Getting up to speed

Our project manager arrived today and spent the morning poring over plans, faxes, emails and drawings in an attempt to work out what needs to be done. The plan to underpin the function room wall using skewer beams resting on the pend walls has a flaw. The flaw is that the pend walls, in common with the rest of the building have no discernible foundations so it's impossible to certify the job as a permanent fix.

The alternative plan, which has the advantage of being cheaper, involves supporting the skewer beams on vertical steel girders located inside the cellars on either side of the pend. New foundations will be built for the vertical girders. The project manager reckons that this will save enough money to allow the function room and adjacent room (we'll have to stop calling it the dining room since it isn't any more) to be re-instated. We like that bit.

Other jobs that will kick off next Monday are:

- The improvement to the rear of the building - better drainage, lighting and surfacing

- Repairs to the bedroom windows

- Strip out and cladding of the old kitchen

- Loft insulation

- Upgrade to the lounge bar (which will become the new dining room)

I'd better get some "before" pictures taken.