1 Background to the project

Background and Introduction to the Project

Le Vieux Praderet (photo taken in 1982)

Le Vieux Praderet October 2003

In October 2003 I saw and fell in love with 'Le Vieux Praderet'. A wonderful old 'Mas Provencal' (old farm complex) - in a sad state of neglect, sitting in a valley just outside the beautiful village of Ansouis and just begging to be renovated! (In particularly urgent need of windows!)

Le Vieux Praderet 2012

So started a wonderful period of my life - renovating Le Vieux Praderet with Bernhard....... But that will have to be a separate story/blog.  Ten years later we sadly had to sell my beautiful old Mas, along with the gite and the out-buildings and the beloved chickens.






This blog is about the realisation of a my new house. Blogs seem to be the method today by which we share a story with those who may be interested - in my case friends and family who are too far away to follow, week by week, in the progress of this project.  I'll be putting down all the info I can about choices, problems, costs (expected and unexpected), nice surprises and shocks (hopefully not too many). I'll categorise things so those uninterested don't need to read or go through aspects that don't interest them. 

When I first realised I would have to sell my beautiful old farm house Le Vieux Praderet - I was devastated. But what was equally hard as losing the house was the scary thought that in a few months I would be without a home, or an address  and for heaven knows how long. I felt too old to up-roots again, have all my things in boxes,  to have to look for a new place with new neighbours and to make new friends.  So when a dear friend Nicco who was really sad I would lose the place, Suggested that I divide the land and keep half to build a new house - I gave what seemed a crazy idea a second thought. With a complex arrangement of land and topography - it wasn't that easy - but-  with a lot of thought and some sleepless nights it started to take shape and become a real possibility! Normally to stay in this area, as so I wanted, would have been impossible, building plots - even ones in allotments, are prohibitively expensive - and anything attractive is snapped up before the ever get onto the market.  Even selling Le Vieux Praderet for a lower price to compensate for reduced grounds and the proximity of a new house, it would mean I would  still have a uniquely beautiful  plot of land, in a much sought after area, for less than half the price I would otherwise have had to pay!  (And could never have afforded). I am so indebted to Nicco (now living in Australia!).

The first step of course was to apply for division of the plot of land for the construction of a new dwelling. Not easy in this bureaucratic country. This required the local 'geometres' coming and establishing the boundaries and formally setting the new division lines. The building regulations for rural areas of the Luberon require that you have to have at least 2000m2 to build a house. The total surface area of the land with the old house (including a second attached plot I had bought in 2005) was 5047m2, made up of 3 flat  levels of similar size each about 3 m lower then the next from the road down to a river. On the top level was located the old house, garage, piggery and access up to the road, the middle level had the old 'bassin' (spring, wash trough and pond) and a  field with some fruit trees, chicken house etc and the lower level was a bit of a damp field flanking the little river.

Although a bit complex (see plan of land) - the only way to ensure the old house complex maintained its views and 'space' and have equally attractive privacy for the new house was to divide the property across the 3 levels.  With a shared entrance (on what would be my land) and creating a new drive way down to the building site on the middle level, building the new house on my half of  the middle level - tucked in below the bamboo wall (a natural separation of the properties) and keeping half of the lower field to make up the necessary 2000m2.

Furthermore - I asked to buy another plot continuing up the valley from the lower field and directly below the future house location (again see land plan). Although a floodable zone and very much left to nature for many years - I would later be looking over this area directly from the house and would therefore want to be able to maintain it - or protect it and my view.  Of the 11 owners of the land (big family) 8 have agreed to sell. With majority ownership - I will have rights to basically maintain the plot and the remaining 3 owners will not legally be able to sell to another party without offering me first refusal. I'd prefer to own it out-right - but this situation is still perfectly acceptable!

2 Land plan and positioning the house

Land plan and positioning of the house

House implantation on a complex plot of land.

The sub-divided 'plot' is bordered in orange. It covers 2065m2 and I think you can see from the land plan that it isn't the simplest of sub-divisions!   Looking at the old house (top left) - this strange division permitted the conservation of its views, both from the front towards the village and chateau and to the South west side (the other 2 views of the old house obviously would not have been compromised).  Also with the Praderet Daval being more than - 3m lower and tucked into the wall of bamboos there is only a small stretch of the back wall that would be visible from even the terrace of Le Vieux Praderet.   Bruno and Christel (the new owners) are going to allow the bamboos to extend further around this side too to improve on this natural barrier and further protect the setting of their house.

