Monday 2 July
I was looking forward to materials arriving today - blocks, sand, cement, wall ties and insulation, only to be told by the builder that the suppliers have let them down. The delivery will arrive at 10am tomorrow. I hope!
Tuesday 3 July
10am and no sign of deliveries or builders. Text the man in charge at 11am. Reply at 12.30pm to be told that the materials are 10 minutes away, and so are the guys. The suppliers truck arrives just after 1 o'clock. No sign of the builders!
I watch as everything is unloaded very skilfully off the back of the lorry into a tight space, between the skip and the nearest car, without the crane touching the overhead telephone wires. In the end, there is no space left on the road, so the bags of cement are left in the skip.
A short while later, the builders arrive. Most things are carried through to what used to be the dining room, all stacked up and stored ready for use, while the sand is piled up in the sideway - sadly not as a beach, which might have been fun in this hot, sunny weather!
Although a lot of the materials have been delivered, the bricks to clad the outside walls of the extension have yet to arrive, along with the engineering bricks for the base courses and more blocks. No one seems quite sure when they will be delivered, but they can't start without them....
Before I leave for a hospital appointment, there is a brief discussion in the garden about the position of the extension wall, during which it becomes apparent that my neighbour's lean to conservatory isn't quite square and part of it has encroached over my side of the common boundary. Either that, or my rear wing isn't at right angles to the main house. Or maybe its a bit of both. Who knows? But the bottom line is that it looks like the new extension will have to be inset from the boundary, rather than built as designed, right up to (but not encroaching over) the boundary, including foundations and gutter.
The builder is also talking about leaving a 10cm gap between the wall of my extension and my neighbours lean-to conservatory. This would make my small extension even narrower, and leave an awkward gap where debris can accumulate, rodents hide, and any damp from rain penetration would be unlikely to dry out. I don't want that! Not sure how this will be resolved, but no time to sort out before I have to leave for my appointment.
By the time I get back home, the builders have gone. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow, if anything...
Wednesday 4 July
No materials delivered so no builders on site and no action.
However, I did take some accurate measurements with the laser so have a better idea of the space between my house and my neighbours' extension and had some thoughts about how to deal with fitting the extension into the space available, which I text to the man in charge.
Thursday 5 July
First thing in the morning, I noticed that my lovely neighbours had left a bunch of sweet peas picked fresh from their garden in a jar of water outside my kitchen door (there being no fence between us now in the back garden!)
When I went to thank them, it seemed like a good time to mention the position of the extension wall in relation to their conservatory. It turns out that we are all singing from the same hymn sheet, as they say. None of us want a 10cm gap between our respective buildings, which would be impossible to maintain and could create all sorts of problems as a result. They would much prefer the wall of my extension to butt up directly against the brickwork plinth of their conservatory, with flashing or something similar to cover the join and drain rainwater away. What a relief!
I text the office-based man in charge to let him know what we've discussed and agreed, copied to the man in charge on site. The builder is happy (neighbour disputes about stuff like this can make life very difficult on a build, as I'm well aware from my time in the planning department!). He promises to chase up the delivery of outstanding materials.
Before going out for a short while late in the afternoon, I put a note on the front door asking for any building materials to be left on the street, next to the skip. When I return half an hour later, some more blocks have been stacked up in the front garden, along with a builder's set square for setting out walls.....
....But no sign of the bricks which were supposed to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday. So another day without any progress on the ground. I dream of the time I can take photos of a building in progress or a finished building, rather than holes in the ground or piles of materials which are so boring...
Tomorrow will be the end of week 5 of the supposedly 10 week build. I wonder if the extension will actually get out of the ground by the time we should be (in theory) half way through the project - or will it be another day of inactivity?
Friday 6 July
A small flurry of texts between myself, the man in charge and the site manager - will there be any more deliveries today? I have to go out and don't want to miss them....
....Reply from the man in charge - the builders merchants have confirmed delivery at their depot early afternoon today, so could be with me today or Monday.
I return form a short trip into the city centre to find the builders merchants lorry just leaving the street at 12:15, having dropped off two big bags of hardcore and engineering bricks for the base courses of the extension. Photo sent to the man in charge and the site manager to let them know - now these materials have been delivered, will the guys come this afternoon or on Monday?
No answer, so I spread myself out in what's left of the open area in the garden in amongst the cement mixer and sand, to enjoy reading a good book in the sun...only to be disturbed a couple of hours later by two of the builders guys who have arrived to carry through the bricks from the roadside - some piled up in what was the dining room, along with the blocks and insulation, others stacked in the garden...my little bit of open space is shrinking eve more!
A scaffold platform has also arrived, and is now stored where the extension will be built so not in my way. The whole operation takes less than an hour, then I'm left in peace again.
Still no sign of the facing bricks for the main walls of the extension, so no start on building up the walls of the extension today at the end of week 5. Maybe next week. I do hope so!!
Total working time on site in 5 weeks to date approximately 4.5 days. No wonder progress is slow....
