Monday 10 September
A short post for a short day...Just one guy here for most of the morning. He left around lunchtime, just as I was going out. I know he was doing something destructive from the noises off. However, by the time I returned home this evening it was difficult to spot any significant changes...So not much, if any, progress on the build itself today.
However, the good news is that after two failed attempts, the Velux roof lights have at long last been delivered. The first time around, they were lost in transit between the manufacturer and the supplier. The second time they made it as far as Oxford, even as far as my street...but someone had put the wrong house number on the delivery note, so they were returned to sender. Today it was third time lucky...
However, with rubble piled up in the old dining room pending the skip changeover, there's precious little space to store these three big boxes so one has been left in the hall, making a narrow space even tighter. They will have to move it tomorrow, or there won't be enough room to push the wheelbarrow through when they try to move rubble into the skip. Always assuming the skip changeover actually happens tomorrow...
I spent most of the afternoon wandering around Ikea, doing a bit of research and measuring key dimensions that aren't specified in the catalogue. An easy way to walk more than 10,000 steps in a day, going round, and round, and round...
A second quote has come in for kitchen units which, at first glance, didn't make me break out into a cold sweat. Now I need to know how much the specialist fitter will charge before making a final selection. Decisions, decisions!
Tuesday 11 September
One guy on site in the morning, waiting for the skip changeover so that there's somewhere to put the pile of rubble which has now overtaken the old dining room. The skip lorry hasn't arrived by the time I go out after an early lunch. The guy is snoozing in his van. He's gone by the time I get back home and but the full skip is still there.
Two more wasted days when progress could have been made on other work that's not dependent on removing the rubble. The scaffold has been up for over a week but work has not started on the replacement roof in the loft. The toothing in of brickwork at the back of the house hasn't started. Below ground drainage works started but came to a halt shortly thereafter. No work has started in the loft which I was assured would start over a week ago. The roof lights are waiting to be installed.
Frustration gets the better of me and I email the man in charge, pointing out that there is work which could be progressed, even if the skip changeover hasn't happened. Putting this in hand could help make up some of the time lost to date. I also pointed out that in spite of several reminders, I'm still waiting for a revised programme of works so that I know when to order the new kitchen, flooring and installation of these items which has to be done before second fix works can be carried out and the job completed.
I reminded him of his contractual obligations to do the work within the time period specified or any agreed extension, and indicated that unless we agreed an extension beyond 1st October (the end of works date currently agreed), I would pass on to him any additional expenses incurred as a result.
Last but not least, I made him aware that a number of people were following the project, including potential customers. A second person had recently asked for the name of the builder not to request a quote for their own projects - sadly, just the opposite...
Wednesday 12 September
A new team arrives on site while I'm out in the morning. I can hear lots of activity, but have no idea what they are doing. The skip changeover still hasn't happened so it must be something that doesn't involve making more rubble.
I spend the rest of the day upstairs in the temporary office set up in my bedroom, sorting out the finer details of the kitchen design with the supplier and fitter. When they have left, I go downstairs to see what's happened.
The good news is that work has progressed on the drainage. The bad news is that the new soil vent pipe (SVP) is not in the right place. It's far too tight on the opening where the new doors will be installed. So tight in fact, that it will actually overlap the frame and maybe even the door itself!
I am amazed that nobody thought this might a problem when they put it up, overlapping the soldier course of bricks above the new opening, the width of which is clearly dimensioned on the architect's drawing!
This has happened as a direct result of not replacing a joist properly in the old kitchen, but instead cobbling together a couple of bits of timber using the steel beam as a support. This arrangement has the effect of pushing the internal drainpipe further into the room so that it comes outside in the wrong place. I highlighted this twice to the man in charge last week, but no action was taken and the end result is what I feared would happen. It will have to be taken out and done properly. A backwards step on the build when we should be going forward with greater speed.
I also notice that that floorboards have been replaced in my first floor office. But my delight turned sour as soon as I realised that they have reused floorboards from downstairs which are thicker than the original boards above. As a result, there is a distinct change in level where the two sets of boards meet, which is so noticeable that even covered with layers of cardboard, cork and carpet underlay the ridge can still be felt. That will have to be sorted out too. And a new hole has appeared in the bathroom floor. I have no idea why, but fear it's not good news...