From the road (Chemin de Moulin de Fuveau) - just off the top of the image, down to the future house is a drop of more than 6m - hence one of the difficulties - how to put in a drive down which wasn't too steep and didn't interfere with the views of either house.  The sharp bend you can see in the scheme  unfortunately doesn't permit a car to come around without having to do an extra manoeuvre. And - the outer edge of the turn has a 6m drop into the lower field! However, I'm looking at ideas of supporting the bank and filling this 'hole' with huge boulders with the help of Stephane and his digger. If these are securely 'stacked' it will widen the turning plane of the corner and prevent accidents!

The field bordered in green is the plot of land I am in the process of buying (1200m2).  It is a bit marshy but a lovely, natural, wild area.  8 out of 11 of the current family have signed for me to buy it - which as I explained before means I would have majority ownership and basically be allowed to maintain it (keep any overgrowth in control). From their property (top right hand corner of the diagram) there is only a very very steep path down a bank to access it. So the land is useless to them (and can't be built on by anyone as it is in a flood zone) but being  3 m lower than my future house and directly in front - it is really important to me.

Little else to say about the house and its implantation - it had to be set on the boundary of the plot to give maximum ground at the front - which was a bit limited.   Here in France you have to be either 4m or more from a boundary or on the boundary limit.  The other rule this then engaged was that no openings can be on that side (boundary side) of the house (no windows or doors).  This meant the house design had to take into consideration that all rooms that needed windows had to be located on the SE and SW sides. The NW being boundary and the NE being absolutely into the bamboos (6m + high).  On the bamboo side - the house had to be more than 4 m from the boundary. To ensure I respected this the land division was set at mid track.

I think you can see from this diagram how there really wasn't many choices as to where the house could be built.  Top field would have destroyed the lovely views of the old house - the lower field is a flood zone and no structures can be built there. The mid-field was all that remained - and to enjoy the lovely views in the valley it had to be tucked against the boundary and into the bamboos.  Fortunately this really seems to be working out beautifully!

3 Designing the House

Designing the House

When I was trying to 'design' the house I basically started by putting down the essentials and wants then the limitations.  I don't have a family, I don't want a huge place  - but enjoy friends visiting - many of whom are wheelchair users. I love being outside, but the years are passing so I don't want a high maintenance garden. Provence must have the most wonderful climate in the world - but it can be suffocatingly hot in summer (like 40C) and bitterly bitterly cold in winter - frequently down to -14C and I've even known it down to -17C.  But wonderful sunshine for 300 days a year!

The wants list read like : open plan living area, a kitchen open to dining room, 2 bedrooms, 2 shower rooms (on en-suite with my bedroom - the other close to the guest bedroom but not en-suite), utility room, covered terrace, winter garden, fire place, all essential rooms on one level and wheelchair accessible - including turn space for getting through doors and flat level showers, office/work room, good storage space (cupboards and attic) and as ecological in materials and design as reasonably possible. I wanted the house to be centred on the terrace - where I know I will spend a good deal of time.

The limitations ran like: Maximum size 127m2 (based on 0.08 x the size of the building plot excluding any non-constructable wet zones), couldn't have any windows on the North West side or less then 4 m from it because the house would be on the boundary,  nor on the North East side (other than ventilation windows) because the house would be really tucked into the bamboos. No ultra modern styles are liked by the Mairie (we are in a National Park), no complex roof designs and  traditional roof tiles only!  Also because the middle field was small, the house had to be relatively compact to leave garden space at the front and to respect the 4m clearance from the flanking land boundaries. Basically the house couldn't be more than 12 m by 12 m foot print and on limit of the NW boundary.

                                                                                                                    

Certainly the biggest problems were to find a way to arrange the rooms so that those with windows were to the SE and SW sides only and to respect the 4m space from the house to boundaries on the NE and SW sides.  

After hundreds of sketches  - the design I came up with has an entrance on the sunny SW 'inviting'  side leading into the dining room. The protruding entrance porch fits into the widening land shape in that corner (exactly to 4m from boundary).  The living room is open onto the living room, giving a good feeling of volume and semi open to the kitchen separated by a 1.4m high back to the work surface.   A big sliding door from the kitchen opens onto the half-covered terrace.  The dining room, living room, kitchen and terrace for a big square of well lit and arranged living space. The terrace is half roofed and the other half  is glass and the front will be closed off by 'galandage' windows (windows that slide completely into the walls on either side).  This way - in winter the galandage windows will be closed and together with the half glass roof provide light and passive heating with the lower sun.  In the summer an electric 'store' (or blind) will close over the glass half of the terrace roof and the galandage windows completely open will give a cool covered terrace protected from the sun. I think paving the terrace in the same slabs at the patio in front of the house, and having lots of plants there will give the feeling of the garden entering into the house. I love being outside so I am sure this terrace/winter garden will be a space I'll use a huge amount!

