If I Had A Hammer

It’s been 2 months since we moved into our new home in the Cote D’Armor region of Brittany and our renovations continue apace. Steve is somewhat of a machine when it comes to getting the work done. Up at half 5 or 6 o’clock at the latest, he soldiers on day after day, hardly stopping for a break. He’s usually exhausted by 6 or 7 in the evening, and will predictably fall fast asleep on the settee by 8pm, missing the latest happenings in our favourite TV shows, namely, Nashville, NCIS and even Game of Thrones! When it comes to watching the next one, and they do the “Previously, on Game of Thrones” he will inevitably say, “Hang on, we’ve not seen that one yet”, while I assure him that we most certainly have seen it, but remind him that he fell asleep precisely 30 seconds into it. Poor man L

Shhhhh don't wake him

When we first moved into the house, a host of differing needs clamoured for attention; the first task for Steve was to prioritise what had to be tackled first. Thankfully, the house did have electricity, albeit of the antique variety, which required replacing as soon as possible. We were also thankful to have mains drainage, which did work of a fashion. For me, getting the kitchen in working order was top of the list and thankfully Steve agreed.The old kitchen consisted of a sink, a cooker, a dresser and a couple of manky old work surfaces. 

The kitchen "before"

"Before"

Also taking up space in one corner was an enormous old radiator, which Steve discovered weighed a ton!

Old and very very heavy!

He spent the next couple of weeks, replacing all the worn plumbing fittings, ripping out the nasty bits and gradually I saw a real kitchen emerging. 

Plumbing things in

I DID help!

Bright tiles, new sockets, units and cupboards all appeared. The old cooker and sink were steam cleaned, scrubbed, disinfected and restored to useful working order. 

Slowly slowly everything got done

It received a coat of paint, some new appliances, and then the finishing touches like the lampshades, blinds and accessories brought it all together into what I’m sure you will agree is nothing short of amazing J

Ta Da!

My stunning new kitchen. I love it!

We bought the main bulk of kitchen units, wiring, plumbing supplies, tiles, lighting, wood etc at a huge store called Leroy Merlin in Saint Brieuc, which is roughly 40 minutes away from us – they have stores in many other places too. Stocking pretty much everything you would ever need for home and garden, Steve was like a kid in a sweet shop. We made sure we had a store card as Leroy Merlin offer one of the best discounts we have found here. We paid €9 for a store card for three years, but the benefits are huge. With a one off discount of 15% we chose to use this at a time when we had spent almost €2000 on kitchen units, a heating system and much much more. It was a discount well worth having. You also get the chance of a free home delivery and regular discounts on all purchases. Their after sales service is excellent – returns do not require a receipt as long as you have your store card, and are hassle free. If you have to order something, which is not in stock, they will write to you to let you know it has arrived. We can highly recommend this store as one of the best AND in our opinion, one of the most reasonable in price.  

After a typical trip to the DIY store

I speak reasonable French, Steve speaks none. However, the vocabulary required for a renovation project is way beyond my capabilities and I soon discovered that my French English dictionary was absolutely essential when we went to the store. On one occasion I forgot to bring it and we spent a frustrating hour trying to work out which product was wood preserver, and which was simply wood varnish. Our discussion went something like this;

Steve; So, which one is it?

Me; (Reaching into my bag only to discover I don’t have my dictionary) Oh damn, I’m not sure – I’ve forgotten the dictionary.

Steve; Why have you forgotten it? You know we need it.

Me (sulkily) I KNOW we need it, I didn’t forget it deliberately. Let me try and work it out – peers at the dozens of products on display

Steve; Well? Which one?

Me; No idea

Steve; This is no good, I mean we have to remember the dictionary next time

Me; We? We have to remember it? You mean I have to remember it, you don’t remember anything

Steve; You know what I mean

Sigh, you get the idea.

Thankfully we found a helpful member of staff who spoke English and could help us, but I never left my dictionary at home again – I, not we J

As well as working on the kitchen, Steve was also busy doing a million other jobs alongside. He was rewiring, refitting plumbing fixtures, putting up stud walls to make 2 of the bedrooms into en-suites, knocking massive holes through to make a new doorway and on and on.

New doorway in progress

Yikes, the DUST!

