Almost there

Kitchen so far
Originally uploaded by Burrow Life.

So, there we were on Friday, deciding enough was enough. Mr Granite hadn't called to say when we'd get our kitchen worktop, and it was starting to look like it would never get finished. Meantime we're trying to live in one house with all our stuff (including clothes) in another house.

It was time to declare war.

I fired the first salvo, by telephoning Trading Standards. Surely they would give me some invaluable advice to make Mr Granite quake with fear and capitulate immediately. "Your contract is with the builder, you need to chase him". Ah, no joy there.

Rachel had more luck. A phone call to Mr Other Architect set him straight on how pissed off we were and how it needed to be sorted. "We want to be in on Wednesday", she said.

Guess what? We're going home on Wednesday. Perhaps we should have tried that before...

Mr Granite has apparently been busy polishing and grooving our work surface, and it get delivered 10am Monday morning. Already I can hear you saying "we'll believe it when we see it", and to a certain extent I'm with you. But hey, let's try optimism here.

And best of all, last night we stayed over. In our bedroom. In our bed. We'd forgotten how truly, blissfully, lovely our bed is. How happy I was screwing the toilet seat on (thanks for leaving that one for me, Mr Builder) and putting together our new Ikea armchair.

So just days to go! Oh, and that's what the kitchen looks like at the moment (above)....

In, but not in

Last night at what we thought would be our last site meeting before moving in, we walked away unclear about exactly when we would be going home.

Mr Builder is cracking on quite well I suppose. There's certainly a lot of evidence of activity on site and people there when we turned up. What we don't have is a granite worktop, which is holding up the kitchen being finished. The worktop has been cut to shape, and is sat in the workshop ready to be polished. Trouble is, so are a lot of other worktops. We should hear on Thursday when it will be ready - there is still an outside chance it could be this week.

Magnet seem to be chasing Wickes for the title of Incompetent Kitchen Supplier of the year. Apparently we can't have the outside doors for our integrated fridge freezer because they don't do them in the range we've bought. I just can't understand this. Now we have to send our fridge freezer back and get a different one that they can supply doors for. This means we probably won't have a fridge freezer until next week.

All this comes after a successful trip to Ikea to pick up new dinner chairs (for the dinner table that hasn't been delivered yet) and an armchair. All sat boxed up in the back bedroom waiting for when we eventually go home before they can be assembled.

Bugger!

Weak as a kitten..

...which is pretty much how I felt after moving back into the house yesterday. I ache where I forgot there were places to ache.

But before I go any further with the tale of woe I must give a big shout to Mr Mover. This man did twice as much work as me and walked away smiling. If you ever need any help to move heis the man to contact; krahintertrade@hotmail.com

It wasn't so much the shifting of boxes, or even more awkward items like the mattress. No, it was the sofa. We'd already worked out some time ago that it wasn't going to fit through the house, so we'd made arrangements to take it across the back gardens from two doors along (where there's a side entrance). This all sounds fine in theory, but our sofa has a solid hardwood base, and is the heaviest item in the south east.

So to get it into the house it had to be lifted above our heads to get through the side alley, pushing it through overhanging branches all the time. This nearly killed me. Then it had to be lifted up again to go over a 5ft fence before being carried across another garden and into ours. The nice thing was that it did fit through our new back doors.

The final touch in all this was that it decided to pour with rain when we came back with our second load, so our beautiful new floor and carpet got grubby straight away.

So now its all in we have to wait a while until Mr Builder catches up with the outstanding work and actually makes the place habitable. We think the middle of next week. I can't wait.

So close and yet so far...

We were so full of optimism earlier in the week, but now we're not so sure.

Monday's site meeting was a very positive affair. Mr Other Architect was there instead of Mr Architect (who has chosen this crucial point in the project to bugger off to Turkey), but did a good job. Mr Builder was in good spirits and seemed confident that all would go well this week and we would indeed be moving back in.

Sneak visits through the week have shown little real progress. The kitchen still crawls forward, the bathroom looks untouched and the dining room cabinets simply will not be done in time. Mr Granite is a pain in the arse, and Mr Builder has to go up there nearly every day to try and get a firm date out of them for fitting our kitchen worktop.

And on Tuesday we hit another problem. Mr Builder fitted the cooker extractor hood only to find it was directly beneath the steel girder spanning the house, so nothing could vent through it. He came up with a dodgy sounding option of having a second extractor fixed to the vertical wall face above the kitchen. No thanks. We reached a compromise yesterday with the lovely brushed steel chimney being replaced by a built in cupboard to allow a flexible hose to bypass the girder. I'm sure it will look OK (Rachel has seen a mock-up).

