Just bought our dream place in Cigne near Mayenne and now have lots of renovation to bring the main house back to it's former glory. It used to be a nobleman's home so we want to do it right.
Would it be most cost effective to buy fittings, taps, toilets, etc, for the bathrooms and kitchens in England or France?
Does anyone know where we can buy period stone fireplaces in the Mayenne area?
Also, is there an equivalent of B & Q in the area for the likes of building materials?
Am I allowed to do my own Plumbing & re-wiring?
Any help would be appreciated.
Les & Diane.

Hi Guys, well your slightly ahead of me, as i'm going over on the 17th jan to look at property.

I've done a little research on the net, re builders merchants, and the only info i can give you is that a builders merchants in france called Castorama merged with b&q and i think its the largest french chain. If you search that name it will give you a site map and i think they're all over the place.
As for prices i'm not sure as most of these sites are in french only, and mine's not so good at the mo.

As for doing your own plumbing and wiring, again, can't be of help, i'm still researching that as intend to renovate my property, and do the bloody lot myself!!!!!! I think i'm right in saying that in order to sell your property within 10 years of work being carried out you have to have a ten year guarantee on some of the work, (certainly for new build and extensions) plumbing and wiring may come into that, but not sure.
If you do find out i'd appreciate a line on my thread, "HONEST BRITISH BUILDER" and i'll let you know in the meantime!

Good luck, Stewart.

As you aint had a reply from anyone in France.
I live in Spain and the building materials and plumbing fixtures and tools etc are much cheaper here than in England, and I would think Spanish and French prices are similar.
Cant you go on the web and get prices from a French builders merchants ?

Try here http://brittany.angloinfo.com/af/375...t-vilaine.html

Thanks for the info. I will try the Castorama site to see what I can find out.
Many regards. Les.

Nada

Why buy in the UK? Buy locally - if you're doing the work yourself (and many French people do all their building work themselves, plumbing, wiring even getting in the JCB and putting up the breeze blocks and roof) you can take stuff back, and if you're getting a professional you'll only pay 5.5% VAT on the materials (get the professional to buy what you want).
There are many equivalents of B&Q. You'll need to check what you have locally. Some are more cut price than others.
It's easy to buy any DIY equipment ranging from tiles, through plaster board walls to copper pipes or plugs. In any quantity. Check the local yellow pages for fireplaces - if you're prepared to pay you can get anything made.

p.s; Castorama is OK, but not the cheapest. Nor the best. Depends what you're looking for. You can get better quality tiles and bathroom/kitchen fittings from more specialist suppliers (who will order from manufacturers in Germany, Italy etc for you). You can get cheaper building materials....

Hi,

Well I'm french and we built our own house and are converting a stable into a house at the moment so I might be of some help to you.

First for the plumbing there's no problem doing it yourself, I recommend using those plastic pipes called PER, very easy, I personnaly prefer the fittings from Leroy Merlin (www.leroymerlin.fr) the web site should tell you if there is one near you. It's also a good shop for all building materials in general, probably similar to B&Q, they also have tons of little leaflets to help you with all your DIY and a free helpline.

For the electricity, you are allowed to do it yourself, if the house already has electricity they won't even come to check it up. Otherwise they come to check everything but you can still do it yourself. I did mine with no experience, just my brother who drew me a map of what I had to put where and passed first time!!

For your materials, you can use all the normal DIY shops, look out for Leroy Merlin, Castorama, or Mr Bricolage and Bricomarché, last 2 might be smaller but they have special offers from time to time that can be very interesting.
For cheap prices see if you have Brico Dépot or Bricoman near you.
You can also go to the suppliers, they are usually locals most of them not national (around us we have point P, Gédimat or Bigmat...) with them you can open an account, negociate your prices and pay at the end of each month instead of each time you buy something.

Hope this answers some of your questions, I'm sure a lot more will come as you get started
Good luck with the house
Priscilia

Thank you all. Some good info and much appreciated. Can't wait to get started.
Best regards. Les & Diane.

Hello Les and Diane
We are just round the corner from you, nr Melleray la Vallee!!
We have been here over 6yrs and have a registered general building company and also do plant and machinery hire. If you need a quote for any aspects of your works feel free to call, or just pop by for a coffee if you want a chat anytime!!
Regards
Adriana and Patrick
02.43.08.62.21

www.pjmrenovations.com