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Renovating in France

1K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  RhodesHardwood 
#1 ·
Am helping english friend renovate a 200+ year old house in France. My expertise is electrical and plumbing so need help with carpentry, brickwork, insulation.
 
#2 ·
We are waiting......


Welcome to the forums!

Gary
 
#6 · (Edited)
Basically I need to

1. build a partition to separate the space with an insulated barrier in the granier/attic to convert into a living space on one side and garage on other.

Dimensions lower base ~40 ft, height, ~40 ft.

The new wall/framing will need to sit on a rock wall about ~3ft thick, it is made of large rocks (various composition, marble, lime, granite, etc) with a limestone mortar. (2nd photo)

The foundation, stone wall, is about 4 ft behind the large wooden A-frame. (1st photo) so there is nothing to directly connect a frame to except the roof.

How do you frame something of this size?

Wall needs to separate fumes, sounds from garage. The garage side will not be insulated.

Is it possible to use aluminium framing with polystyrene w/1/2" plasterboard backing?

or maybe build a big polystyrene wall from blocks and glue them together? somehow tie the ends to the roof? add plasterboard on after that?

2. insulate and seal the roof without going past the big beams, the beams are ~ 1 ft x ~ 1ft in profile. The roof is clay, "tuille", tiles.

i've read sealed versus ventilated attics but it would be nearly impossible to completely seal these clay tiles. is polystyrene/plasterboard a good way to go here?

this is cost sensitive project for some pensioners/retired people on limited income.

do the amish build barns this big? do they insulate them?
 

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#8 ·
Okay, here's the deal.... you'll likely not get a whole lot of help here in the "Introductions" section.
Most of our members hang out in the sub-forums where they think they'll do the most good. Plumbing, Electric, etc.
Post your questions in Building and Construction, and you'll get all the help you need very quickly, I'm sure. :)

DM
 
#9 ·
I agree with DM, not everyone comes to the introduction section. Just a quick question to get started though, are you going with the post and beam construction?
 
#10 ·
I have a few years experience doing restoration/rebuild work in France (heading back there again this summer). I've mostly done southern france though, and I am assuming based on the pitch of the roof that this is northern France.

I could give you some wild stabs in the dark based on the two pictures, but I'd suggest that you look into the REMPART organization. They are the umbrella organization for various restoration projects all across France. They basically help find financing and insurance for these different projects (one of which I work for). You couldn't get the work done by any individual project (they almost uniformly work on community owned buildings like castles and ruined villages), but it would be an excellent way to get in touch with a local artisan who is skilled in restoration and rebuilding traditional buildings. They could at the very least provide you with a good plan. Alot of the REMPART mason's speak english as well. They're often quite knowledgeable about local techniques and nuances. It would be a good start.

This is certainly the way to go if you want an old French house that still looks like an old french house but functions like a modern building. I've seen too many traditional french buildings ruined by modern "renovations" like cinder block and concrete.

Simon
 
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