ToughButterCup

I was also struggling to see what was complicated about it. But then, I'm only a Domestic Client ....

Our Winter Garden - outside the heated envelope of the house - is a steel-framed construction. It will be open to the elements, and intended as a filter for the light from the south: all the rooms open into it or have a window onto it (except two). Debbie's keen on gardening. Me? Hmmm. Lots of people have been round to poke and stare at the build, among them a couple of local builders..... Talking about the Winter Garden, I mention we have been told that the steel frame for the garden needs to be built by a CE marked and Certified company. Cue snorts of derision, sucking of teeth and pithy Lancastrian. Who's correct? The builders or the ones with PII (Professional Indemnity) cover? WinterGardenIllustration.pdf

Hmmm, bit like the Internet cabling which is alleged to be all copper. I have it on good authority, that aluminium is a common substitute.....

Occasionally we employ a local lad to do odd jobs round the site - help clear up, stack palettes and so on. Its been a couple of weeks since he came to work. On seeing the newly built house he asked what the blocks were made of. I explained they were made of wood chips, cementified and then pressed into shape and dried. Then they were stacked and filled with concrete. "So these is wood, is it?" "Yes" " Hmmm, aint never seen a log cabin built like that" Got any similar pearls of wisdom ?

@NSS, that looks really well. Dog's Gonads in fact.

@dpmiller, @JSHarris, @jamiehamy, @Peter M, @Onoff, @Bitpipe, @Crofter, @Temp, @Barney12 and all of you: you speak in tongues. Piccies, gimme piccies of what you's all gabblin' about; please!

I can't believe I gave mine away to my son. What a STUPID thing to do. The chances of me rescuing it now are zero. I could easily pinch it back, but it wouldn't be worth the years of grief. However, a Christmas Present plan opportunity presents itself: maybe it's not all bad....

Don't worry Faye! @Mrs Construction Channel, we're on your side.... we'll come and set you free!

Yes, I could tell that you were going to enjoy that: 'sod-it-I'll-do-it-myself' writ large all over that post a couple of weeks ago.....

Strikes me there's a good bit of doom and gloom about..... So, what are you most pleased about in your build or refurb? Not the place for moans. Not the place for groans. What puts a grin on your face when you go on site?

Whatever you shred wont need to be skipped will it? You can suppress weeds with the mulch. So £400 could be seen as a bargain, provided you stick to shredding. I find the only way to do that is to employ a teenager: I can't stand the job.

The thing that hooks me is the rye bread. I wish, however, they'd increase the range of cooked meats - mehr Wurst bitte!

It's the use to which anger is put that's important. The more creative, the better.

Frankly, I admire the tone of your post. I would be fizzing with anger. Ian

I must have spent an entire working week ferreting out errors of various sorts from the schedule, the drawings, the changed nomenclature, and the requirement that my quadriplegic mate WILL be be able to scoot around in and out of our house on his own without skinning his knuckles. Luckily @craig was sympathetic to that issue. But it only takes one cog in the wheel to make the odd simple error -typo- -poor transposition- to @arse the whole thing up. And I'm spending over £30k. As @Construction Channel points out, some disciplines within the building sector treat the trades with what -at my level- appears to be disdain at least on a par with this.

The number of little things I have picked up because of simply walking round, sharing a laugh and a joke, handing out iced water.... bit of encouragement, fetch, carry. Works for this team, might not for others

What a good idea! Good luck with the fitting. Ian

Our windows order is important partly because of the value of the order. And so the scrutiny of detail, intense. The whole process of creating an accurate order has been made so much more difficult because of the lack of attention to detail on the part of some involved in the administrative process. Notably not in the case of our supplier. Austrian company - nuff said. I am keen to reduce the sources of error, and, among other things I have decided to spray the window designation on each structural opening. With any luck when the company comes to fit the windows, the fitters won't have to ask which window goes where...... Which simple site-based practical strategies have you used to reduce the potential for error? I'm not thinking about high level stuff like Prince2. Just nuts and bolts practical stuff.

Thats exactly what we are trying to do. Its hard getting the paperwork out of our contractor, though. And as @Alphonsox says promptness 'pays' in terms of commitment to a longer term relationship.

@Onoff, here you are......

Thanks. It would be good if we could finish the job off: but due to an avoidable error (I could thump my stump - and I have two available) we, that means me, needs to shoot down to Wales (Crumlin, Gwent) to pick up some more blocks. @Nickfromwales, how far is to your gaff (from Crumlin)? Chance of a cuppa? PM me. Anyone need a load shifting down the M6, M5 corridor, from Lancaster to Gwent M/T? Got a Merc Shifter going down in the next few days. Ian

Anyone got a creative answer to what to do with this? Seems a shame to skip it. There four bags of the stuff Ian

This is cheaper still and passes Occam's test

Hmmm, @Nickfromwales, the bathroom issue...... it would be a shame to get it finished: we'd have no other miscreant to whom we could point as being worse than we are. Can't you just hear it...... "Well yer lucky @Onoff's not doing [...] aren't ya!" No, his procrastination is, to all of us, a valuable asset. Long may it last. Second thoughts, Much Longer May It Last

As you go, gently gently. Very unwise to fill the lot at once although people do do it. The concrete pumps costs a fair bit...