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| Client Training Days
Guillaume Batiment now offers an exciting new service for those wishing to get more involved with their renovation projects.
I was aware that property owners here are knowledgeable about French style and architecture, and know precisely the look, or finish, that they are trying to create, but find it difficult to get hands-on experience. It's not even that easy to get English language books on the subject with adequate descriptions. My goal is to offer a service that combines the practice and the theory of building, tailored to the client's needs and taking place at the client's own premises.
Some of the techniques come with practice, and others are relatively simple but require specialist tools and machinery. Having invested over 30K on equipment, and a year in college to learn France-specific building skills, I've realised that there has to be a better way of learning than through reading DIY manuals! With experience of teaching in adult-education in the UK, I am able to structure workshops, but in this case in a home environment. I am hugely enthusiastic about getting clients involved with the "real" work. It isn't rocket science, so can be easily explained, and I think that hands-on training might interest those trying to broaden their horizons.
Throughout the day, your trainer remains a working artisan, so you will be working alongside an experienced professional. Below is an example of the sort of project that would benefit from this service.
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| | | Monsieur Smith
wants to convert a derelict outbuilding into a summer games room. It
needs a new roof, and a floor, for starters. He's got a 500kg trailer,
and a DIY cement mixer, and he's already guessed that the two pallets
of roof tiles are perhaps a tad heavy, and that the 24 chevrons are not going to sit comfortably on the roofrack.
He'll
still need to transport 12 trailer loads of melange-beton, and 40 sacks
of cement using the family car before he can cast the concrete floor
pad... etc. etc. He still won't be able to start until the tool-hire
centre opens (if he needs a decent size betonniere). And at the end of
a hard day's work, the hire tools have to be back on time...
M. Smith now decides to contact Guillaume Batiment, who propose a 4-day plan.
The
first morning is spent clearing the roof tiles, from a roof that is
clearly in a very poor condition. Monsieur Smith is "catcher", but
still drops a few tiles as they rain down on him. I prefer throwing,
and I don't usually fall off roofs, so I'm topside. We "sound" them to
sort the good ones from the scrap tiles.
The
timbers are standard lengths, but still need setting into the crumbling
walls. Most of this is done from a ladder, as it isn't a tall building.
By the time he's made the 3rd mix, the consistency of the mortar is
starting to improve... Whilst the capping sets around the walls, we
discuss the levels for the new floor. M.Smith will dig it down by the
required amount, and I'll bring 3 tonnes of melange-beton with me on my
next visit.
Back
on the roof, he's got my nail gun, which saves us some time. With the
roof boards going up nicely, there's definite teamwork. I've put up
some scaffolding to stop him jumping off, just in case. I'll be
mortaring the ridge tiles and the rives, but explaining it as I go. The
client does a couple, but we need to get the roof finished in 3 days,
so time is short.
The
concrete goes down in a short day, with help from one of M.Smith's
friends. They're both knackered at the end, but they've saved over 2k
on this little project already, so they've earned a cold beer.
Later
on I'll go back and see the finished product, and I'll know that I was
just the facilitator. Monsieur is very pleased with himself, and
rightly so! | | | |
| If you have a project planned, that just needs a little guidance,
some labour, and access to building tools, this service is aimed at
you. Scaffolding and mobile compressor etc.are all available but are
usually out on site, so need to be booked well in advance. Where
individuals wish to club together to share a session, they are very
welcome to. Some ideas of the work I do day-to-day are shown in the
Portfolio pages. For more information, I'd be glad to discuss your proposals, so please drop me a line, or call me on one of our contact numbers. Bon courage! Andy | |
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