Holiday is over

Having returned from a well earned (at least in our opinion) break of 3 weeks, we arrived back to see if any further work has been done.  We did not allow inside access to the builders whilst we were away, so they were restricted to external works only.  Since there were several outstanding items on the 'External To Do' list, there was plenty for them to do.  The difficulty now is that they have moved everything off site (at last) and have basically moved on to pastures new and it is difficult to get them back!  Only the lack of payment seems to keep them interested!

It was dark when we returned home, so a look around the exterior would have to wait until the following morning.

Several months ago, when the garage walls were built, the builders seemed to have forgotten to put a brick near the top of the side facing the road.  On investigation, it seems that they had decided that the building needed an engraved brick with the date on it, as this would match a similar brick on the 1993 house nearby.  So for several weeks, we have been asking when they would fit our missing brick and the first thing we saw on our morning external tour of the house was that the wall was finally completed in 2018.

Complete brickwork at last

Our tour continued with the external plumbing to the rainwater harvester system which all seems to have been properly completed.  The tour then moved on to the garden where it was revealed that the paving slabs 'seemed' to have been cleaned.  The other thing that was noticeable (and it is hard to blame the builders for this) is that garden has sprouted all sorts of weeds in our absence.  In the few places where weeds had not grown, leaves from our weeping willow had made a home.

Our 'lawn'

Our tour of the estate seemed to indicate that all was well with the external works, but we noticed that as the paving dried out, cleaning and brush marks started to appear on the slabs.  Another item for the snagging list!

Strange patterns on the paving

Even though we have post-and-wire fence, it is a condition of planning that we need to augment this with hedging using plants found locally.  This is largely hawthorn, so a few days after our return, we set off back to the local nursery specialising in hedging.  We had been turned away from the nursery a few weeks ago as it was 'too early' and the hedging would not be available to buy until November..  When we turned up earlier this week, it seems that this Autumn has been too mild, and they are still not available.  So we left with the instruction that we should return in another two weeks time.

In the meantime, we have been wondering what to do about the lawn and the garden area.  We have missed the boat regarding seeding a new lawn and therefore must consider turf.  Two companies are looking at this for us, together with a planting scheme for the main garden area.  This is the right time of year to plant bulbs and Lesley is keen to do this.  My father has generously provided us with a load of crocus bulbs which are destined to go into the roadside verge with the hedging (when we can get it!).

The one area which has had no attention is the canal-side terrace which is at a lower level than the main garden.  We need to cross this area to get between the house and the boat.  It consists of thick clay which sticks to everything.  Our intention is to leave this area 'au natural', and allow it to develop its own plants.  Since it is canalside, it needs to be tolerant of ducks.  To give it a bit of a chance, we hired a rotavator to break up the soil and spend a happy couple of mornings raking in grass seed.  It is a little late in the season for seed, and I'm sure that the birds will love it, but we thought we'd give it a try.  It's either that, or live with a mud bath until next summer.

Rotavator, raking and seeding

Rotavated, raked and seeded

Regarding the inside of the house, then nothing was undertaken whilst we were away, so we are now chasing for them to finish things so that we can at least get the building signed off by Building Control.

Our kitchen was not fitted by our builders, but by a separate company.  The builders added oak skirting board as they have to the rest of the house, but we were never entirely happy that it went very well with the grey kitchen woodwork.  This week, the kitchen company returned to carry out some remedial work on the flooring and to replace all the skirting boards with the same wood as used for the kitchen plinths.  We are very pleased with the results.

A joiner has been to look at the creaking steps in the staircase so hopefully it will be possible to get up and down stairs without waking anyone else up.  The joiner was also asked to assess the internal door latches we have fitted to see if the 2 failures we have had are due to defective installation.  His company wasn't involved in the fitting of the doors, so he was asked as an independent expert.  His verdict was that there was nothing wrong with the installation, and it appears to be the latches themselves that are at fault.  The builders are therefore looking for a more reliable alternative which they will come and fit.  Hopefully before another one fails.  Watch this space!

Bedroom door with latch (and handles) removed

Finally, I forgot to mention that my broadband was sorted out on the day before we went away on holiday.  It was down to me to keep an eye on the Openreach website and inform my 'case manager' when the status changed from 'may be available' to 'available'.  I noticed the change in status about 10 days earlier and informed the case manager.  He then set the wheels in motion.  This time BT and Openreach did everything they said that they would do when they said they would do it.  In the space of an hour, my broadband speed changed from below 10Mbps to over 70Mbps.  It only took 3 months to sort out!