It's a done deal :-)

[crossy67]

We're home.  Got back yesterday and after parting with a substantial wad of cash (bankers draught to be accurate) and millions of signatures we now own our Aubeterre home.  Happy days[:D]

We had a few surprises whilst there, some good some not so good, let me explain.

Landed at Limoge, collected the car and drove to some where I have never heard of to pay for the hous insurance.  I have never heard of the place and probably never will again, to me it was a destination programmed into the Tomtom whilst struggling to get to grips with the westerly driving position in an unfamiliar car with a bloody awful auto box, ewwe, never again.

Insurance paid we were off to St Severin to collect our bankers draught, we were told the bank transfer could be done same day by one bank employee and then it couldn't by another leaving us with one day to sort funds.  Arrived at the bank in good time, rung the bell only to find the man who was supposed to sort the draught had done it the day before and taken it with him to the Aubeterre branch, he was now in another branch miles away.  After a bit of coaxing the nice attendee agreed to do another for us so we could keep our appointment at 15:00 with the agent to inspect the property prior to our meeting with the notair at 16:00 hours.

All went well and at about 17:30 we owned our new French home.  Yipeeeee.

After a bottle of bubbly with the agent we went back to house for a couple more hours sniffing and poking round the house. We then returned to the hotel after and slept well after a nice meal and a few more drinks.  We could have easily stopped the night in the house though, the lovely old French owners had left almost everything, beds, bedding, cutlery, crockery, pans, even a decent cd player for us to listen to.

Next day we were up early, well it felt early, it doesn't get light there until 8:45 and no one rises before the sun.

We popped into Chalais's Bicko Depo to snoop and price some of the more common things we would be needing.  I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised at the prices, no where near as savage as I was expecting, go how much am I relieved, I was worrying about that for months.  Whilst there I bought some disposable screwdrivers, adjustable spanners and a florescent light for the cave.  Now we can get a proper look at what is beneath us. 

As soon as we got home (strange calling it that still but I had better get used to it) and I got busy in the basement.  Within 10 minutes I had managed to get proper light in the darkness where there had only ever been feeble torch light.  And what did I find?  Well I knew there was some rot in the floor but courtesy of the Brico family I saw the light.  Our floor is split into 3 sections with the mid section supported on big steel I beams at both ends.  Each end section of the floor is supported on the I beam at one end and into the wall at the other.  Here is were the problem lies, about half of the bits that go into the wall are rotten, some badly others not so but for the sake of it we will be replacing all the joists from I beam to wall, about 11 on each end of the house.

The news isn't too depressing though, the oak floor boards are still in very good condition except the clown that tried to level the sagging floor with self levelling screed but this shouldn't be too bad to clean off and we will be buying a floor sander to take with us so if worst comes to worst we can turn the boards over and sand them back.  The timber won't be too expensive as they are all 3 meter lengths, nor should it be too bad a job to sort, I reckon a week should get the living and dining rooms done. 

Then there is the kitchen!  New floor needed, the idiot with the screen apparently also had a concrete mixer that mixed magic concrete that can levitate, he laid 5" of concrete onto a totally rotten floor, it's a miracle it hasn't fallen through with all the extra weight.

So, that's the bad news and in all fareness, I don't think its all that bad, probably 2 weeks extra work and about 1k euros to sort, at least I will have something to do AND I will know it's done right, nothing better that doing a job and seeing it perfect afterwards eh?

The good news is everything else is in damned fine shape, there is a bit of render to either remove or repair and there are a few timbers to replace in the roof but generally the roof is very very solid.

And now the great news.  Julie got offered a job whilst we were there by the new Dutch owners of our hotel so we shall have an income of sorts.  And, the best bit, well for me any way.  I can insulate the loft easily, I have been dreading how I was going to do it but whilst there I found I can get into the loft space above the 3rd floor bedrooms and fill it with loads of lovely cheep insulation. 

So now we are home waiting.  We have been shopping and bought a van full of power tools, work mates, drills, saws, sanders , you name it.  Our unit looks more like a branch of HSS that a windscreen company now.  We also went to Home Base and bought enough R3.8 rated insulation to give us an 18" coating of warmth in the loft all for the miserly sum of £27, that's £3.00 for a 3 roll pack, bargain.