I text and email the man in charge to tell him what's happened. He must dread me contacting him now. It's been all bad news recently. But had the work been done properly in the first place and in a timely manner, none of these problems would have happened. There was a temptation to let it go and just live with the consequences...but I recalled the advice of a friend who is an architect not to let the builders bully me into accepting something that's not right. So I decided to bite the bullet and make myself unpopular...
Thursday 13 September
I woke early this morning - around 6am - so was wide awake when I heard the sound of a large vehicle outside the house around 7am. The skip lorry at last! But as with other events this week, the good news quickly turned to bad.
Although I'd saved a space on the street for the truck to back to swap out the skips, at some point during the last couple of days there has been a delivery of ballast in a big bag. It's been left next to the remains of a palette of bricks sitting next to the skip. The remaining uncluttered space was just too tight for the truck to pull in at an angle needed to lift the skip, without damaging the kerb with the big foot used to balance the weight when loading and unlading skips. The driver goes away again with the empty skip. The full one is still here. The man in charge and his partner get another text telling them what's happened.
It's one of those weeks where it seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong....
The man in charge has stopped responding to my texts and emails. His partner has taken over now. He replies that the skip lorry will return later today to do the changeover. However, soon after that, my neighbour drives into the space I'd been saving for the skip lorry. Even if it returns today, there is even less space to changeover the skip, unless they can pursued my neighbour to move his car for 20 minutes or so.
However, I'm reassured that the drainage problem will be sorted out, along with the issue of my office floor, and I'm told that guys will disconnect the toilet, washbasin and shower when they arrive later on today, so not to use them until reconnected. Luckily a neighbour down the road has given me a spare key to his house while he's on holiday, so I have somewhere to go when that happens!
I've also asked for the pipes to be moved to the correct location before the drains are disconnected/reconnected, to save going through the process again if they leave moving the pipes until afterwards. No response to that one....
All this has happened before 8am. It feels like I've done a day's trouble shooting already!
The first builder arrives around 9.15am. His English is very limited so all I can say is that there is a problem which needs sorting out. He appears to be aware. I do hope so! I also hope that when they move the external SVP, it won't stop the brickwork being toothed in properly at the rear...it's all very, very tight...
Back along (30 August) I emailed the man in charge asking him to order the new garden doors and window in the garden elevation of the extension, and giving him the full details and measurements taken on site the day before. It's been playing on my mind a bit that I hadn't head anything since, so I contacted the suppliers to confirm that the order had been submitted. The answer came back today. It was a "No". That's another two week delay that could have been avoided. As it is, there is a six week lead in time to manufacture and install these items from the day the order and deposit is received, so that installation will take even longer than the kitchen. Well into October!
I'm wondering whether anything else can go wrong today?
Well, the skip truck hasn't come back and the space I'd saved on the street for it is now parked up. Until the skip is changed over, they will not be doing any more work inside. I still don't understand why they can't get on an install the roof lights on the extension or make a start on the loft, but I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall on that one...Plus my home office floor is still a mess, so no point in cleaning up and moving back in over the weekend as hoped.
However, the SVP has been repositioned so its now centred on the brick pier between the new window in the extension and what will be the opening for the new doors into the garden. I can live with the little stub of pipe which joins the new bathroom drain to the SVP. However, the repositioned pipe will make the job of toothing in the brickwork above the window opening more difficult. Had it been done as soon as I told the builder about it, this wouldn't be a problem now.
The waste pipe from the loft toilet has also been realigned and now flows into the new SVP. It's below the level of the fascia where it was supposed to be, but that's not really noticeable from the garden, so once again I can live with it.
I've also relieved the builder of the task of ordering the new garden doors and windows, and am dealing with the supplier direct to get that ball rolling. They both make and install the window/doors so should know what they are doing. But it will be another six weeks or so until that happens (which takes us up to late October) before the interior finishes can be completed. This is all getting a bit scary in terms of timescale....
