Monthly Archives: May 2007

Builder

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The local builder arrived today at the house to give me a quote for some of the building works. There are some things I'd rather leave up to the experts, like roofing, laying a new concrete floor with the drains and septic tanks.

While we were talking about the flooring I asked about the cost of digging out the existing floor in preparation for laying the drains and stuff. His guess was about 5000 euros! The explaination was that because the doors are too small for a mini-digger and it boils down to man-hours. He did suggest that I could do it myself and leave the spoil in a pile and they will remove it when they come for the septic tanks. It's something I'll have to think about.

I asked about prices for 2 new openings at rear for windows and again it depends on man-hours. For the builders it is quicker and easier to use granite corner stones and a lintel to build up the window. But of course the granite costs more than just using the existing stone. If I want to save money on the granite then it's extra man hours to build up the window slowly with the old stone.

The recurring theme seemed to be, materials are cheaper than men

So, I'm getting him to quote for a new roof, dalle (flooring) with the pipework for the waste and for the installation of the septic tanks.

Should have a quote in 15 (quinze jours) days, but they always say that.

Printing the finished plans

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Phew, I've finally finished my plans but I needed to print them on A3 because they are at 1:100 scale. I don't have an A3 printer so went into town to a print shop with Postscript 'print to file' output on a USB key but they didn't have a postscript viewer or anyway to print postscript. I thought all printers did raw postscript !!!

Ah well, a round trip back to Dinan after to converting the PS output to PDF and all was well.

I dropped the plans off at the architect with all the necessary photos for him to review before printing load of copies ready for submission.

Cadastrel plans error

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Whilst drawing the plans I noticed that the actual layout of the land did not seem to tie up completely with the cadastrel plan. There is obviously an old access with a wall and gate but on the plan it's outside the boundary on the plan by about 1-2 meters.

I spoke with the Notaire the other day about it and she phoned back to say she had spoke to the owners and the bit of land to the side has been used by them for at least 50 years. She is going to chase up the cadastrel planing people to get a rectification for the plan to include the correct land.

It is important, as I have said before, to get this right now. Fingers crossed.

It's a bit of a pain because part of the PdC requires a 1:250 scale drawing of the plot showing the house, access, septic tanks, boundaries, fencing etc. I've drawn my site plan (Plan de Masse) as it should be, let's hope it's not an issue. Fortunately the cadastrel plan is at a scale of 1:1500 so this is a little room for error/oversight !

Still finalising my plans

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I'm still busy drawing the plans in a 2D drawing package, QCad. Debbie and I have both tried various free and trial 3D house planning packages but didn't really get on with them. The American ones are very tied to Imperial measurements and even though they allow metric units the provided window, door, stair templates etc. are not standard French sizes. Other little anomalies just frustrated us. Google Sketchup was fun and easy to knock up a 3D model and 'walk' through but couldn't seem to provide the 2D plans I needed.

Some of the packages we tried where,

your mileage may vary.

It takes ages, partly cos of the package and partly deciding the internal room layouts and what would be better in the French resale market. A general theme, talking to French buyers, is that a downstairs bedroom and if possible a downstairs bathroom are desirable. The thinking seems to be that people really buy for the long term and do consider living in the property in thier old age. It also more common in France that owners may have their parent(s) move in later in life (a granny annexe). I hope my Mother in law does not read this.

It is also common for the toilet to be separate from the bathroom and bidets (you know, those handy foot baths), are no longer fashionable

One also needs to bear in mind various electrical and pipework restrictions during the planning and the fact that there are sloping ceilings upstairs means that the placement of some items on the top floor is limited in height. For example a shower in the corner of the building doesn't really work.

One of the main things to be really careful is about getting the waste out (soil pipes) because water does not flow uphill! Well not without some help.

English speaking architect in Brittany

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With the help from a friend I have located an English speaking local architect. Because the completed renovation work will be over 170 square meters it is mandatory to have an architect in France. It is a perfectly understandable requirement but it does add quite a cost (about 2000 euros) and also a delay, because most architects have a 2 to 3 month waiting list and then (like the rest of France) everyone goes on holiday for August.

The great news is that he has looked over the plans I have drawn and is very happy with the quality and said he could just stamp the plans once they where tidied up then submit them along with the permis de construire, some photos and a covering letter.

This should save lots of time and some money and with luck I should be able to submit the plans within the next week or so and hopefully have them processed by the DDE before the August holidays.

Good news.

Septic tank soil study

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I had the soil study for the new septic tank done yesterday morning.

In order to get permission for a new septic tank (fosse septique toutes eaux) you must have a soil study performed.

The lady came to site and took soil samples using soil cores to check for permeability (i.e. no clay). She suggested that for two houses I would be better with two tanks and two soakaways (epandage). It is slightly more expensive but I would not be able to get planning permission for two houses unless they had their own separate sanitation systems. The levels where a bit tricky as the land rises slightly above the floor level of the house then drops away towards the bottom of the garden.

Hopefully we should be able to squeeze it in because there are restrictions about locating the tanks and soakaways near wells, houses and boundaries. It is possible that a sand filtration bed (bac-a-sable) would be required rather than an epandage if the ground is not porous enough. Hopefully a pump will not be required because they are expensive and break-down!!

I should have the results of the study within a couple of weeks and I'll provide more details about the regulations then.

DDE meeting

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Today was our visit to the free architect at the DDE (planning office) in Dinan.

Useful meeting. Very helpful.

We took before and 'mocked up' after photos along with some before and after plans.

The DDE suggested I submit a Certificate D'Urbanisme to determine if outline planning permission would be given to split the house into two separate logements. The CDU doesn't necessarily guarantee that the Permis de Construire (planning permission) will be granted but it's more likely and probably will happen a little more quickly. The CDU just lets you know if you can do what you want. For example if the CDU refuse making it into two properties then there no point in having two separate septic tanks. The downside is that the CDU takes about 2 months and the PDC also takes about two months!

Asked lots of general questions about the layout and look of the building. Generally as long as you keep the Breton style and proportions of the existing things, like doors and windows, then it is OK. I.e. retain the smaller slate sizes on the roof. Retain the brickwork where possible and do not have over large windows etc.

I can remove the horrible red brick 'castlelations' around the windows and change to plain stone or granite. At the moment they are all different patterns and colours and look inconsistent.

Window panes are preferred with the height of each pane taller than the width. Generally 6 panes in each window opening.

Because the total surface area is greater than 170 m2 I have to have an architect to draw the plans and submit them. Bit of a nuisance due to the extra cost and delay, but not unexpected.

I can't raise the height of the dormers (lucarnes). They generally are 3/4 below the roof line and 1/4 above. This is a bit of a shame because the higher they are the more light is let in.

If I get a permis de construire then I must start the work within 2 years. During the course of the work I can stop constructions for up up to a year. So she suggested I finish one then start the other within 12 months and then the 2 years continues.

Overall it was a very productive meeting and something I would recommend. Starting a dialogue with the planning office here saves time and prevents possible delays.