Ok, take a good long look. Notice anything? Well, make that do you notice anything missing? Yes that's right, we have had a site clean. What's that? Oh yes, and the brickwork on the portico isn't finished. Does anyone see the bricks they are going to use? Anyone?
Ok, enough with the sarcasm. Saturday we drove past at about midday to find 2 guys doing the site clean. We noticed the nice neat pile of empty pallets in the corner of the block but a distinct lack of left over bricks. We had asked "site supervisor" ages ago (just after we started) and we had been instructed that whatever left over bricks would be piled for us and kept - same with the roof tiles. The roof tiles were still there when we arrived so we were able to save them, but the bricks had been dumped into the skip just before we arrived (damn it!). Matt had a chat to one of the guys cleaning up and he said he had been instructed to just clear the lot. He said that normally there are 1 or 2 pallets that don't get opened and they leave them, but all of our pallets had been opened (to blend them properly) which meant that there was only the bottom layer of bricks remaining on each pallet - so they thought they were all to go. We wanted the left over bricks to be able to build a matching letterbox etc, which I mean - it isn't exactly the end of the world - but more worrying is the fact that there is now a total of 10 bricks left to brick the remainder of the portico... Being a Saturday we immediately tried ringing Metricon but no one was available to take our call, so first thing Monday Matt rang and explained that we now had no bricks left to finish the house. They said they would get back to us but we haven't heard as yet (I imagine they are running around trying to figure out what the heck they do!). I guess if worst comes to the worst we will get Metricon to render the front portico for us, but that's a catch 22 cos I don't particularly want render. Maybe we could get stacked stone out of them? I mean, we aren't really stressing cos it isn't our mistake - I just want the bricks they come up with to match otherwise it will be costing them more than we were charged to upgrade to those bricks.
We are guessing the problem lied with the sidelights - if they had been delivered on schedule the brickwork would have been well and truly finished... so someone has obviously ordered the site clean ages ago and forgot to postpone it when the work wasn't done.
Last Friday we met with "site supervisor". He was lovely and very friendly. He was happy to answer all of our questions and show us everything - including the 2 points that didn't pass their QA assessment. Both have now been rectified. He also told us to go through and check all the electrical points as the wires and wall plates were fitted. There was one issue with a double powerpoint in the ensuite to the left of the vanity. Due to the sliding cavity door the point can't go on that wall, so it was either scrap the while powerpoint (leaving one double p.p in the ensuite) or relocate it into the left hand side of the vanity under the bench - which we have opted for. He told us that bricking should have been finished today (which was hard for the brickies as there were no bricks!), the lock up carpenters were going in to fix up ready for plaster later this week. He said depending on which "team" he was allocated for plaster it may take them 5 days, it may take 2 weeks. He said the painters may then take 2 weeks, then flooring and fittings (cupboards, etc) (? goodness knows how long)then 4 weeks of checks and fix ups, then handover. His generous estimation was 12 weeks, but if things can be kept moving we may be in in 8-10 weeks? Wishful thinking I know.
He has said he was happy to meet with us each week if we like as he only lives 10 mins away and can be there at 7.30am if need be (which we might have to do with Matt and me leaving for work at 8am).
Here is my mock up of what it should look like when the top bricks are finally finished:
Now where are those bricks going to come from? ...
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