Weekend money matters
A second valuation arrived over the weekend, with a new invoice. This time its a better reflection of the work carried out to date and materials paid for, but yet to be used. It also includes a sum for the additional excavation required by the Building Control Officer in respect of the footings. There goes a bit more of the contingency fund...
The good news is that there's only one stray item included in the valuation. This relates to the reinforcement (if necessary) of the corner of the existing building; work hasn't been done yet. Now the footings of the extension go right down to the base of the house foundations, I doubt whether its necessary. There were a couple of other items to question but more for clarification than querying the bill, so I've paid the invoice minus the only item which hasn't been done.
Responding to the builder was also a good opportunity to remind the man in charge that I wish to see the windows and doors he proposes to install before they are ordered to make sure I'm happy with the design, and to flag up the need for the guys to work very carefully on the brickwork on the side wall of the extension as it will soon be visible through the glazed panels in my neighbour's conservatory, and I want it to look good for them! Oh yes...and the skip is full, so this might be a good time to get it replaced ready for the next lot of demolition....knowing the delay getting a skip on the last two occasions!
Monday 16 July
Expectation: The guys will be here early to carry on building the walls of the extension.
Reality: No one has arrived by 9.30 am, so I text the man in charge to let him know that there’s no one on site, and that I hope they are at the corrrect No 33 (they have been known to go to a different No 33 in a different location!). He says he’ll chase them and find out what’s going on.
By 11 am, still no news and no builders. I text him again to find out what’s going on. Eventually a reply comes back, apologising. The guys needed a scaffold for the next lift of brickwork, but didn’t tell the man in charge. The trestles and boards have been ordered and will be delivered in the afternoon and the guys will be back on site tomorrow. He has spoken to them about communication to try to avoid this sort of thing happening in future.
Around lunchtime, there is a phone call from the man in charge. My neighbour has called him about brickwork running along side their lean to conservatory, which has had to be been built “hand over” due to the very narrow space between the two structures. They had reiterated concerns already expressed to me that the brickwork on the extension wall which has been built hand over won’t look good if, in future, they decide to take down the conservatory completely (or replace it with something smaller).
His response was the same as mine - if at some point in the future the “hand over” brickwork was exposed and looked a mess, it was a simple job to rake out the joints and repoint - a brickie and one or two days work depending on the extent of the repointing. He also assured them that the guys would be very careful when constructing the small section of brickwork which would be visible through the glazed upper panels of the conservatory’s side wall - a point I’d already conveyed to him at the weekend by email.
I hope his response reasssures my neighbours, but will talk it through again next time I see them.
Later that afternoon the scaffold trestles and boards are delivered as promised and are stacked up in the street next to the skip, remaining palette of bricks and bag of sand. There’s no more room in the house or garden for materials or equipment of any size!
Tuesday 18 July
The builders arrive around 8.45, the scaffold is erected and they resume building up the extension walls. We have a short discussion with the drawings in front of us about the height of the top of the window on the garden elevation (2300mm from internal floor level) and I leave them to get on with it while I go out for lunch with a friend visiting from America.
By the time I return, the walls of the extension have grown taller - full height on the garden elevation I think, and above the bottom of the glazed panels in my neighbours conservatory. As the extension can now be seen through this glass, I'm anxious to ensure that the brickwork is neat and well pointed, so I call in next door for a quick chat to make sure that my neighbours are happy. Sadly they are not. Their list of concerns is growing by the day...
The main problem now seems to be that the wall is higher than they thought it would be, or perhaps only now do they fully appreciate how high the wall would look compared to the fence which previously ran along the boundary? I could only stress (again) that the flank wall is as low as it can be. Any lower and the steel beam supporting the main wall at the back of the house would be above the extension roof and exposed to the elements, which clearly can't happen.
The architect's drawings do not help for several reasons. Firstly, the large scale section shows the side of my neighbour's conservatory as a single plane inset from the boundary by about 10cm. This is correct in terms of the conservatory's main framework with its solid panels at low level and glazed panels at high level. However, this framework sits on a wider brick base which comes right up to the boundary between our two houses - indeed a little bit over at one end. The framework's plastic "window" cills project over the boundary even further and had to be notched around the fence posts in place at the time it was constructed, due to this encroachment.
