Monday 31 December
New Year's Eve and start of the second week without having builders in the house. The bliss continues...
I am in a cleft stick. I want everything finished, but I'm not looking forward to them coming back to do it. It's been so lovely having the house to myself again, without being invaded by strangers.
Who would have thought when this all started on 4 June 2018 that it would still be going on at the start of 2019. So much for a 10 week build programme. We have now started week 31 and the beginning of a New Year.
I'm looking forward to life NOT being dominated by all things house project and picking up the threads of "normal" life again, enjoying traveling, photography and being sociable...all of which have been on hold for 7 months.
Tuesday 1 January
Although the new kitchen diner is still not finished, I decided to invite my West Oxford friends and neighbours for drinks and nibbles to welcome the New Year in my "work in progress", something we have been doing over the festive season for many years now.
Included in the invitation were my immediate neighbours, the ones who have had to put up with the noise, disruption and inconvenience of building works going on next door for so long. I put a little note in their Christmas cards to say that I hoped very much that as the works are nearing completion, we could get back on our previously friendly terms, now the source of friction will soon be over.
The last time I made a friendly gesture in the hope of pouring oil on troubled water, the bottle of wine I had left for them to apologise for the disruption was put back on my doors step by one of them with "No thanks" scrawled across the envelope..
I half expected the same to happen again as we haven't spoken face-to-face since the middle of July last year. They will only communicate with me by email now, declining or ignoring my invitations to talk through their concerns over a pot of tea or bottle of wine.
I was therefore initially delighted to see the card they drop through my letter box this morning - a bright cheerful design that seemed to signal peace had broken out at long last.
Sadly, the happy outside of the card was in marked contrast to the message inside, which read
"Hi
We will not be attending your New Years Day event.
Given our deep feeling of betrayal of trust and your contempt for our concerns and feelings, it would not be appropriate to do so.
Regards
D... and M.... (I have deliberately not included their names)
No 35" (as if I don't know where they live!)
I could not believe my eyes...Knowing from my previous work how neighbour disputes can blow up out of all proportion, I had been careful (I thought) not to fall into the same trap.
I had discussed the idea of an extension with them long before appointing an architect and suggested doing a joint scheme which would have been better all round, but they weren't able to go down that route for financial reasons.
I had talked through the draft scheme with them, answered all their questions and left the plans with them for comment before going through the formal planning process. That would have been the stage to highlight concerns and request changes to the design of the extension, but they didn't ask for any changes before the planning submission was put in and made no comments whatsoever in response to the Council's formal consultation letter.
I had also explained the Party Wall agreement process to them (with a link to the Government website and hard copy of the relevant pages from the guidance notes). There were no questions and no objections from them in response to either of the two Party Wall notifications served.
I let them choose the material for the extension wall which they would see from their windows (they decided on brick rather than have it rendered and painted a colour of their choice). And I selected and paid for a good quality handmade brick - the best match I could find for the original brickwork - rather than save myself some money and spend less on a poor quality material.
I gave them an undertaking (verbal and in writing) to pay for the flank wall of the extension to be repointed, if at some point in the future they removed their own lean to extension alongside and pointing on exposed brickwork was not up to scratch because it was build "hand over hand" to avoid touching their property.
I took on board their last minute change of heart requesting me not to remove their lean-to structure on the common boundary which they had originally wanted to be removed and be rebuilt after my extension had been completed. I didn't get in a flap even though it happened only a matter of days before work was due to start on site, resulting in last minute changes to the building contract and costs.
When it became clear that their lean-to structure actually encroached over my side of the common boundary, I didn't make a fuss or ask them to modify it...just told the builders to make my extension a little bit narrower along its entire length, effectively donating a thin strip of land on my side of the common boundary into their garden without expecting or requesting any compensation in return.
I had introduced them to the builder before work started on site so they knew who to contact if there was a problem while the works were in progress, sent them contact details for the man in charge on site when I was away for any short periods of time, and kept them in the loop about the stages of the building process so they knew what to expect.
I even offered to go half and half on the cost of repairs to the guttering on the front of their house because we share a common down pipe...all in the interests of maintaining the friendship and good neighbour relations we had built up over three decades or so of living next door to each other.
