It has been a while since our last blog so there is a lot to catch up on. The weekend of the 25 – 28 March we once again travelled separately, Al earlier on the Friday and me after work. It was electrical prewiring time and Neil was back to help with this. He and Dianne set up camp on Friday once again with their caravan in their usual spot. Saturday started with a bit of a clean up and a strategy meeting around the whiteboard of tasks to do. After that Al and Neil started installing the electrical cabelling while I got started on installing the batts. By the end of the day 75% of the cabelling was done and 1/3 of the wall batts in. It was a scorcher of a day and while it was nice not to be in the sun it still made for a hot day working for us all.

Sunday: I continued with the batts while Al and Neil finished the cabling. In our plan we had allowed two weekends but Neil being the machine he is, finished the electrical on Sunday, apart from a couple of items as more materials were needed. I returned home Sun and Al, Neil & Dianne stayed on as the roofers were returning to do the metal cladding the next day and Al and Neil needed to finish the ply so that the roofers could finish the cladding and roofing in one trip. But Monday came and no roofers were to be seen and there was no response to calls and messages. Metalcraft Roofing have been the biggest disappointment of this build. They were contracted to do the roofing and metal cladding and after booking in the first roofer in November for an early February start they cancelled a week out. Metalcraft then sent over a Christchurch team in their place which seem like good contractors but have been let down by poor communication. We were told it would be a two week turn around, alas that seems to be a wee fib by metalcraft.

So instead on the Monday Al finished off some other interior work before coming home on Tuesday. Neil and Dianne remained in Blackball and carried on with some jobs in our absence, one of which was building some of the kitset joinery. Al left Neil and Dianne working together on the joinery and wondered if they would still be talking when he returned (we all know what its like when couples try and put kitsets together with bad instructions) . Metalcraft finally got in contact and apologized and said that the roofers would have the cladding finished before the weekend. Apparently the delay was COVID related .

The following Friday rolled around and we already knew from Neil onsite that no cladding had been installed. This was very frustrating but we still had plenty of work to carry on with on Saturday and Sunday. Neil had installed all the upper roof batts so I carried on with the lower roof and remaining wall batts. The plumbers had also been in during the week and had done as much as they could without the cladding being on. Al finished nailing off the outside ply and Neil started on the switchboard while I was still batgirl, when Al finished up he helped with the remain batts, it was good to see them finished off. Sunday rolled around pretty quickly, Al started pre-staining the internal ply sheets ready to go on, while Neil finished off the switch board and I started painting all of the window sills (so we don’t have to cut in later), later on Al setout the stairs by drawing them on the wall and Neil finished installed the few sheets of interior ply that could go on. Throughout Dianne has kept everything swept and tidy along with organising morning teas and lunches. By the time we left Sunday it was exciting to see our first light switch and a couple of sheets of internal ply on the walls and where the stairs to the mezzanine will go. We headed home Sunday late afternoon and Neil & Dianne were heading home Monday morning but would leave their caravan as would be returning in a week or two.

Al finally had contact with the roofers on Monday morning at 5.30am to say they were on route to BB. Just before Neil & Dianne left they arrived so we can only assume when we return tomorrow that they have done their bit so we can get the last bit of ply up so they can come back and finish.

It has been a juggling act for Al and myself throughout the last few months build. As well as building we have have our day jobs and lots of work to do in Coalgate to prepare for our move as well as for sale. At the same time Al has been working evenings to get the house build ready for consent which is such a big job. As for me in between all of that and work I have been preparing for my clinical exam to become an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). Yesterday was that exam and I pleased to say that all the hard work has paid off and I am officially an EMT with an authority to practice. I couldn’t have done it without Al’s support, help and encouragement. So this weekend I won’t be listening to podcasts on my drive to and from the coast and I don’t have to take all my study papers yay!

Stay tuned for the next update, will we have cladding installed? It is anyone’s guess.