Secondly, the width of my extension as dimensioned on the plan cannot be accommodated on the site due to the position of my neighbour's conservatory encroaching over the boundary between the two properties. This encroachment is not something I've made a big song and dance about - the "lost" space is small and historic and I can live with it.
I can guess how these discrepancies probably came about (it was simply not possible to see how next's doors conservatory was constructed when the high fence between our houses was still in place). However, at my neighbour's request, I agreed to go back to the architect to find out how he carried out the survey on which the drawings were based.
Thirdly, it seems that my neighbour has mistakenly thought that the standard symbols used on architectural drawings to distinguish between different building materials (e.g. small rectangles for bricks, larger ones for blocks and wavy lines for the intervening insulation on a standard cavity wall) represent the actual size of materials to be used. As a result, he had the impression that there would only be two courses of bricks (two small rectangles shown on the drawing) rising above the bottom of the glazed panels at the side of the conservatory. He was therefore upset to see brickwork going up higher than two courses, to the approved height.
I tried to explain (although I'm still not sure that he understands) the difference between the symbolic representation of brickwork which is standard on building drawings and actual brick courses drawn to scale (something usually only found on full size design details for important historic building projects).
There's another concern about the down pipe and gutter on the neighbours' conservatory. The down pipe had been removed to build the extension wall and get a good finish on the pointing, right up to the corner of the conservatory. It's been put back now and drops vertically rather than at an angle as before, but still needs fixing to the conservatory's brick plinth. We agreed we'd discuss this with the builders tomorrow.
In addition, my neighbour seems to think that the builders have removed the conservatory gutter as well and swapped round the ends around for some reason. Cobwebs and dust around the gutter suggest to me that the gutter has not been disturbed, but we agree to look at photos we both have to see if there have been any changes. If the gutter has been removed and put back differently, we'll add it to the list of things to talk to the builder about tomorrow morning.
My neighbours remain concerned about the pointing of the "hand over" brickwork they can't see, and what it would look like if they took down their conservatory at some point in the future and it was exposed. All I could do was reiterate the offer that in these circumstances I would undertake to pay a bricklayer to rake out and repoint any areas of exposed brickwork that aren't up to scratch. It's a generous offer. There's no legal obligation on my part to do something like that, but I would be happy to give such an undertaking whilst we live next door to each other, in the interests of good neighbourliness. My offer to put the undertaking in writing seemed to cheer them up a bit, so that's what I'll do.
We also talked about the new purlin in the loft and whether it would poke through into their loft. My neighbour seems to think there is only a 4" brick wall between the two, which seems unlikely as all the other structural walls in the house are traditional 9" brickwork (two rows of imperial size bricks). A single brick thickness between terraced houses would not be wide enough or strong enough to support pairs of heavy roof timbers used as roof ridges and purlins. However, rather than argue at this point, I noted his concern and agreed to let him have details of the new purlin, which is not a big RSJ (rolled steel joist) as he feared. Another thing to add to the "to do" list, but anything to keep my neighbours happy.
We left it that we'd talk to the builders about the guttering/down pipe on their conservatory when they arrive tomorrow morning. The air seemed a little clearer after this discussion, so I'm hopeful that things are back on track as much as they can be when there's a physical wall going up between us.
Wednesday 18 July
While waiting for the builders to arrive, I have printed off and signed the undertaking relating to repointing the extension wall at my own expense, should circumstances require. I've found and forwarded details of the loft beam to my neighbours so they can see what's proposed. I've looked through my photos of the back of our houses and sent them a couple which show the guttering and down pipe on their conservatory, as agreed. I've also emailed the architect querying the accuracy of the survey and sent my neighbours a copy so that they see that I've followed up on their request.
After the builders arrived, I knocked on my neighbours front door to give them the signed undertaking, fully expecting to be invited to go inside so we could talk to the builders about the guttering and down pipe as agreed yesterday. The reception was polite but frosty....my neighbour is "too busy" to talk to the builders now, so all I could do was hand over the envelope with the undertaking and go back home.
It seems that something has happened overnight. The understanding I thought we had reached yesterday evening has evaporated or been overtaken by events which they don't want to talk about. This is the last thing I wanted to happen. Up to now I've got on really well with my neighbours. We have lived next door to each other for years. Our sons grew up together. I have trusted them with a spare key to my house and they have given me a lot of support over the years, especially since my husband died and I've been living here alone.
