Work Continues
Frank and Pat are working like machines and we are virtually seeing the outer shell of our new extension grow right before our very eyes. I packed my bags and left for Melbourne early this morning on a weekend away with my cousins. We are catching my favourite musical, Les Misérables, which has just opened in Australia. So I've left everything in hubby's hands for the entire weekend. He has been updating me the entire day with SMS and photo. It is very exciting indeed and for the first time in awhile, we feel that we are progressing along nicely.
And just when we thought we were plodding along nicely, we hit yet another problem. Our building inspector came out today to check the brick course which have been set down by the brickies. He was very concerned that this would not be done correctly as the builder did not set out the concrete slab correctly. The way the slab has been laid, it meant that the brick course would have to begin with half a brick in order for the rest of the brickwork to line up with the existing bricks. When he saw the french doors that were installed by the builder, he told hubby right away that they were not weathered, meaning that the doors were not overhanging the concrete slab, which would result in water pooling underneath door. This is a serious problem and bricking work cannot continue until this has been rectified.
However, luck was on our side this time. A carpenter who is a subcontractor of the builder was on site to install brace boards in the laundry wall, which the builder had missed in his hurry to finish up to leave on his holidays. There was serious discussion between our building inspector and the carpenter about how to go about weathering the doors. Hubby was on the phone with the builder, who insisted that he could easily weather the doors after he comes back from his holidays by jackhammering the edge of the concrete, underneath the timber door frame. This was totally unacceptable to us as this meant there was a huge risk of damaging the timber door frame. And after our experience with what happened and the damage that was done while jackhammering the concrete in the family bathroom to rectify the pipes, we were not going to risk the custom-made timber doors. Finally, it was decided that Craig, the carpenter subcontracted by the builder, would re-install the door frame and push it out further so it would overhang the slab edge.
This seemed like the best solution as this would also fix another problem we had that was a really big sore point with me. I mentiond to the builder many times before the concrete slab was even poured that I wanted the two french doors on the northen side of the extension to line up with each other. The old part of the house is double-bricked while the new extension is single-bricked. So I expected some adjustments would be made to ensure both doors were in line with each other. The builder promised that it could be done but when the installation of the doors were completed, they were over 20cm out of line with each other. Perhaps this is a detail that most people would be happy to overlook, but it was one that bugged me. When I brought that up with the builder, he moved one of the door frames out a little, but the end result was still aout 15cm out of line of each other, and definitely noticeable. The builder swore black and blue that nothing could be done because of the difference in double and single brick. I resigned myself to the fact that this was a detail that I would have to compromise on.
However, when Craig started the work with weathering the doors, it quickly became clear to hubby that it was completely reasonable to expect the doors to line up. Craig explained that this could be easily done by packing more timber to the timber frame to screw the door frame in further. He weathered all 5 sets of french doors, and managed to line up the two north-facing doors, all within a day's work. It became very clear to hubby that the builder just wasn't interested in installing the doors properly because he was in a rush to finish up so he could leave for his trip overseas.
Later in the evening, Daniel from Plastering & Ornate Cornice came by with some cornice samples. We are very keen to maintain the classic look and feel of the old part of the house in the new extension area. One of the ways we're hoping to achieve this is to install similar styled cornices and ceiling roses. Daniel was very helpful and even made a few suggestions that hubby thinks will work very well for us.
