lespins Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Second post since joining three days ago - must be serious !Some answers needed to following if poss;1) I am I able to get the 440mm x 215 thermalite blocks any where in France or do they have a similar type of block/parpaing to offer made from blown concrete?2) I am buying a cheap French shower to install in an out building for use whilst main barn is being converted. Does anyone know a way of joining 15mm Speedfit plumbing to the flexible hoses on the rear of shower cubicle?3) Any recommendations for Ready mixed cement companies to deliver in department 87 near to Le Dorat would be great. Thank you in advance and I promise that once I am knowledgeable about these things I to will pass on what I have learnt...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 1 - I have not seen Aircrete/Thermolite in French builders merchants. Those who want good insulation and lighter weight tend to use terra cotta Brique Alveolaire. 2 -Use what ever you would use to link 15 mm Speedfix to 15 mm UK copper. Buy a pair of straight 15 mm olive connectors in UK. Buy a pair of straight 14mm out side diameter olive connectors in France and a1 meter piece of rigid not coiled French copper pipe and the 14 mm to tap connectors in France. The threads on the connectors are the same and the olives will fit. Unless I had unlimited and free access to Speedfix fittings from UK this is not the way I would do this.3. Start with http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi Qoui = Beton or béton prêt à l'emploi Ou = 87 or your postcode They all deliver you may need to talk to them about access, so turn up with a map if you do not speak good French. Distances are huge versus UK and in general the closer the site the cheaper the final cost will be. Despite saying they will deliver anytime with 24 hours notice unless you are building a housing estate as a private punter the best you can hope for is 2:30 in the afternoon unless you book more that 15 days in advance.Not sure if you made the recent posting about Speedfix fittings but if you did not have a look at the 'French Plumbing versus UK Plumbing Sticky' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lespins Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share Posted January 9, 2007 AntonThank you for the answers, I am amazed at the response one gets on this forum and no doubt will be drawing on your experience again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn_Paul Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 what's on the other end of the speedfit?p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lespins Posted January 10, 2007 Author Share Posted January 10, 2007 When I had the water put on last year I reduced the 25mm mains down to 22mm where it came through the wall of an out building we are using as a temporary store/toilet etc whilst we convert the main barn.I then reduced this to 15mm Speedfit plastic pipes and ran cold feed to sink, toilet and wall mounted calor gaz boiler. I then ran the hot water out back to the sink and now want to connect cold and hot on French shower which of course is 14mm which I can not reduce to Speedfit.The straight 15mm Speedfit joints take both plastic and copper so Antons suggestion should work ok.It will only be temporary so that the builder can have a shower after a hard days work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn_Paul Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Surely the threads on the shower fitting are standard 3/4" (or possibly 1/2" - depends on the model) aren't they ? in which case ordinary speedfit UK tap/bath connectors (the ones with a captured nut and a flat washer) will fit perfectly, or are you stuck with trying to mate the speedfit to the full set of embedded French copper tails ?p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soleil Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 The blocks are called beton cellulaire and are widely available. There is another version, with even better insulation, called thermopierre.Soleil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alane Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 LespinsA bit off topic - but what boiler are you using and where did you source it? I have a similar requirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Does anybody know how much the thermopierre blocks cost and where you can buy them, examples of suppliers names. Can anybody suggest a good block for foundations, we are thinking of doing the block and beam method. I've had a look on the internet but can't find the info that I want. Also, what is a 'builders merchants' called in french?I am the wife of a builder so I apologise if these questions might seem obvious to answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 [quote user="EMH"] Does anybody know how much the thermopierre blocks cost and where you can buy them, examples of suppliers names. Can anybody suggest a good block for foundations, we are thinking of doing the block and beam method. I've had a look on the internet but can't find the info that I want. Also, what is a 'builders merchants' called in french?I am the wife of a builder so I apologise if these questions might seem obvious to answer. [/quote]Tryhttp://www.pointp.fr/servlet/Start_v2.srvl(PointP) for a kick off, they have an on-line catalogue which will help you. Or look under "materiaux" in the Pages Jaunes (Yellow Pages) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 [quote user="Gyn_Paul"]Surely the threads on the shower fitting are standard 3/4" (or possibly 1/2" - depends on the model) aren't they ? in which case ordinary speedfit UK tap/bath connectors (the ones with a captured nut and a flat washer) will fit perfectly, or are you stuck with trying to mate the speedfit to the full set of embedded French copper tails ?p[/quote]They are - not sure how anybody would get started down this road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moos Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 One of the "betons cellulaires" blocks widely available is "Siporex" and is widely available (in the South-West) at builders merchants like Gedimat,ou Point P. Siporex on their website say they you can use their products for soubassement walls, but I'm not confident in that. Incidentally, so do some of the Monomur or alveolaire clay block manufacturers.- Anyone out there have experience of using Monomur below ground level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ysatis Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 I should have said before, it's the 'monomur thermopierre' blocs, or an equivilant. We are after the solid block. Are these to widely available in France? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lespins Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 Thanks to all who have helped, sorry I have not replied sooner but have been working away for last 8 days and no computer access !I do not know what size the connectors are on the flexi pipes that come from the rear of a French shower but I do believe that they accept a male connector so the Speedfit tap connectors may not work.Once I have found the answer I will let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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