posted on 23 January 2006 12:17
by
Harley
January 2006 - Still smiling.................
JANUARY 2006
This month we have been to visit three properties under construction by our chosen company. Each house was at a different stage of developement. The first needed the internal work to be finished - bathrooms, floors, tiling etc. The second had the blockwork finished and the roof timbers being fitted and the last had only the block work completed. Each stage of work however, seemed to be finished to a high standard. We know very little about the building trade and our opinion is really based on the overall finish of the work we have seen in these three properties and houses being built on English housing estates. There were no rough edges, if you know what I mean. It looked as though a great deal of pride had gone into the work rather than just being thrown up. The large roof beams were finished with wooden pegs and were hand cut by the carpenter assembling them rather than using pre-fabricated frames. The block work was very tidy, inside and out and finished off very neatly. The slate roof of the first house was extremely well done and if our tile roof goes on as well, then I for one, will be very pleased.
The first real negative has been the start date. We were first told that they would begin on the 2nd January. It didn't happen! We were then told it would be within 15 days. It didn't happen! We were then told that they would be marking out the land today (Monday 23rd) so that the company who are carrying out the groundworks would be able to begin. The ground has been duly marked out today, so, I hope this is a good sign. We have signed and returned the site insurance paperwork complete with the cheque. Just need to confirm that they have arranged for SAUR to connect water to the site so they can mix cement etc. We are now awaiting the arrival of the diggers................
At the moment I feel quite determined not to get too stressed over this build. We had a truly horrible experience selling our little home here and want to stay as chilled as possible. We are not expecting this to be an easy ride but my only gripe so far is being told something is going to happen on a certain date and then.......it doesn't. I feel that this is going to be a problem throughout this build and to a large degree we are already resigned to it. We do know, from friends and posts on this Forum, that when people arrange for building work, plumbing, electrics etc, to be carried out, that it is quite normal for the workmen to fix dates and then not turn up for days, weeks and even months.