How long does it take "professionals" to build an extension

[Martin]

Hi,

Hoping someone can satisfy my curiosity.

The people a couple of doors down our street are having some work done. The work consists of converting an existing double garage into a habitable room and building a new (attached) single garage.

I can't actually remember when they started but I'm pretty sure it will be 4 weeks tomorrow and the work is far from completed. It took them 2 weeks to lay the foundation for the new garage and it appears to have taken a further 2 weeks to do most of the brickwork. It is possible that internal work has taken place as well as brickwork in the last 2 weeks however the windows have not yet been fitted to the conversion. Roof timbers have not yet appeared for the new garage.

Weather has generally been reasonable although during the second week there were 3 days with significant rain during working hours.

There are 3 builders working on this site. Is this a normal rate of progress, or am I right in thinking they are somewhere between "slow" and "taking the piss"?

Martin.

[George]

Did you take into account it may not be the builders that are at fault? ie surveyors,hold ups on the job ect.

If I may ask why the curiosity... or is it just the noise getting to you. :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

yes.

[tony sayer]

In article , Martin scribeth thus

Nooo..

This is the way builders have always worked. A lot of enthusiasm "making a start" then as the job progresses they are called away to "make a start" somewhere else. Then they have to make another one elsewhere and after all they've got bored with the first job so then they get grumbled at so they leave job number 3 to go and do a bit more on job number One then something else needs doing urgently, so they sod of and do that and when thats dun they make a start somewhere else.. go to job number Three to show willing meanwhile job One is now issuing solicitors letters so of they go to do that then another start needs making .. job Two has been grumbling so they put a spurt on to finish that then make as start elsewhere and so on and so..

Such is the life of the builder..

And of course they get held for materials as their account is on stop etc or someone's off ill or a subbie can't make it .. whatever.......

[Dave Baker]

Sounds pefectly normal to me. Neighbours of mine are having a detached double garage built and some works to the house including re-rendering and internal modifications. That's been going on for three months with up to five men working at any one time. They don't seem to have been mucking about either and the neighbour is very happy with them.

[Mark]

If a builder can't fit someone in for several weeks due to workload and tell the customer that, they risk losing that business. Much better to do a couple of days work to 'lock the customer in' so that they don't go elsewhere and then carry on with other work which came in earlier.

Other possible reasons include work flow. I.e., the plastererer can't board the ceilings because the sparky hasn't turned up to do his bit. The painter can't paint because the plasterer hasn't done his bit. The carpenter can't do the skirting because the plasterer hasn't done his bit.........

mark

[Martin Wiseman]

Hi,

Thanks for the opinions so far.

Pure nosy curiosity :-)

Having now had some opinions, I'll now let on to the bit of information which prompted me to ask - the 3 guys are on site every day and whenever my wife goes past she say they appear to be asleep in their vans. This rather makes it look like they might be short of work and spinning out the job.

I'm sure that when our immediate neighbour had his detached double garage built the whole job was done in a couple of weeks and the guys were not on site every day.

Martin.

[Hugo Nebula]

On Thu, 6 Sep 2007 22:40:30 +0100, a particular chimpanzee, Martin randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

I have had sites that have been in progress for over a decade. Usually DIYers. Admittedly, there has often been an interregnum of several years between inspections, but they will put on a spurt now and again to get the bwk to dpc, get the roof on, etc.

[<me9]

My last extension was signed off long before completion, when he was satisfied that I was going according to plan in the right direction. External drainage and main structure were complete, but internal partitions and pipework for bog etc were still to be completed.