A ten-day Week

You may remember from the last entry that we were in the process of having our house connected to the sewer and that due to problems elsewhere in the village, the lane had been rapidly re-opened meaning that work on the sewer connection had to stop.

Plan A: One week

The previous blog entry also indicated that Thames Water attended and repaired the burst water main the same morning.  The Thames Water Contractors indicated that the road would be repaired and re-opened the same morning, meaning that we could restart our work.  That was last Wednesday.  Later that day, a visit to the site of the burst water main showed a large hole in the road and a remarkable lack of activity.  Apparently the contractors had been called away, leaving the pipe repaired, but the road still closed.  Our lane is the only other route available which means that we had to keep our lane open and sewer work would have to wait.  The contractors had however affixed a helpful sign to the barriers letting us know that we would have to wait a couple of days.

Hope to finish by Friday

So Friday came and went and no contractors appeared.  A half-hour phone-call with Thames Water on Friday afternoon left us with a promise that the work would be completed 'first thing on Saturday morning'.

On Saturday morning, the contractors did indeed return and fill the hole.  But for whatever reason, they had no tarmac and couldn't finish the work and re-open the road.

Filled hole

So another lengthy phone-call was made on Saturday afternoon and the promise was made that it would be finished on Sunday.

Tarmac on the left, no tarmac on the right

Sunday morning dawned, and before lunch time, the contractors had returned and set about repairing the road.  The only problem seemed to be that they didn't have enough tarmac, so could only fill half-the hole!  Also the informative sign had been amended to indicate that work would not be completed until Tuesday.

Now 17th July!

To their credit, they had put tarmac on the part of the hole nearest the centre of the road, and this allowed them to push the barriers back and re-open the road for cars at least.

Pass with care

On Monday it was decided that Red Lion Street was sufficiently open to allow us to close our lane, remove and steel plates over our excavation and complete our sewer connection.

Sewer connection at the bottom of the trench

Building the inspection chamber

Completed inspection chamber

Excavation hole filled...

...and tarmac added

It's almost like no-one had been here!

Overall, even though the sewer works were scheduled to be completed within a week.  They actually took 10 days, meaning that our road closure period had to be extended.

Some of the temporary street furniture required to impose a road closure!

Whilst the sewer work was progressing (or not, depending on the day), work on the rest of the house and garage was continuing apace, although with the lane being closed, some of the deliveries were a little difficult.  The garage is now taking shape, as is the wall to the lower terrace beside the canal.

Block and brick work ongoing

We have not had a drop of rain here since 31st May and everything is so dusty.  It is very difficult to keep the boat clean, particularly when the brickies are cutting bricks nearby!

Dust Cloud

With access to the site restricted by the hole in the lane, deliveries were sometimes a challenge. It was not possible to get the garage roof trusses passed the excavation, so they were offloaded from the lorry into the (closed) lane.

Garage Roof trusses delivered...

...and moved on to the site

All our bedroom furniture is now fitted, and tiling in the main bathroom is nearly complete.  The electrician has re-appeared and the second fix electrics is well underway.

Fitted wardrobes

Next week, the carpets should be fitted, but an awful lot needs to be done inside before then.  This means that our builders have now developed a little more sense of urgency, and for the first time, will actually be working over the weekend!
We are still hoping to move at the end of the month and are now committed to leaving our nearby rental which has served us well for the last 2 years.

Notice has been given!