So to summarise, I was a bit gutted to see the true extent of the rot but am very happy with the rest of the house and can't wait to get stuck into the floors. 

April's just around the corner.  Bring it on.[:)]

[WJT]

Congratulations Crossv67!

Look forward to reading the updates.[:)]

[Renaud]

Fantastic news - congratulations.

Ps Changing your home insurance to something you actually want ain't easy. Remember to send a registered letter saying that you are going to change at least a month before it is due to expire.

[Northender]

Bon Courage!

Be careful when driving through customs the heavily subsidised loft insulation is for UK use only.

[just john]

[quote user="crossy67"]We're home.[:)] [/quote]

Congratulations and good luck, Might even bump into each other at happy hour one Friday night.

[quote user="crossy67"] the man had taken it with him to the Aubeterre branch, he was now in another branch miles away.[:)] [/quote]

Not that far! I'm just a bit past St Severin and on a good day cycle to Aubeterre for lunch, then after even cycle back[:)]

[crossy67]

Thanks for all the good wishes.

[quote user="Northender"]Bon Courage!

Be careful when driving through customs the heavily subsidised loft insulation is for UK use only.[/quote]

Top tip of the day, thanks.  I will have to get me some plain plastic packaging then[;-)]

John, I take it you mean happy hour at the Hotel Du France?  We stayed there, interesting place!  We will almost certainly meet up some time, I might even get some time to get back into my cycling.  We'll arrange something when we arrive.  Our house is the big dirty 3 story one on the crossroads opposite the Perigord (my French spelling is even worse than my English but I have no spell checker to hide behind, sorry).

[Gardian]

A narative that most of us can relate to in one way or another. Glad it went well. 

[just john]

[quote user="crossy67"]  interesting place!  [/quote]
you could say all human life is there![:)]
When do you expect to arrive? 

[crossy67]

Well, I am free of the shackles of a daily grind (and income) as of the end of March so soon as possible in April.

[AnOther]

Congratulations and I hope it all goes to plan.

I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm and excitement but just a word of caution regarding that job for your OH:

I don't know how your health care will be catered for, E106/S1 (if you're under state retirement age), E121/S1 (if you're over), private insurance if neither, but working here can have unforseen, far reaching, and irreversible consequences so be sure you know exactly what you are doing before jumping with joy at the prospect of a few unexpected Euros coming in. Plenty of advice here if you need it [;-)]

[PaulT]

[quote user="crossy67"]Thanks for all the good wishes.


[quote user="Northender"]Bon Courage! Be careful when driving through customs the heavily subsidised loft insulation is for UK use only.[/quote]

Top tip of the day, thanks.  I will have to get me some plain plastic packaging then[;-)]


[/quote]

Well done - you can now look forward to calculating the factor by which you were out in the costings for the renovations [:D]

As for the insulation, customs has never taken any notice when we have gone though - and we have taken insulation out. The price of it in France is something else!

Paul

[Cendrillon]

"The news isn't too depressing though, the oak floor boards are still in

very good condition except the clown that tried to level the sagging

floor with self levelling screed but this shouldn't be too bad to clean

off and we will be buying a floor sander to take with us so if worst

comes to worst we can turn the boards over and sand them back.  The

timber won't be too expensive as they are all 3 meter lengths, nor

should it be too bad a job to sort, I reckon a week should get the

living and dining rooms done. 

Then there is the kitchen!  New

floor needed, the idiot with the screen apparently also had a concrete

mixer that mixed magic concrete that can levitate, he laid 5" of

concrete onto a totally rotten floor, it's a miracle it hasn't fallen

through with all the extra weight.

So, that's the bad news and in

all fareness, I don't think its all that bad, probably 2 weeks extra

work and about 1k euros to sort, at least I will have something to do

AND I will know it's done right, nothing better that doing a job and

seeing it perfect afterwards eh?"

[Www]Whew! Good to be optimistic but the bits highlighted above might be a tad over optimistic. Never mind, where would we all be if we didn't have a positive outlook.

Bon courage et bonne chance. I am sure all will be well in the end . Keep us posted.

[Stan Streason]

I dont think I have ever seen a post which radiates such infectious enthusiasm.

