We Are Weatherproof

The confidence expressed in the last posting has been met, sort of! We have just returned from a short visit to Arné and as the pictures above demonstrate we now have a complete roof over the whole of the house so it is now weatherproof and the inside can really dry out. But as you can see from the picture of the back there is no window in the roof; neither a dormer, which is what the plans demand, nor a velux, which is what Jean Claude says we can get away with. It is also the case that the internal structure holding the roof up at the north eastern end has not been altered radically. Which means that we have a real problem with the levels inside the house, and if it stayed that way we could not put in the rooms that we plan. We spent a very worried 24 hours contemplating all this until I managed to talk it through with Jean Claude. He was quite insouciant – yes he knew that there were things that need to be done and he would do them in this way, etc. So no problems at all and we could stop our worrying.

With the roof in this state we can move to deal with the inside now and we have started to demolish the wall to create the large room at the south western end of the house. Not as easy as it sounds as concrete has been used quite extensively and therefore a great deal of effort to achieve little change – you can see the position as we left it in the third picture above.

Jean Claude will take on the next phase of construction which entails clearing all the floors in the south western part of the house, building a wall to replace the earth wall that has fallen down (see the post for 28 February 2007), forming the upstairs’ bedroom and en suite and the downstairs’ loo and putting in all the widows and doors. To that end we visited a builders’ merchant and bought 13 windows, two sets of external glazed double doors, eight internal doors, two wash hand-basins and two loos. Given the speed at which Jean Claude works we fully expect that there will be a functional bedroom with loo and wash hand-basin by the time we arrive in early April.

That last comment is based on the fact that we also have received a permit to dig up the road to install the septic tank. The contractor who is to do all the installation wishes to do the work immediately, and indeed is due to start on Monday 17 March, as the local authority is planning to resurface the road at the end of March. Which means that we will be able to let the local authority’s workmen do the top surfacing which will save some money and effort. Together with the sewerage pipe work we shall also put in pipe work to bring the electricity supply under the road and put in a pipe in case France Telecom also wishes to go underground. For this latter we visited their offices and it would appear that a connexion might be made above ground, but we are taking no chances in putting the pipe under the road.

So considerable progress this time and we feel very confident that we shall have a habitable house in time to face the rigours of winter.

Quickening Pace

As planned we returned to Arne towards the end of January for a two week visit. After the pictures we had received from Jean Claude we were expecting great things and we were in no way disappointed. The pictures at the top of this post clearly demonstrate the great change that has been wrought to the roof. And what’s more given the good weather that has persisted in Arné over the past week it’s more than likely that the uncovered portion has now also been completed.

This leaves about a quarter of the roof still to be stripped out and replaced, but this is much the most difficult part of the job to be done. There are real problems with how to span such a large area, how to deal with the different levels between the house roof and that of the barn with which it interlocks and all of this affects, and is affected by, the issue of getting the heights for the ground and first floor right so that they ‘work’. Jean Claude is absolutely confident that he can sort all of this out and we have decided that we shall ‘go with the flow’ of the solutions that he works out – we’ll make the internal arrangements fit in with however the structure that emerges allows.

We also now have electricity on site. This was organised just as we were leaving last time and it was good to be able to disconnect from our very helpful neighbours and use our own supply. But it might not have been! For some reason EDF had a contact address for me in the next village and so letters that were sent to me demanding that I pay for the connexion costs did not reach me. It was only when we arrived back in Arné that I found out that EDF were proposing to cut off the supply over non-payment of their bill. The local EDF office only opens on Wednesdays between 9:00 and 11:45, so we went along at 11:00 to try to sort out the problems. To no avail though. We had been warned that EDF take an entirely capricious approach to business and are regularly uncontactable and this was the case. The gates were firmly locked and there was no one to be seen so we failed in this attempt. By this stage the letters from EDF were threatening a specific date on which to cut the supply. So I wrote a letter enclosing a cheque to cover the bill together with proper details of my address and sent it off hoping that this would stop the whole process. On the day appointed for disconnexion no one from EDF appeared and they haven’t done so since. But neither have I had any form of acknowledgement of my letter from EDF, I just have to hope that all is now well and that in due course we’ll be properly billed for future costs.

Progress has also occurred on the septic tank front. I have had a devis – a quote – from another local builder which is acceptable. Under instruction from him I went to the Mairie and completed the paperwork necessary to obtain permission to dig up the road that runs between our house and our field. This will allow for the outflow from the septic tank to go into a filter bed. The idea is that at the same time as the road is dug up for this purpose we’ll also get the electricity supply put under the road as well as a connexion to the nearest telecoms post. If we are fortunate all of this might just happen prior to our return on a more permanent basis in mid-April.

