A Self Build Diary - Day 73 - Walls = Progress

Well ive been back down to site today and there are walls sprouting from the ground at a great speed now! and the completed tent now stands fully water proof and today it rained all day!:-

so the tent did its job today and where a day would have been lost to the rain was saved!

The builders are really cracking on with the block and stone work,

I even ventured on to the scaffolding for your photographic pleasure!

so some real progress over the last few days and without the worry of scaffolders finishing their work i can take a small step back and prepare of the onset of tiny feet pattering!

TENT counter
Days Tented - 3
Days saved - 1

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 72 - Complete scaffolding and a Photo special

So its been a busy week on site! However Mrs G seems determined not to have a baby so as we sail into a week overdue, i breath a sigh of relief as the project management side can be put on the back burner as we only have builders on site for the next few weeks. Last week saw continued failed promises from the scaffolders led us to giving them an ultimatum on Saturday, we told them to have it done by the end of yesterday or not to come back. By the end of yesterday it was complete and we are now watertight on site.

I am introducing the tent days accumulator from now.......this will be a counter for the number of days that would have been lost if we hadn't had the tent it will be plain for all to see at the end of the project whether the financial investment in this gigantic tent! (See the bottom of each blog post from here on in.

These photos are from Saturday,  but they give you an idea (The scaffold is fully sheeted in now).

the ridge of the tent sits 13 metres above raft level, too allow for the roof ridge (11 metres) and for clearance between the two to allow for workmen to fit in.

We have been very lucky with the weather last week which has meant the builders haven't been held up by the scaffolders ineptitude to deadlines. Block and stonework is shooting up all around.

The tent is like a cathedral! It makes an absolute racket inside when windy too! it really give us an idea of the scale of the project when stood inside looking up!

The Scaffold now dominates the landscape! but its for the greater good and will ensure that the project is brought home on schedule!

Tent Count 

Number of days tented - 2

Number of days saved - 0

T

 Will be back to regular updates now as the builders will be cracking on so things will change quickly!

Neil

A Self Build Diary - day 65 - my first bit of project managing

So the scaffolders have not let me down, well they have! But I expected them to let me down so I'm not let down. I will attempt to make more sense!

They were meant to be finished on Monday, then they were meant to finish today. Any way they will be back on site tomorrow to finish.........or to let me down further!

Anyway I managed to get the builders on site today to crack on with their bits, so today was a success overall! I would love for the scaffold to be fully sheeted tomorrow as we have been very lucky with the weather!

The builders have been in setting out, which is an almighty task in its self! Mortar is being delivered tomorrow so hopefully we will have some structure down and a tented scaffold by the end of tomorrow!

this scaffolding firm is on site however, so I'll prepare to be disappointed! But there are conversations to be had about totting up the penalties incurred!

If anyone is thinking of getting a scaffolder in the Huddersfield/Halifax area, don't use this firm! I won't name and shame them, incase they come and take it all away!

So apart from the obvious a good day today, I'll get some photos of the scaffolding up tomorrow, it's big!

It's mrs Gs due date today which has whistled past unremarkably, so fingers crossed for some action on that front soon!

Neil @neilgrimshaw

A Self Build Diary - Day 63 - erection issues

well I have been pretty poor about keeping the log daily, a pattern I shall work pretty hard to break.

It has been a hugely busy week, not just on site but with family and work.

For those that don't know mrs g is due to give birth any time, so getting on top of work has been a priority.

On to what's going on on site.

Well my last post on day 52 stated that by the end of this week we would be water tight as the scaffold tent should be completed. Well we have been truly let down by the scaffolder who is not only poor at communicating but seems incapable of accepting responsibility for the actions of his staff and team. The builders hoped to be back on site last Thursday whilst the scaffolders sheeted in, but the structure wasn't ready and the roof wasn't in place.

After some strong conversations late last week the scaffolders were told that builders WILL be on site on Tuesday morning and any down time for them will result in penalties for the scaffolders. We agreed a two week build schedule and that finished on Friday, we have given them an extra day (as well as this weekend) so lets see whether my strategy works????

If they have had their way they wanted an extra week, which would have pushed our already very tight schedule back. The builders have been magnificent, juggling things around to fit around the delay which hopefully means we will recover the time quickly.

At this point early on, I have learnt to ensure that you fix time plans with contractors and decide on the consequences of them being broken before they start. It's difficult sometimes to make sure that they have no reason to drop you for someone else even if it is for "just a day".

So we will hopefully see the base of the walls starting to form from Tuesday onwards, either that or the scaffolder will be into some serious penalties!

So for now this is your update for day 63, I promise to be back tomorrow, unless I'm in a labour ward!

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 52 - The rising from the ground

So scaffolding has continued at pace, erecting the Tent that some of you helped me deliberate earlier on in this blog!

The structure should be finished by the end of this week and then the roof going on Monday/Tuesday, followed by sheeting in to make us totally weather tight!

One of the difficulties we have been fighting is the mud you can see on the road in front of the build, although the site is now hardcored and we have finished all the excavations, the residual mud lingers on, a road sweeper came in today to see if it could shift it but this wasn't budgeted for. In fact i didn't even think of cleaning up costs when preparing my budget. Its worth thinking about if you are still n the planning stage. Although it was less than £100 these costs soon add up and having them built in from the start, prevent you using scarce resources on things you haven't planned for. That's my "learn from my mistakes" bit done for today!

The electrician will be on site tomorrow to connect up the site cabin for light and power, thus installing any good self builders most important tool........a kettle!

Subject to us having no weather delays, the builders will be back on site next Thursday to start knocking up some walls and then we will be weather proof. I'm going to keep a tally on each blog about the days in which the tent would have made no difference and the days in which the tent has allowed us to work when we wouldn't have been able too.

At the end we can all pat me on the back for making a good decision or laugh out load at the fact i blew a load of money on a tent..... only time will tell!

Neil