Quote revision

Price looks a bit better, but that's partly because it excludes things like the painting, which will have to be done anyway and always costs more than you expect. Ah well. As I said to our neighbour, who started all this - it's all right for him if his renos cost more than he is anticipating, it just means he will have to go on working for longer. For us, it means we have to die sooner. But moving would be even more expensive for less benefit, and the house is trying to tell us "It's time" - shower screen has started leaking and one of the kitchen drawers collapsed yesterday. Peter has fixed it, sort of, but it's not a long-term solution.

And then there's the kitchen

Tony's preferred kitchen guys came round today to measure up. Now we need to head out to the showrooms in Essendon one day soon to see the latest in kitchen gizmos.

Quote shock time...

Builder came with proposal, terrifyingly large number. We're working on it. We didn't want the skylights to open anyway....

Another meeting...

Met with builder and architect to look at some plan details. All OK, but nothing is going to happen for a little while. Heart attack time (when we see the costs) still ahead of us. Likely start date, end August. Likely finish,  2014. And after all that the house will look much the same. Peter is quite positive about it all, I think it's going to be good at the end, but hell in the middle...

More plans..

Architect's detailed drawings arrived. They look good, but the list of repairs to the front of the house that we want incorporated in the builder's quote are absent. We need a further meeting with builder and architect to discuss. On the good news side, it appears they can solve the lack of footings under the slab in a reasonably straightforward fashion using screw piles.

Garden invaded by persons in boots

On return from Tasmania I got stuck into the pruning and weeding in a very overgrown garden. Umpteen bags of rubbish to the tip later, I started replanting, but decided to do the front garden only, not the back, as it was probably going to be walked on. A wise decision - the first lot of boots arrived today, adorning the feet of a charming bunch of young geological engineers who came to do the soil test and look at the footings of the slab at the back of the house. There were two young men and one young woman. One of the men said that she was the brains, they were the brawn, as they dug away with augers and a kind of double-sided spade. But he was clearly in charge, and the kind of person who is more than happy to tell you what he's doing and why, so I received a short lesson in the geology of the area. They dug down with the auger until they hit something solid (brick? lump of bluestone?), which was a "What a bugger!" moment as they had to start again. 2-3m down the second hole they came to a layer of sands known as Brighton Group sand, which is the stable layer that underlies all the infill and other stuff that has accrued over the years since it was swampy ground behind coastal dunes.
Along with a giving me a free geology lesson, they investigated the footings under the slab, or lack thereof. Slabs should be put on pillars that reach down to the stable soil level, but as a result of my being stupid enough to accept a friend's offer of a cheap builder when I was 30-something, the slab under the living room doesn't have any. Various discussions ensued as to how that may be fixed, but it's not really up to the soil test folk to solve - they just provide a report and then the structural engineers work out what to do about it. There will almost certainly be a solution, but I fear it will be expensive. Oh well, it's only money.

All quiet on the reno front

Architect tells us we need a soil test and "footings exposure" done, and that we will be rung for someone to make an appointment to do it, but no call yet. Meanwhile neighbour tells us builder is now talking about mid-July start. We plan to start packing up stuff this week, nevertheless.