France in Focus

I have been beating my head against this problem for some years now but now it is becoming critical.
I am fairly certain most of you have noticed how hard it is to get a French tradesman to do any work. This ranges from actually responding to a request for a devis to actually turning up to do the work within a year of agreeing to do it.
Has anyone found a way to break into the system and get a timely result? I gave up years ago trying to get French professional help, and then tried expat British as an alternative. Mixed results somewhere between poor and competent at mostly exhorbitant prices. Happily I have been healthy enough to say "nuts to it" and do it myself. More recently as I get older and my physical state deteriorates I find I am back at the mercy of outside help. I can no longer lift a bag of cement and sudden twinges of pain and occasional dizzyness makes it a fools errand going up a ladder to fix a leaky roof.

My most recent experience has been with a stonemason and a plumber. Both expats who were reasonable and turned out to be highly skilled. I gave them both a clearly defined list of things I wanted done and they both came when promised and did one thing on the list. Then didn't return to finish. One said he was too busy just at the moment and I have gently reminded him a couple of times. Pretty much the same story with the plumber, who fixed one leak leaving two more leaks unfixed. I have been waiting over two months now.

What is the secret of how to get help? Do I get back in touch offering them double their hourly rate? Do I ask for recommendation of someone else to contact? We are both losing sleep worrying about this stuff when other people of our age appear to be enjoying retirement. I have never worked so hard or enjoyed life less. The assisted dieing option is looking more appealing all the time.

I have a plumber / electrician who whizzes round here if I need anythinbg fixed, although he's expensive (including the burst outside pipe that OH should have lagged but didn't). He often doessn't charge me so long as I ply him with coffee.

As for DIY, I now have to rely on my sons (both have appropriate qualifications) or travaux.com. I used the latter a few months ago when I waanted an extra 3m kitchen worktop + 4 new electric points. Excellent work with good quality materials. Can't recommend them enough.

We have nothing but praise for all the artisans we have used since living in France. We have never used expats, preferring to give the business to locals (French) and to be sure that things are done to the French norms.

When we moved here 10 years ago, we decided to get the more complicated or heavy stuff done by local artisans. They were all recommended by other people and we were able to see their work. We have nothing but praise for their work, their reliability and all of them have been a pleasure to have around.
Fortunately OH is an electrical engineer and knows his stuff - it's saved us a fortune !

If in doubt, it's wise to get more than one quote (this goes for anything, not just building work !). Beware the expat - check with the CCI that he is legally registered. If he isn't, you're on your own with any risks involved.

I could barely put one word after another in spoken French when we first came here, so having artisans to do the major work on our house was good motivation to learn. At that time, OH was weekending to Brest ....

We too are lucky to have access to French artisans who do turn up and do the work - as quickly as the job demands and based on their existing workload.

A friend was suffering more and more from leaks and it was clear that the roof needed complete replacement. The chosen artisan said quite clearly that he could not start in the next 6 months. Perhaps not ideal but as a maison secondaire, 6 months over winter was not such a major issue, given that the leaks had been there for years. At least she knew where she stood with him.

You have all been very lucky not to have lived in this part of 22. My experience since 2001 has been quite the opposite. This includes having done management and keyholding for non-resident owned gites owners. Coping with this necessitated me learning the French normes (where required) and getting on with the job myself. Now I am unable to do a lot of stuff myself due to the reasons above. I guess we'll just have to learn to live with leaks.

Hotrodder wrote: ↑Thu Jul 16, 2026 5:25 pm You have all been very lucky not to have lived in this part of 22. My experience since 2001 has been quite the opposite. This includes having done management and keyholding for non-resident owned gites owners. Coping with this necessitated me learning the French normes (where required) and getting on with the job myself. Now I am unable to do a lot of stuff myself due to the reasons above. I guess we'll just have to learn to live with leaks.

Incontinence?