Sadly, all this effort has been to no avail. When they talk about "betrayal of trust" I have absolutely no idea what's in their mind. As for "contempt for their concerns and feelings", how on earth can they say that when I've bent over backwards to keep them happy, going above and beyond any legal or moral obligations to avoid upsetting them.
I fully appreciate that (like me) they have had to endure months of disruption and disturbance, but if you have read the blog up to now you will know I've done everything I can think of to keep things moving forwards for my own sake as well as that of my neighbours. You can't undertake a building project of this type in a tight urban context without impacting on those living nearby. They know this and were entirely sympathetic until the extension started coming out of the ground last July. Then, virtually overnight, their attitude changed and the breakdown in good neighbour relations has got deeper and wider ever since, no matter what I have done to try to bridge the gap.
Let this be a warning to you, if you are considering something similar!
Other neighbours who joined me for drinks on New Years Day were just as shocked and bewildered as me when they saw the words on the card. Advice ranged from "Ignore them" and "Do nothing" to "write to a letter" to remind them of how hard I'd tried to be a good neighbour in difficult circumstances (believe me - living in a building site for 7 months while dealing with persistent chronic back pain and attending numerous hospital appointments for therapy isn't easy...)
Rather than behave rashly, I will think about what to do for a few days before taking any action, and bear in mind Michele Obama's approach when deciding what to do:
"when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is when they go low, we go high"
Nevertheless, I was heartened by the support and sympathy from other neighbours in the street and nearby, and delighted that everyone seems to like my "work in progress". I'll take that as a positive thing for the first day of 2019, rather than get wound up by the immediate neighbour's negative response to my olive branch of an invitation.
New Year's Eve and start of the second week without having builders in the house. The bliss continues...
I am in a cleft stick. I want everything finished, but I'm not looking forward to them coming back to do it. It's been so lovely having the house to myself again, without being invaded by strangers.
Who would have thought when this all started on 4 June 2018 that it would still be going on at the start of 2019. So much for a 10 week build programme. We have now started week 31 and the beginning of a New Year.
I'm looking forward to life NOT being dominated by all things house project and picking up the threads of "normal" life again, enjoying traveling, photography and being sociable...all of which have been on hold for 7 months.
Tuesday 1 January
Although the new kitchen diner is still not finished, I decided to invite my West Oxford friends and neighbours for drinks and nibbles to welcome the New Year in my "work in progress", something we have been doing over the festive season for many years now.
Included in the invitation were my immediate neighbours, the ones who have had to put up with the noise, disruption and inconvenience of building works going on next door for so long. I put a little note in their Christmas cards to say that I hoped very much that as the works are nearing completion, we could get back on our previously friendly terms, now the source of friction will soon be over.
The last time I made a friendly gesture in the hope of pouring oil on troubled water, the bottle of wine I had left for them to apologise for the disruption was put back on my doors step by one of them with "No thanks" scrawled across the envelope..
I was therefore initially delighted to see the card they drop through my letter box this morning - a bright cheerful design that seemed to signal peace had broken out at long last.
Sadly, the happy outside of the card was in marked contrast to the message inside, which read
"Hi
We will not be attending your New Years Day event.
Given our deep feeling of betrayal of trust and your contempt for our concerns and feelings, it would not be appropriate to do so.
Regards
D... and M.... (I have deliberately not included their names)
No 35" (as if I don't know where they live!)
I could not believe my eyes...Knowing from my previous work how neighbour disputes can blow up out of all proportion, I had been careful (I thought) not to fall into the same trap.
I had discussed the idea of an extension with them long before appointing an architect and suggested doing a joint scheme which would have been better all round, but they weren't able to go down that route for financial reasons.
I had talked through the draft scheme with them, answered all their questions and left the plans with them for comment before going through the formal planning process. That would have been the stage to highlight concerns and request changes to the design of the extension, but they didn't ask for any changes before the planning submission was put in and made no comments whatsoever in response to the Council's formal consultation letter.
I had also explained the Party Wall agreement process to them (with a link to the Government website and hard copy of the relevant pages from the guidance notes). There were no questions and no objections from them in response to either of the two Party Wall notifications served.
