Dry wall partition solution

When we built our house in the UK nearly 25 years ago the first floor walls were constructed from timber studding with a plasterboard finish that gave us greater flexibility in the layout of the first floor bedroom wall positions but on the downside they are rather lightweight and have given very poor sound performance.

This time around we will be using a metal stud wall system which is lightweight, flexible and can be constructed to give an acoustic performance and a 30 minute fire resistance. One such product is produced by Knaufdrywall.By choosing  1 layer of 12.5mm Knauf Wallboard each side of 50mm Knauf  'C' studs at 600 centres with 25 Knauf Crown Acoustic Partition Roll within the cavity. This will give us a good sound insulation, impact resistance and versatility.

 

http://www.knaufdrywall.co.uk/home/index.html 

Water Water Everywhere

Our builder called us last week from France to say that the twelve continuous days of rain they have suffered has started to take its toll on our petite maison and that it is flooded out with rainwater because of the gaping hole in the roof, as can be seen from the photograph.

The worry being that the chestnut floor boarding will need to replaced if the water continues to penetrate the structure. Also the timber kingpost roof truss is being stained by the weather. We took the decision to carry out a repair on the roof even though at this point in time we aren't the legal owners of the house. However, we needed to protect our investment as our Compromis de Vente clearly states that the vendor cant be held liable for any deterioration of the property during the period that the Contract is being prepared .

As a matter of courtesy we obtained the permission of the owner through our agent Christophe. Unfortunately the work to repair the roof has been half completed as the heavens opened during the morning of the work. So once the rain stops, probably next week, the work will be completed and just maybe the flooring will have been saved.

 On the upside our builder told us that the views over the of the countryside is "stunning" when viewed from the tower scaffold, something we haven't seen as the grenier doesn't have windows at the moment. The builder said he would take some photos for us when he goes back up to complete the work. So when we get these we will post them on here. But for now we have posted what we have taken of the garden area

Building Jargon

I thought it was about time that I started to learn some French technical terms. I started to scratch around in the English/French dictionaries scattered around in the house but sadly found that common building terms such as damp proof course and chipboard just can't be found. Using on-line translation sites was equally frustrating. So I have compiled a list of sites that covers the majority of the words that I expect to come across.

http://www.livingfrance.com/france-property-building-and-renovation-in-france-building-and-renovation-in-france-useful-french-renovation-words-and-phrases--4533

http://riviera.angloinfo.com/countries/france/buildingjargon.asp


http://www.sextantproperties.com/buying-process/housing-building-terms

If anybody wishes to listen to french radio to brush up on their french & listen to some music and catch up on news there is an online station you can 'Listen Live' to.

www.frenchradiolondon.com

Fosse Septique Pt2

I have been talking to a Artisan that is looking at installing the fosse septique in our French Property. Things have become a little clearer in that I now know that the filter bed for a 4000litre tans needs to be 6m x 5m  ie 30msqm in plan (3m x 10m or 7.5m x 4m will just not do!). The filter bed needs to drain to water course or alternatively a 25m length of land drainage pipework. The filter bed must be covered in topsoil and cannot be trafficked over. Apparently the quality of inspection and interpretation of the rules governing installation of a fosse varies from region to region. Fortunately in the Charente the inspectors are strict. These installations are cheap so it has to be right and perform correctly so that's fine by me.

I hope to get some photographs of the actual  installation work so will post again soon

Non monsieur !

Little did I know that the French way of wiring up a property is totally different to how we wire a house in the UK. With the exchange rate with the Euro being lower than expected I had thought of buying all the cabling and fittings in the UK and then taking everything across to France for fixing saving a penny or two.No said the Artisan builder, it is not possible as we wire switches and fittings differently here and so your twin and earth cabling just isn't good enough.

In France the cables are always either single core or sheathed and have to be fitted in conduits for safety reasons and also so that they look presentable.In the UK we use a ring main system  but the French use a system of spurs known as a radial circuits. Wires come from the distribution box and each of these mains spurs is able to carry a maximum of 16 amps at 220 volts. An electrical plug does not have a fuse in it as the power outlet is protected at the fuse board.

Appliances such as washing machines, cookers, dish washers, water heaters are run on separate circuits. With wiring in France you’ll generally find that most buildings use a multi-junction-boxes and you must always make sure that the junction boxes that are used are accessible if needs be.

VN:F [1.9.5_1105]