Cock-Up No.1
Cock-Up No.1
We’re all set, roofing materials have arrived and been stacked internally, money is (mostly) in the bank and the builder is primed to start on the 6th however, it seems I’ve dropped a massive proverbial!
In my haste to get us started, I forgot check the paperwork from the company performing the building regulations checks and apparently, payment BEFORE not AFTER is the standard practice so, I get a very urgent call from Donald who’s checked with Russell the inspector about the check dates and it looks like we’re going to lose several weeks to this pretty epic balls-up.
After speaking to the company directly, it turns out I need to send additional drawings, contract forms etc.. so I start off by firing emails left right and centre, chasing and amending drawings faster than I’ve ever managed in my 20+ years in Engineering. Donald has managed to find work to keep him going for the week but really needs to start the following Monday or he’ll need to bin us off and bring his other jobs forward, meaning we go to the back of the queue and potentially months behind schedule. By the end of the first lost day, it looks like we’re in a decent place but I’m on the phone pretty much constantly for four days until the drawings are approved, payment goes through and we receive a contract allowing us to proceed.
Donald also gets the scaffolding organised to the front aspect and puts his lads onto removing the stone slate roof and stacking it in a specific way so we can sort and re-instate them in the right order.
Sleeping in the van on the Sunday night before we make a start is something of an eye-opener. It turns out there are a few things which I hadn’t considered about my man-in-the-van plan. It’s may, so I’m comfortably warm but parking beside a stream means there are midges everywhere and I must look like a walking buffet. As night draws in, it transpires I have never REALLY been alone in the dark because the total lack of street lighting surprises me way more than I ever thought possible and even waving my hand in-front of my face, I can’t see a thing. The last thing which strikes me is the ball-bearings which seem to be getting fired onto the roof keeping me awake all night. This, it turns out the following morning were leaves from the trees I’ve parked underneath! Everything which touched the steel skin throughout the night reverberated like a sub-woofer and made me jump from my sleeping bag every time!