I let them choose the material for the extension wall which they would see from their windows (they decided on brick rather than have it rendered and painted a colour of their choice). And I selected and paid for a good quality handmade brick - the best match I could find for the original brickwork - rather than save myself some money and spend less on a poor quality material.
I gave them an undertaking (verbal and in writing) to pay for the flank wall of the extension to be repointed, if at some point in the future they removed their own lean to extension alongside and pointing on exposed brickwork was not up to scratch because it was build "hand over hand" to avoid touching their property.
I took on board their last minute change of heart requesting me not to remove their lean-to structure on the common boundary which they had originally wanted to be removed and be rebuilt after my extension had been completed. I didn't get in a flap even though it happened only a matter of days before work was due to start on site, resulting in last minute changes to the building contract and costs.
When it became clear that their lean-to structure actually encroached over my side of the common boundary, I didn't make a fuss or ask them to modify it...just told the builders to make my extension a little bit narrower along its entire length, effectively donating a thin strip of land on my side of the common boundary into their garden without expecting or requesting any compensation in return.
I had introduced them to the builder before work started on site so they knew who to contact if there was a problem while the works were in progress, sent them contact details for the man in charge on site when I was away for any short periods of time, and kept them in the loop about the stages of the building process so they knew what to expect.
I even offered to go half and half on the cost of repairs to the guttering on the front of their house because we share a common down pipe...all in the interests of maintaining the friendship and good neighbour relations we had built up over three decades or so of living next door to each other.
Sadly, all this effort has been to no avail. When they talk about "betrayal of trust" I have absolutely no idea what's in their mind. As for "contempt for their concerns and feelings", how on earth can they say that when I've bent over backwards to keep them happy, going above and beyond any legal or moral obligations to avoid upsetting them.
I fully appreciate that (like me) they have had to endure months of disruption and disturbance, but if you have read the blog up to now you will know I've done everything I can think of to keep things moving forwards for my own sake as well as that of my neighbours. You can't undertake a building project of this type in a tight urban context without impacting on those living nearby. They know this and were entirely sympathetic until the extension started coming out of the ground last July. Then, virtually overnight, their attitude changed and the breakdown in good neighbour relations has got deeper and wider ever since, no matter what I have done to try to bridge the gap.
Let this be a warning to you, if you are considering something similar!
Other neighbours who joined me for drinks on New Years Day were just as shocked and bewildered as me when they saw the words on the card. Advice ranged from "Ignore them" and "Do nothing" to "write to a letter" to remind them of how hard I'd tried to be a good neighbour in difficult circumstances (believe me - living in a building site for 7 months while dealing with persistent chronic back pain and attending numerous hospital appointments for therapy isn't easy...)
Rather than behave rashly, I will think about what to do for a few days before taking any action, and bear in mind Michele Obama's approach when deciding what to do:
"when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is when they go low, we go high"
Nevertheless, I was heartened by the support and sympathy from other neighbours in the street and nearby, and delighted that everyone seems to like my "work in progress". I'll take that as a positive thing for the first day of 2019, rather than get wound up by the immediate neighbour's negative response to my olive branch of an invitation.
Wednesday 2 January
Another day of builder-free bliss. But the house project has reared its head again in the form of the kitchen designer who now wants to put back the day for completing the kitchen installation from 7th to 8th January next week, starting early so that there is a good chance to finish everything in one go, except for the splash backs which will come later as they are made to order. I have agreed.
The "good" electricians have also been in touch, they will be coming tomorrow to finish the electric works.
Just need to update the list of outstanding works now, find out from the builder when these will happen and agree a timetable for carrying them out. It will be difficult now my things are out of storage. They won't be able to use the house as a workshop and materials store (there isn't enough empty space!) and they will have to be careful not to mess up the carpets and floor finishes or the items that are now piled up around the house, waiting to be put into their new homes as and when each room is finished. That will be a challenge.
Time to reinstall the dust covers over doors and put plastic sheets over everything else? Back to the grim reality of living in a building site once more...Not a prospect to look forward to now that I've had a taste of "normal" life!
