Running a Gite and Renovating in Brittany

New slate roof quote

After quite a bit of chasing and waiting I've finally got a quote for the new roof that I have agreed. It has come in a little more than expected, but frankly I'm not that keen on heights and don't really fancy doing the job myself.

The roof is 266 square meters and the total cost comes in at 19,000 euro. That is over 71 euros a square meter. It is slightly deceiving because people give you ball park figures and say things like 'oh it will be about 40 euro/m2' etc. However this figure usually ignores the 'incidental costs'. For example, on the quote the cost of supplying and fitting the slates, batons and hooks is only 33 euro/m2, which sounds very reasonable, but then once you add on,

• Demolition and stripping the old roof
• Replacement of soffits and rotten timbers
• New zinc guttering and downpipes
• Supply and fit 6 Velux windows
• New ridge tiles
• Flashing/waterproofing around the four chimney stacks
• Extra labour for the 4 dormer windows (lucarnes)

the cost creeps up. It is possible to save some money (3,500 euro) by stripping the roof myself, but I don't really want to take to risk of leaving the roof open for a long period, or even worse a lengthy stay in hospital. There was also the option to source most of the materials myself (wood, slates, hook, guttering etc.) , but again transport is a problem and there is always the danger of buying too much or too little.

On a side note, I did opt for the slightly cheaper slate. Originally I wanted traditional slate but that adds about 20 euro/m2 to the price, so I chose reconstituted slate with a 'natural texture' that looks almost as good.

The roofer is due to start at the end of September so I need to make sure the lucarnes and oak window frames are in places ready for then.

brittany renovation

|   2:43:45 PM   New slate roof quote   

Next lucarne

Yesterday and some of today I finished clearing out the old concrete sill of the fourth lucarne. It also meant removing quite a bit of stone to get back to a point were I can start rebuilding to a level ready for the window sill.

This afternoon I started the same process on the last lucarne but noticed this rather scrappy piece of wood stuck over the door lintel below the window. Removing the wood revealed a very old and rotten door lintel. There seems little point in not sorting this problem out at the same time as the window sill above. If I try and doo it later I will most probably disturb the sill above removing the door lintel.

The photos show the problem, so I've braced the window above to prevent the side collapsing in when the door lintel is removed. Once the lintel is replaced I can rebuild the stone up to the correct height ready for the window sill.

brittany renovation

|   5:52:11 PM   Next lucarne   

Delivery of materials

My delivery of stuff I ordered from Point P last week turned up today.

One thing to be aware of is that on the delivery note I have paid a deposit for the pallet that the breeze blocks were delivered on. I need to take it back at some stage to get my 20 euros back.

At the moment I only need to oak beams to make the window frames, the rest of the stuff is for the flooring but as noted before ordered at the same time to save on delivery costs.

brittany renovation

|   5:44:09 PM   Delivery of materials   

Limited progress on the lucarnes

I haven't made much progress on the dormer windows this week because I've been rushing around planning things, getting quotes, materials and tools along with entertaining the kids over the weekend.

Transport is my biggest issue at the moment. I used to have a Peugeot Boxer van which was fantastic. If you needed anything you just went to the builders merchants and chucked it in the back of the van. Unfortunately the van was sold, and now I have to ask friends for favours or get stuff delivered. For example I had to borrow a van to go and buy a concrete mixer. It just takes up a lot of your day.

I have put a tow-bar on the car, but as yet have not found a trailer at a good price, and anyway lots of stuff is too big for a trailer.

Obviously to save money on delivery it's better to order a lorry load of stuff, so I've been round to two local builders merchants get get quotes for all the materials to finish the windows and start replacing the concrete floor. The more you order the bigger the discount you get.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing I've ordered the oak beams (poutre en chene) for the window surrounds (450 euro per cubic meter) the window sills (appui de fenetre), polystyrene sheets for underfloor insulation, the plastic waterproof membrane, metal grill for the concrete (trellis soude) and various bits like soil pipes, lengths of wood, breeze blocks (parpaing) and cement. Hopefully enough to keep me going for a while.

As you can see below, I have put one window sill in place and started to knock out the red brick surrounds on the existing windows ready to replace them with the oak window frames.

brittany renovation

|   6:04:23 PM   Limited progress on the lucarnes   

New dormer window

This week my task is to start fixing up the dormer (lucarne rampante) windows upstairs because the roofer is due, fingers crossed, at the start of September. There is not a lot of point is having a new roof built around the current lucarnes. At the moment they are all different heights and widths and have inconsistent styles. Some have red brick pillars and others stone or wood. Some have concrete sills and others have brick sills. You can see here the inconsistency.

