Nice railings but bolted into holes that have been cut in the concrete but not filled in or even tidied up. This is a set of stairs from downstairs up to the sitting room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosub Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 You will have a meeting just before hand over day and you will be able to go around the property with the clerk of works and detail all the faults for them to rectify, you don't need to sign the final document and pay the last stage payment until you are satisfied.You say it's a national company, I would be interested to know their name, by PM of course[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesdee Posted June 6, 2008 Author Share Posted June 6, 2008 I will pm you with the name. We have already had a pre handover check and have listed all the points and more that I have made here but what do you do when they insist that the bathroom tiles are fine. They say they left them like that in case we wanted to carry on with the tiling!! The railings they will fix but they say they will have to employ an artisan to make a wood surround and they will give me a devis for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosub Posted June 6, 2008 Share Posted June 6, 2008 I have sent you a PM, If you require any further info just ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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