My bedroom (at the front) will have its own shower room with level shower (a Gustav Klimt mosaic on the wall!) and views down the valley. It wont really get the first sun as I would have liked but I have to compromise somewhere!

The guest bedroom will be at the back and separated from the rest of the house by 2 doors, for better sound proofing and to be able to separate this part of the house (not heated as much) when no one is staying.  The second shower room will be next  to the guest bedroom but not en-suite so that the toilet will double up as the guest WC for visitors and - if there are other over-flow guests sleeping up-stairs.

Utility room -  big enough for all the technical equipment and washing machine etc, and located in the NE (coldest/darkest) corner of the house. Also good location for the plumbing in being close to the 2 shower rooms.

All the windows will be 'longer than wide' to give a feeling of being able to step out into the garden. This is also better for wheelchair users to be able to look out too.  The tradition here in France is to have shutters - which I am not going to have - too much work in painting them, too hard to reach outside to shut and I hate coming into a dark room!  So instead I will have bars on the bedroom and dining room windows - to stop the uninvited entering through my low-easy-to-step-in-windows  so I can leave the windows open day and night!  The choices available today in styles of bars mean they can become more of an attractive feature than prison like. Maybe some sort of vegital form.

Another French tradition I am breaking away from is having the windows flush with the inside walls (opening inwards).  The French can't understand why in the UK we have windows flush with the outer wall and opening outwards !  I've decided to have my windows 10cm in from the outer wall and opening in the thickness of the wall - inwards. With the thickness of the walls they shouldn't protrude more than 15cm into the room when fully open. Also - most of the windows will have the oscilo system (hinging at the bottom and opening at the top).  This means I can have ventilation and still keep the local moggies and leaves out!  I have chosen not to have them flush with the outside wall so as to be able to have a roller mosquito screen. It is a humid area and you don't need many mosquitoes to make your nights hell.

The upstairs will be a mezzanine (4.5m by 4.5m) into the roof space and very useful as an office and work room. Then I can leave all my bits and pieces of sewing or paints around with out cluttering up the house!  The view from the mezzanine room should be amazing - looking across to the village and the Chateau on the hill.  To keep the house as low and as possible I wanted to use the attic space rather than a full 2 level house.

From the mezzanine there will be a door leading into an attic room above the utility room and guest shower room. The height in this part will be about 2m at the entrance end down to 1.3m at the lower end measuring 4.5m by 3m. Plenty big enough to store loads of things and even double up as a bunk room if more than one couple of friends or family come to stay.

Cross section of the centre of the house.

Front of the house - view as you arrive down the drive.

Not much to say about the different views of the house. The bamboos look more like something out of Avatar though ! And it looks like those visitors are back!

The South West side of the house.

This (the SW side) is the only other side of the house (other than the front) which will be visible. The rooms on this side will overlook the lower garden and hopefully a second terrace or sitting area.

The NE side - totally tucked into the bamboos.

4 Ecological aspects: House design, materials

Ecological aspects: choice of house design, materials and systems .

House orientation:

The limitations as to where the house could be located on the plot of land was discussed in the implantation of the house section. However factors that had to be considered were the climate (the most desirable orientation for warmth/light in winter but protection from the heat in the summer) and prevailing winds which here is the infamous 'Mistral'. Fortunately both favoured the house facing SE! The Mistral coming from the NW and the most used outside area of the house being the SE – avoiding the full summer strength of the sun. The nicest views were in that direction too!

The covered terrace – half with insulated roofing and half double glazing, fronted with galandage windows spanning the 4.5m. In the summer a motorised blind on the outside will cover the glass part of the terrace roof to protect from the summer heat and the galandage windows will be left open (sliding completely into the walls) giving a covered terrace with side totally open to the garden. On colder evenings in spring or autumn the windows can be closed to keep the day's heat in extending the period you can eat out on the terrace - in comfort.

In the winter the electric blind can be stored back and the galandage windows mainly closed to create a solarium or winter garden. The big windows from the terrace into the living room will ensure maximum natural light in winter and passive heating too from the low sun. Provence enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year – many of these in the winter! I really think this terrace will be one of my favourite areas of the house – hence it being central with the living area created around it.

