Saturday 25 May 2013

More bricks while we wait.

Just some pictures showing the progress of the brickwork ...



... and the roof trusses where our attic is suppose to be. Think we'll need to diet before squeezing through those.




Tuesday 21 May 2013

Poorer, but a lot happier

Met with CM on site today to discuss the power line issue and walk through the house. There is something to be said for discussing things face-to-face rather than  by email or even over the phone. 
The problem is the high voltage lines running along the street. These need to be turned off to erect the remaining scaffolding, and again when the scaffolding is dismantled. In addition, there needs to be additional scaffolding "walls" erected so no one accidentally turns around and touches the lines with an object. The cost from the power company to organise this is just under $5k, which we will need to pay. Comdain will be paying for the extra scaffolding required. While we wait an estimated 3 weeks for the power company to get this organised, CM has scheduled for whatever work that can be done, to be done. Although we're a whole lot poorer, after dissecting the process with CM, we're confident he's done his best to resolve this problem quickly and in a reasonable way.

The offending power lines.

The walk through today was great; a chance to get a sense of the size of rooms and to see the view from the first floor. The only disappointing part was the realisation that the attic space which the architect designed for extra storage (essentially a space in the ceiling with a floor but no walls) is not workable because of how close the trusses are. We've pointed this out to CM and will wait to see what the response from Comdain is.

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Windows delivered

The glass doors and windows have been delivered but they'll just have to sit there getting wet ... *sigh*.



Tuesday 14 May 2013

Still waiting

No work on site for just over a week now. The brickies may be back later this week to do the remaining ground floor brickwork but nothing else can be done until the power lines issue is resolved. There is a good chance that the power company will be assessing the site next week. Interestingly, the CM now thinks he may have spoken prematurely when he said that Comdain will pay for these additional works. Not sure how we feel about footing the bill for something that one would expect (quite reasonably) an experienced builder to have foreseen. We will have to wait and see how this all turns out.

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Work has stopped ... Indefinitely

Well there was a reason why we hadn't heard from SS for a while - he's left the company. We only discovered this when we called his phone only to have the construction manager answer. That interesting fact would have been news enough but there was more! The scaffolding is too close to the street powerlines so we need to apply to have the lines covered. How long does the application process take - "How long is a piece of string" was his reply. So there will be no work on site until this is sorted.

Thursday 2 May 2013

Scaffolding up but where is everyone?

Scaffolding looks great but we have no idea when we'll be seeing the roof tiles. In fact, we haven't heard from our SS for weeks. Is it normal not to get a weekly or fortnightly update or are we expected to do the chasing?