The other main DIY store we used is Bricomarche; we have one close by in a place called Rostrenen, and have become regulars! I think we might be invited to the staff Christmas party at this rate J Again, we got the store card to qualify for 10% discount and have found staff to be helpful and polite. Bricomarche stocks most of what we require for day to day renovations. We managed to place an order for a home delivery of sand, ballast, cement and wood, which was another big step in learning how things work here. Bricomarche also sell a smaller selection of home furnishings, curtains, blinds, wallpaper, paint etc, which is useful for me as when Steve is off spending an hour perusing plumbing fittings, I can disappear to find floaty curtains J

One thing we have found invaluable is our walkie talkies, and the staff have become accustomed to the mad English who go round their store communicating with each other in this way. It’s great as I can wander off and find even more red kitchen accessories, and Steve can find me if he needs me to translate something. We get some funny looks though J

Bricomarche has the added bonus of having Intermarche next door – a massive supermarket with the best strawberry tarts we have found anywhere. They also have a decent café for snacks, coffee or a full blown sit down lunch, so loved by the French.

Mmm treats

One of Steve’s biggest tasks has been rewiring the whole house. This is a Hard Job (capital H, capital J there) and at times, I have been called upon to assist in;

Wire holding

Wire passing

Wire pulling

Wire poking

The dreaded rewiring

These are important Jobs for which I am given detailed instructions, but at times, the rolls of wire take on a life force of their own and behave in a way, which makes Steve’s life a misery. Snagging, kinking and generally badly behaved wire results in a lot of strong armed pulling and comments such as, “For goodness sake it’s your job” as he tries to make the wire go where it’s supposed to go. The wiring on the stairs was particularly irksome – feeding all the way around the kitchen, up the stairs and into the living room, it looked like spaghetti junction and I was called upon to help.

Steve; Can you just give me a hand here

Me; (Pleased to be needed) Of course, what shall I do?

Steve; Right (any job which starts with right, is a serious one) I need you to hold this wire and when I say, let it feed through. Don’t let this one (indicates another wire) come through as well, and watch that the trunking (black pipe which the wire lives in) stays where it is.

Me; (a bit daunted) Okay

Steve; And don’t be touching any wires you’re not supposed to be touching

Me; Eh? How can I not touch any wires I’m not supposed to be touching? How can I possibly know which wires I’m not supposed to be touching?

Steve; Just do what I said

Don't touch what you're not supposed to be touching! Err okay then

All under control now

And so it goes on J Like a lot of men, Steve thinks that because he knows what he means in his head, then everyone else should also understand. I dread being asked to go fetch tools or other things from the room where such things are kept.

It's in there somewhere doesn't really help!

Steve; Can you fetch me my pliers with the yellow handles please? Not the red ones, oh and my 4” drill bit as well.

Me; (nervously) where might I find them (knowing that all tools and metal bits of drill look the same to me)

Steve; They’re all in there somewhere

See what I mean? All in there somewhere, that’s not helpful at all.

So far, it’s been great fun; we’ve learned a lot – I’ve learned what a 4” drill bit looks like for a start and I can thread a wire like nobody’s business J 

Ha! I've got this wiring business sorted

We know which stores are the best ones for us and which ones are not so great. As well as Bricomarche and Leroy Merlin, we have used Conforama, which is another big home furnishing store, which sells white goods, furniture and bigger items. Their delivery charges are pretty steep, but you can hire a van from them at a reasonable cost. Leclerc is another good supermarket to rival Intermarche and of course we have good old Lidl for those unbeatable offers they have on all the time, which keeps us going back for more.

What we did find was that a trailer is pretty essential when tackling a renovation project. We only wish we had bought it immediately as we have paid out several hundred euros in store charges for bigger items such as the sofa, fridge freezer etc, when we could have done it ourselves with the trailer. 

Delivery comes at a price

The decider came when we had cleared the garden and had so much rubbish to move, it would have required paying someone to take it away. We bit the bullet, got the trailer and took it to the dechetterie (rubbish tip) ourselves. Every town has its own dechetterie which is a real bonus when you have as much rubble and rubbish to get rid of as we have!

The all essential trailer loaded up for the tip

And so we press on; Steve has achieved truly astonishing results in the few weeks we’ve been here. He is making a home for us to be proud of. We love the village we live in. I particularly enjoy my daily walks to the boulangerie for their unbeatable fresh baked bread and pastries. 

Our delightful boulangerie

Easy to see why I am a daily visitor here!

Here is the little bar/cafe, which we frequent when we get a minute, 

The cafe/bar, the hub of any French village

There is also the beautiful countryside where I now spend so much of my time as we now have a rescue dog – oh yes, did I not mention Merlin? Sigh, just what you need in the middle of renovations – a dog! Not just any dog of course, but a highly strung, nervous wreck of a Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen. More about that madness in another blog J

Steve and I collecting the lovely Merlin from the SPA refuge in Quimper

Please visit my website at www.freyabarrington.com for more details about me and my writing. Many thanks

Bye for now.

Freya