Room organisation – the second bedroom will only be used periodically for guests. With the double door onto the guest rooms this area can be cut off from the rest of the house and be heated less when not in use. The main living part will be open plan giving one main area to heat. Shower rooms will be flanking the utility room with the water heater to avoid waste of water while waiting for the hot to arrive. Mezzanine wont be heated – hopefully the heat will rise sufficiently to keep this area pleasantly warm.

Walls

There seems to be only 3 real options for walls now –

1. Concrete blocks (breeze block) all sizes but 20cm is normally used, with 10cm insulation (usually polystyrene on the inside) covered with plaster board or brick which is then plastered. Concrete blocks are the cheaper choice but needing more work with the 3 layers. A positive point with the blocks is that the insulation is on the inside so lintels and concrete reinforcing are easier to deal with and don't cause cold-bridging. No very ecological a material.

2. Monomur which is a honeycombed baked red brick of 20, 30 or 37.5 cm wide and an impressive range of lengths, heights and forms. These can be rendered directly on the outside and plastered directly on the inside and don't need any further insulation. Building with Monomur requires real precision on the builder's part – the blocks are glued not cemented and there mustn't be any gaps. Cold bridging through lintels and reinforced sections are reduced by the specially designed blocks for these areas – with a deep channel for the concrete surrounded by honeycombed brick. When a good builder uses these as building material you shouldn't see any concrete anywhere showing! Considered ecological when considering toxicity in production and degradation but still need baking which takes a fair bit of energy (can't win can you!).

3. Ponce stone (spelling?) which is a light-weight pumices like material which can be rendered on the outside and plastered on the inside. But - it seems a bit friable for hanging any weights direct onto it (kitchen units or shutters on the outside). Doesn't need further insulation. Damp resistance comparable to Monomur – better than breeze blocks. Considered the most ecological.

I chose Monomur - considering it to be ecological, really good for insulation / damp and they retain a lot of heat. Just wish they didn't need baking in their production! One big reason for choosing them was that the builder I had selected - Antoine Nalin (an ecology conscious builder) was familiar with working with them and I had confidence in his ability to carryout the necessary high standard of work. We chose to use 37.5cm block to bring the insulation value up to 'RT12' which is a government given standard for houses of low energy consumption. For the walls giving onto the covered terrace, which aren't external walls, and other internal support walls we went down to 20cm to reduce price and maximum internal space. This however meant we would be a bit low on Tw (insulation) for the external part of the walls of the 1^st floor. So – the walls of the mezzanine and attic will be clad with rock-wool and then brick-faced to solve this problem.

Roof Insulation
 We have to keep with traditional Pan-tiles (rounded long clay tiles originally shaped on the thigh) but today the water proofing is ensured by panels of PST which are made of fibre-cement and undulating to be able to place the tile cover. Under the PST is a wooden armature for airflow between it and the 28cm of rock-wool insulation/roof frame. On the ceiling side will be fixed a light-weight aluminium mesh for plastering. Apparently plaster-board is also a no no (non non) for ecologists.

Central Heating system (7kw needed)

I turned all possibilities for heating the house around in my head for months, read articles from numerous experts advocating one system over another and had meetings with even more sales reps than I would like to remember to hear their suggestions. First clear choice was that I wanted low temperature under floor heating. But I couldn't decide what heating system to link to this. Initially I had hoped to have a system using solar power as the main energy form and a heat pump (air/water) for the back-up. However the size of the water tank which would act as a heat reservoir would have had to be 900 litres, requiring some 12 m2 of solar panels. Also even if this were the main heating system the back-up (heat pump) would also be essential for the over-cast days and very cold periods. The cost of paying for 2 complete systems was crazily high – sadly. So I had to think about heat pump systems only. However even there there were so many choices. With the area of land I had I could have had geothermal heating either from deep well or a horizontal closed system, or an air heat pump.

The cost of drilling two 60m deep bore-holes (one to bring up and the other to return) plus the cost of pumps and piping and a water-water heat pump would have been over 23 000 Euros. One bonus would have been free water. However there is plenty of water on the land for watering the garden and WCs relatively free. The efficiently of the system would have been very high though with a COP of 5.0.

For the Canadian style geothermal system, only 300m2 of captor piping at 1m under the ground would have been needed. To set up the system, digging, laying the serpentine and refilling, would have cost 3500 Euros plus the heat pump (10 000). Apparently the heat exchange fluid in the external serpentine needs changing every 7 years (not sure this is really true though). And still the 6000 for the under floor heating system (but this would be necessary for any of the systems).

