New House Adventure

It is in 53 Mayenne

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Looks like a great house - full of potential.
Glad to see that yours has lots of the original features left (tiles, ceiling roses, fireplaces etc).
Unfortunately the previous owner of mine attempted to turn it into a Barrattā€™s box and its cost tidy sum ripping out his efforts and restoring period fittings.

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Congratulations, it looks really lovely! I look forward to reading your updates.

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It does, indeed look as though it is going to be magnificent when ā€œdone upā€.

Wasnā€™t there mention of dry rot though?

surelyā€¦ nothing is dry at the momentā€¦ all this rainā€¦ :upside_down_face: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
(sorry, itā€™s been a long day and I couldnā€™t resist thisā€¦)

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When we moved in the house had been closed up tight for the best part of the year and was full of flies, mites and other beasties. Took a couple of weeks to get rid of them all.

The other issue that we had, was that the previous owners had blocked up all of the cellar vents causing the damp to become trapped. BTW, there is a very knowledgeable chap ā€“ Peter Ward ā€“ who has some excellent videos on YouTube concerning damp.

Donā€™t know whether this will be of interest to you (or anyone else reading this thread in the future), but we used Hudson Reed to obtain cast-iron look alike radiators and period bathroom fittings. Victorian style electric towel rails had to be imported from the UK (company was Sol*Aire), an electric column radiator from NWT Direct Ltd, oak toilet seats were from Plumbworld. We managed to find replacement ceiling roses and coving at Mr. Bricolage. Ceramic ceiling roses were sourced from Les Ateliers de Marinette in Lyon https://www.ateliers-marinette.fr/en/decoration/ceiling-roses/

Period electric switches and sockets are available here:

www.heure-industrielle.com

I think that our biggest expense has been the electrical work ā€“ well in excess of 10,000 euros. We had all the shoddy wiring ripped out, as far as possible put double sockets with in-built USB chargers everywhere. Also took the opportunity to run network cabling through all 4 levels. Nearly forgot to mention the extractor fans for the bathrooms ā€“ not a small job when the walls are a metre thick.

As for reference books, these were invaluable in trying to learn about an old house:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0857338455/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1526201410/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0715327801/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0711227721/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SLTJV2U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Hi I am slightly confused as you talk about mĆ©rule in the plural and refer to an infestation as if it were an insect but it is a fungus, dry rot (a misomer as thereā€™s nothing dry about it) also known in French as la lĆØpre des bĆ¢timents. I hope you have not been misled as to what the problem is.

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In spite of the 12Ā½Kā‚¬ extra cost, you still seem to have bagged a bargainā€¦

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That is a brave comment Brian!

All building work here costs a fortune but donā€™t be caught up in developing for a potential profit (as unlikely to materialise) - do it because you love the house.

(I do understand however that by acquiring the house at a good price that in the event you have a complete change of mind that the financial risk is a little less)

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just be prepared to bend with situationsā€¦ let your dreams evolveā€¦ and all will be well.

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IMO Dick Strawbridge has a lot to answer for :flushed: Je te souhaite bon courage et bonne chance Brian. :crossed_fingers:

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I know what you mean but ā€œA Place in the Sunā€ and similar were going well before Mr Strawbridge decided to part fund the renovation of his new chĆ¢teau with a bit of telly.

and during the lock down he came up with the idea of a new programme series - Make Do and Mend but I think that was scuppered by dear old Aunty Beeb by starting a new series with Jay Bladesā€™ Home Fixā€¦