Running a Gite and Renovating in Brittany

All windows in place

It's taken a while but all the oak window frames are now in place. There is still a bit of stonework to do around each frame to ensure that they are secure.

The roofer was expected this week but because of the bad weather they should be here at the start of next week. Fortunately they can start on the back putting in the veluxes. That should give me a little more time to finish the window frames and fit the roof timbers.

I've ordered the five windows for upstairs which should be available for collection in two weeks. Once the roofers have finished I can fit the windows and see some real progress.

|   8:47:11 AM   All windows in place   

Two window frames installed.

Pictured right is the first window frame put into place. At the moment it is supported by scrap wood nailed and screwed to the floor and purlins inside. The silver metal brackets will 'bind' the frame into the stonework once it has been placed and built up around the frame. Positioning the frame was fairly tricky as they are heavy bits of wood and trying to juggle everything vertical and square took several attempts. I'm really glad I decided to use oak pegs on the joints for ease of assembly and dis-assembly!

The window is slightly larger than the original window, you can just see the original roofline behind. The extra height means you can see out of the window from the room without bending down, just. Planning restrictions meant I was limited to similar proportions to the old opening and three-quarters of the window had to be below the soffit. This was part of the reason for putting in new window sills, to raise the height, and retain the window proportions.

A second window frame in place with some stonework mortared into place. The stone is really only a facing as I will shutter up the rear of the frame and concrete the whole lot in to make sure it's secure. 

The guttering will be removed by the roofing company when they come and replace the roof later this week. I will have to construct the woodwork from the top of the frame back to the roof once the roofers remove the old roof.

One minor disappointment was that last night it rained heavily and a brown stain leeched out of the oak and ran down onto the window sill staining the edges. Not something I had anticipated, so for now I've put a couple of pieces of slate over the sill to try to prevent further staining.

brittany renovation

|   7:42:49 PM   Two window frames installed.   

Renovation tax

Bah, got an unexpected bill today for 400 euro for renovation tax !!

Two pages of explanatory notes and I'm still not much wiser what it's for. It's obviously triggered by the permis de construire (planning permission) and the price is based on the surface area of the construction or renovation.

Fortunately it's not payable until January 2009, yeah, like I'm going to remember to pay a bill in 18 months time.

|   8:15:56 PM   Renovation tax   

Window frames

Work has started on the window frames this week. At the moment I've just got some large holes in the wall upstairs ready for the dormer windows. All the window sills have been fitted and the idea is that the window frames I am making will sit on the sill and then the stonework can be rebuilt back upto the frame. The window is the fixed to the inside of the frame.

Most of the houses in this area of Brittany use granite sets to frame the windows and doors. It looks great but would get very expensive in my case because I would want to add granite to every door and window. The other alternative is just to use the existing stone to form the window opening, but it's very time consuming and difficult to form a square edge with the stone I have on site. The compromise I have come up with is to use local oak beams to create the window opening then rebuild the stone us to the edge of the frame.

I bought eight lengths of 3m x 100mm x 200mm oak beams and this is what I am using to create the window frames.

Each of the windows to be fitted are 80cm wide by 135cm tall and will be fixed to the inside of the frame. French windows all open inwards so the actual window is about 5cm wider and 4cm taller to overlap my oak frames.

Hopefully this will become clearer once they are in-situ.

The sections shown above are 145cm long with the top section 100cm. Once they are assembled with a simple joint it leaves the correct size opening. Each of the top corners will be drilled and pegged. I expect to use about a 15mm hole then fashion the pegs from some of the oak offcuts.

At the moment each frame is taking about 2-3 hours to make because none of my tools are quite big enough to handle the wood. All the joints and chiselling are being done by hand.

One frame done, just another four to go !

brittany renovation

|   8:15:17 PM   Window frames   

Another door and two windows finished.

Whilst I've been working on the right hand side door and window I have also been progressing with the left hand door and window. The process has been very similar. I wanted to replace the old concrete lintel because it did not look safe as bits of concrete were crumbling and you could see old rusty pieces of ironwork had 'blown' the concrete. Also the door was very low, 190cm, and this was a good opportunity to raise the door height to a more standard 200cm.

I'm not terribly keen on the red brick, but having had the experience of rebuilding stonework I have decided to leave it alone. It's just too large a job. Most of it will be covered up by window shutters anyhow.

So, all my five upstairs windows now have new window sills at the correct height for the floor and are ready for the new oak window frames.