And finally – the air-water heat pump. Seemingly this system is the simplest to set up (no wells or ground to dig up) and very effective (COP of 4.2). In other words – for 1 kw of energy in you get 4.2 back out in the form of heat. Finally – it is a compact system, no moving parts and all parts are supposed to be easily changeable now.

So – I have gone for the air-water heat pump which including the underfloor serpentine will be 10 000 Euros. This will also heat the hot water for the house.

Log burner: One of the more ecological systems and cheapest to run – especially as I will have plenty of trees on the land that will need thinning yearly. With the house so well insulated – I shouldn't need to heat too much either (hopefully). With the design of the house (open plan) and 'square' with opening to mezzanine a log burner in the living room would heat most of the house very effectively. Now all I need to do is choose a nice design – not too big but big enough to take the logs I already have cut !! Another consideration with a log burner is the pure pleasure of sitting in front of a real fire on a cold night!!

Windows:

Choices: Wood, PVC and Aluminium – double glazing or triple, laminated (break resistant)

Wood: Great material, excellent insulation qualities, prices range depending on choice of wood – pine to oak but more expensive than PVC. Needs maintenance, acrylic, oil or varnish - hard wood needing least maintenance. Certain designs of frames not possible (sliding windows).

PVC: Top for insulation qualities, material lends its self to different moulding and the full range of opening systems, easy to keep looking perfect for 20 years or more with no maintenance, significantly lowest price but – and a big but – very poor rating for the planet. Highly toxic chemicals used in its production and huge problems for disposal of off cuts and old windows.

Aluminium: Poor insulation qualities – but new design improves on this by creating thermal breaks. Amazing options for colours and finishes (including bi-colouring – different on the inside to outside). Apparently you can even re-spray aluminium when you get fed-up with one colour. No maintenance needed. Material lends its self to most designs – but not quite as rigid as PVC. Can be dented. Triple the price of PVC but comparable to middle range of wood.

I chose- Aluminium finally. I couldn't accept the un-ecological PCV (sadly) and although I would have loved wood – don't want to have to deal with maintenance – and the sun is really strong here.

I also chose double glazing (triple not really worth the extra cost) and laminated on the windows without bars to increase security. To English this might seem unnecessary but here in France if you don't have shutters you will be attracting thieves – and the insurance companies up your premium.

For the design I have chosen sliding windows for the kitchen, the big living-room window and the mezzanine window so as not to have problems with the window sweeping things off the surface – remembering that in France windows open inwards. The other windows will be fitted in the thickness of the wall nearer the outer wall – opening inwards. The galandage glass door of the kitchen will have a sunken frame for wheelchair access.

Antoine (builder) had wanted to use his own supplier for windows, fitting them himself. However after getting quotes I found Vial to offer windows with the same thermal resistance quality and comparable design for 3000 Euros less. We had a meeting and looked at all the information and my choice of designs and I'm glad to say he is now fine about fitting the Vial windows! I really don't think I will even notice the frames once they are in – I'll probably be looking out at the garden thinking how it needs weeding!

Waste water disposal

The house location is half a km out of the village and in a valley not served by a communal sewer. Options are :

Septic tank, which would have to be 3m3, the outflow going into something like 45m of soak-away drainage. Not very ecological – not all the systems function well enough. From experience – this system can have smell problems, it needs pumping every 3 years and the biggest problem – it isn't possible to have a soak-away in the lower field (only possible place unless I have a lifting pump) because it is so marshy. The other option to a soak-away would be a reed bed set in a basin to treat the effluent. Tank and soak-away could be put in for 6000E, reed bed option would add to this price. And – I would have problems in lorry access for the emptying.

Micro-station, had been my first thought. You can find really nice compact systems on the market. However – they need electric power (not a big problem), still need emptying (access problem) and the local authorities wont allow you to let the water just flow out without a second treatment – soak-away or reed bed. So – although very ecological, the fact you have to have a second purification system makes them very expensive – and still doesn't get around the problem of the ground being too wet for a soak-away.

