general help on diy

[Kieran]

I recently bought a home in Brittany and am preparing (with some help) to spend two weeks at Easter trying to cram in as much DIY as possible!

Key projects are refitting a new kitchen and bathroom. Key questions I would really appreciate guidance on are

1. We are taking an LPG cooker (house has a very large primagaz monster bottle - about 6 years old). The cooker has a 1/2 inch screw fitting but I am not sure what french connection is needed. I assume that given that the UK fitting is 1/2 inch thread that a suitable pipe/connection will be difficult to find. I assume a gas fitter could make one up?

2. Are the plumming/copper pipes same in france as uk? I was planning to take across some 15mm and 22mm pipe plus speedfittings. Will these work?

3. I am taking 40mm pushpipe fittings for sinks etc  - are they compatable in France.

4. Regarding the pipes and connection above - are they really cheaper in uk or should I buy in France?

Thanks

 

4. Soil pipes - same as UK/

[clarksinfrance]

1 Screw fitings tend to be imperial out here, and you may well be able to find what you want, if you have difficulty, there are 1 or 2 speciallist suppliers around, there is a speciallist supplier in Pontivy directly opposite Bricomarche (can't for the life of me remember the name, perhaps a n other may be able to)

2 I would buy your copper in France, the sizes are thus: 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 16mm, 18mm, 22mm, and 28mm. They are thcker walled. I would also check your water pressure as in some places it can be remarkably high, we have 10.5 bar, and all joints need to be brazed. (someone will corect me if they think I am wrong)

3 Plastic pie come in following flavours: 32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 80mm, 100mm, 125mm. push fittings don't seem to be used in Brittany (can't speak for other areas)

4 idea of prices for plastic: 32mm x 4m €2.95; 40mm x 4m €3.60; 100mm x 4m €5.10. Copper prices are set locally depending on copper price and what other stores are charging. Having said that just paid €4.90 for 12mm x 2m copper

Hope this is of some help

As an aside, anyone know a shortcut to get euro symbol to appear on this forum? Scrub that just discovered its Ctrl+Alt+4

[Mel Prett]

Buy all your plumbing fittings in France there are only a few sizes that will match.15mm does not exist. As for L.P.G. the only bit a D.I.Y. can do is the flexi fitting from the cooker to the wall. The rest, that is back to the tank, should be done by an acredited propane gas installer, as it is in England .The outlet of the sink handbasin and bathtrap trap won't fit either.

Mel

[Nick Trollope]

40mm UK fittings are a different size to 40mm French fittings! Likewise 32mm.

Don't use UK plumbing. It is unneccesary and will lead to problems in the future.

Tap etc fittings are imperial BSP sizes, but they are cheaper in France.

Soil pipes in the UK are 110mm, here they are 100mm.

Gas is as heavily regulated here as it is in the UK - you will end up installing your gas cooker yourself, because an approved installer here won't be able to install it...

Buy locally!

 

[La Guerriere]

Just done the same job: you can get fittings 1/2-inch male one end and male whatever it is that fits a standard French hose. Mine came from Mr Bricolage, but try any DIY shed.

[Ford Anglia]

Kieran: you have PM and e-mail.

[Gyn_Paul]

There are, in fact, two types of 32 and 40mm waste pipe in the UK too!

The thin-walled stuff which takes the rubber 'O'-ring pushfit 'T's and

elbows, and the thicker-walled stuff which uses the solvent fittings.

So I imagine the dimention is an internal measurement. I know this to

my cost having inadvertently picked up mixed lengths of the two types

in Wickes one sunny Sunday afternoon, and - of course - got to the

stage at 8.30 at night where nothing fitted together and we spend the

next couple of days with a bucket under the sink !

p

[Jc]

Compression fittings are available but only in French sizes.