The five guys we have here are working so hard, and today they had Storm Barra to contend with, though thankfully it went through much quicker than forecast. They’ve completed two weeks and Brendan thinks another week or so should do it. We’re pushing things by having other trades start work before MBC has finished. Dave (maker of gates) and Curtis start putting the plywood deck on those roofs that are finished tomorrow, and then the windows and doors start to go in next Tuesday.
Bringing additional people on-site so that they’re working in parallel rather than in series is a challenge, but is needed if we’re going to have a (sort of) weather-tight building over the Christmas break/coming into the New Year. It raises stressful issues with the scaffolding since the different trades need different heights and configurations. Brendan has been a great help as he speaks fluent scaffold. We don’t!
More activity of course also means we need more stuff ordered and more deliveries to be accommodated on-site, and in some cases, kept dry. Our neighbours’ grass verge has been replaced by mud as it takes the brunt of lorries manoeuvring (or not even bothering to try in some cases).
Brendan and his team start in the dark and finish in the dark and there’s no weekends off when we can safely wander around without getting in the way. This means the usual time for us to see progress and chat through ideas is in the evenings by torchlight. While we want the site to be busy and pressing on, we are missing the chance to stand back and take stock. It gives the feeling that the project is taking on a mind of its own …
Chris and Bev - Heads in the Clouds 