Thursday 3 January
Back to early morning starts in anticipation of the "good" electricians coming to put right the unsafe mess of the electrics made by the builders in house electrician. The light fittings still to be installed were laid out on the kitchen worktop, along with the layout plans for lighting and power which were part of the tender documents, so they could tell what was supposed to go where.
A quick text to the man in charge to tell him that they were coming today and asking him to confirm that they would also be installing the thermostat for the underfloor hearing and controller/timer for the boiler (and if so, where were these items?). He promised to check with his partner and get back to me.
His text also said "I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I am making changes to the business this year in order to eradicate some of the obvious issues we experienced on your project. Thank you for bearing with us during the difficult period"
Well, I hope that no one else has to go through my experience, which isn't over yet...
It looks like the box of bits which contained the rather expensive underfloor heating thermostat has gone missing. It had been up in the loft, but disappeared when most of the tools and materials were taken away by the builders people when there knocked off work on the Thursday before Christmas. Nowhere to be found now...
Because the so called electrician had wired one of the lighting circuits in the new kitchen diner into the old house fuse board rather than the new one, that board now needs to be replaced as it doesn't meet current standards; the electrical new work can't be signed off until a new fuse board is installed. Had he put all the new wiring into the new fuse box no change would have been necessary. The builder will have to foot the bill for that I'm afraid. I don't see why I should pay to put right the builder's incompetent initial electrical installation...
It also appears that the combined extract vent and light in the new shower in the loft should have been connected to its own switch, rather than the same switch as the lavatory next door (which I'd guessed already) with an isolating switch to turn off the extract fan when the shower isn't in use. Another botched job...
To add insult to injury, having been told by the builders that the lighting in the kitchen area (recessed ceiling lights, pendant "task" lights over the peninsular units and under cabinet lighting) could be run off a triple dimmer unit, I'm told now that won't work. The 3 way dimmer switch I was recommend to buy by the builder isn't suitable for LED lights. I'll have to find something else.
However, it's not all bad news....By close of business, the electrician had fixed up the external lights which are now working, but not yet on a dimmer switch...
....The swing arm wall light for my "reading corner" is also wired in safely now, but the dimmer switch doesn't work and the fitting is rather loose and not quite vertical...
The track lights for my "gallery wall" are also wired in and dimmable, but the dimmer switch is humming away to itself which suggests that a poor quality or unsuitable fitting has been used...
....the bad news is that in sorting out this problem, more holes have been made in the plaster at high level which means more filling, sanding and mess....
An even bigger hole has appeared in the wall under the stairs where the electrician has tried to replace the ordinary switch with a dimmer, only to find a broken junction box serving the first floor shower, hidden under the plaster board in the exactly the place where he wants to put the new dimmer switch box...
.... I think that was the last straw for him today. He'll sort that out tomorrow. In the meantime, I have lost the use of the light and power sockets under the stairs and can't use the shower in the first floor bathroom (but at least there is one in the loft now!) How glad am I that I hadn't painted that wall...
While the electrician has been working, I have been through the list of outstanding jobs sent to the builder before Christmas and updated it, crossing off work that has been done and adding a few things that came to light over the Christmas break.
That's gone off to the man in charge now, attached to a long email highlighting some of these problems, which he may or may not be aware of...
Thursday 3 January
Back to early morning starts in anticipation of the "good" electricians coming to put right the unsafe mess of the electrics made by the builders in house electrician. The light fittings still to be installed were laid out on the kitchen worktop, along with the layout plans for lighting and power which were part of the tender documents, so they could tell what was supposed to go where.
A quick text to the man in charge to tell him that they were coming today and asking him to confirm that they would also be installing the thermostat for the underfloor hearing and controller/timer for the boiler (and if so, where were these items?). He promised to check with his partner and get back to me.
His text also said "I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I am making changes to the business this year in order to eradicate some of the obvious issues we experienced on your project. Thank you for bearing with us during the difficult period"
Well, I hope that no one else has to go through my experience, which isn't over yet...
It looks like the box of bits which contained the rather expensive underfloor heating thermostat has gone missing. It had been up in the loft, but disappeared when most of the tools and materials were taken away by the builders people when there knocked off work on the Thursday before Christmas. Nowhere to be found now...
