Tales of the Unexpected.

It’s September and while we’re basking in a short Indian summer, the builders are still on the job and feeling the heat! But a welcome dry spell bodes well for getting the windows in and the new aluminium roof on, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

The roof would be in place by now if everything had gone to plan, but a few weeks ago we encountered one of those ‘unknown unknowns.’ As the roof membrane went on, Mark and his team discovered that the existing upstairs windows with weatherboards below that we had been expecting to keep had significant problems. The windows were not being supported as they should be and had therefore sagged, and the insulation behind the weatherboards was extremely poor  – and explains why some rooms always felt cold! As a result, the windows themselves probably needed replacing and insulation added below.

Once we knew about it, we made the quick decision to bite the bullet, replace everything and suck up the additional cost. But of course, being August and the holiday season, we’ve had to wait for longer than usual for delivery hence the roof is still pending.

Meanwhile, the work on the ground has carried on regardless, but even there we encountered the unexpected when we discovered that a couple of our internal walls were also structurally deficient and needed almost completely rebuilding.

We thought we’d got away without any unexpected surprises in the first phase of the build, so having two crop up at this stage has been frustrating. But getting agitated does no one any good, so we’ve managed to remain philosophical and take it in our stride.

This is when trusting your builder is incredibly reassuring. Knowing that Mark and the team are so particular and professional certainly helped with speedy decision-making, as does knowing they will do everything they can to get us weather-tight before the Indian summer slips into Autumn. We’re in month four of our build and starting to get excited to see our new space taking shape.