I have involved them at every stage of the house renovation project so they are always in the picture. I've been happy to accommodate their wishes where possible (for example, they said they would prefer brick cladding to the wall along the boundary rather than a rendered wall which they could paint a light colour to bounce more light into their house, and I was happy to oblige). I've overlooked the small encroachment of their conservatory on to my side of the boundary. Even so, our relationship now seems to be going sour as a result of the house project, which saddens me enormously.....But I really don't know what else I can do to offset the impact on their home as my extension goes up.
I went off to London in the afternoon with a heavy heart and whinged at length to the friend I was meeting there to get it off my chest. By the time I got back home around 11pm it was too dark and I was too tired to do anything but go to bed.
Thursday 19 July
In the morning light, I'm amazed to see the progress the builders have made in my absence. The brickwork now seems to be at full height on the controversial side wall of the extension, and above it I can still see some of the high level glazed panels in the side of my neighbour's conservatory when standing at my existing kitchen window.
The builders have made a start on the internal blockwork and putting insulation into the intervening cavity. I assume that this process will carry on today...
I also notice the thin layer of dust over everything in the kitchen; the first time this has been so obvious. It looks like the builders have been cutting concrete blocks in the garden with the kitchen's French doors wide open. I think its time to move the rest of the kitchen stuff into the temporary kitchen I have started setting up in the front room. I'm in the middle of this process when the builders arrive at 8.15am, so I finish what I was doing and leave them to get on with it.
Late in the morning, I received an email from my neighbours. They have noticed a typo in the written undertaking I delivered by hand yesterday, and have asked for a corrected copy to be put through their letterbox. The email is polite but terse. No greeting at the start and rather than sign off as usual with her initial and a kiss, my neighbour's name is set out fully, including the surname. The formality of the email makes me wonder whether the next communication from them will be via a solicitor....
I correct the undertaking, print off a couple of copies, sign and date and post through their letterbox as requested, without knocking on the door. Then I reply to the email to let them know that I've done what they asked. I make it clear that I'd have preferred to have handed it over in person and discussed their concerns, but from the tone of their message I sensed that they don't want to talk to me at the moment. I also stress that I'm happy to talk whenever they are ready - just knock on the front door or have a chat over the garden fence as we have been doing happily for years, until the last few days.
Given my neighbour's concerns about the height of the extension wall along the common boundary, I thought it would be useful to establish just how much taller the brick wall is compared to the tall solid timber fence that stood there until recently. I hadn't bothered to measure the fence before it was removed, but have photos showing it in situ. Comparing "before" and "after" photos, it's apparent that the difference in height between the top of the brick wall and the top of the old fence is five and a half brick courses: 41cm (16"). The box gutter which will sit on top of the brickwork will add another 7.5cm, so eventually the overall increase in height along the boundary will be some 48.5cm/19".
I know the wall along the boundary will make a difference to my neighbours, but surely life's too short to let a difference of just over a foot and a half come between friends, especially bearing in mind that the taller pergola and robust evergreen clematis growing over it have also been removed to make way for the extension, allowing much more light into my neighbours' side return than before, notwithstanding in the added height of the brick wall?
By the end of the day, the guys have finished off the blockwork along the side wall and around to the window opening in the garden elevation. The scaffold planks and platform have been dismantled and stored in the garden (oh, my poor plants!!) and the volume of the extension is beginning to be apparent at last.
They tell me that the next step is below ground drainage works, but seem unsure whether they will be doing that tomorrow, or someone else...or maybe no one will come at all? Will have to wait and see what happens in the morning....
Friday 19 July
After breakfast, I go into the garden to have another look at the extension. Then something catches my eye as I look down from the walls into the footprint of the extension. It's damp, in spite of the fact we have had no rain for weeks.
It wasn't noticeable up to now - since 12th July, this area has been covered in scaffold planks and platform for the guys to stand on while building the walls. These were not removed until yesterday when they finished up for the day.
I can only think of one explanation for the damp - the drain in the sideway (which has been covered by a paving slab since the start of work) is blocked or leaking. By way of an experiment, I go inside, turn on the kitchen tap and go back outside to see what happens. It doesn't take long to see water level rising in the drain gully then overflow onto the floor of the extension.
