Possible Backtrack ?

The Groundworks contractor popped in today to take a look at the estimate we have received for the piling and to review the situation on site.

His recommendation is that we do have the piling put in place for the arches. In his opinion it is financially much more sensible to have it all done at the same time. He was also able to tell us why it has been specced at the same level as for the rest of the foundations. It is standard practice to do this because further on in the lifetime of the house somebody may decide to replace our arches and patio with another extension. He thinks that building control will insist on it. Pity the "professionals" have not been able to enlighten us to this.

One of our other concerns was that the arch foundations would obstruct site access. This too is not a problem - he will simply bury the pile caps and beam until such time as they are needed. A layer of "scalpings" will protect it from the to-and-fro of machinery.

We also discussed who was in the best place to do the concrete beam on top of the pile caps. While he is more than capable of doing this work, his recommendation was to get the pilers to do this too. This then leaves complete responsibility for the foundations up to floor level in one place.

Jan tried to talk to the piling company rep, but had to be content to leave a message - the third one in less than a week, and still no call back.