Friday 14 September
In a street which is usually so heavily parked up, the chances of being able to save a space for the skip lorry to do its business is remote. However, last night (more in hope than expectation) I'd put a note on a car belonging to an unknown resident which was parked next to the skip, to let them know that the skip changeover was due to take place today and asking if they could move their car for half an hour or so while this happened.
And it worked! Just after breakfast, the front doorbell rang and it was a neighbour from No 19, just down the road, offering to move her car. Luckily for me, she was at home today, had turned left when leaving her house rather than right as usual, and saw the note. As we were talking, the skip truck turned up, the car manoeuvring was done and the skip changeover went off without a hitch.
I sent a text and photo to the partner of the man in charge who seems to have taken over my build, letting him know that the empty skip is ready and waiting for the guys to come and load up the huge pile of rubble that has taken over the old dining room.
I also passed on the driver's suggestion that he order another skip today as they are very busy at the moment, so that it can be brought on site as soon as the current one is filled - which won't take long.
I took this opportunity to water some plants pots in the garden and rescue a length of original skirting board (still with a sticker on it saying "Save") which had been abandoned face down in the rubble. And then I sat back and waited for the guys to arrive...
The guys arrived mid morning, did a bit of borrowing rubble out to the skip, took a break then carried on until all the rubble had gone.
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| Going, going... |
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| Gone! |
While all this was going on, the partner of the man in charge arrived, we went through some of the other outstanding I've been trying to get resolved. He noted everything and took measurements where necessary (a good sign!).
The uneven floor in my office will be sorted out with new floorboards the same depth as those that are there already and the skirting will be replaced using one salvaged from downstairs as the original skirting has long since gone in the skip.
A slow leak in the bathroom coming from a realigned wash basin waste pipe will be fixed and the remains of the old waste water pipe (which had been left in place) will be removed. The hole where the WC soil pipe originally went through the external wall will be blocked up (no more draughts!) and the flooring/skirting replaced.
He will also ask the plumber to sort out a dripping tap which has got worse recently.
When these works have been done, I'll be able to clean up and put my home office back together again at long last. It's been out of action since 6 August. So much for the architect's advice that works in this room would only take one day - just a simple job to slip a pipe through at floor level...one month, more like!
We also talked about what was planned for next week: window replacement in the loft, and loft stairs should happen on Monday, followed by the replacement of the small area of flat roof over the loft dormer. Downstairs, digging out will continue in the old kitchen so that when the scaffold comes down, they can lay the floor slab and insulation across the whole of the old kitchen and new extension, ready for the underfloor heating. Velux roof lights can be installed in the extension roof.
He will also get the padstones installed to support the ends of the structures steel beams (these have been sitting around for more than 3 weeks) and take out the brickwork below the steel beam inserted above the taller, wider opening for the new garden doors, while there is still a skip for the rubble. The existing French doors into the garden will be retained in situ until the new doors are installed in six weeks time, and ply sheets will be used to plug the gaps above and to the sides of the French doors to keep out the weather in the meantime. Sounds like a good plan to me.
After this discussion I felt a lot happier that work will now progress in some sort of logical order, and I'm delighted to see the space coming together a bit more.
The guys carried on digging out till late afternoon. It actually looks quite organised down there - a bit like an archaeological dig where you can see the old kitchen hearth and outline of where the old scullery and outside toilet used to be.
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| The outline of old kitchen hearth is exposed |
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| The outline of the original scullery visible on the left and the outside toilet on the right |
The guys say they are coming back tomorrow morning to finish digging out down to 500mm, so I've abandoned plans to take a day out and will use the time to catch up on some other matters, including a final check of dimensions for the new kitchen now that I can actually get into the space to measure up.
Saturday 15 September
The good feeling I finished on yesterday started evaporating as the hours ticked by and no one had turned up to finish the digging out. It looks like I've abandoned plans for a day out for nothing...
Late morning, I was startled by loud voices speaking Polish in the hall. Two of the guys had arrived, but there was a bit of a kerfuffle going on. One walked out and returned to the van. The other apologised and tried to explain what was going on, then followed his companion back to the van. Five minutes later, the van drove off again, without anyone coming back. Goodness knows what all that was about. One thing was clear. There will be no digging out on site today. I decided to cut my losses, have lunch and get on with other things...
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