This is alarming! The drain serves not only the kitchen sink but also the dishwasher and washing machine downstairs and (more worryingly) the bathroom on the first floor and WC in the loft. It's where the waste from the toilets goes. Not the sort of thing you want overflowing into the floor of your new extension, just outside the kitchen window.....
I quickly text the builder to say it needs sorting out urgently and the reply comes back with an apology...the guys will ensure that this is dealt with today. So I sit and wait, updating the blog to pass time. Something like this makes neighbour problems pale into insignificance for the time being. Raw sewage overflowing for one day is bad enough (I ask myself, how long has it been going on?). The thought of it continuing over the weekend when temperatures are forecast to rise to 30C is not nice at all....
I text the man in charge again again at 11 am as still no sign of anyone, and the reply comes back that he will chase them....and I wait.....
Eventually, someone turns up to look at the drain. It's nothing serious, just a small blockage between the gully and the main salt glazed drainpipe. A quick poke with a short rod and the blockage is cleared. Water is running away without a problem. I have a sigh of relief, express my thanks to the drainage man and text the man in charge to let him know the issue is sorted.
Returning to the iPad, I see another email from the neighbours - this time to the man in charge, copied to me.
My neighbour says that the builders have shortened the gutter on his conservatory and cut off too much, leaving a gap between the gutter and the down pipe. He wants a new section to be inserted. I find this strange....three days ago, I had been standing looking at the conservatory gutter and downpipe with my neighbour and there had been no gap between the two - they were joined up. Still, I suppose it's possible that the builders did something to the conservatory on Wednesday or Thursday which I was unaware of from my side of the garden (I've been reluctant to poke my head round the side of the extension to see what's going on next door after the events of the last couple of days).
He also asks for a 6-8ft high board to be placed in the gap between the two gardens until a permanent fence is installed, only to be removed when the guys need occasional access to their garden. Once again, I find this strange as the small gap has been there since the intervening fence panel was removed on 18th June, and it hasn't bother them until now. But I don't have a problem with the request. I wonder if this request is a sad reflection of our strained relationship over the last week, or is it simply that they don't want builders (or me for that matter) having direct views into their private outdoor space? That's not unreasonable. Perhaps I'm being a bit paranoid? But after the frosty reception and formal emails (the only form of communication from my neighbours over the last couple of days) I fear not, but you never know...
I email the man in charge as a matter of courtesy, sending him the same photos of next door's conservatory gutter and down pipe I'd already shared with my neighbour, at his request. No gaps between the gutter and the down pipe when these photos were taken, most recently on 13th July.
I'll leave it up to the builder to decide what to do about the request for a new section of gutter. I also tell him that I have no problem with a temporary board being placed in the gap between rear gardens for the time being, but make him aware of the deterioration in neighbour relations and the need to act sensitively to avoid making matters any worse.
At the end of working week 7, the progress in building work as been offset by my neighbours negative reaction. One step forward, one step back....but at least I no longer have an overflowing, blocked drain, so its not one step forward, two steps back! And it's rained at last, washing off some of the dust on the plants in the garden and letting me off the need to water today.
Saturday 20 July
No building work today, but I've been thinking ahead to the stage when structural work will be carried out on the main house which is now on the horizon. There are discrepancies concerning the structural beams between the architect's approved building regs plans and details in the structural engineer's report, which I've drawn to their attention already but have yet to receive a response.
It looks to me that it won't be possible to carry out the structural work in accordance with both the approved design AND the structural engineers details, so we'll need to reach a view on which set of drawings to go with before the steel beams are installed (or ordered - in case the difference have implications for measurements...)
I've asked the man in charge to spare me some time next week to go through these points. It will also be an opportunity to tie up the remaining loose ends on the contract and for him to show me the design of the windows and doors he's proposing to use, to make sure they're what I want. And I remind him (again) that the skip is full and will need replacing before the last of the spoil from the footprint of the extension is removed as part of the below ground drainage works programmed for next week.
One other small thing I notice whilst in the garden. The down pipe on my neighbours conservatory has been removed and is propped up against the wall. I have no idea when or why this happened, or who did it. I wouldn't normally take any notice of something like this, but recent events prompt me to make a note on the blog, just in case its significant. Oh dear - the neighbour issues I've experienced over the last week are clearly more stressful than living in a building site since early June....
