Weekly Review

James our SS phoned us with an update of progress. Today the site was event free. We drove past and saw a truck unloading some steel piping. I suspected it may have been something to do with the kitchen etc, but James informed us that the scaffolding was going up today. It was nice to hear what was scheduled ahead! Obviously weather dependent;

• Today - scaffolding to first floor
• Tomorrow (Saturday) - First floor framing to begin (surprised that framing would occur on a weekend)
• Monday/Tuesday - Framing to continue
• Tuesday/Wednesday - Roof trusses to be installed (framing should be complete next week - absurd!)
• Tuesday 10th June (after long weekend) - Gutters and fascia
• Thursday 12th June - Roof!!

 Scaffolding

We snuck into the site tonight (as if everyone doesn't do that when building!) and had a brief look around. Again, the light was fading so it was just a quick peek. The bulk head framing throughout seemed to have been completed yesterday also. We noticed an error in the bulkhead above our fireplace so have let our SS know. Originally the plans had the bulkhead at 1290mm from the roof in the living room. We raised this to 900mm as we felt fitting a TV there might be a push (especially at the rate TV sizes are growing) and we didn't want to limit the way the space would be used in the future. In our contract drawings, one of the drawings had the original (larger measurements), so it was included as a post contract variation to clarify the 900mm. However, it seems the original measurements were used. We will need to double check other changes we made over the weekend as we would rather catch them early to alleviate problems later. A minor detail that will hopefully be changed with minimal fuss. 

Incorrect Drawings in Contracts (not our fault) - Window should be fixed and drawing to the right showing a longer bulkhead

Correct Window and Bulkhead in Final Drawings

Final Drawings.

We thought that the wall of paperwork was over when we signed our contract tender. All the decisions we had made were locked in and the build would begin. Little did we know there are also final drawings!! Our CLE emailed and phoned last week with an update and briefly mentioned the final drawings. We weren't exactly sure what 'final drawings' were but waited in anticipation! On Thursday (now know as slab day!) we received them. The final drawings, believe it or not, included the final drawings!! Another rather large document to trawl through, double check, triple check and sign every page. The changes that were raised as a variation at contract were now included in the drawings so it was important to be thorough as it clearly stated - that these would be used for building and a reference from this point on. Everything looked great and all but a few details were correct We had two lights not connected to a switch, a couple of typo errors and one part of the drawing that was missing part of the render. This has all been promptly fixed and we were even able to move one of our exterior taps and add a hot/cold tap and waste for a future BBQ! Go Carlisle! Final drawings have been sent off (with a variation to sign in the coming days) and the paperwork should be behind us.

We also spoke to our SS late last week. James will be in charge of our build and we should meet him in the coming days. He's on top of the temporary fences too, so we should see them by the end of the week.