Finally we spent our time working around Jean Claude – we cleared away the rubbish he generated whilst taking the roof to pieces as well as clearing out areas of the house that need to be prepared for the re-arrangements of the internal space we plan. An awful lot of rotten wood came out of the house and we had a bonfire going permanently for almost all of the fortnight we were there. The result is that great changes have happened on the inside such that it will be possible to pour the concrete pretty soon to form ground the floor in about half of the house.

So, we are feeling much more confident that we shall indeed be able to go out to France in early April and stay there on a permanent basis. This is based on the expectation that we can create enough habitable space in the house prior to winter. Watch this space to see if this is entirely misplaced confidence!

A Christmas Up-Date

We had not expected any need to post again until I returned to Arné in mid-January. However, we had an unexpected Christmas present in the form of an e-mail from our builder with several photos of the house attached; these are the ones posted above.

And you may understand our delight at receiving these as the progress made over the two weeks since we returned to the UK is very clearly visible. Virtually the whole of the western end of the house has now had the main structure of the roof rebuilt. The next step will be to put an impermeable membrane in place and then the laths on which the tiles will be laid. And then the tiles themselves can be laid – the new tiles have already been delivered to the house.

So at this rate of progress it would seem Jean Claude’s statement that this part of the roof will be complete by the time I make my January visit is likely to be fulfilled. And that will mean we have a dry area in which to start the next steps in the restoration.

Now it all starts!

Having agreed to a quote and a start date with our French builder we decided to return to Arné to celebrate the commencement of the work on the house. All the stories indicated to us that we might well find that the promises to start would be broken. But quite the reverse has happened. We arrived to discover that the work had already commenced; part of the roof had had the tiles removed. And promptly on Monday as promised Jean Claude appeared and continued the process of removing the tiles – the broken ones are thrown away and those that are complete are stored for use back on the restored roof, which will give it an old look.

The next day having completed the work at the front we set to and took down all the trees that grew close to the back of the house. The most difficult was the very large pine that can be seen in the original photos of the house in the earliest postings. But Jean Claude was not daunted and he got it down and then cut it up into useful slices which we have stored to the side of the garden at the back. We also had a bonfire to get rid of all the useless spare wood. The difference made by all these changes can be seen in the photos at the top.

And then the process of stripping off the tiles proceeded at the back so that in the end there were no tiles at the western end of the house. The next step though was far more difficult; the problem of the wall that’s falling down reared its ugly head. With the removal of the roof the strength holding the wall up would be significantly reduced with the very real possibility that it would collapse. So, Jean Claude jammed three acrow props against the wall – see the picture above – and then also put strengthening concrete with iron reinforcement at two places across the crack, the pictures above show this.

And then the weather intervened – rain is a problem for roofing as it makes all movement across the roof extremely dangerous. We went for a visit to Biarritz where the weather proved to be beautiful. And when we returned we discovered that despite the rain Jean Claude had actually continued with his efforts on the roof stripping away the wood. A further day’s work has resulted in all the western end of the roof being removed so that there is effectively nothing left except the walls – as the pictures demonstrate. The next step was to create a reinforcing ring beam of concrete at the top of all the walls prior to the process of rebuilding the roof. Jean Claude was able to do this across most of the front of the house before the weather once again turned nasty with high winds and lashing rain. It was fortunate that he had managed this part of the work as he had stated to me that this area of wall was wobbly and could come down in a storm – the concrete reinforcement held throughout three days of abominable weather so we are confident that progress will continue without a collapse.

Jean Claude stated that if the weather holds sufficiently then he confidently expects that the roof for this part will be fully renovated by the middle/end of January and we shall be able to commence the internal works on this part to make it habitable enough for our use. We shall see!!

The other bit of progress has been the provision by EDF of a temporary electrical connexion on the post nearest to the house. Howard the electrician contacted EDF and despite the recent strikes managed to make the necessary arrangements. The next step which he will undertake is for a cable to be run from this temporary box to a board in the pigsties allowing equipment, and possibly the caravan, to be plugged in. We left before this could take place as the weather prevented any work on the electrics.

Notwithstanding this somewhat doubting comment about the timescale for the completion of the roof, it has been so encouraging to be here and witness the progress being made so rapidly. And when the weather has been so good as it has been, it has served only to reinforce our view that this will be the most wonderful place to have as our home.

And now a Date!!