Because the so called electrician had wired one of the lighting circuits in the new kitchen diner into the old house fuse board rather than the new one, that board now needs to be replaced as it doesn't meet current standards; the electrical new work can't be signed off until a new fuse board is installed. Had he put all the new wiring into the new fuse box no change would have been necessary. The builder will have to foot the bill for that I'm afraid. I don't see why I should pay to put right the builder's incompetent initial electrical installation...
It also appears that the combined extract vent and light in the new shower in the loft should have been connected to its own switch, rather than the same switch as the lavatory next door (which I'd guessed already) with an isolating switch to turn off the extract fan when the shower isn't in use. Another botched job...
To add insult to injury, having been told by the builders that the lighting in the kitchen area (recessed ceiling lights, pendant "task" lights over the peninsular units and under cabinet lighting) could be run off a triple dimmer unit, I'm told now that won't work. The 3 way dimmer switch I was recommend to buy by the builder isn't suitable for LED lights. I'll have to find something else.
However, it's not all bad news....By close of business, the electrician had fixed up the external lights which are now working, but not yet on a dimmer switch...
....The swing arm wall light for my "reading corner" is also wired in safely now, but the dimmer switch doesn't work and the fitting is rather loose and not quite vertical...
The track lights for my "gallery wall" are also wired in and dimmable, but the dimmer switch is humming away to itself which suggests that a poor quality or unsuitable fitting has been used...
....the bad news is that in sorting out this problem, more holes have been made in the plaster at high level which means more filling, sanding and mess....
An even bigger hole has appeared in the wall under the stairs where the electrician has tried to replace the ordinary switch with a dimmer, only to find a broken junction box serving the first floor shower, hidden under the plaster board in the exactly the place where he wants to put the new dimmer switch box...
.... I think that was the last straw for him today. He'll sort that out tomorrow. In the meantime, I have lost the use of the light and power sockets under the stairs and can't use the shower in the first floor bathroom (but at least there is one in the loft now!) How glad am I that I hadn't painted that wall...
While the electrician has been working, I have been through the list of outstanding jobs sent to the builder before Christmas and updated it, crossing off work that has been done and adding a few things that came to light over the Christmas break.
That's gone off to the man in charge now, attached to a long email highlighting some of these problems, which he may or may not be aware of...
- the potential damage to the new washing machine on a spin cycle while the locking transit bolts were still in place stopping the drum moving, because his partner forgot to remove them before installing it...
- the downstairs loo which isn't flushing or draining properly...rigorous plunging, two bouts of industrial strength drain unblocker and a good dollop of caustic soda haven't made any difference...I think building debris has got down there and it's too heavy to be washed away or broken up by the chemical methods and plunger used so far....I can feel a "dyno rod" moment coming on...
- the non-functioning underfloor heating in the dining area (thank goodness for the tall slim radiator in the kitchen area which is heating the larger open plan space for the time being...)
- the poor quality of the screed in the dining area, which when laid was totally exposed overnight to the weather on one of the wildest, wettest and windiest nights of last autumn, and end up wet, puddled in places and covered in garden debris before being walked and worked on less than 24 hours after being laid, against all good practice guidelines...they may have to do some remedial work before the final floor finish can be laid..
- the problems which will caused by not finishing the job before my things had come out of storage on a date agreed in advance by his partner - limited space to work and store tools and materials now, and limited access to areas where boxes are stacked up with nowhere else to go for the time being...not forgetting lots of stuff to protect while works are in progress
I could go on, but it will only add to the sense of frustration and forboding about how and when it will all be finished...
Ah well, tomorrow is another day and I must get myself up and ready to start all over again, with another early start..
Friday 4 January
8am and the "good" electricians have arrived and work through, still sorting out the unsafe electrics the builder's "electrician" left me living with before Christmas.
By close of business they have tightened up the wonky swing arm light over my reading corner...
...put in place and connected the three pendant lamps over the peninsular run of units...
...sorted out yesterday's problem of how to put in a three way dimmer switch for the lighting when there is a broken cable box serving the first floor shower in the way, and put in a temporary switch so I can now use the lights connected to this switch pending the proper dimmers being installed....
....put in place the recessed ceiling light in the lobby outside the ground floor loo/utility room and connected it up together with the nearby hall light so I can now see into the coat store cupboard...
