Property Renovation

You might have read elsewhere on this site that it is not usual to have a complete survey of a property done before purchase, although occasionally it is still advised.

Architects involvement is more common, from a very early stage in the project. You might also like to discuss your project with an architect at the pre-purchase stage, rather than after you have purchased the property. Although an architect is not usually involved until later on, when the plans need to be drawn up for the project (a strict requirement of planning permission for projects having more than 170 square metres of floor space) it is less common before the purchase.

But if you have questions about how feasible your planned project is it would be best to resolve them early on, even at the risk of payng an architect who tells you the project is not possible. Such queries might include:
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Times have moved on since the days when 10 centimetres of glass fibre in the attic was considered sufficient insulation, even for a house in France, and the subject is now a bit complicated. There are newer ‘high-tech’ materials available, and we have a much greater knowledge of how heat is lost from a building.

The focus is now on providing much greater levels of insulation, ultimately to save on heating costs and save the planet, and also on targetting weak points or discontinuities as they are called in the ‘insulation envelope’. Thus your wall insulation should be continuous with the roof insulation and floor insulation for example.

Heat loss from an uninsulated or very inadequately insulated building is very broadly analysed as:
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In the book section I have recommended several books about buying and renovating a property in France. Although this website covers everything I can think of about moving to France and renovating a building, you will gain even more knowledge and advice if you read a well written book or two as well.
If you click on any book picture you will be taken to the Amazon.co.uk site where you can read reviews of the book and purchase it. Clicking on the picture does not mean you have to buy it - you can just browse if you prefer!

Buying a House in France

Renovating a house in France

Running a business in France

Design Ideas for Barns and Old Buildings

We have tried to include books that cover all your buying and renovation needs in France, but if you are aware of any other useful books we should include please let us know.

Cement is available in grey and white. White cement is often used where the colour of the finished product is important  - for example as a strenthening product in wall pointing mortar.
The normal building cement is ‘Artificial Portland cement’ (CPJ CEM II 42.5).

Cement should never be mixed with too much water, because this will reduce its final strength. 4 kg of cement should be mixed with up to 1 kg of water maximum (i.e. one 35kg sac of cement should be mixed with slightly less than one bucket of water.

You can see the ‘walls’ page for a list of the differences between cement and lime when used for pointing and stonework. Read more

Plaster is bought in sacks as a fine white powder. It has the main characteristic that after being mixed with water it dries completely hard and unworkable very quickly. This happens much faster than lime or cement and sometimes within a few minutes (it well tell you on the sack an estimated time of use). Synthetic plaster is also available, but there is little reason why you would ever choose not to use natural / real plaster.

Unlike cement, plaster is used alone, simply mixed with water (follow the instructions carefully) - no sand is used in the mixture. Read more

Sand comes in a wide range of sizes, colours and qualities. It is important to recognise these different types and the different projects that they are used for.

Building Sand

‘Normal’ grey building sand comes in two main categories. Sand to be used for making concrete contains a lot of large, very rough particles - strictly, particles larger than 6.3mm diameter. Sand to be used for mortar, as used for brick-laying etc has less of the large grit in it. Both of these types of sand are usually bought by the cubic metre, and are best suited to large building projects.

For smaller jobs, the choice is usually between medium, fine and very fine. Thes will have been carefully wahed, dried and graded. The fineness of the sand used determines how smooth the resultant mix is, since neither lime or cement add to the graininess of the mortar used. Read more

Little do you know if before you start your project, but these are the things you will come to love - builders materials. Types and colours of sand and cement; when to use lime; how to use plaster are all covered.
Even if you don’t want to do the renovation yourself, after the builders have left you will probably still find lots of small things that need doing or finishing off. You may also be tackling a room or two yourself, where the work involved is not too great. If only you knew the best approach to use, and the appropriate materials to use…

This section looks at the different types of sand, lime, cement and plaster and the usual ways in which they are employed. Most of these products are available in small quantities at your local bricolage store, so you can avoid the need to purchase a 35kg sack of plaster just to fill a small hole or two. Many of the materials mentioned throughout this section are available in the SB Mercier range of products, and are available in DIY stores across France. Read more