Its not just a pile of poo - you have a pony in there somewhere!

Good luck 

[Babbles]

Great to hear someone making the move and full of enthusiasm, good luck they'll be times when you wondered why you did it but when the jobs are all done it will be worth it....... but don't forget to enjoy it as well on the way.

[crossy67]

Thanks Babbles[:D]

Cendrillon all I need to replace to get the living and dining room flaws right is about 20 175x75x3000mm floor joists, no biggie and once I get stuck in I really do get stuck in. I have had a look at timber in a Brico Dpo and they are on parr with the UK so no more that E300 to do the main floors then what ever it takes to do the kitchen.

A trait of mine, I am afraid is that once a project is on the go I can't sleep or think of anything else until it's finished.  Bloody annoying trait it is too, if I have an idea I will not sleep for days until I have either proven or dis-proven it I just lye awake planning.  The kitchen is more of a weeks work on it's own.  Repairing the damage done to the walls by removing the old skirting is another job![:D]

[NuBeginnings]

Congratulation and well done, I know exactly what you mean when you there is no stopping you once you get stuck in

I am the same look forward to reading your updates

[Chancer]

[quote user="crossy67"].

A trait of mine, I am afraid is that once a project is on the go I can't sleep or think of anything else until it's finished.  [:D]
[/quote]

Tell me about it!

Nearly 6 years now that I have rarely slept fully!

Regarding the earlier advice re customs and bringing over subsidised insulation, its very rare I resort to words like this except face to face with someone, but that is total rubbish.

There is no duty payable or any problem at all about bringing over shed-loads of it and even reselling it should you wish, look on Ebay.fr or LeBoncoin and you will always see it.

It is subsidised as part of British Gas, Eon, EDF, Enron n'importe-qui's carbon offset, ie encouraging people to top up their insulation will reduce the usage of fossil fuel, yes British Gas did eventually start writing things like "maximum 10m2 per customer, not for trade use, for UK use only" but that dont make it law and the sheds are only selling it to get punters through their doors.

Unless I have missed something we all live on the same planet and if I reduce my energy consumption in France or the UK the benefit is the same.

Unless of course global warming is subject to the same border restrictions as the Chernobyl fallout was [:D]

[crossy67]

Thanks for that Chancer, I was going to try stuffing it all in our wardrobes then padlock them shut lol.  I am off to buy some more later today if I get a minute.  They did say a maximum of 12 rolls per person, good job I have lots of family[:D]They also have low energy light bulbs for 10p each, I am going to stock up on them whilst we are there.  We got one of those energy usage meters, we now live in the dark, I can't believe the energy candescent lamps use, especially when you have 6 spots in the kitchen and 3 in the hall etc.

[PaulT]

Do not think the DIY shops are interested in policing this so have as many rolls as you like.

It also seems to have changed from one load and when it has gone it has gone to available all the time.

Paul

[Chancer]

Probably getting towards the end of the financial year when they either have to pay a carbon tax, subsidise insulation/compact flourescent bulbs or send them to Bolivian families that have no electricity!

I bought a couple of boxes of the 10p C.F.'s they were Phillips and identical to the ones being sold in Super-U supposedly subsidised at €8.10, France has a little bit of catching up to do IMHO, the system of tax credits for artisan installed insulation is just a license to rip people off.

Re transporting the insulation, when I brought over my Esterel caravane rigi-pliante which cannot be towed erected unless at walking pace on a smooth and level camp site, I decided to erect it and stuff it full of insulation to avoid another journey in the hope that being solidly packed it wouldnt self destruct on the autoroute, it just about worked.

[crossy67]

What lamp fittings are most common in France?  I have had a look and bayonet (would make sense being a French word) seems to be the most common but that is only in our old house.  What have you lot got?

[Chancer]

If a property is very old and unrenovated then there will be mainly B.C. fittings.

Newer homes are mainly E.S. sorry cnt give you even a rough date from when.

Most purchased light fittings will be E.S.

And just to add confusion any new homes with or without DCL fittings (they should have DCL) will have temporary (often left permanently) bayonet cap douilles hanging from a piece of flex as for some reason they are far cheaper for the electricians.