New year, new project!

On Monday 6th January groundwork started on the site, the machinery having been dropped off over the weekend along with the all-important portaloo.

After the old bungalow was demolished in 2019, we had stripped the site and started the site cut. Our aim was to reuse all of the soil, and it was placed in two piles down the side of the site – topsoil in one and subsoil/clay in the other.

On the Wednesday of the first week, 3 days in, the surveyor came along and set out the site with steel pins ready for the foundation trenches to be dug.

A lorry load of stone was dropped on site this week too (to provide some hardstanding for the cabin which arrived the following week). This was the first of many loads. Note to self: make sure there’s a substantial allowance in the budget for stone!

To say we were having a wet winter was an understatement, but that didn’t deter the groundworkers Simon and Mat, and they forged ahead digging the foundation trenches.

On Thursday the 9th our Building Control officer called in to do the first of his inspections. He was happy and sent a copy of his report and pictures to the warranty provider. So on Friday morning, after the trenches were pumped dry and bottomed out, Hansons concrete truck arrived along with a pump lorry and line pump from Chris Brown Pumping, and 15 cubic metres of concrete were pumped into the foundations.

The first delivery of Nudura blocks arrived along with the props, and suddenly it all seemed real – there was some substance on site and not just a mudbath.

That was the end of the first week. That was also the start of our issues with the warranty provider, Protek.

Six days after the trenches were filled with concrete we received a defect notice from the warranty provider stating that at the time the photos were taken by Building Control the trenches weren’t complete and they were holding water. They issued us with a defect notice.

We spoke to various professionals and all of them said the same thing – it’s winter, it’s raining, we’re in the Westcountry where the ground holds water; the trenches are bound to have water in them, and it’s pumped out before the concrete is poured; it’s standard procedure.

Fortunately we had taken several pictures of the site before and during the concrete pour. So after several tense days – bearing in mind the concrete had been poured and work on site was progressing towards pouring the slab – Protek and their technical auditors Surveyorlink agreed that the defect notice was resolved.

This was another learning point for us. We were under the false impression that if Building Control were happy with what they saw, that would tick the boxes for the warranty provider too. But that’s not the case.

In hindsight, it would have been simpler to use a warranty provider that carries out their own inspections. That way we would have known on the day of inspection whether they were happy with everything.

So, week 2 arrived, and with it came the site cabin which we’d hired from Eagle Plant.

On Tuesday of that week storm Brendan arrived – the first named storm of 2020, but not the last, bringing high winds and heavy rain. But work continued. Notts delivered another 32 tonnes of stone, and the steel mesh, rebar, concrete castles and high chairs arrived. The first 2 courses of Nudura were laid, and by Friday Hansons were back to pour concrete in them.

There was a short reprieve from the weather the following week, and work started on the services and drainage. Yet more 803 stone was delivered, and we had the second of our Building Control inspections – this time to look at the combined damp proof membrane/radon barrier, steel mesh and services. And, following the pattern of the previous 2 weeks, Hansons came on Friday and poured the concrete slab for the house. Things were motoring along. Over the next two weeks the drainage and service ducting was completed and the soakaway was built. More stone was delivered and the driveway was graded and compacted to give on-site parking. By the 5th February the groundworkers had finished – just before storm Ciara arrived!