A second valuation arrived over the weekend, with a new invoice. This time its a better reflection of the work carried out to date and materials paid for, but yet to be used. It also includes a sum for the additional excavation required by the Building Control Officer in respect of the footings. There goes a bit more of the contingency fund...
The good news is that there's only one stray item included in the valuation. This relates to the reinforcement (if necessary) of the corner of the existing building; work hasn't been done yet. Now the footings of the extension go right down to the base of the house foundations, I doubt whether its necessary. There were a couple of other items to question but more for clarification than querying the bill, so I've paid the invoice minus the only item which hasn't been done.
Responding to the builder was also a good opportunity to remind the man in charge that I wish to see the windows and doors he proposes to install before they are ordered to make sure I'm happy with the design, and to flag up the need for the guys to work very carefully on the brickwork on the side wall of the extension as it will soon be visible through the glazed panels in my neighbour's conservatory, and I want it to look good for them! Oh yes...and the skip is full, so this might be a good time to get it replaced ready for the next lot of demolition....knowing the delay getting a skip on the last two occasions!
Monday 16 July
Expectation: The guys will be here early to carry on building the walls of the extension.
Reality: No one has arrived by 9.30 am, so I text the man in charge to let him know that there’s no one on site, and that I hope they are at the corrrect No 33 (they have been known to go to a different No 33 in a different location!). He says he’ll chase them and find out what’s going on.
By 11 am, still no news and no builders. I text him again to find out what’s going on. Eventually a reply comes back, apologising. The guys needed a scaffold for the next lift of brickwork, but didn’t tell the man in charge. The trestles and boards have been ordered and will be delivered in the afternoon and the guys will be back on site tomorrow. He has spoken to them about communication to try to avoid this sort of thing happening in future.
Around lunchtime, there is a phone call from the man in charge. My neighbour has called him about brickwork running along side their lean to conservatory, which has had to be been built “hand over” due to the very narrow space between the two structures. They had reiterated concerns already expressed to me that the brickwork on the extension wall which has been built hand over won’t look good if, in future, they decide to take down the conservatory completely (or replace it with something smaller).
His response was the same as mine - if at some point in the future the “hand over” brickwork was exposed and looked a mess, it was a simple job to rake out the joints and repoint - a brickie and one or two days work depending on the extent of the repointing. He also assured them that the guys would be very careful when constructing the small section of brickwork which would be visible through the glazed upper panels of the conservatory’s side wall - a point I’d already conveyed to him at the weekend by email.
I hope his response reasssures my neighbours, but will talk it through again next time I see them.
Later that afternoon the scaffold trestles and boards are delivered as promised and are stacked up in the street next to the skip, remaining palette of bricks and bag of sand. There’s no more room in the house or garden for materials or equipment of any size!
Tuesday 18 July
The builders arrive around 8.45, the scaffold is erected and they resume building up the extension walls. We have a short discussion with the drawings in front of us about the height of the top of the window on the garden elevation (2300mm from internal floor level) and I leave them to get on with it while I go out for lunch with a friend visiting from America.
By the time I return, the walls of the extension have grown taller - full height on the garden elevation I think, and above the bottom of the glazed panels in my neighbours conservatory. As the extension can now be seen through this glass, I'm anxious to ensure that the brickwork is neat and well pointed, so I call in next door for a quick chat to make sure that my neighbours are happy. Sadly they are not. Their list of concerns is growing by the day...
The main problem now seems to be that the wall is higher than they thought it would be, or perhaps only now do they fully appreciate how high the wall would look compared to the fence which previously ran along the boundary? I could only stress (again) that the flank wall is as low as it can be. Any lower and the steel beam supporting the main wall at the back of the house would be above the extension roof and exposed to the elements, which clearly can't happen.
The architect's drawings do not help for several reasons. Firstly, the large scale section shows the side of my neighbour's conservatory as a single plane inset from the boundary by about 10cm. This is correct in terms of the conservatory's main framework with its solid panels at low level and glazed panels at high level. However, this framework sits on a wider brick base which comes right up to the boundary between our two houses - indeed a little bit over at one end. The framework's plastic "window" cills project over the boundary even further and had to be notched around the fence posts in place at the time it was constructed, due to this encroachment.
