Signed on 8 October

[Parrfam]

My husband and I signed for our property near La Celle Dunoise on the 8th.  We have asked for a devis from a local electrician for a re-wire and are hoping to arrange the same for a fosse septique.  Luckily, we have the services of a resident English chap nearby to liaise with artisans. We expect to be back in the spring to do lots of work ourselves, providing that at least the electricity is on etc....  Met an English couple, who have taken on the local auberge (very brave).  Are there any other people in the area?  We hope eventually to retire there plus may move in a few years' time but it depends on 'children' at university etc.

[essancee]

Congratulations on the new house - we bought a place just north of Aigurande in July - lots to do, but best thing we ever did. There seem to be lots of British folk around -  in our local supermarkets at least, and lots of friendly forum members too, in my experience. Best of Luck with the renovations! Steve and Carole

[Kent]

Hi there

We looked at a property at Celle Dunoise when we were house hunting - set up on the hill overlooking the lake. However decided on somewhere different in Fromental, which is near Bessines.

We have bumped into a lot of english and have made friends with lovely people who live near. The french in the village are also very friendly, helping out when they can and not laughing too much at our French.

We haven't made the move permanent yet - unfortunately - like you children in school and the need for an income in France prevent it at this stage but hopefully it won't be too far off in the future.

Good luck with the house - keep us posted as to how it all goes

Kate

[Paul_Gyn]

We've just signed for a house some 10 kms north of La Souterraine, if all goes well we'll get it at the end of march 05 (current owner wants time to try and find somewhere nearer the coast), so come the spring we may be able to swap notes about the difficulty in finding architects and artisans etc.!

paul & Gyn

[Kent]

Well I think we are sorted on the artisan front and also the gardening / security front so if you need any pointers give me a shout.

Kate

[Parrfam]

Many thanks for all the replies: hope all is plain-sailing for Paul and Gyn with the sale. It is very helpful to be able to swap ideas and information on the work involved in renovating, the surrounding countryside etc...  Presently, we are concerned that quotes for rewiring and a septic tank are going to be quite steep, and much higher, in any case, because we are English. Most of the other work will be carried out by ourselves (during the holidays !). My husband is a Plumbing and Heating Engineer in the UK, so we are fairly well-equipped. He has a carpenter friend, who is going to design an oak staircase , but I feel that the damp in the house ought to be dealt with before much else is done. Most artisans are not too happy to travel far, apparently, so I don't suppose recommendations are relevant(?). An architect won't be needed until we start on the adjoining barn - also when funds are available and that won't be until we decide to make a permanent move. My husband cannot speak any French, but I have been studying it with the OU, so at least I feel able to converse to extent. The previous owners invited us for coffee etc... and are very friendly - they were very keen to show us the boundary, despite the poor chap's dodgy knee and will mark it with stones. They also gave us a number (from the commune) for the door. It was interesting to hear that lots of 'Parisians' have bought up places in the surrounding hamlets, plus they told us the nationalities of some of our neighbours. They asked us where we lived in England so we have sent them a post-card of Dorset to thank them for their welcome. We managed only a few smalll repair jobs before leaving (and planted a few bulbs) - hope the tarpaulin on the bread oven roof will hold in the strong winds. This week I am going to look for people to give us a quote on the septic tank and just hope that the property really isn't sitting on a block of solid granite! Doing a letter and diagrams for the electrics was bad enough.......... Thanks again, we will, one day, have a house-warming and if any of you are around at the time, you're invited! The 'No Going Back' programme (Haute Vienne) was very watchable last night - it was staggering to see what some people take on as projects!  We are looking forward to exploring the area in between working on the house and so far know more about the southern part of the Creuse than Berry, which is so near to our house.

À bientôt!

 

Liz and Mike

 

[Paul_Gyn]

I'm intrigued to read that you assume the devis for the electrics and the fosse will be automatically higher because you're English. We've never got that impression from the artisans we've used on our Loire-Atlantique house: - certainly when we discussed the costs with our french friends there wasn't the raising of eyebrows and sucking of teeth that you might have expected had we been rooked - they certainly wouldn't hold back if they though we'd been taken to the cleaners!

We did feel that our rendering @ E7,500 was expensive, but that was because the builder we used (Hobson's choice as everyone had a 10 month waiting list) was generally recognised to be The Best (and therefore the most expensive) in the area.

Certainly it's more expensive to renovate than to new build but that's a different issue. I'd still rather use a genuine French artisan with suret number and 10-year guarantee than a cheap, imported, English builder who doesn't know the local building styles and customs etc.

I know from experience how TV bends the truth and re-orders things but even so, that couple last night did seem to have bought a very large pig in a poke didn't they? Still if they can get a huge mausoleum like that re-plumbed, drained, and re-wired for only 22,000E there's hope for us all ! Looking forward to next week's episode.

Do any other people feel they paid through the nose (with builders etc, rather than the purchase price) just because they were English ?

Is you 'resident English Chap' (1st posting) Charles Walker by any chance?

paul

ps don't try to spellcheck until you have finished writing; otherwise the damn thing pops up again after every 2 words typed!

[Kent]

We have found a good builder who has a  number of artisans that work for him and prices seem to be good. However when we recently added on some extra work to the current devis he had to sub-contract this out. The devis was way above where it should have been and we questioned the builder (well someone did on our behalf as we have had to return to england ). He apologised for the astronomical quote and has gone off to source additional labour.

Whether this quote was high because we are English or he was just chnacing his arm we will never know - but it pays to question the devis.

Kate

[Parrfam]

Actually it was our translator, who warned us, as she bade us goodbye after the signing, that we should be on the alert for higher prices because we are English.  We always keep an open mind and it is ridiculous to generalize.  Our carpenter friend and my husband work to the highest standards,but maybe many English tradespeople working in France are there for a reason.  It might be harder for them to earn a living in France and perhaps they cut corners?  We have been warned that their reputation isn't good. However, the staircase will be excellent and better than the 'off the shelf' Lapeyre ones. I suppose we could give the dimensions to a Menuisier as it may well turn out to be an expensive option because we will have to pay for his time out there and the fare as he lives in England.  He will be able to advise us on other matters, too, like the fitting of a kitchen, which is the same anywhere you go and he may well be making us the shutters as well.  We will be glad to use the French artisans and will use them as much as we can,  as  it  does  make sense.  In fact we know a young French lad (my eldest daughter's exchange partner from 6 years ago),who is training to be an electrician but he lives in the Vendée.  He  came out to stay with us in August to  practise his English.  They, apparently, have to learn all the technical words because all the instructions on electrical appliances are in English. Can you imagine that happening in England?? Our chap isn't Charles Walker, by the way, I won't name him (without his permission) here but he is doing a good job so far.  However, he has a concern about the electrics as he met the local electrician on site this morning and has emailed us asking us to  call tonight. Something to do with EDf apparently. Hope it is not bad news.

Liz