Today the electricians have been on site. Although the house is not fully weathertight, its good enough for them to do some of the first fix electrics for the lighting. The kitchen fitter was also on site to discuss some details and he made a couple of very useful suggestions to fine tune the position of some of the lights. No photos of these works. it's just bits of lighting cable hanging from the ceiling!
I've looked again at the bespoke units the kitchen fitter is making for me. These are designed to make use of awkward spaces that would otherwise be left over and serve no useful purpose. Now one unit will be a wine rack, another is designed to accommodate the toaster and breakfast paraphernalia and a third will be for storage of things like place mats, condiments and candles - all easily reachable from the dining area side of the breakfast bar.
He showed me samples of the mirror glass to be used for the splash back - I've selected a light grey - and assured me that the cables for the under cabinet lighting will be inside the wall units so not reflected in the glass. I've also been given samples of the worktop to go and try out with the cabinet door at the builders merchants. Plus we talked about sinks and taps and pull down power units....suddenly its all beaconing real!
The was also a useful discussion with the partner of the man in charge about the location of a new consumer unit which has to be installed. It will go under the stairs, with the cable running under the hall so no intrusion in the living room where the existing consumer unit is located. He also pointed out to me where one of the vent pipes has been installed (I had been worried that the floor slab had been laid without putting it in!) There were a few other matters, like where the heat and smoke detector will be positioned (not too close to the hob or it will be going off all the time!). A short but productive meeting. It's so much easier talking things through with someone on site than trying to explain something in an email with photos...
At long last, Building Control has come back to me. The final condition on the full plans approval has been discharged but unfortunately the formal letter was not attached to the email, so I've had to request it be re-sent.
The email also states that the full plans approval does not cover the works in the loft (even though they are shown on the drawings, in the structural engineer's report and my covering letter). The architect did not pay the correct fee for these works to be included in the application. I'll have to pay an additional fee to add these works to the approval.
However, the additional fee quoted by the Building Inspector seems to have assumed that the loft conversion is new. I've had to point out that it was approved and built in 1989 with its own Building Regs approval. It's only the new "regulated works" which may require approval and, if so, the correct fee should be based on the value of these works, which is much less than he said I bought to pay. The ball is back in Building Control's court....
Tuesday 9 October
In the cold light of the day, I took a quick look at the cabling for lighting installed yesterday and noticed a couple of things that weren't quite right. The guys have missed off connections for two recessed ceiling lights, but added four unnecessary connections for spotlights which will actually be installed on one light track, so only one connection needed. Sent a quick text to the partner of the man in charge before heading off early, before the guys arrived.
No one at home by the time I returned for lunch. No sign that anyone had been there either. I enjoyed the peace and quiet while I had something to eat, then sent another text asking if anyone was coming today. The answer came back - they should be there....I replied to say that no sign of anyone coming in this morning, and no one has arrived since I returned home. Then I was told they would be there in 30 minutes. They arrived about an hour later (no explanation) but at least I was able to talk them through the two matters I'd spotted earlier.
It seems they intend to work until around 7pm tonight. I hope its not too noisy. It's not fair on my neighbours (or me for that matter...I like to have the house back to myself in the evenings!)
While they have been working, I've gone through the most recent invoice / valuation. Once again, it includes work that hasn't been done. At the risk of upsetting the man in charge, I've only paid for the work which has been done and sent him photos so he can see for himself where work has not started or progressed on other items. It's been an age since he last visited the site, so valuations have been done "blind". Maybe that's the problem. Hopefully when he sees the photos he'll accept that these works have not been done!
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| Trying to charge me for the removal of this floor! |
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| ...and the removal of the post and panel under the stairs (the remains of an old cupboard) |
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| ...and for the removal and storage of the deck boards while below ground works carried out..... |
I've suggested that we sort out outstanding matters face-to-face. Much easier than pinging emails back and forth. I hope he accepts the invitation.
