Not a good day.
Firstly, the structural builders informed us that they may have to "revise their plans" over taking out the large concrete lintel at the back (in order to support the house with its new wider kitchen/diner). This is something we worried and warned about, having been told by a builder on the estate that these lintels are reinforced concrete which run the length of the terrace.
It looks like our builders may have "discovered" this information, which we'd already told them, by investigating the lintel with a jackhammer.
There are alternatives to removal; one is to cup the lintel in a steel sleeve. But there are two major logistical concerns with this: time and space.
Problem One is time. If there is a delay it affects the majority of work remaining to be done – until the structure resettles, we can't tile the bathrooms, fit the rear windows or properly fit the kitchen.
Problem Two is space. If the steel-cupped lintel hangs lower, it affects the heartbreakingly expensive bifolding picture-window doors which are the key wow-factor on the ground floor.
Luckily Lizzie and Anu at Sun Paradise worked out an alternative possibility, switching the doors from top-hung to floor-supported - BUT this would require ringing the factory and begging for an order change (with possible financial penalty). If the doors arrive late, we could face Christmas in a boarded-up dining room.
There's a summit meeting at the house on Monday morning - builder, structural engineer, owners. Wish us luck.
In a fragile frame of mind, it was upsetting and suspicion-engendering to find that the other crew had taken out all the copper piping to replace it with plastic, despite our stated preference not to. For resale at profit? Hard not to think so. Here's about a third of it...
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