Well, technically, the windows are not in yet, but they have managed to sort the first course of bricks and so have worked out the exact placement and size of windows and door frame, so all ordered.
The building inspector was a bit of a pain - as the builder said, it was clear that the garage was built on the same foundations as the house, and not some later extension. Also, the wall was not supporting anything (there is a big lintel over where the door was). Even so the building inspector insisted they dig down along side the foundations to confirm how deep they were. They are, of course, fine, and the builder has been able to start.
Rumour has it that the wall will be done tomorrow, and also the plastering starts tomorrow - and ideally finishes so it can dry over the weekend. We have all of the dry lining done ready, now that the window and door opening are decided.
I have ordered some nice door handles today. I have also ordered a sofa bed (which takes 8 weeks!).
The building inspectors are a waste of time if you have competent builders. Mine wanted to visit before the wall came down, after, and then again when the RSJ was in, then again when it was clad.
ReplyDeleteManaged to cut it down to two visits, with pictures as we'd already taken the wall down by that point. Waste of bloody money, but I suppose it does prevent things from being done by people who don't know what they're doing.
It is a sign of our almost completed societal suicide pact that people think there's anything at all reasonable about paying the government to come and inspect the bricking-up of a doorway. It's so pathetic it makes me want to cry.
DeleteProblem is, if you don't follow the letter of the law, then when you come to sell you can't provide the paperwork to show it's all legit, which could cost you further down the line!
Delete"People who don't know what they're doing" are far too common.
DeleteMoreover, people cut corners that they "know" are fine, but which you'd never expect. The foundations for the whole house were done at once, right, so obviously they'd all be deep enough, right? And it turns out in this case, yes. But what if somebody went "It's Friday, this part is just the garage, so let's not waste time" and skipped it ?
This country has a lot of Victorian railway bridges. The Victorians didn't worry about keeping proper documentation, and they liked to "tidy" things behind brickwork. So we have iron bridges where all the critical ironwork is hidden inside brick. And sometimes maybe they've built the left hand side of the bridge from three quarter inch iron, but they haven't got any more in stock, so they use half-inch for the right hand side. And, since we have no paperwork, we don't know about this "clever solution". We send an engineer to see if the bridge is good, and he takes a day getting past the bricks, checks the left side and goes "Well, it's old and rusty but it's still got 10-20 years left in it". Done. And then a month later the right side of the bridge collapses, because the thinner iron had rusted through. Yes that really happens. So far nobody died.
So we need inspectors to make sure you've built what the requirements say you're supposed to build and not whatever was easiest so you could go home on Friday afternoon.
They're bricking-up a doorway, not building a railway bridge.
DeleteAmazing, tbe holes in your plasterboard appear to line up quite well with the metal back boxes for your sockets etc. Normally they're at least an inch adrift and require serious bodgery by the electrician when they come to do second fit. Your builders seem to have bothered to get the plasterboard holes in the correct places, this is a near miracle these days.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it, but it is very simple. Back boxes all fitted first. Plaster board done with a simple hole where cables come out, centre of back boxes, then plasterboard fitted. Then use simple saw blade to cut hole out to edge and around inside of back box afterwards.
DeleteThat's exactly how myself and my dad do it when plaster boarding stuff at our houses. However, I was not aware any real builders do it that way. My house was built by people who clearly cut the full hole and then put the plasterboard up, some of the switches and sockets barely cover the hole along some edges and the screws have to go in at a silly angle (bending the back box to achieve this) to even get the fit that good. My dad used to do electrics for conservatory installations, he gave it up partly because of how bad the plasterboarding was with holes miles out that he was expected to sort out on second fit as the electrician. It was impossible at times.
Delete