...and installed a timer switch in the boiler cupboard to control when the radiators and underfloor heating come on and go off. They have also managed to get the underfloor heating working at long last (the builder's "electrician" had told me it was working already, but the screed in the dining area has been cold to touch until this evening...)
There is still more work to do to finish off the rest of the electrical installations and make what has been done safe, so they will be back again tomorrow. No Saturday lie in for me again...
No reply from the man in charge to my email requesting a programme setting out when the outstanding building works will be completed, or suggesting we meet on site at close of business today to assess what has been done so I can make an interim payment to help his cash flow problems, pending the full and final works being finished.
I'm still holding off responding to my disgruntled neighbours...maybe this weekend...
Saturday 5 January
Another day spent with the electrician putting right the poor quality, unsafe electrical installation job done by the builder's "electrician".
Today he has spent most of the time replacing my old consumer unit in the front room with a new one. This changeover is only necessary because the builder's man connected up part of the new lighting circuit in the kitchen diner to the original fuse box, rather than into the new fuse box which most of the power and lighting circuits connect into. The original fuse box installed in the 1980s no longer meets currents regulations, so has to be replaced if used for new works.
There are upsides and downsides to this work...
....The downside was that I was without power for most of the day, which is very restrictive on a dull day with no artificial light, no music or radio, no wifi, no heat, no oven or hob for several hours.
The upside of the work is the the good electrician has relocated the old electricity meter and moved a power socket as well as replacing the old consumer unit. This reorganisation has resulted in a much more compact layout of meters and fuse board which takes up less space in the corner of the room....
...but the old meter cupboard isn't the right shape/size for this electrical gubbins, so I'll have design a new meter cabinet and get someone to make it for me...not something I'd planned to do or budgeted for...Hey ho. It will be worth it in the end, I'm sure.
He has also rewired a socket in the lobby by the new coat store which had been connected into the circuit with lighting rather than power cable, and fixed light track on the first floor landing which suddenly stopped working. Turned out to be a loose wire, rather than something related to the building work, so I can't blame the builder for that! Plus I now have a wireless room thermostat for both the central heating radiators, and a separate plumbed in thermostat for the underfloor heating in the dining area. Progress - I am back in control of the temperature in the house at last...or will be when I've read and digested the instruction manual...
Most of the work he had done today was quiet being electrical connections, but there was occasional banging as he moved fittings around and fixed them in new locations. I had completely forgotten that it was a Saturday when all noisy work on "construction sites" is supposed to stop at 1pm. My next door neighbour reminded me in no uncertain terms around 4.30pm, and was chided by the electrician for swearing at me.
Peace had broken out on that side of my terraced house for a quite a while, but it seems I'm back in their bad books again. Reminding my neighbour that the work was necessary for electrical safety reasons (as mentioned to his wife before Christmas when the serious safety risks became apparent) didn't seen to cut much ice, even though the Council allows exceptions to the restrictions on noisy work in an emergency. This may not be an emergency right now, but it could easily become one if something went wrong with the unsafe installation...I've already had one nasty shock and don't want another, thank you very much...
Still, I think we all need another day of rest, peace and quiet on the building front tomorrow and I'm looking forward to being sociable for a change.
The kitchen fitters return to finish (I hope) most of their work next Tuesday and the electrician says he'll be back next Wednesday to carry on going through the "to do" list on the electrics front...there's still quite a lot to sort out.
There's been a deafening silence from the man in charge in response to my list of outstanding jobs and request for a programme to complete the works. But at least he isn't pestering me for money for final completion when there are so many bits and pieces that still need to be done.
I'll update the outstanding jobs list on Monday (the start of week 32) and send it to him, with a further request to sort out a timetable for completion.
Any bets on when it will all be done? Week 33? Week 34? 35? 36? Hmmm, doesn't bear thinking about...
Friday 4 January
8am and the "good" electricians have arrived and work through, still sorting out the unsafe electrics the builder's "electrician" left me living with before Christmas.
By close of business they have tightened up the wonky swing arm light over my reading corner...
...put in place and connected the three pendant lamps over the peninsular run of units...
