Good day all; This is my first post in the forums, my name is as above ( i hope, i won’t know until i see it i guess)…please bear with the following, i will have numerous Q’s, but not all in one post
I have been looking into the possibilities of buying in Northern - Western France - Normandy /Pays de la Loire areas - That is really a logistical reason of transport back to/from UK…
The question this time is regarding fosse septic…
Before buying a property, i need to know what i am getting myself into, if i buy property that is off mains drainage.
I have seen various threads, ( which has given me good indications of things to look for), but those that i find are a bit out of date.
What i need to know really are : what are my options for systems … and if anyone has links ( or names) I can have a look myself without being a burden.
I also understand some of them can be quite costly - so factor it in to how much to pay for a property, depending on what type of property you buy…ie total renovation, to partly done with a “working system”…
I have also read stories on here that point to drainage installs that reading between the lines have been installed by Cowboys…unless the “rules”/regs are not stringent enough… in this example, house pipework with no U bend traps from showers/sinks etc… but i guess that’s another topic
The average cost of a fosse is about 8-10k euros so factor that in with any offer.
Any house being sold that is not connected to mains sewage has to have a diagnostic undertaken:
If the diagnostic reports that there is no Fosse, or the one that does exist is not in spec you will have 1 year after the purchase of the property to build one or make the existing one conform.
In France, renovation can cost anything between 1500 € - 3000 € per sq metre. So for a 150 sq metre house account for anywhere between 225 K - 450 k Euros. Doing some work yourself will bring the cost down but major work should done with a qualified artisan.
Thanks for the info Mark, and had a look at the link… some more burrowing needed.
I’ll do a search for Micro Station, as i wondered if these were widely allowed now or not, as they seem to be “tidier”, and easier / cheaper to install maintain.
I can’t offer any advise on construction of a Fosse.
Controversial as this may sound to those here, for many reasons my rule number 1 when buying a house in France is to make sure it is connected to mains sewage.
Very few houses outside largish towns are connected to mains drains and consequently the subject of fosses turns up very frequently. Whenever a house is sold the nature and condition of its drainage system is inspected and reported upon. If a buyer isn’t happy with the report he has two choices, either walk away or use the fosse as a bargaining tool. If he chooses the latter and subsequently buys the property he will be given a time span to complete any upgrade needed. At that point I believe SPANC will become involved and after having a survey including a soil analysis the options will be listed. They may include a micro station but anything that relies on electric pumps is not recommended for a maison secondaire. Exactly what the specification required is and consequently the cost varies almost from property to property so generalisations are almost impossible. I can’t understand why a micro station would be ever be considered easier as the word micro is confusing, they are rarely that, and nothing could be simpler than a well installed fosse toutes eaux.
Thank you all for the inputs…besides wasting wine ( obviously a tasting session )…
I have maybe found a solution or two, of products that have been used ( not MS’s with electrics)…
regarding the buying of property either on mains drainage - or not… i guess that depends if you can get what you want within the confines of areas that have mains drainage. If you cant, then has to be as a calculated reasoning as you can make it.
The cost of a standard 3000l fosse with a filter bed is around 5-6k at most not 8-10k. As for renovation costs of 1500-3000 Euros per sqm, that would not make any project viable.
I think you will find if you google about and read the French renovation sites and also read the renovation type magazines in France that 1500-3000 euros is an accepted guesstimate for renovation. If I were to do another renovation that is how I would price up a property.
In terms of project viability, well I suspect a lot of people have learnt the hard way that renovation is not viable unless it is your dream or hobby.
Also, a fosse guesstimate on French websites is around the 7K mark…but that depends on so many different factors.
Having done two renovations for myself and overseen another ten for other people I tend not to rely on Google to work out the viability or cost of a project, obviously I’ve doing things wrong.
i think people can argue until they’re blue in the face on costs… but it is obviously subjective on what the required works entail, from a 150 sq mtr shell with no roof, bad wall, no sanitation… unless it had a gold mine within its boundaries, why would anyone pay 3k euros per sq mtr to have it done ?? doesn’t make sense.
Now turn that around for some quotes for a sanitation system, kitchen / bath, some decorating, window replacements for 30k euros total… for 100 sq mtr house is 300 p sq mtr is viable ( depending on purchase price)…
if someone quoted me 1500 euros per sq mtr ( total 150 k) to do the above, i would ask which banana boat did he think i came over on
It depends on where you start from (a shell which needs water, leccy and a fosse is obviously going to be more than somewhere with services but in need of a refresh) but our 150m² place had had about 50k€ spent by the previous owner which covered new roof, heating, bathroom, UPVC double glazing, exterior painting and interior decoration. We’ve added a kitchen and repainted maybe 60% of the interior (the quality of the work he had done was good but the colours, oh my the colours) and will not have spent more than an additional 10k€
Yes Paul, as regards the “renovate” / “refresh” - to be fair, what i intend to do would possibly be seen as a refresh.
I am looking at all sorts of properties…but a main priority is somewhere livable, and to the greater good, structurally sound ( not minding some small roof repair or damp proofing). The kind of things ( or combinations of), what i will take on, new fosse, re-plumb and rewire, windows, external render, internal plaster, kitchen / bathroom, general decorating… a lot of the last bits i would do myself; so you could see where the major costs would be.
Probably looking at a max 3 bed…even if it has space to internally fit out for more beds would leave it, as there would then be additional taxes…but if putting in a new fosse, may go larger than required for future proofing.
Lots of things to think of…
But yes, i have seen the decors and colours of property…Oh my word
across the terrace! 
