94 A new year and a new beginning

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.

 

92 Things move slowly but it seems surely

Those who have followed this blog would have become familiar with my up down relationship with Schwoererhaus France run by Claudio Ungaro. Well triggered by a post on the “Maison et Bois” discussion group I looked at the site of Schwoererhaus.fr and saw that Claudio no longer works for or with Schwoerer.  So in spite of my concerns I wish him the best in what ever he does next and perhaps he will learn no to attempt to do too much and become overloaded.  Not sure where this leaves me, though!

At long last we are able to move to the next stage of developments with Schwoerer having at long last received a reply to my letters and emails and corrected and correct list of components and additions to the house.  They have agreed to waive all charges for the extras that we thought were included and the new charge of 2500€ has been reduced to 1250€ so we decided not to prolong the agony and say everything was OK.  So, keeping my fingers crossed, I have sent an email saying that we are ready to sign the contract variation.

Since the last post we have also signed a contract with the local “terrassier” or public works man, a certain Daniel Joyeux.  He was more expensive by 30% than the others but he is at least closer.  Lets hope that he delivers as contracted in January. The concrete raft has been given to Alain Galbois who is highly rated, but very busy in the local area.

If it all the works come in on schedule and to price then we will have completed the raft by the end of February next year and it would have cost just over 26 000 euros.

It just remains for me to complete the connections to the water and telephone and dig the trenches to connect the mains drainage and lay the land drainage pipes.  Talking of mains drainage the works are progressing on the installation of the mains drainage along the road approaching the property.  The only problem being that they are having to work at 4 metres and as they dig the trench is filling up with water.

Still no news on the insurance for the digger, just a demand for payment for this years dues!

 

91 One problem solved new problem appears

The last blog was full of despair and worry.  Since then there has been a flurry of activity.  The extra 6300€ has been waived, the anniversary date put back but we do not have a revised approach to financing or a change to reflect the alterations that we need to the protocol and out of the blue has appeared a demand for an extra 2500€ for something called plan management. The bank manager even suggested that he phone Schwoerer to try to explain to them that it is not possible for a French bank to complete their form when no loan is involved.  Unfortunately had to phone the ₣ench representative as nobody in adminsitration at Schwoerer speaks French.  This conversation does not appear to have been passed on.

It is extremely difficult to maintain motivation in these circumstances and especially when each communication to Schwoerer either seems to be ignored, there is never any acknowledgement and there are very long delays whilst responses are being prepared.  We can not even withdraw as the costs of doing so would be too great though would not advise anyone else to embark on a similar project.

The weather is also depressing as it has been wet since the beginning of November, which stops all work on the site as it is too boggy.

Progress – there is little apart from us selecting and signing for companies to do the ground work and build the concrete raft.

Another disappointment has been that there has been no response to the insurance claim for the broken windows on the digger; but I guess that is no great surprise.