Secondly, the width of my extension as dimensioned on the plan cannot be accommodated on the site due to the position of my neighbour's conservatory encroaching over the boundary between the two properties. This encroachment is not something I've made a big song and dance about - the "lost" space is small and historic and I can live with it.
I can guess how these discrepancies probably came about (it was simply not possible to see how next's doors conservatory was constructed when the high fence between our houses was still in place). However, at my neighbour's request, I agreed to go back to the architect to find out how he carried out the survey on which the drawings were based.
Thirdly, it seems that my neighbour has mistakenly thought that the standard symbols used on architectural drawings to distinguish between different building materials (e.g. small rectangles for bricks, larger ones for blocks and wavy lines for the intervening insulation on a standard cavity wall) represent the actual size of materials to be used. As a result, he had the impression that there would only be two courses of bricks (two small rectangles shown on the drawing) rising above the bottom of the glazed panels at the side of the conservatory. He was therefore upset to see brickwork going up higher than two courses, to the approved height.
I tried to explain (although I'm still not sure that he understands) the difference between the symbolic representation of brickwork which is standard on building drawings and actual brick courses drawn to scale (something usually only found on full size design details for important historic building projects).
There's another concern about the down pipe and gutter on the neighbours' conservatory. The down pipe had been removed to build the extension wall and get a good finish on the pointing, right up to the corner of the conservatory. It's been put back now and drops vertically rather than at an angle as before, but still needs fixing to the conservatory's brick plinth. We agreed we'd discuss this with the builders tomorrow.
In addition, my neighbour seems to think that the builders have removed the conservatory gutter as well and swapped round the ends around for some reason. Cobwebs and dust around the gutter suggest to me that the gutter has not been disturbed, but we agree to look at photos we both have to see if there have been any changes. If the gutter has been removed and put back differently, we'll add it to the list of things to talk to the builder about tomorrow morning.
My neighbours remain concerned about the pointing of the "hand over" brickwork they can't see, and what it would look like if they took down their conservatory at some point in the future and it was exposed. All I could do was reiterate the offer that in these circumstances I would undertake to pay a bricklayer to rake out and repoint any areas of exposed brickwork that aren't up to scratch. It's a generous offer. There's no legal obligation on my part to do something like that, but I would be happy to give such an undertaking whilst we live next door to each other, in the interests of good neighbourliness. My offer to put the undertaking in writing seemed to cheer them up a bit, so that's what I'll do.
We also talked about the new purlin in the loft and whether it would poke through into their loft. My neighbour seems to think there is only a 4" brick wall between the two, which seems unlikely as all the other structural walls in the house are traditional 9" brickwork (two rows of imperial size bricks). A single brick thickness between terraced houses would not be wide enough or strong enough to support pairs of heavy roof timbers used as roof ridges and purlins. However, rather than argue at this point, I noted his concern and agreed to let him have details of the new purlin, which is not a big RSJ (rolled steel joist) as he feared. Another thing to add to the "to do" list, but anything to keep my neighbours happy.
We left it that we'd talk to the builders about the guttering/down pipe on their conservatory when they arrive tomorrow morning. The air seemed a little clearer after this discussion, so I'm hopeful that things are back on track as much as they can be when there's a physical wall going up between us.
Wednesday 18 July
While waiting for the builders to arrive, I have printed off and signed the undertaking relating to repointing the extension wall at my own expense, should circumstances require. I've found and forwarded details of the loft beam to my neighbours so they can see what's proposed. I've looked through my photos of the back of our houses and sent them a couple which show the guttering and down pipe on their conservatory, as agreed. I've also emailed the architect querying the accuracy of the survey and sent my neighbours a copy so that they see that I've followed up on their request.
After the builders arrived, I knocked on my neighbours front door to give them the signed undertaking, fully expecting to be invited to go inside so we could talk to the builders about the guttering and down pipe as agreed yesterday. The reception was polite but frosty....my neighbour is "too busy" to talk to the builders now, so all I could do was hand over the envelope with the undertaking and go back home.