That's next weeks job, before the roofer comes, to build the window frames.

brittany renovation

|   4:01:13 PM   Another door and two windows finished.   

Door and window completed

Now that the new oak lintel has set it was time to remove the back half of the wall and the other internal rotten oak lintel. The internal lintel needs to be al least 4cm higher than the external one because you need clearance for the door frame and to be able to lift the door on and off the hinges.
Another acroprop for support now that the stone has been removed all the way through. The photo also shows the clamps holding on the shuttering ready to pour the new internal concrete lintel.
A view of the shuttering from the inside. The little blue clamps on the right are very handy. They consist of a 'loose' arm on a spike. The spike is just hammered into the wall between the stones and then the arm slides up to the  workpiece. Tapping the arm locks it into place.
The shuttering now removed after leaving it all to set after a long weekend. The wood below the concrete is the inside of the new oak lintel.
A little more work to build up the outside stonework and place a new window sill in place completes the job. The new stonework looks out of place at the moment because the old stonework has been pointed with a cement mixture and spread over the edges of the stone. This is going to be removed eventually to expose the stone and then the whole lot will be repointed with a lime mortar.

brittany renovation

|   8:50:40 PM   Door and window completed   

Septic tank and well location

A while ago I got my permit for the septic tanks based on the soil study performed back in May. Before the study we had a meeting at the DDE (planning office) and one of the options I asked about was selling the bottom of the 80 meter long garden for a building plot. The DDE said that the bottom parcel of land was designated agricultural and I would never get planning permission for it. Because I couldn't build on the land I took the option to site the septic tank soakways down the bottom of the garden and because of the slope it meant I didn't need a pump. The garden rises very slightly before falling away. I wasn't that keen on the extra expense of two pumps and the potential for failure. I also knew from having a previous spetic tank installation that the soakaway had to be at least 35 meters away from a well. My well is fairly close to the house. So based on the lie of the land and the location of the well the soakaways ended up nearly 60 meters from the house.

Since then I have spoken to several friends who remarked that it seemed a shame to 'waste' the bottom of the garden and actually the pumps aren't that expensive and rarely break down. The company that came to give me a quote for the septic tank installation also mentioned that having the soakaways so far away did leave the potential for any blockage in the long pipe runs. However like me he agreed that the 35m restriction with the well did limit my options.

Fortunately I bumped into someone the other day that builds houses in France and they mentioned that they managed to get planning permission on agricultural land, but it did take loads of applications and several years. Because of it's potential value I shouldn't give up. Just keep trying.

Obviously I couldn't do anything with the land with two soakways buried just beneath the surface so Debbie phoned the SPANC (Service Public d'Assainissment Non Collectif) to see if there were any options to get around the 35m well restriction. The good news is that they have sent me a form to sign and return in which I have to declare that I will never use the well for drinking water, only for watering the garden, and then I can put the soakaways closer to the house so freeing up the bottom of the garden. Along with the form I need to return a modified plan showing the new location of the soakaways and new pumps.

Result.

|   7:49:53 PM   Septic tank and well location   

Some progress on the new openings

I've finally started rebuilding some of the demolition work from the last week or two. The rotten lintel that I discovered earlier in the week has been removed along with the stonework above. The concrete window sill above is also due for removal and replacement. The bad news is that the interior lintel is also rotten so thats also got to go. I've only taken the front half of the stone out which will be built back up first before removing the inside stonework.

In with the new oak lintel. It's actually a 'spare' 1.5m piece that was ordered for the window surrounds. Before placing the new beam I had to work out the new floor level and ensure that beam was at the correct height. The current opening was only 194cm above the existing floor, so with a little packing it has been raised to 205cm. According to the catalogue the replacement doors are either 200cm or 215cm high. I am going to use the 200cm doors, so the extra few centimeters allows me to raise the floor slightly and ensures that floor in the room next door is on the same level. Not having a laser level handy I had to revert to a good old fashioned length of tube filled with water.

Once the oak had set for a day or two I've built up the front face of the building over the lintel with stone recovered from bashing out another opening. Finding nice bits of stone the correct shape and size took absolutely ages. I must have spent several hours rumaging through piles of stone looking for suitable bits. Once this stone has set I can remove the inside stone and then cast a new interior lintel with shuttering and concrete. Because the outside lintel height has been raised I also have to raise the interior lintel otherwise once the door is fixed to the inside face of the oak the door cannot be lifted on and off the hinges.

brittany renovation

|   3:35:06 PM   Some progress on the new openings