GROUND FARCE - Pastures new: STAGE II

Loving the meticulous nature of our builders. The time they’ve spent in ironing out those tiny details such as working out the cuts for the brick and block laying and making sure that the courses laid all tie in nicely with the existing building layout greatly appeals to my own OCD nature.

Working out the exterior dimensions

Is a very exact science

It’s all about precision which is clearly evident in their workmanship and this is why it’s so important to invest time in the selection of the right tradesperson for your job.

Just look at those lovely neat corners

We’re almost at the end of week 2 and everything seems to be going to plan. Mount Chi has disappeared from the front drive and been replaced with a giant red brick Jenga set that has been gradually dwindling on a daily basis.

Now if I take a brick from this level ...

And whilst we’re waiting for the initial brick and block courses to be laid up to the existing damp proof level, I thought I’d take a few minutes to talk about how the financial side of things is working out.

Builder's Jenga

For larger renovation or construction projects, it seems that most trades favour a system of stage payments made when different milestones of the overall project are reached. Stage payments appear to be a fair system to both parties allowing you to break down the overall cost of your project into manageable chunks spread over an agreed timeframe and it also enables your tradesperson to cover upfront costs of materials etc without it coming out of their own pocket. Seems fair to me.

My builder provided me with an excellent and clear schedule outlining the milestone points and relevant stage payments for me to make. To give you an idea of what a stage payment schedule might look like, here’s ours:

10% at end first week
15% damp proof course
10% window sill height
15% plate height
10% roof timbers and boarded
10% roof complete
10% windows and door
10% dry lining/plaster boarding
5% walls made good or plastered
5% on completion

All you need to do is set up a spreadsheet to work out the percentage amounts of your overall quoted construction costs then instruct the necessary bank transfers when they reach each milestone. Simples!

Always make sure that all work has been completed to your satisfaction before making each payment. Of course, if you’re not disciplined enough to follow a schedule or don’t want the faff of making frequent payments, you can always agree to pay in full up front or agree a different pattern of payments. Our guys seemed very flexible on this.

Looks very good from where I'm standing

The only thing to bear in mind is that your stage payment schedule may not incorporate those unexpected things that can crop up on projects like these such as additional work requested by the Building Inspector or costs for specifics such as fancy bi-fold doors unless they are already part of the initial quote. You’ll always need to keep a cash buffer to pick up the tab for any extras but as a budgeting tool, a stage payments schedule is a great thing to have.

Little by little I can now begin to see my kitchen/diner idea slowly morphing into reality as each brick is laid which is brilliant as I’m really rubbish at working out the dimensions of things unless I can actually see them.

Rome wasn't built in a day

Neither are extensions

By the end of this week, we should have enough bricks and blocks laid to the level of the existing damp proof course ready to be inspected by the Building Inspector on Monday.