Ooops!!!...

This was not part of the plan....

This morning, bright and early as promised, our concreting team arrived
Eeeek! we were still in bed as I hadn't set the alarm and had just yelled at the dog to shut up when I realised that there seemed to be quite a few voices coming from out the front (in addition to the usual yelling of the brickies in an unknown language) and realised that perhaps the dog was actually trying to tell me something *embarrased*

Armed with trucks, digger, tools and gravel they set to work.

At one stage we popped our heads out the door to discover that the downpipe near the kitchen didn't go straight down and the digger had broken the pipe... "no problem... we'll fix it" we were told and we went back inside to our breakfast as one of the guys set about measuring, cutting and gluing poly-pipe.

All fixed (note the number of bends...)

We then had a thought that the plans showed that the stormwater from the garage links diagnally across to this one, under the area where they were to dig next and so we dug up the plans to show them so we could avoid further damage... "no problem... it'll be deeper than we're digging" and so we went back to our breakfast a second time.

Then there was a tap at the door and we were beckoned outside to 'have a look' and were shown this.... "This is a problem... I can't fix this..." we were told...




Apparently our builder doesn't put pipes in a logical place, nor did they bother to bury the pipes below ground level (have I mentioned that I will NOT EVER EVER recommend them to anyone - not even my worst enemy!!). And so with breakfast officially off, a barrage of phone calls commenced...

...to the plumbing commission to determine whether this pipe should have been lower (hard to say - it should be 4" below ground level but what is ground level?... there are so many different levels you could call ground level...)

...to our SS to see what he had to say - not much it seems but apparently he's sending a plumber over to have a look

...to a couple of plumbers to see what this could cost us - I really am in the wrong business... $85 just to come out, $22.50 per 15minutes and that's the same cost whether it's a quote or actually doing the work *ARGHHHH*

After all of this and whilst watching one of the workers fixing the first 'oops' we decided "no problem... WE will fix it!" and so guess what we will be doing this weekend... (I should be out there digging now!)

Anyway.... the road-base has been layed and so now we can get a feel for the finished area - I think it looks big and will be a great size! and it'll look even better when the verandah/roof is put up.

Looking from the rear of the garage...




Here's hoping that we CAN fix this and that things go smoother when they come back to do the concrete.... *fingers crossed!*