The protocol or what are we getting for the price

After the frantic year end discussions we received the final protocol in the first week of January and it was as agreed.  So, we now have a schedule of what will be included at a known and agreed price, though no doubt there will be other things that slip into the equation bringing the price up.

Financing the house

We are financing the house through the sale of properties that we own.  In the current climate this is not such a good idea as the prices of houses are dropping but as the English expression says

Beggars can not be choosers

The only problem is that the social charges in France have gone up from the first of January and also there is a requirement for an electrical check, also introduced on the first of January.  The social charge is now 12.1% in addition to the 16% capital gains tax making a total of 28.1% on the capital gain with most of the renovation costs excluded especially those that you have done yourself.  The net result is that we received a lot less for the sale of the house  than expected.  But, fortunately enough for the house if the costs do not rise too much.

The good thing though is that the house was sold to some nice people from the north of France.

On site meeting

The big day arrived on the 14 January when the representative of Schwoerer arrived on site to talk to the builder and public works man.
From La Garde

And here we all are in the fog and cold discussing the plans. In addition to the Schwoerer man the representative of Burkle arrived who are the company going to provide the basement. Fortunately we managed to find a translator who lives locally, as the Schwoerer man did not speak French!

It was clarified that the concrete raft would be built with an extension for the court yard and that this would avoid the need to build a concrete chunk of 5.9m x 0.75w x 0.45m as a frost heave preventative.  Both the French artisans were very clear that this was really over the top.

The drainage patterns were explained which was rather different from required by Schwoerer in Germany in that there is to be a diagonal pattern under the concrete raft in addition to the ring around the raft.

The mains drainage exit pipes came up again and this time it was finally agreed that they would exit through the wall at 40cm above the floor.

A new item also appeared that there was to be a 5cm screed to be laid on the floor of the basement though who was to pay for this is uncertain.

The Burkle rep.  also said that the we would need to provide a polystyrene layer outside the bitumen to avoid damage to the bitumen.  They can provide it but again at what price?

The electrical earth was also discussed and agreed that using the reinforcing in the concrete raft was not a good idea but that there should be an earth cable laid around the raft to be connected inside to the electrical system.

Budgetary issues

During the site meeting we discussed the exact configuration of the concrete raft, but at that time I had no idea how much this would cost.  Later I received the quote; it was for an extra 4000 euros.  As this would breach our budget, for court yard of 5 x5m that is not top of our priority list, then it is back to the drawing board and a discsussion with the builder, that might be difficult.