At least the floor is now finished, and the washing machine is in place. It made the journey ahead of the rest of our furniture, accompanied by Rachel's parents. The idea was to get it plumbed in by the builders before we get back, and also to allow them to construct the built-in cupboard in the bathroom which is directly over its new home.

Enough for now. We'll be visiting the site again today with our dear friend Deb, who was in on th very first discussions about what we could do with our house when it didn't sell. Should be an eye opener for her!

Wood, Glorious Wood

Something has obviously occurred to Mr Builder in the last few days. You know how it is, you get that nagging sense that something is coming soon, but you can't quite put your finger on it.

"Bugger me", he'll have declared loudly whilst in the bath. "They're moving back in next Friday!" A sort of construction-based Eureka moment I suppose.

This might explain why on Friday there were 5 people on site, finally getting started on the flooring (due to have been finished that day). The results are pretty good. The whole widthways discussion was soon kicked into touch when we saw how the flooring looks in situ. We are really, really pleased with it. So far it's made its way from the front door, through the dining room, and up to the hallway cupboard, so still a fair bit to do.

Saturday saw us braving the disaster area that was our loft to sort out the debris and junk thrown up there by the builders. A quick visit to Homebase for some more wooden shelves, and a necessary trip to the tip, saw the whole thing cleared up nice and tidy. And today we braved the human detritus of Blackthorne to shift some units at a car boot sale. Interesting experience! We're off out to dinner tonight on the proceeds.

As for other progress the stories are few and far between. We now have a mostly completed window seat in the dining room.

The dishwasher is still frustratingly sat in the dining room and the kitchen isn't much further forward. Our kitchen sink taps have finally arrived and are so posh we may have to charge people to even look at them.

The bathroom tiles have arrived (still in boxes and not yet on the walls). Mr Granite has finally been out to measure up, and word is there is stacks of capacity in what passes for his workshop, so we may yet have a worktop when we move back.

As for how much of the outstanding work really will be finished by next Friday, the jury is still out. We may not be able to move anyway since Mr Man With The Van mistyped his last email and so isn't available to move us after all. Clearly, owning a brain is not a pre-requisite for owning a van. Never mind, doesn't the rear window look lovely....(sigh)

Back to normal...

...which means bugger all progress, of course.

We dropped by the house last night to see the outcome of the first day of laying the new floor. Not a single plank has been touched, they are still in the packaging and the living area is still full of junk. Not happy.

What we do have are some doors for the hall cupboard and the frame for the window seat. Arguably necessary at some time, but questionably necessary now. The dishwasher still sits in its packaging in the dining room.

I had hoped to book a man with a van to help me move next Friday, but may just hold off making that booking for now....

Toys back inside the pram

Just last week, as we ambled along with our build, Rachel asked Mr Architect if things were going as normal compared to others. "Well, at least everyone is still talking to each other" he replied.

That almost changed yesterday.

Rachel filled Mr Architect in on the problems of the weekend, and Mr Builder's threat to not do any work. Ah, that would be breach of contract said he, also pointing out that technically we had been in breach of contract for the late payment.

Next thing we know, Rachel received an email from Mr Builder enclosing an invoice for the missed payment AND the cost of finishing the job. Frantic phone calls followed to Mr Architect, faxes were obtained from the bank proving the money had been wired, and legal advice obtained. At one point it seemed we may have to consider cancelling the contract and employing another builder. A truly overblown and ridiculous position to get into.

Come the site meeting we weren't sure if we'd have a builder or of he was there what attitude he'd have. When we got there it was pretty obvious that work had been going on during the day as the dining room was practically cleared and the fridge freezer had been installed. Rachel kicked of with another apology to Mr Builder coupled with a quick rant about how crap Barclays are, and things seemed to go fine from that point - it was like nothing had happened. Mr Architect certainly earned his fees yesterday.

So, with everyone calm, we evaluated where we were with the build. In short, Mr Bulder needs an extra week. We had already anticipated not going back this Friday, and did wonder if it would be anytime this month, so an extra week was OK with us!

After a long debate, and much scrabbling around on the floor with bits of wood, we've decided to change back to having the flooring run widthways across the house. There's a risk that lengthways will look stupid given the wonky walls, and it sounds like we would be in for more cost and more delay. Let's hope we don't regret this one.