Reed beds, had not been in my original plan – but once I looked into it this certainly was the most attractive and natural system for the area. All the waste flows directly out and onto a first reed bed of 10m2 (2m x 5m) with special plants set in different graded stones to allow filtration of matter to lower levels. The natural bacteria around the roots of the reeds breaks down the matter in less than 5 days. The outflow of the first basin flows into a second basin (2m x 5m) of aquatic plants which finish the purification process. Apparently you can drink the water flowing out of this second basin. Not sure I'll try it – but I am seduced by the naturalness of this process. I would have to ensure no unpleasant products are used in the house which would kill the plants and organise a timer watering system if I am away in the summer. This wouldn't be too bad as I will have a well in the garden from which I am pumping water for the garden already. I am quite satisfied that smells wont be a problem – but I'll be glad once the reeds have established well enough to ensure I don't 'see' anything sitting in my reed beds! The cost is higher than I would have expected – minimum 8000E, because of the complexity of the system. The basins have to be dug to exactly the right size, depth and slant, then lined and filled with layers of the different grade chippings and stones before adding the correct range of plants. The lower field already being a reedy area – makes this system the most in keeping with the house and environment – and ecological. The only maintenance is annual cutting of the reeds.

Now I am waiting for the planning application (prepared by Alexandre Cras from Aquatiris) to be accepted by the local authorities. I have to say at this point that I initially had thought Alexander's quote for preparing the design and plans was a little expensive – but I have rarely seen a better prepared and detailed application. I hope it is accepted!!

5 Photos of the site 'before'

'Before' Photos 

The first photo is of the upper level (only just planted with grass) and shows what will be the shared drive up to the road. This level will be divided cross-ways about where the stone bench is in the middle. The new access down to the next level (out of site behind the bamboos to the right) will swing off the existing drive between the olive trees behind the stone bench to the right back corner of the photo. The path on the right goes down to the old pond and lavoir - (pond and washing trough) served by a fresh water spring which will be in 'my' part after division.  The little pond is really an amazing corner of tranquillity - it would have been built / cut out of the rock at the same time as the old house in late 1600s.

The next 2 photos show the middle field, as it was back in 2003. Flanked on one side by the bamboos and on the other by 'cannes' (no idea what they are called in English). So the old house is to the right in this view above and behind the bamboos and the lower field on the left below the cannes. The division is about in the middle of the field.

Looking North-East across the middle field - Oct 2003

Looking South East across the middle field  2003.

And Southwards - from the middle field over the lower field  to the right  2003

It took several years of hard work to clear away the Cannes - which grow to 5 or 6 m and turn brown every winter collapsing onto the lawn. Horribly messy plants which invade the banks at a scary rate!  The middle field looks a bit bare now they have gone but Bruno and Christel's fruit trees are growing and later I'll re-instate some more controllable plants along my edge. Also - the house will take up half the space.

Feb 2013 SE end of the mid field looking what will be the front of the house.

The following photos show the building plot at the beginning of 2013 (all the cannes to the left hand side are now gone). In the picture to the right, I was standing towards the SE end of the middle field looking NW across where the house will be built.

Standing in the lower field looking up to the middle field.

                                                        The left view was taken in February, before the reeds in the lower field had their spring green growth.The house will be just in front of the bamboos up to the left limit of the photo. In winter the bare trees, as seen,  will allow maximum sun - and offer shade in the summer.

And standing at the NW end looking back and over the lower field.

The beautiful little 'bassin' with old wash trough.

I kept  the old bassin and wash trough (more than 300 years old) when the land was divided. I hope to make more use of this quiet shady area in the future as it will be closer to and on level with the house. Don't be misled by the fish about the pond size  - it's 4.5m by 4m!  The biggest carp is a monster of about 35cm!

Spring coming 2013. Views from what will be the front of the house Southwards

This is the steep bank down which we have to make an access drive.

This bank was the biggest worry to most involved in the project. With a drop of more than 3m and a sharp bend - it wasn't going to be easy to cut in a drive - especially one solid enough for the lorries bringing down building materials. Further more - the bank drops away another 3m on the left into the field below,  a worrying 6m wake-up call if you misjudge the bend! But if I didn't have the drive coming down at this end of the land - it would have been too close to the house and compromised the patio and flower garden I plan there. Or it would have passed in front of the old house which wouldn't have been acceptable.

6 April 2013

April 2013 The work begins!

So the work begins.............

Planning permission was received at the beginning of February 2013. The building regulations require that a poster be mounted on the entrance of the building site - giving the information on the dimensions, location and height of the building as well as planned use etc in case any neighbours wish to raise objections.  The poster was duly put up on the 7th of February and no work could therefore start before the 7th of April.

I spent the waiting period interviewing builders, plumbers, electricians, waste water people, heating experts etc.   Finally choosing Antoine Nalin (Ecostruction) as the builder as well as for the electricity, Jerome Andraud as the plumber and for the under-floor heating (who had worked very well on the old house for me) , Stephane Audibert as terracier for the digging/excavation work and Alex Cras to design the ecological water treatment system (reed beds). 

