Monday, 4 August 2008

Going over plans & quotes

I had a meeting with Mr D, the architect. He gave me a preliminary quote & plans. We are already 10% over my original budget! Not surprising since my first one was not realistic. Anyway I have reviewed it all and also added some 15% contigency fund (just in case).

Probably will have to do the same thing with time frame (les delais)...

Anyway this preliminary stage is really important. It gives me a chance to review all the aspects of the project, more or less in details since I am not on site. I went through the quote meticulously: heating (chauffage), insulation (isolation), doors (menuiserie), plumbing (plomberie), floors (sols), bathrooms & kitchen (salles de bain et cuisine), roof (toiture), partitions (cloisonnement), electricity (electricite), painting (peinture). I checked prices and materials on different web sites. The followings ones are particularly useful:
www.leroymerlin.fr
http://produits-btp.batiproduits.com
www.pointp.fr

For general the look, I bought a bunch of magazines but I also found a lot of inspiration on www.marieclairemaison.com.

So after a week or so, finding out all there is to know about Velux windows, ceramic tiles, heating systems etc and redesigning the house in my dreams, I sent a 2 pages email to Mr D.
Now waiting for feedback. We should be meeting end of August to finalise and signed the docs before it all kicks off in October.

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