Wednesday 10 October
Although the house project is quite extensive, only one internal door has had to be removed. I'd asked the builder to salvage this door so that it could be reused in the new downstairs loo/utility room. To give it a new lease of life, the door will be stripped of many layers of paint and have some new hardware. It was due to be collected this morning by the door strippers so I was up early, in case they arrived at the start of the 7.30-9.30 time slot I'd been given.
However, the knock on the front door at 8am wasn't the door stripper. It was the driver of a big truck making deliveries for the builders, which no one had warned me about. He'd got stuck down the far end of the street because a car had parked overnight on the double yellow lines (not unusual in this street) making the access too narrow for a large truck to squeeze through.
Luckily I knew the owner of the car causing the obstruction and the one next to the skip which is where he was hoping to drop off the bag of sand and other bulky items. So the driver went off to ask people to move their cars while I contacted the builder to let him know about the delivery and to tell him that I would check and sign off the goods as none of the guys were here to do it.
The truck driver was not complementary about the building firm...it seems there are always problems with their deliveries as the workforce isn't usually on site before 9am, so one one available to help drivers off load, or sign for deliveries.
Anyway, we sorted it out between us, so all well in the end. I managed to drag the bags of insulation into the house, so that I could get to the recycling/waste bins in the front garden, but left the rest on the street, piled up next to the skip and on top of the skip, there being nowhere else to put it...
The door strippers arrived soon after the delivery truck left, so I was looking forward to taking some time out to enjoy the day of Indian summer as soon as the builders arrived. But no one arrived.
Having hung around at home most of the morning, I sent a text to the partner of the man in charge to ask if anyone was coming. The answer was yes, around 12 noon. No show. Another text at 1.30 to say that I was waiting to go out, where were they? Answer "they will be around 1-2 hours". 4pm - still no show, so another text asking what's going on? Answer: "stuck on other site, but will definitely come to move all the materials".
They finally turned about about 7.30 pm in the evening and took about an hour to shift everything inside. Not a good day in terms of the builders..
However, Building Control have now found the 1989 approval for the loft conversion in their archives (too old to be on the computer system) so although I have to pay for adding the new works in the loft to the existing approval for the extension, it won't be as much as they'd intended to charge me which was based on a loft conversion as well!
And hanging around the house, I was pleased to see that the electricians had sorted out the errors they had made on Monday, so there is now a small forest of first fix lighting cables hanging down....
Sadly, no response to my text requesting that the extension roof to be finished off before the severe storm which is forecast to arrive on Friday. It's so very close to being weathertight. Close but no cigar, as they say....
Thursday 11 October
The builders arrived around 9am this morning. They were still working when I left for an afternoon appointment. However, when I returned home it was difficult to spot the difference, other than the addition of some insulation below the Velux windows....
I have to say that even this small amount of insulation has made a difference. In spite of not having central heating and there still being gaps around the old French windows pending installation of the new garden doors, the house definitely feels more snug. This bodes well for comfort level when the works are completed!
They may have carried out other work as well, but it's not immediately visible...
One thing did concern me a little - a text from the partner of the man in charge asking if I had ordered the Velux windows or whether they had, which made me wonder if there is a problem with them...I found a copy of the builder's order which the man in charge had passed on to me when requesting payment upfront for these windows prior to delivery due to cost and cash flow considerations, and I was able to pass this on. That's one way of showing who ordered what!
Friday 12 October
Back to the usual team on the job this morning - the guys who had been working here prior to the electricians taking over at the start of this week.
By the end of the day, they had finished putting the surrounds on the last two Velux roof lights and the slate cladding. Just the flashing to go now!
Had a quick chat with the partner of the man in charge about the loft, and promised to let him know as soon as I hear from Building Control about the correct fee for the works up there, so that they can be added to the full plans approval for the rest of the works. He promised me that the padstones supporting the steels would go in soon...they are waiting for the props to be delivered so that the work can be done safely. It won't be too soon for me...
I've also started the process of inviting people to quote for installing the floor finishes. First one booked in next Saturday. Moving forward :)
I'm taking a risk and leaving the house in the hands of the builders over the weekend and into Monday while I enjoy a few days away with friends. Here's hoping that all goes well while I'm not around. Fingers and everything else crossed!
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