Bastards!

OK, let's get our cards on the table here. Barclays are a bunch of tossers. They have managed, in one incompetent gesture, to undermine our relationship with Mr Builder.

We wrote a cheque for him a couple of weeks ago (as you'll recall, this is the antiquated method we need to use to move large sums of money around "for our own protection") but forgot to move the money into the cheque account to cover the sum. Our mistake, busy lives etc. Found out the cheque had bounced, came clean with Mr Builder, apologised profusely and wrote him another cheque, adding a bit on to cover any costs. This time the money was in the account, so there would be no problem.

Well, you'd think so, wouldn't you?

We got a call from Mr Builder this morning to say the second cheque had bounced. We couldn't believe it. Between apologies, rants about how awful the bank is, and commitments to do something about it immediately, he was heard to mutter that nothing else would be done to the house until the money was in his account.

I called up Barclays to find out what the hell had happened. "Didn't you get the letter?" they asked. I pointed out that we didn't actually live in our house at the moment, so getting post is not the easiest thing. "There's been a technical problem - your signature isn't on record for this account." Would be the same account that I've been signing cheques for against for the past 5 months? The account with the bank I've been with for 15 years? Apparently so.

We headed down to the bank in person to sort it out. OK, they said, our mistake. We'll write you a bankers draft - it will go into your builder's account the same day. We'll just check that, we said. Rachel headed off to HSBC who said that it wouldn't be credited to his account until next thursday! So, we wired the money instead. Well, actually we didn't. Because banks don't do anything on Saturdays. It will have to wait until Monday.

This all comes on the back of a conversation Rachel had with Mr Architect on Friday where we had some straight talk about lack of progress. It would seem all is not well with Mr Builder, and he has overstretched himself. He's got too much work on, people are letting him down and he just can't get the job finished.

Not quite sure what happens now. Prior to today we had the moral high ground when it came to the work and could be indignant about lack of progress. Now we're payment defaulters. Not a great negotiating position for Monday's site meeting.

Homesick or Buildsick?

It's getting increasingly obvious that the house is not gong to be finished this week. The list of outstanding jobs is enormous, ranging from the trivial (door furniture) to the substantial (no floor). The whole thing is getting us both down and we just want an end to it. Some honesty from Mr Builder would also be greatly appreciated.

This is probably how everyone gets towards the end of a build. But is that because all clients get impatient, or is it because builders, as a breed, don't give a stuff about letting people down, organising their work properly or stringing people along.

Showdown on Monday's site meeting. I'm going to write a list of things that are outstanding and go through every item to get answers.

Rear Window (now with added doors)

Rear Window (now with added doors)
Originally uploaded by Burrow Life.

How gorgeous is this? Just the top pane of glass to go in, then we wave goodbye to our beloved blue tarpaulin

"Is that meant to be there?"

"Is that meant to be there?"
Originally uploaded by Burrow Life.

So. The rear window frame is in. Great eh? Well, there's a slight problem, as illustrated above.

The steel rod holding the walls together that was meant to be cleverly concealed within the window frame is less-than-cleverly NOT concealed, and is more sticking out like a sore thumb. Messrs Builder and Architect, who'd been at the site meeting before us, had obviously had some time to think how to handle this, and decided to plump for pointing out the merits of the steel rod as a curtain pole.

As Rachel pointed out "it's my house and I'll put my curtain pole where I like"

I suppose we should be really cross about this, but I guess this close to getting back in we just want the damn job finished with the minimum of fuss. We're going to wait for the windows and doors to be fitted to the frame before making a decision about what to do, but we are likely to go with a shelf to conceal the rod.

Other progress? Well, they'd spent most of the day moving the kitchen. Not sure why. Nothing else has been fitted (certainly not the stack of appliances in the dining room). The bathroom is no different either. We're losing part of our recessed shelf by the bath as the bathroom sink has to drain that way. Hey ho.

We had a debate about the stairs. We can't be bothered to be screwed over by a carpet company, so had decided to go for painting the stairs. Mr Builder thinks it will be a death trap, and is looking to see what price he can have it carpetted for.

The other main issue is the granite worktop. Mr Granite STILL hasn't been round to template, so with a 10 (working?) day lead on cutting and installing it, we just aren't going to have the kitchen finished before we move back in.

Shame our cheque for Mr Builder bounced, isn't it?