vide sanitaire

[mint]

Can somebody enlighten me as to what this is when it's referred to in a description of a house?

For example, this house is built with a VS.

Does it mean simply that the house has a drainage system or does this refer to the famous French drains that some houses in France are reputed to have?

ericd, you MUST know so please spill the beans?

[pachapapa]

A house built with a ventilated space between the ground surface and the floor of the house. A healthy feature preventing direct contact with cold damp earth a desirable feature in areas such as Brittany and Massif Central preventing any build up of radioactive radon gas. The height of the vide sanitaire maybe just 10-2O centimetres and is some times greater allowing access on ones knees. Io can be used for pipes and other services.

[IMG]http://juliette71.aliceblogs.fr/rectif%20vide%20sanitaire.jpg[/IMG]

[pachapapa]

http://izibook.eyrolles.com/extract/show/650

Click on link above. Awindow will appear on your screen. Click on "Ouvrir". An informative PDF file will appear on your screen.[:)]

[Gardengirl]

A house we looked at in the Drome had one of these, but it was quite high. It wasn't big enough for walking in though, but used for storage of things we might put in the loft and forget about for years in UK. We were told it was common to have them, as they kept houses sweet and dry.

[powerdesal]

So basically its suspended ground floors, like most of UK houses ?

[ericd]

Basically yes.

[mint]

How very interesting!  And, Pacha, you have come to my rescue yet again.  When time permits, I shall take a closer look at the link you have provided.

Alas, it still takes me approximately 5 times to read a document in French than one in English; mainly because I am afraid to skim it in case I miss some vital information.

[ericd]

On one of the Freeview channels last night there was a program on “New builds from Hell”.

In it, a couple from Essex/Sussex had sold their lovely UK property to buy an old Spanish building they wanted to extend. Once the new house purchase completed, they applied to the local town hall for the written document giving them authorisation to renovate/expand.

A document (in Spanish) was issued by said local authorities and our two Brits went ahead with the renovation work using a local builder…….A little while later, the Brits were astonished when they were told by the same town hall officials their new house would have to be knocked down !!!!

The document in Spanish they had originally received was not an authorisation to start work but an official request for more information/documents etc.

In front of the camera, the two Brits acknowledged they couldn’t speak Spanish and “thought” they had received authorisation to go-ahead……

Now I am asking, who in their right mind would entertain such level of building work without speaking the local language or at least get the documents translated?

[ericd]

And a bit more info (sorry in french only).

En l’absence de cave, le vide sanitaire isole le plancher du rez-de-chaussée de l’humidité du sol sur lequel la maison est bâtie. Pour qu’il puisse jouer correctement son rôle, une ventilation est nécessaire.

Les constructeurs proposent régulièrement une hauteur de 50 ou 60 cm entre la sous-face du plancher et le terrain. D’après des architectes consultés, la hauteur minimale conseillée est de 80 cm. Dans la réalité, il n’y a pas d’obligation légale mais plus le vide est haut, plus il est efficace.