Getting supplies into the house
Where land has no utilities a raccordement or connection has to be ordered. In Loubejac, the water 'raccordement' is through Saur and the electricity feed comes from ERDF. There is no mains gas or drainage.
( Image: This shows the three utilities, a black water pipe and a red electricity and a green telephone line gaine. )
As both water and power were set up for the house at LaCaze in December 2013, the water meter in its coffre is now covered with wet sand and mud, as is the lid, after the rains drove the top soil onto it.
To take water into the house, we will need a gaine. 'Gaine' means a girdle, sheath, even a corset, but on a building site it is the plastic cable girth, a tube with a nylon pull down cord running the length for drawing through a cable supply. For electricity the gaine is red and 80mm diameter, so our future neighbour the electrician Bertrand, said and green, 40mm for a telephone line. (Image: The ground sodden after weeks of rain, and the red gaine in the background.)
Change of weather and work is underway
It finally stopped raining on the Thursday 6th March. The weatherman said there was an anticyclone on the horizon, the first for seventy days. There has been 40% more rain than normal across the whole of France, with more than double the average in Le Var and Alpes-Maritimes for example. Much as in the UK, it was also one of the warmest winters on record.
As soon as the rain stopped we began to put up the Homatherm wood fibreboard insulation in our wooden chalet in the South West of France, finishing with six packs left over to return to Seguy's which we planned to exchange for litaux or batons, glue, nails and mousse.
Now the budget was tight. We still needed gutters, plasterboard, plumbing, electricity, drainage, a floor, the air-tightness RT2012 test and more. We had had extra costs like the chemicals to protect the panelling after it showed signs of mould due to the relentless rain.
The plumbing and the fosse septique
Perhaps for that reason we had not got in even one plumbing devis, not one estimate let alone compared a few quotes. In France, artisans cannot charge more than they allocate in their estimate or devis but from January 2014 TVA or VAT rose to 20%, so work agreed and unfinished last year is a little more expensive. Where we can do the work ourselves it can reduce the bill by over a half as, in general, the cost of labour is twice the cost of the materials. We plan a shower, W.C., washbasin, place for the washing machine, and a kitchen sink.
But with the beginning of some sunshine, any day now, Philippe of Brondel Frères was going to get in touch to liaise on the whereabouts of the fosse septique/septic tank as we had signed that devis last year. Philippe would need to talk to the plumber, if not the electrician and nothing was in place.
As if from nowhere a digger, perforated pipes, a delta drain
Any day now Philippe from Brondel Frère would be there at LaCaze with a digger gouging a hole (2.5m x 1.6m) for a septic tank and a sand drain-away bed (5m x 5m) as was written out in the assainissement regulations. At the same time, it helps save later work, if they dig a ditch running from the coffre, the ERDF box and le compteur d'eau, the water meter, to the vide sanitaire under the house. As the digger can cover it again it saves the electrician and plumber, or us, doing it all by hand.
Sure enough on March 18th there was an email from Philippe:
"We want to start in two days and we would like to know where to find the water meter, please call quickly."
How the utilities, water and power get connected to a new house
We needed to have a plumber and an electrician around to supply the gaines and locate the puncture holes for entry through the parpaing or breezeblock into the vide sanitaire. Well that is the principle. Of course there is a theory and then there is being in the French countryside learning via youtube videos and speaking French as a second language.
Back during the February rains, when I asked him what was happening, Philippe had said: "It is too wet to start. Give me one week of sunshine and we will begin."
Which was exactly what he was doing apart from one extra French week.
Two weeks after the faltering sun had begun, we realised that the blossom, daffodils and violets would continue unharmed as no freeze was coming. The anticyclone settled and suddenly Philippe wanted to begin in two days.
When I phoned back, Philippe wanted to have a meeting that afternoon.
At the house a hasty meeting so they can start the fosse septique tomorrow.
Once more the local football team triumphed. Craig telephoned the plumber M.Chaud whose son played with Craig in the La Menaurie football team. Philippe Chaud a kind man, two years ago, had altered his plans in order to repair our central heating in time for a Christmas family visit.
In a relay of conversations, I am standing with one phone talking to Philippe Brondel, Craig is on the other trying to understand Philippe Chaud's strong dialect, we are fixing a mutual time to meet. In the end there is only one hour between them, 3 pm on the site for Philippe Chaud and 4 pm for Philippe Brondel, with any luck they will both be there at the same time, one hour apart is not bad.
That afternoon, on the site, we find out we have a team of firemen working on the house. Not M Chaud, but from Brondel Frères; Philippe Brondel is one of the volunteer firemen, one who helped free Claudie last year. He brings a new ouvrier, Jerome, another fireman we later find out, who was also with Claudie. To top that, Christian Brondel our builder from Ambiance Bois et Nature was himself also a fireman.
Jerome, Philippe says, will be doing our septic tank as he puts in ten or more fosse septique every year.
The team wants to part fill the space around the vide sanitaire and put in a Delta fitting which has a perforated drain pipe and takes the water away from the house, as well as connecting up with the gutter downpipes.
This would be possible if we had any gutter downpipes but for now they will put this in for the future connection.
Brondel Frères want to start even sooner, tomorrow, Wednesday 19th March. Jerome is spraying bright green paint on the grass. Philippe turns and asks me if I am happy with the positioning of the fosse septique as if not they can put it 'here' instead, pointing the green paint spray can to the East.
If you were sitting in the back seat of a small plane and the pilot said, "Just tell me if you want me to pull this lever up or down, or turn this switch off, whatever you want," you would tell them they were the pilots.
If you are the experts then we do it your way
I tried to explain that they are the experts and please put it in the best place.
We did ask a few questions. Why wasn't it going as near as possible to the house, on the West side. Was it going to lead to problems if it was too far away? What would happen if it did not flow properly? They probably did not understand me but did follow the sentiment of it.
Philippe confirmed it will have a ten year guarantee, this comes with the paid bill and he raised his voice as if embracing the world, saying that of course he prefers it to work without any problems for ten years, that this distance is far below 50 m so no problem and he always works as though it is for his own home. Jerome is saying that if he places it between his green spray paint markers, with a sand bed at a distance, a car can pass around the house, between the fosse and the drainage sand filter.
(This later turned out to be a lucky plan when the lorry was stuck in the mud).
Philippe then picks up a broom and pretends to fly, trying to make us laugh, resorting to 'international' language - Harry Potter and quiditch.
(image: Craig and Jerome discussing preparing the wall and laying the delta drain)
So we met Jerome and then good sport Craig, agrees to work with him, in order to limit the price on another devis, saving a second maitre d'oeuvre or worker. Craig's week is once again turned upside down, with a first assignation to paint waterproofing along the base of the vide sanitaire.
Philippe emailed the increased devis later that evening, and we agreed what seemed essential work.
After all Craig and I had discussed putting in a french drain, later on, imagining it further back from the house but at least getting the trench dug while the digger was on hand.
Brondel Frères told us that the open area around the vide sanitaire has to be filled, in order to cover the water pipe with at least 40cm of land, to prevent winter freezing.
I had asked why you could not simply put a pile around it and leave the rest open but waiting even one day for an answer was not an option. Spring had arrived, and nobody seemed willing to delay after months of rains.
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