It seems that something has happened overnight. The understanding I thought we had reached yesterday evening has evaporated or been overtaken by events which they don't want to talk about. This is the last thing I wanted to happen. Up to now I've got on really well with my neighbours. We have lived next door to each other for years. Our sons grew up together. I have trusted them with a spare key to my house and they have given me a lot of support over the years, especially since my husband died and I've been living here alone.
I have involved them at every stage of the house renovation project so they are always in the picture. I've been happy to accommodate their wishes where possible (for example, they said they would prefer brick cladding to the wall along the boundary rather than a rendered wall which they could paint a light colour to bounce more light into their house, and I was happy to oblige). I've overlooked the small encroachment of their conservatory on to my side of the boundary. Even so, our relationship now seems to be going sour as a result of the house project, which saddens me enormously.....But I really don't know what else I can do to offset the impact on their home as my extension goes up.
I went off to London in the afternoon with a heavy heart and whinged at length to the friend I was meeting there to get it off my chest. By the time I got back home around 11pm it was too dark and I was too tired to do anything but go to bed.
Thursday 19 July
In the morning light, I'm amazed to see the progress the builders have made in my absence. The brickwork now seems to be at full height on the controversial side wall of the extension, and above it I can still see some of the high level glazed panels in the side of my neighbour's conservatory when standing at my existing kitchen window.
The builders have made a start on the internal blockwork and putting insulation into the intervening cavity. I assume that this process will carry on today...
I also notice the thin layer of dust over everything in the kitchen; the first time this has been so obvious. It looks like the builders have been cutting concrete blocks in the garden with the kitchen's French doors wide open. I think its time to move the rest of the kitchen stuff into the temporary kitchen I have started setting up in the front room. I'm in the middle of this process when the builders arrive at 8.15am, so I finish what I was doing and leave them to get on with it.
Late in the morning, I received an email from my neighbours. They have noticed a typo in the written undertaking I delivered by hand yesterday, and have asked for a corrected copy to be put through their letterbox. The email is polite but terse. No greeting at the start and rather than sign off as usual with her initial and a kiss, my neighbour's name is set out fully, including the surname. The formality of the email makes me wonder whether the next communication from them will be via a solicitor....
I correct the undertaking, print off a couple of copies, sign and date and post through their letterbox as requested, without knocking on the door. Then I reply to the email to let them know that I've done what they asked. I make it clear that I'd have preferred to have handed it over in person and discussed their concerns, but from the tone of their message I sensed that they don't want to talk to me at the moment. I also stress that I'm happy to talk whenever they are ready - just knock on the front door or have a chat over the garden fence as we have been doing happily for years, until the last few days.
Given my neighbour's concerns about the height of the extension wall along the common boundary, I thought it would be useful to establish just how much taller the brick wall is compared to the tall solid timber fence that stood there until recently. I hadn't bothered to measure the fence before it was removed, but have photos showing it in situ. Comparing "before" and "after" photos, it's apparent that the difference in height between the top of the brick wall and the top of the old fence is five and a half brick courses: 41cm (16"). The box gutter which will sit on top of the brickwork will add another 7.5cm, so eventually the overall increase in height along the boundary will be some 48.5cm/19".
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| The pergola and evergreen clematis prior to removal |
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| Pergola and clematis removed to make way for the extension |
By the end of the day, the guys have finished off the blockwork along the side wall and around to the window opening in the garden elevation. The scaffold planks and platform have been dismantled and stored in the garden (oh, my poor plants!!) and the volume of the extension is beginning to be apparent at last.
They tell me that the next step is below ground drainage works, but seem unsure whether they will be doing that tomorrow, or someone else...or maybe no one will come at all? Will have to wait and see what happens in the morning....
Friday 19 July
After breakfast, I go into the garden to have another look at the extension. Then something catches my eye as I look down from the walls into the footprint of the extension. It's damp, in spite of the fact we have had no rain for weeks.
It wasn't noticeable up to now - since 12th July, this area has been covered in scaffold planks and platform for the guys to stand on while building the walls. These were not removed until yesterday when they finished up for the day.
I can only think of one explanation for the damp - the drain in the sideway (which has been covered by a paving slab since the start of work) is blocked or leaking. By way of an experiment, I go inside, turn on the kitchen tap and go back outside to see what happens. It doesn't take long to see water level rising in the drain gully then overflow onto the floor of the extension.
