Here's a true story about renovating in France and how learning to speak a few French phrases can save you thousands and thousands of dollars.
This concerns some friends of mine who are renovating an old French farmhouse. It's a "longere" to be precise, which roughly translated means "long house". Way back when it was first built, several hundred years ago, what farmers would do was to build themselves a house and then just add bits on the end when they had a need. Frequently that was more space for goats, sheep, pigs or cows. An extra room would be added to suit whatever animals were going in. If it was for a growing family the room was made a bit better quality - but not much!
It is all on one level. Upstairs was for hay or grain - which also did a fair job of insulating. Walls were built from local stone - a couple of feet or more thick. No foundations of course, just built on the ground. With walls that thick they hardly move in centuries, and as long as the roof is in good condition these are prime French renovation material. These old French farmhouses usually don't have much in the way of sanitation. Often just a soak-away - which is basically a hole in the ground. If you want to renovate you need to put in a modern system or you don't get planning permission. Only sensible really.
Mains drainage is usually out of the question because these old French farmhouses are usually in the middle of a field. What you have to get is a septic tank system called a "fosse septique". A three or four thousand liter tank (around a thousand gallons US) takes all the household water and there's also a sand and gravel filtration that handles run-off. This is eventually pumped into the nearest ditch. It's not drinking water quality but it's fairly clean. Anyway, back to the story. As is recommended with any renovating in France, my friends got three quotes. The first guy wanted 16,500 Euros which was thought a bit high, but they waited for the remainder of the prices. The second came in at 9,000 Euros. The third, a comparatively low 6,500 Euros - a ten thousand Euro difference. That's a lot of money in any currency!
Now my friends had gone to the trouble of talking to several French people, including the son of an acquaintance who worked for the water board (and who helped with the plans). Each company was given exactly the same full specification. What might have happened if they had not spoken some French? They were not fluent at the time but they took on the challenge. I know people in that situation who would have just taken the first quote because it was easiest - and would have been ten grand out of pocket! The strangest thing happened on the day of the installation. The builder who had given the cheaper quote turned up to start work, bringing an expert with him to help. The "expert" was the guy who had given the first quote of 16,500 Euros - but apparently was more than prepared to do the work for the builder for 6,500 - or in fact less if you consider that the builder would probably have made something.
Top tip if you are considering renovating in France? Well it has to be to learn some French. If it cost you a hundred dollars to save 10,000 I would say it was money well spent!
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