No unwanted letters from the Mairie with complaints from neighbours by the 7th of April - so on the 11th the Stephane started the digging work. The first stage was to cut in the new drive way down to the middle level and building site.  It looks a bit 'wide' but will be reduced after the building is finished and all the heavy machines no longer need to have access to the site.  The idea was to follow the lie of the land as much as we could and remove as few trees as possible too.

View from the road of the new drive branching off the old access.

The route had to use every centimetre of land to get the length to achieve the 6m drop from road level to the house with out it being too steep. The hardest part was a corner which will be too tight even for a car to go around without having to resort to a 2 point turn - and the lorries will have to go forwards onto the neighbour's land and reverse down the last slope. It all turned out to be easier than expected for the lorries as there wasn't room at the bottom to turn anyway!

 At the corner - on the neighbour's land had been some really unpleasant dog kennels made mainly from scrap materials. While Stephane had his bulldozer in we ripped it all out and used it as filler for the slope. (With the neighbours permission I hasten to add!).   This gave room for the lorries to go far enough forwards before reversing. 

The corner which had caused all the anxiety.

Only 2 big trees and a 2 small ones were sacrificed in the end. The Maple on the corner had to be lagged a bit to allow lorries to pass. I hope is will survive having its roots exposed !
Before adding the hardcore, Stephane dug the services trench and I  rolled in the piping and 'gainnes' - great team work!

The final part of the drive down.

View from the corner towards the chateau d'Ansouis

Once the scrap and rubbish had been cleared from the  neighbour's side - another serendipitous finding was that there was a super view of the Chateau d'Ansouis half a km away !  Doesn't show up quite as clearly on the photo - but it is pretty impressive. Now all I have to do is to lop off that blasted tree branch one dark night!







Once the access was in Stephane moved my fruit trees from the middle field to the top field and then came back a week later to dig the 'platform' 80cm deep (13m x13m) which generated some 100m3 of earth.  This was moved into the lower field, creating a flat zone for Antoine and his builders to store building materials. 












A few days later Stephane came back again to dig the foundations 40 cm deep into the platform. He did warn Antoine that it would be raining for a week from the next day. And it did!  The soil was almost pure clay in places and with springs rising just below the bamboos adding to the torrential rain a good part of the trenches collapsed.  The digger could no longer access to clear them so once we had dry enough weather it was a hand job for us to re-dig them. Heavy hard work to end April !

7 May /June 2013

May / June 

The first couple weeks of May were also wet but finally we had a dry spell and things started to move again! 2 big cement mixers came in to pump the foundations full of concrete. Impressive machines !  Again we had a few days of rain - but now 'above ground' this was no longer a big worry. The block-work for the crawl space went up in no time. Now I could see the surface area of my future home (or area of crawl-space). Weird!

May 24th

The team busy at work!

Boris - one of the 2 builders permanently on site.

Nicholas the other  builder.

The design of the house lent its self well to 3 areas for flooring and aligned walls. Below you can see the 'Bison' have been laid and the 'slabs' of insulation placed between them (and supported by them). The Thermal Resistance (TR) of the floor (including the insulation for the under floor heating) will be very high (I'll find out the figures I calculated for my Ecological page).  On top of the insulation were placed grids of reinforcing and several cm of concrete.  Just before this phase the Jerome (plumber) sorted out all the evacuation pipes for the water. So that is now in! (Goosebumps!)

At this stage the exterior of under-ground part was coated in cement then given 3 coats of bitumen (by me) before the drainage pipe and gravel went in around the foundations.  Then the 1m space around the foundations was back-filled. Another mistake here was that all the earth that had been excavated was now in the lower field and the Manitu couldn't dig it up. Stephane fortunately was able to come back and dig the earth out into mounds for the manitu to collect.

Floor insulation June 1st

37.5cm wide Monomur blocks.

The wall blocks we chose are Monomur bricks (37.5cm) which have a  of Thermal conductivity of 0.12 w/(M2.K)  - the recommended insulation level for a BBC (Battiment Basse Consommation -building of low energy consumption). Expensive - but really good ecologically and insulation wise - and they go up really fast too! In spite of having to lay them perfectly - no room for 'that's good enough' here if you want the insulation qualities to be perfect.

Antoine Nalin - The Hairy boss of Ecotruction!

June 22nd

In only 2 days the outer walls and inner support walls were up to window level!  Now I can actually walk around the 'rooms' and get a feel of the space. The above photo is taken with me standing in what will be the bedroom door looking across the living and dining room to the SW window. Looks spacious! (Reassuring!)