I was looking forward to materials arriving today - blocks, sand, cement, wall ties and insulation, only to be told by the builder that the suppliers have let them down. The delivery will arrive at 10am tomorrow. I hope!
Tuesday 3 July
10am and no sign of deliveries or builders. Text the man in charge at 11am. Reply at 12.30pm to be told that the materials are 10 minutes away, and so are the guys. The suppliers truck arrives just after 1 o'clock. No sign of the builders!
I watch as everything is unloaded very skilfully off the back of the lorry into a tight space, between the skip and the nearest car, without the crane touching the overhead telephone wires. In the end, there is no space left on the road, so the bags of cement are left in the skip.
A short while later, the builders arrive. Most things are carried through to what used to be the dining room, all stacked up and stored ready for use, while the sand is piled up in the sideway - sadly not as a beach, which might have been fun in this hot, sunny weather!
Although a lot of the materials have been delivered, the bricks to clad the outside walls of the extension have yet to arrive, along with the engineering bricks for the base courses and more blocks. No one seems quite sure when they will be delivered, but they can't start without them....
Before I leave for a hospital appointment, there is a brief discussion in the garden about the position of the extension wall, during which it becomes apparent that my neighbour's lean to conservatory isn't quite square and part of it has encroached over my side of the common boundary. Either that, or my rear wing isn't at right angles to the main house. Or maybe its a bit of both. Who knows? But the bottom line is that it looks like the new extension will have to be inset from the boundary, rather than built as designed, right up to (but not encroaching over) the boundary, including foundations and gutter.
The builder is also talking about leaving a 10cm gap between the wall of my extension and my neighbours lean-to conservatory. This would make my small extension even narrower, and leave an awkward gap where debris can accumulate, rodents hide, and any damp from rain penetration would be unlikely to dry out. I don't want that! Not sure how this will be resolved, but no time to sort out before I have to leave for my appointment.
By the time I get back home, the builders have gone. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow, if anything...
Wednesday 4 July
No materials delivered so no builders on site and no action.
However, I did take some accurate measurements with the laser so have a better idea of the space between my house and my neighbours' extension and had some thoughts about how to deal with fitting the extension into the space available, which I text to the man in charge.
Thursday 5 July
First thing in the morning, I noticed that my lovely neighbours had left a bunch of sweet peas picked fresh from their garden in a jar of water outside my kitchen door (there being no fence between us now in the back garden!)
When I went to thank them, it seemed like a good time to mention the position of the extension wall in relation to their conservatory. It turns out that we are all singing from the same hymn sheet, as they say. None of us want a 10cm gap between our respective buildings, which would be impossible to maintain and could create all sorts of problems as a result. They would much prefer the wall of my extension to butt up directly against the brickwork plinth of their conservatory, with flashing or something similar to cover the join and drain rainwater away. What a relief!
I text the office-based man in charge to let him know what we've discussed and agreed, copied to the man in charge on site. The builder is happy (neighbour disputes about stuff like this can make life very difficult on a build, as I'm well aware from my time in the planning department!). He promises to chase up the delivery of outstanding materials.
Before going out for a short while late in the afternoon, I put a note on the front door asking for any building materials to be left on the street, next to the skip. When I return half an hour later, some more blocks have been stacked up in the front garden, along with a builder's set square for setting out walls.....
....But no sign of the bricks which were supposed to arrive Tuesday or Wednesday. So another day without any progress on the ground. I dream of the time I can take photos of a building in progress or a finished building, rather than holes in the ground or piles of materials which are so boring...
Tomorrow will be the end of week 5 of the supposedly 10 week build. I wonder if the extension will actually get out of the ground by the time we should be (in theory) half way through the project - or will it be another day of inactivity?
Friday 6 July
A small flurry of texts between myself, the man in charge and the site manager - will there be any more deliveries today? I have to go out and don't want to miss them....
....Reply from the man in charge - the builders merchants have confirmed delivery at their depot early afternoon today, so could be with me today or Monday.
I return form a short trip into the city centre to find the builders merchants lorry just leaving the street at 12:15, having dropped off two big bags of hardcore and engineering bricks for the base courses of the extension. Photo sent to the man in charge and the site manager to let them know - now these materials have been delivered, will the guys come this afternoon or on Monday?
No answer, so I spread myself out in what's left of the open area in the garden in amongst the cement mixer and sand, to enjoy reading a good book in the sun...only to be disturbed a couple of hours later by two of the builders guys who have arrived to carry through the bricks from the roadside - some piled up in what was the dining room, along with the blocks and insulation, others stacked in the garden...my little bit of open space is shrinking eve more!
A scaffold platform has also arrived, and is now stored where the extension will be built so not in my way. The whole operation takes less than an hour, then I'm left in peace again.
Still no sign of the facing bricks for the main walls of the extension, so no start on building up the walls of the extension today at the end of week 5. Maybe next week. I do hope so!!
Total working time on site in 5 weeks to date approximately 4.5 days. No wonder progress is slow....
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