Last week was one of those weeks where we didn’t make too much progress for one reason and another.  On Monday Wayne took a day off, and I was finishing up some work for a client, so Stu had the day off as well and nobody was on site.  Tuesday, I was not on site until lunch time, but Stu and Wayne were on site carrying on the with the external and interior block work.  Wednesday and Thursday were forecast rain, so Wayne took both days off, while Stu and I loaded out the top scaffold with blocks and had a good tidy up of the site on the Wednesday morning, getting off site just as the heavens opened.  We were all back on site Friday, but only managed a half day as the black clouds rolled in and we were on the receiving end of some heavy rain showers late morning, which is the first time we have really been caught out by the rain when we have been on site.

But where are the roof trusses?  I was expecting a call this week with a delivery date for the trusses as I had placed my order on the Wednesday of last week, and they have a 5 to 7 day delivery schedule from time of order.  But on Wednesday I received a phone call saying they had mislaid some of our measurements, and could not proceed without them.  So on Thursday I gave them the figures they needed, and chased them on Friday for a delivery date, which I was informed would be a week Friday!  So we have gone from a 5 to 7 day delivery to a 10 to 12 day delivery, great!  So through no fault of my own, we have lost a week of work time, as we are struggling for work until the trusses arrive.  Plus I incur a week’s additional costs on the scaffold and the hire of the JCB Telehandler, which is around £500.  Will the truss company reimburse me, no.  Are they bothered, no.  Is it their fault they are running late, no.  Unbelievable!  And I have to pay for this service.  David from EH Smith the builders merchant is chasing them up to see if we can get an earlier delivery date and apply some pressure, but I am not holding my breath!