...sorted out yesterday's problem of how to put in a three way dimmer switch for the lighting when there is a broken cable box serving the first floor shower in the way, and put in a temporary switch so I can now use the lights connected to this switch pending the proper dimmers being installed....
....put in place the recessed ceiling light in the lobby outside the ground floor loo/utility room and connected it up together with the nearby hall light so I can now see into the coat store cupboard...
...and installed a timer switch in the boiler cupboard to control when the radiators and underfloor heating come on and go off. They have also managed to get the underfloor heating working at long last (the builder's "electrician" had told me it was working already, but the screed in the dining area has been cold to touch until this evening...)
There is still more work to do to finish off the rest of the electrical installations and make what has been done safe, so they will be back again tomorrow. No Saturday lie in for me again...
No reply from the man in charge to my email requesting a programme setting out when the outstanding building works will be completed, or suggesting we meet on site at close of business today to assess what has been done so I can make an interim payment to help his cash flow problems, pending the full and final works being finished.
I'm still holding off responding to my disgruntled neighbours...maybe this weekend...
Saturday 5 January
Another day spent with the electrician putting right the poor quality, unsafe electrical installation job done by the builder's "electrician".
Today he has spent most of the time replacing my old consumer unit in the front room with a new one. This changeover is only necessary because the builder's man connected up part of the new lighting circuit in the kitchen diner to the original fuse box, rather than into the new fuse box which most of the power and lighting circuits connect into. The original fuse box installed in the 1980s no longer meets currents regulations, so has to be replaced if used for new works.
There are upsides and downsides to this work...
....The downside was that I was without power for most of the day, which is very restrictive on a dull day with no artificial light, no music or radio, no wifi, no heat, no oven or hob for several hours.
The upside of the work is the the good electrician has relocated the old electricity meter and moved a power socket as well as replacing the old consumer unit. This reorganisation has resulted in a much more compact layout of meters and fuse board which takes up less space in the corner of the room....
...but the old meter cupboard isn't the right shape/size for this electrical gubbins, so I'll have design a new meter cabinet and get someone to make it for me...not something I'd planned to do or budgeted for...Hey ho. It will be worth it in the end, I'm sure.
He has also rewired a socket in the lobby by the new coat store which had been connected into the circuit with lighting rather than power cable, and fixed light track on the first floor landing which suddenly stopped working. Turned out to be a loose wire, rather than something related to the building work, so I can't blame the builder for that! Plus I now have a wireless room thermostat for both the central heating radiators, and a separate plumbed in thermostat for the underfloor heating in the dining area. Progress - I am back in control of the temperature in the house at last...or will be when I've read and digested the instruction manual...
Most of the work he had done today was quiet being electrical connections, but there was occasional banging as he moved fittings around and fixed them in new locations. I had completely forgotten that it was a Saturday when all noisy work on "construction sites" is supposed to stop at 1pm. My next door neighbour reminded me in no uncertain terms around 4.30pm, and was chided by the electrician for swearing at me.
Peace had broken out on that side of my terraced house for a quite a while, but it seems I'm back in their bad books again. Reminding my neighbour that the work was necessary for electrical safety reasons (as mentioned to his wife before Christmas when the serious safety risks became apparent) didn't seen to cut much ice, even though the Council allows exceptions to the restrictions on noisy work in an emergency. This may not be an emergency right now, but it could easily become one if something went wrong with the unsafe installation...I've already had one nasty shock and don't want another, thank you very much...
Still, I think we all need another day of rest, peace and quiet on the building front tomorrow and I'm looking forward to being sociable for a change.
The kitchen fitters return to finish (I hope) most of their work next Tuesday and the electrician says he'll be back next Wednesday to carry on going through the "to do" list on the electrics front...there's still quite a lot to sort out.
There's been a deafening silence from the man in charge in response to my list of outstanding jobs and request for a programme to complete the works. But at least he isn't pestering me for money for final completion when there are so many bits and pieces that still need to be done.
I'll update the outstanding jobs list on Monday (the start of week 32) and send it to him, with a further request to sort out a timetable for completion.
Any bets on when it will all be done? Week 33? Week 34? 35? 36? Hmmm, doesn't bear thinking about...
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