Ordering of the kit
March 21, 2006 | Leave a Comment |
Yesterday we received an email from Jennifer from SkyeHomes informing us that the kit has been ordered and that the invoice for the first stage will be sent to our builder. Invoicing is performed through our builders account to avoid paying VAT which gives a cash flow advantage. The invoicing has been split up in four stages:
- 35% upon the order of the kit
- 35% 4 weeks before delivery of stage 1
- 15% upon delivery of stage 2
- balance payment
On schedule
March 19, 2006 | Leave a Comment |
James still appears to be on schedule and his estimates for an early start of our build are still valid. This is probably caused by the relatively friendly weather of the past months. Although cold, building was not hindered very much by winds, gails, rains and hails.
Signing of the contract will probably be done during our stay in May. If things continue going well, the build should be well underway by then!! Actually, it was Jon’s estimate that after 4 weeks after the start of the build, the kit would be required on site. So… anywhere during the last weeks of May or maybe early June there will some real action on 16 Skinidin!
Next try
March 19, 2006 | Leave a Comment |
Tuesday 21st of March Jon and James will try again to peg out the exact position of the house. The earlier effort was seriously hindered by heavy gails, rain and even hail in which Jon even lost his measuring tape.
As mentioned earlier, there appeared a mismatch between the distance from road to house according to the approved planning documents and the actual distance between the house and the road. By now, the Highland Council planning department has confirmed that the map shows the correct position and that the measurement on the map is not correct.
When the house location is pegged out, Hugie can finalize his digging.
Let there be water!
March 6, 2006 | Leave a Comment |
Jon sent an email with some great news! Scottish Water have planned work to finalize the water connection from the 7th to the 9th of July. A water connection will become essential during the upcoming stages of the build.
Early start
March 4, 2006 | Leave a Comment |
In my phonecall with Jon of Thursday 2nd, I asked him about James MacQueen’s planning and according to Jon an early start of the actual build stage is possible. So, we might see a start in the second half of April!!! As our next planned is for the second week of May, this is very good news!
Phonecall
March 4, 2006 | Leave a Comment |
On Thursday 2nd of March I had a phonecall with Jon to review the latest developments:
- Pegging out the exact location of the house showed an inconsistency in the drawings. The drawings showed the distance between the house and the road was 81 mtr while it actually was close to 70 mtr. Jon informed Archie about this and he’s getting back to the Highland Council to verify this probable error. The actual pegging out was further hindered by a severe gail with rain and ice during which Jon lost his measuring tape.
- We will go for the certified constructor to do the works to carry the water connection across the B884. This requires an additional £870.00. The alternative is that you an insurance perium of £90.00 per year. Either way is a very expensive (pun intended!) option, but at least with the first one you’re over and done with it!
- The pegging showed that Hughie has to do some addtional digging. He will start this by today or Friday and also start on the digging for water and electricity.
- The electricity company is a bit reluctant to already install the cable as groundworks are still being carried out on site which could damage the cable. Jon is working this out with them further.
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Latest music...
Hair (1968, Original Broadway recording). Some naughty lyrics for that time!!
An Rathad a Bhatarsaigh, by the Vatersay Boys