View from my future bedroom widow!

View from what will be my South terrace and veggie patch - needs a little weeding first I think!

Click on the video to have a feel of the tranquillity of the area. You can even hear the birds singing!

June 27th - up to the top of the windows!

View from the kitchen!

The internal support walls are started now.

I can now really start to get a feel for the volumes of the house. Too late now to change anything!

Bruno and Christel's bamboo screen making progress!

8 July 2013

July 2013

It has been a strange 'summer' weather-wise. In spite of a protracted chilly spring we finally had some really hot days in June - reaching a stifling 37C  in sharp contrast to 8C at the beginning of the month. On the building site - obviously the cooler days were easier on Nicco and Boris, putting up the brick wall under the searing heat isn't a job I'd like to do. By the 4th of July the walls were up to the tops of the windows and they were ready for pour the reinforcing.  They are off for a few days and will be back to pour the reinforced belt around the house at the top of the windows next week.

 You can really see how 'tucked into' the bamboos the house is in this photo.  At  least along this stretch the bamboos wont be able to invade the lawn or garden.

 The bassin is looking a little over-grown and neglected at the moment - but is creates a great cool spot for relaxing at lunchtime.   I'm going to have to take one of the water-Lilly pots out at the end of the year - they have rather overtaken the pond.

One of my great finds this week was two pieces of a huge water pipe. They were in a big waste disposal bin on a building site. With Bernhard's help I managed to get them out and into his van! They are about 80cm in diameter and the larger piece 1.5m long, the other  about 70cm.  I'm not sure how they will 'fit together - but I'll find a way to connect them.  These will be ideal for the 'well' in the lower field.  The water table is so high you only need to go down 50 cm and you are in water. To buy either a water tank of 2m3 or 4 sections of concrete drains of 80cm in diameter (60cm high) would have cost over 500Euros.  I'll get the diggers to make a hole of 2.5 - 3.0m deep, put a bed of chippings wrapped in permeable membrane in the bottom - stand one of the pipes on top and get the bulldozer to fill in around - then add on the second section and continue back filling around it. At the top I'll do a concrete surround and place concrete slabs across it leaving a smaller square hole and on top of that a man-hole and cover. Perfect!

I dug out the collapsed drain taking water away from around the house and draining the springs arriving at the bottom of the slope on the 4th and 5th of July then put down the membrand, drainage pipe and chippings.  Hard, hot and heavy work - especially as I couldn't get close with the trailer and had to carry the chippings across in buckets.  Anyway now this is done it can be filled in and there wont be any more maintenance to keep the ditch open - I will be able to simply run the lawn mower over it!

18th July lintels are in and apparently solid enough to stand on!

The opening into my wing (bedroom/bathroom)

 Opposite this opening will be a built in wardrobe (wooden doors) and the door into my bedroom and en suite bathroom will be to the right - tucked around the corner out of sight from the living room.

View from the middle of the living room through window onto terrace

Standing in the living room space and looking out of the living room window through what will be the terrace - out into the garden is - great!!  The volumes, and window sizes etc look 'right'.

 The lintel has now been poured, it must have taken quite a substantial amount of concrete!  At one point I had wanted to have a superb wooden beam across this opening, however, even if it had been adequate for load bearing of the 3m wall above - they still would have had to pour a concrete lintel above to link the reinforced belt of the house.  So the wooden beam would have been for aesthetics only, a bit wasteful considering I want the house to be ecological. So - decided to just have the concrete lintel - and have it placed as high as possible - considering it has to support the beams of the mezzanine flooring.

 You can see the recesses ready to receive the mezzanine floor beams.  I had a quick check today to make sure the distance from the wall which will support the stairs too the first beam is correct. The 'tremmis', or well for the stairs should have been the breath of the stairs (75cm) plus 1 step (26cm) minimum, so - 1m. It is 83cm. Hmm.  I'll have to check all the calculations for head clearance if the first step rising is under the ceiling and not under the stair well.  It will be a bit tight because there will be a door and passage under the head end of the stairs - and there has to be 2.04 (minimum) clearance for the door to open inwards and under the stairs.  I'll put in a plan of the stairs in the house plan section.

Just to show you how incredibly green the area is!!

Checked at the SIVOM today - seems that all is fine for the plan to install reed beds for waste water treatment.  It isn't going to be easy to decide when this work should be done. In the summer would be the best while the ground is as dry as possible for the machines to move about. But - not much time left to organise this now. Also the area in the lower field is being used as a platform for building materials. The area wont be very accessible.