 Some advice to help you in the process of buying or renovating in France
Some of the pitfalls you may encounter during the buying and renovation process.
In France the construction methods used are quite different from the UK . Farmhouses where built most often with materials closest to hand. Earth, small stones cleared from the fields, cow dung, straw, and terracotta tiles and pavings. Lime mortar rendering "enduit en chaux" was used to allow walls to breathe and damp proof course was not installed so water mounts the wall by capillary action. |
Things to look for when buying a property
This is earth mixed with cow dung and straw wrapped around wooden battens laid on the floor beams. It is normally found if there are exposed beams, with the terracotta pavers on the floor above.
It may be found in virtually all types of houses from townhouses to old farmhouses.
This type of floor degrades rapidly if moisture is introduced, for example a new bathroom. The floor also provides a haven for wood boring beetles .
There are methods of installing a new floor above this type of floor; however t he best solution is to remove this type of floor .
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Because the usual method of construction of walls in old farmhouses used materials at hand , the mortar used was earth , this bound together the stones gathered from the fields. This was then covered with a lime mortar rendering.
A more recent trend is to remove this rendering to have exposed stonework .
However the joints should be repointed with a lime based mortar , failure to repoint the joints leads to water ingress to the wall . The wall may swell causing bulging of the wall and because the stones are not bonded together in extreme cases parts of the wall can shear off . The process may take some time, however it is expensive to put right. |
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All the joints are earth in this wall. |
The same facade before the rendering was removed. |
In French "Assainissement des eaux usées"
Installation of a new septic tank
Creation of filtration bed
This subject is becoming very important when buying a house, particularly if you wish to renovate the house and need a building permit.
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In France there is a new law regarding the disposal of sewer water, the implementation of this law commences in 2005. Basically either the house is connected to a communal system, in French ''raccord avec le tout-à -l'égout'' normally in or very close to an urban area or an individual system in the countryside. Normally the type of system should be indicated on the property sale documents, however if not, one way of checking is to ask for a copy of one of the water supply bills.
If the house is connected to a communal sewage system there will be a charge for assainissement, if not, the house is not connected.
In most older properties in the country side the sceptic tanks do not conform to the law of 2005. The new law requires that there is a ''fosse toutes eaux '' with takes discharge from the toilet, sinks, showers as well as the kitchen. The minimum size is 3000 litres and it increases in size as function of the number of bedrooms. The law also requires that there is a dispersal zone after the tank to filter the waste called a ''zone d‘épandage''.
However the implementation of this law varies from commune to commune. But if you renovate your house and require planning permission, most will make it a condition of awarding the building permit to upgrade the septic tank to the new regulations . |
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