To tidy things up I have decided to frame each window with an oak frame and use a pre-cast window sill. I've choosen the grey version. I bought one yesterday and just dry fitted it into place to see how it looked and how the window would sit on the back edge of the sill taking into account the width of the wall. At the moment the top of the current sills are at the same level as the floor, so, because French windows open inwards, any floor covering would foul the window opening. Adding this new sill provides extra floor clearance (about 10cm) and helps to lift the whole window allowing more light in.

The windows are going to be 80cm wide and sit on a 90cm wide sill. The window will then be framed with a 10cm by 20cm oak frame on two sides and the top. The window will be fitted to the back of the oak frame.

I also need a new lucarne for one of the bedrooms so today I took the bull by the horns and started making the hole in the wall for the window. The walls are about 60cm thick but only stone and mud, so no real need for power tools. It was very easy because I was starting from the top of the wall from inside using just a coal chisel to loosen the stones and pulling the wall out by hand. The amount of stone that comes out is suprising. I think the pictures tell the story.

brittany renovation

|   5:22:45 PM   New dormer window   

Sandblasting finished

We have been sandblasting (sableuse) the beams in the house today. I'm absolutely knackered, last time I did it I was knacked then, but I guess your body forgets pain.

The equipment was hired from Loxam and came on a lorry Wednesday morning. They supplied a monster compressor, the sandblaster, the protective helment, spare washers and helmet visors and 45 sacks of sand
on a pallet. The plastic visors and the sand was on a sale or return basis.

The sand used was a fine grade (marked 50/80 on the sacks) and we used 36 sacks to clean approximately 90 meters of beams. The beams with several coats of gloss paint on them were tougher than the ones stained with years of smoke and open fires etc. The plastic visor on the helmet has to be changed every 4 sacks or so because it becomes opaque with all the spray back. By standing slightly further away and trying to angle the nozzle slightly you can prolong the life of the visor a little.

One thing that was explained by the hire shop was that they consider one day is 8 hours. The compressor had an engine hours meter, so you can't just hire for two days then blast away through the night or over a weekend to 'get your moneys worth'. As it turned out, at the end of today we phoned to say we'd be finished by 17:00 and could they come and collect all the stuff. Well they can't come until Monday but will only charge for 2 days. I've got a few bags of sand left on the pallet and about 3 engine hours left, but to honest I just can't face it anymore.

I didn't clean the underside of the floorboards because they are most probably going to be painted cream, otherwise I think too much wood can make the room too dark.

|   9:43:05 PM   Sandblasting finished   

Preparation for sandblasting

Debbie and I spent the day getting the walls and beams ready for sandblasting.

The two walls I want to keep as exposed stonework were covered in a mud and straw render with some parts rendered in a horrible 'concrete' type render. The problem with any type of cement covering is that it traps any damp and prevents the walls from breathing. That is why they use lime mortar and render because older houses do not have a damp proof course. Stripping the render back to the stone was just a matter of chipping away with a hammer whilst trying not to mark the stonework. The more mud removed now the less dust when sandblasting.

The beams are in various states of uglyness. One room has the beams painted with brown gloss paint. I just hope the sandblaster can shift it. In another room the beams had been painted but it looked like with a 'lime' wash. Most of the paint has fallen off but the beams look very stained from soot and tar from the open fire. Also someone had tried to tidy up the beams by filling the gaps between the top of the beams and the floorboards with a cement mortar. That all had to be excavated.

To make life a little easier an internal partion wall that was not required was also removed. Apart from the rubble clearance it was only a 10 minute job because it was built of hollow terracotta clay bricks. I just bashed out the bottom of the wall with a sledge hammer and gave it a sharp kick. These red bricks are something they use quite a bit here and I have seen them used alot in Spain. Personally I don't like them because they sound very hard and echoey.

I was hoping to have the sandblasting equipment delivered tomorrow but on the way home to arrange it I found out that the hire shop has run out of sand. He said that he can get a pallet load from Rennes tomorrow then I should be able to start work on Wednesday.

brittany renovation

|   8:51:55 PM   Preparation for sandblasting   

First day at work and video tour.

Oh my god, what have I done !!!! In the cold light of day it looks very daunting. Just for fun I've knocked up this quick video tour of the house before renovation starts.

Anyway in a situation like this demolition is always a good stress reliever. So goodbye to the wooden green partition wall, goodbye to some rotten woodworm planking upstairs and goodbye to the corner of the concrete floor. I just wanted to see how thick the concrete was before deciding on a mini-digger or doing the job by hand.

|   8:40:51 PM   First day at work and video tour.