This is alarming! The drain serves not only the kitchen sink but also the dishwasher and washing machine downstairs and (more worryingly) the bathroom on the first floor and WC in the loft. It's where the waste from the toilets goes. Not the sort of thing you want overflowing into the floor of your new extension, just outside the kitchen window.....
I quickly text the builder to say it needs sorting out urgently and the reply comes back with an apology...the guys will ensure that this is dealt with today. So I sit and wait, updating the blog to pass time. Something like this makes neighbour problems pale into insignificance for the time being. Raw sewage overflowing for one day is bad enough (I ask myself, how long has it been going on?). The thought of it continuing over the weekend when temperatures are forecast to rise to 30C is not nice at all....
I text the man in charge again again at 11 am as still no sign of anyone, and the reply comes back that he will chase them....and I wait.....
Eventually, someone turns up to look at the drain. It's nothing serious, just a small blockage between the gully and the main salt glazed drainpipe. A quick poke with a short rod and the blockage is cleared. Water is running away without a problem. I have a sigh of relief, express my thanks to the drainage man and text the man in charge to let him know the issue is sorted.
Returning to the iPad, I see another email from the neighbours - this time to the man in charge, copied to me.
My neighbour says that the builders have shortened the gutter on his conservatory and cut off too much, leaving a gap between the gutter and the down pipe. He wants a new section to be inserted. I find this strange....three days ago, I had been standing looking at the conservatory gutter and downpipe with my neighbour and there had been no gap between the two - they were joined up. Still, I suppose it's possible that the builders did something to the conservatory on Wednesday or Thursday which I was unaware of from my side of the garden (I've been reluctant to poke my head round the side of the extension to see what's going on next door after the events of the last couple of days).
He also asks for a 6-8ft high board to be placed in the gap between the two gardens until a permanent fence is installed, only to be removed when the guys need occasional access to their garden. Once again, I find this strange as the small gap has been there since the intervening fence panel was removed on 18th June, and it hasn't bother them until now. But I don't have a problem with the request. I wonder if this request is a sad reflection of our strained relationship over the last week, or is it simply that they don't want builders (or me for that matter) having direct views into their private outdoor space? That's not unreasonable. Perhaps I'm being a bit paranoid? But after the frosty reception and formal emails (the only form of communication from my neighbours over the last couple of days) I fear not, but you never know...
I email the man in charge as a matter of courtesy, sending him the same photos of next door's conservatory gutter and down pipe I'd already shared with my neighbour, at his request. No gaps between the gutter and the down pipe when these photos were taken, most recently on 13th July.
I'll leave it up to the builder to decide what to do about the request for a new section of gutter. I also tell him that I have no problem with a temporary board being placed in the gap between rear gardens for the time being, but make him aware of the deterioration in neighbour relations and the need to act sensitively to avoid making matters any worse.
At the end of working week 7, the progress in building work as been offset by my neighbours negative reaction. One step forward, one step back....but at least I no longer have an overflowing, blocked drain, so its not one step forward, two steps back! And it's rained at last, washing off some of the dust on the plants in the garden and letting me off the need to water today.
Saturday 20 July
No building work today, but I've been thinking ahead to the stage when structural work will be carried out on the main house which is now on the horizon. There are discrepancies concerning the structural beams between the architect's approved building regs plans and details in the structural engineer's report, which I've drawn to their attention already but have yet to receive a response.
It looks to me that it won't be possible to carry out the structural work in accordance with both the approved design AND the structural engineers details, so we'll need to reach a view on which set of drawings to go with before the steel beams are installed (or ordered - in case the difference have implications for measurements...)
I've asked the man in charge to spare me some time next week to go through these points. It will also be an opportunity to tie up the remaining loose ends on the contract and for him to show me the design of the windows and doors he's proposing to use, to make sure they're what I want. And I remind him (again) that the skip is full and will need replacing before the last of the spoil from the footprint of the extension is removed as part of the below ground drainage works programmed for next week.
One other small thing I notice whilst in the garden. The down pipe on my neighbours conservatory has been removed and is propped up against the wall. I have no idea when or why this happened, or who did it. I wouldn't normally take any notice of something like this, but recent events prompt me to make a note on the blog, just in case its significant. Oh dear - the neighbour issues I've experienced over the last week are clearly more stressful than living in a building site since early June....
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