Having waited for what has seemed such a long time all is now progressing apace. I have accepted the Devis from Jean-Claude and today - Thursday 8 November – went with him to a builders’ merchant in Boulogne-sur-Gesse to set up an account. He will draw down the materials which he has identified, and which are therefore part of the account, and on a monthly basis I’ll be billed and have to pay within a month – all very civilised. And Jean-Claude has stated that he will start on site on Monday 26 November. Prior to that materials will be delivered and he now has a key to the padlock on the gate – he’s very concerned about the possibility that some of the material might be stolen and therefore wants the site to be as secure as possible.

I have, whilst all this has been going on, continued to try to clear the site of the rubbish/material that has come out of the house. The pictures above show the way in which I stored this material as it came out of the house and then the situation as it now stands. I’ve made numerous visits to the Dechetterie, almost becoming friends with the men who work there! Not the least reason is that I am still very poor at reversing my trailer into position to tip the material into the skips and they direct me with enormous patience so that I get it right ………… eventually.

I am to meet an electrician, whom I’ve met previously, on Saturday to discuss his involvement in the project. It will help enormously if he can at least get a temporary supply from EDF into the site, and he seems confident that this can happen. Hopefully we can agree an outline Devis for the work, though at this stage it’s difficult to be absolutely precise as decisions on exactly where sockets will go will emerge as the house comes together. But I think it will be possible to agree an outline of what we are to do and therefore the timescale and the costs.

After this meeting I shall return to the UK. And then we shall both return to Arné (leaving the puppy in kennels) to be on site when Jean-Claude starts the work. As I said to him we wish to be here to celebrate the actual commencement of the work which will eventually lead to a habitable dwelling. And we shall return to the UK some time pre-Christmas to have a family celebration of that event.

It should perhaps be noted that although I have been incredibly frustrated with the apparent slowness of the pace at which everything has happened, our experience is actually quite fast. Talking with a number of people here it is evident that there are people who have had to wait up to three years to obtain a Permis, and that hedged around with all sorts of restrictions. So we have been fortunate to have made the progress we have, though it has felt quite different experiencing it!

And now – a builder.

After all the time we’ve waited it now seems as if we might make some rapid progress; let’s not let hopes rise too far too fast! I have pursued some of the leads that I established over summer and have been visited by two of these. The second of whom showed up with a Devis – a quotation – which he had prepared in August, but didn’t pass on. I’ve seen the quality of his work on another house in the village and it is excellent so I would be happy to employ him.

More importantly he can start at the end of November and can cover all aspects of the tasks ahead of us in terms of roofing, masonry and flooring. And with all of this he’s also provided a very thorough Devis which gives a figure significantly cheaper than any we’ve had up to now. So all in all he seems by far the best option so I shall engage with him. And we can expect work to commence pre-Christmas which should mean that some protection will be afforded to the house before the worst of the winter sets in, which seems to happen here in mid-January.

With this progress achieved I shall now return to the UK for a couple of weeks to then return to Arné and be on site when the builder starts. I will also act as his labourer when I can – which offer surprised him. But it will help the work to go forward more quickly with an extra pair of hands and we want to feel directly involved in the whole project.

So, a very positive message at last.

A Permis …………………. at last!

[Three posts written but not put on the site owing to the difficulties of accessing the internet. I wrote them on my laptop and place them here now without alteration to demonstrate how the project has progressed.]

Well, it’s taken an inordinate time but at last we have been granted the Permis de Construire that we’ve been waiting for. We received a letter from the Mairie informing us that the Permis and its “arrêté” are awaiting us when we can collect it. Of course, the Permis is based upon revised plans which take into account the fact that we must not demolish the barn as planned and also that we cannot have four roof-lights at the back but just two dormers. Both of these will add to the costs of the renovation; but hey no matter, now we can start to think in terms of progress on the building.

So, back to Arné to collect the formal notification of the Permis. But life is now complicated by the fact that we have acquired a puppy and she requires rabies injections for her to be able to travel freely between the UK and France. This takes time to come into effect; and so Joanne has to stay in the UK to look after the puppy whilst I have come to Arné to try to engage with builders/roofers with the hope that I can get things moving prior to winter setting in.

And given our luck, or planning, or understanding of France it should come as no surprise that my arrival should coincide with a saint’s day holiday in France. The result of which is that no shops are open – dinner has been a sparse affair – and no one is available to talk to about the possibility of quoting for the work we want to have done.

Despite all of which, delight in the physical situation of the house is such that it doesn’t seem to matter. Take a look at the pictures above which demonstrate some of the beautiful scenery to see why we want to be in this house in this part of the world. Let’s hope that we can indeed persuade builders/roofers to do the work we want and let us start to enjoy the benefits of such a wonderful part of the world.