We were back on site Monday morning to see the results, in day light, of how the trench footings looked for level after Stu and I were pouring concrete in the dark late Friday afternoon.  In some areas it was ok, in other areas the level was not good, and it was just a case of waiting for the comments from Wayne the brickie when he arrived on site on Tuesday.  The Telehandler arrived on site in the morning, and we also had the trench blocks arrive.

Wayne was on site Tuesday, and surprisingly, he didn’t make too many comments about the concrete trench levels.  It was just a case of getting on with things and putting things right.  As we were laying the trench blocks, we measured up for the walls from the back of the house to the front.  It was fairly obvious pretty quickly that something wasn’t right.  The measurement of the walls we had on site did not match up with the measurements on the plans.  Somewhere along the way we had gained an extra 1.5 metres in length?  After some head scratching, we realised that the Technical Surveyor who had marked out the plot had made a mistake and added on the extra 1.5 metres.  Fortunately the surveyor came out the following day and held his hand up to the mistake, and offered to compensate me financially for the additional costs I had incurred through no fault of my own.  So Stu and I got the new trenches dug out and filled with concrete, so Wayne then had Thursday and Friday to lay the trench blocks and concrete blocks ready for the block and beam floor to go on after Christmas.  Due to the error with the marking out, we now had to lay the block and beam floor after Christmas, which up until the error we were going to get put in before Christmas, so we had lost a couple of days of our schedule.

We all worked really hard over Thursday and Friday, working well as a team, with Wayne doing a really good job to sort out the levels, so by Friday lunch time we were all finished and all the block work was how it should be, nice and level and awaiting the block and beam floor.

We are now off for the two week Christmas break, and will be back on site on Monday 5^th.  So to anyone reading this, have a great Christmas, and all the best for 2009.

This week Stu and I started work on excavating the footings for the new build.  We carefully marked out our trench centre line, and commenced work.  Although once you get under way, it is an easy job to do, it just takes time getting rid of the excavated soil, you need to think things through and plan so that you can have the muck taken away and that the muck doesn’t build up and get in your way.  Unfortunately, due to the rain from the previous week, the top surface was turning into a swamp, and it was making life difficult for Stu on his dumper getting around the site.

I provisionally placed my concrete order with Darren at Gem Mix for later in the week once the footings had been signed off.  By Thursday morning we had all the footings excavated, and it was just a case of tidy things up ready for the Building Inspectors site visit later that day so he could sign them off, and they would be ready for concreting later on that day. But come 2pm, there had been no Building Inspector?  I phoned the office, and was told he was still on his rounds and would be out later that afternoon.  This meant I had to contact Darren to delay my concrete until Friday as it wasn’t now possible to get the concrete in due to the Building Inspector running late.  Come 4pm, and there was still no sign of the Building Inspector?  I again contacted the office, and was told to stay on site until 4.30pm, if the Inspector hadn’t turned up by then; he would be out first thing Friday.  4.30pm, no Building Inspector?

I received a phone call at 9am Friday morning from the Building Inspector, telling me had visited the site on Thursday, which I thought was strange as we had been there all day.  He proceeded to tell me about his site inspection, when I realised he was talking about another new build site just down the road.  He had visited the wrong site!  He then told me he would be out later that morning.  I phoned Darren to advise, and the concrete order was standing by for delivery.  The Inspector didn’t visit the site until 12 noon.  But he was more than happy with the footings, signed them off, and allowed us to proceed with concreting them.  But due to the time it had taken for the visit, the first of seven lorry loads of concrete didn’t arrive on site until 14.30, and in these winter months day light hours were not on our side, as it pretty much dark by just after 16.00.  The concrete pump lorry arrived on site at 15.15, and we could start to pump through the concrete to the back of the site.  But by 16.30 we concreting in darkness and we still had two lorries still to tip.  Once you have started concreting you can’t stop, so we had to see the job through.  But concreting in darkness meant our levels were going to be a bit hit and miss.  The last lorry tipped at around 17.15, and Stu and I were all done by 17.30.  I had been a nightmare afternoon, and the situation had been out of our control, but he concrete was in, and it was just a case of seeing how things were in the cold light of day on Monday morning.  Fingers crossed!

Stu and I arrived on site bright and early Monday morning.  The plant machinery of a dumper and an excavator followed shortly afterwards.  Our main focus for the start of the week was to clear the site, starting with the contest of tree v machine.  There were two Holly trees which needed to be removed, and although they put up a good fight, the digger won over in the end.  We then skimmed the top of the site, so we were left with a large mud plot.

We had a gentleman in on Tuesday morning to mark out the plot for us, putting marker pegs in to show the exterior walls and corners of the new build.  We had various lorries turning up to take our muck away, as quickly as we got the soil out, they removed it from site.  We also had a lorry deliver 10 tonnes of hardcore, so we could create a drive area to the plot, so as to assist the lorries with their deliveries onto site.

We had a half day on Thursday, as it was lashing it down with rain, and having just started on the new site this week, we had nowhere to hide.  But about an hour after arriving home, I looked out of the window to see clear blue skies, typical!

Friday, a day that will be remembered for a long time to come.  The plan was to expose the existing mains sewer pipe, so we could then cut into it and add our t connection on Monday morning.  Unfortunately as we were trying to find it, we heard a crack come from the earth, and after some more hand digging we found the pipe, and our worst fears came true as the pipe had a small crack in it which was leaking the pipes contents.  It was late Friday morning, and we were now against the clock to get the pipe fixed.  We raced off to Peterborough to get some more pipe and pipe fittings.  We were back on site early afternoon, and then the fun and games started!  The hole was filling up with the pipes contents, which was making it hard to see the pipe and especially where we needed to cut the pipe.  To cut a long story short, we got the pipe fixed and our t connection in, but Stu and I got well and truly covered in the contents of the pipe as we carried out the work, and boy did we smell!  The drive home in the van was one I would rather forget.  It was clothes off in the garden, and get hose piped down before entering the house!

After messing about on machinery the previous week, it was back to some proper work for Stu and me.  It was our last week on our job in Bury, and it was a case of working through the snagging list that we had produced, and also working through the snagging list of the clients.

Stu worked through the list, fitting the final extractor ducting, applying filler to the walls where it was required, tidying up the garden area etc.  I focused on plumbing in the client’s toilet and sink, and then installing their shower enclosure in the bathroom.  The Building Inspector came to carry out his final visit on the Wednesday.  The build passed with flying colours, and the Completion Certificate will be issued shortly.  By Friday we were all done, we just had a couple of trips to do in the van removing the last of the scaffold boards and security fencing. 

We had scheduled between 12 and 16 weeks for the build, and we were all completed in week sixteen.  Not bad timing and we all got a case of lager from the client for our efforts, cheers!

We enjoyed our time on the job, and it really makes a difference when you have a good working relationship with a client.  We left happy with the job we had done, but most importantly the client was more than happy with the job we had done for them, and I wish them every happiness in their new extension.

Next week, we start all over again on a new build near Ramsey. Wind, rain and snow is predicted weather wise.  I love my job!