This week the crew started working on the Durban house getting it ready to go on the market hopefully within the next three weeks. There has been a few hiccups and the first few days have been more about clearing, cleaning and preparation so that the work can progress. My guy in charge has been stressing as this is his first house project as he is normally an electrician. I rate him highly and know he can do this and why he needed to be given this job so he can do my Johannesburg house next which is a building do upper type project.
Branches being cleared away, gutters and the roof being cleared of leaves and other debris. The wall below the driveway I had not included in my cost calculations and I am glad they are doing a proper job. There were a couple of extra gutters required which the original quote had not specified so the costs are expected to rise gradually which is fine as we will remain under budget. We are roughly about R5K up from the original quote which is roughly $300 for 3 days extra work and is not a price to argue with.
The wall below the driveway may not look like much, but this is an extra 30 meters of wall that requires painting. This is going to make a big difference with no corners being cut and the buyers will notice this. This also shows the place where I chased an unwanted guest who dived over the railings and dropped into the bushes below. After this even we had the electric fence installed, plus a couple of watch dogs and have had no issues since.
The team has started sanding the wooden window frames and this should be completed by tomorrow. This would be the first item ticked off the to do list so they are in theory about 3 days behind schedule. This photo also shows the missing down pipe gutter connection.
The is the outside of the teenage pad/office and good to see the plaster cracks being prepared before painting. The black rectangular item is a motion beam sensor that connects to another sensor on the main house corner. We had a star shape pattern layout so the entire property is covered in motion sensor beams connected to the alarm system which is connected to the armed response security company. The electric fence also has an alarm so give or take three to four minutes and armed response will be at your property.
Looking at the weather for Durban for the next week the team has a good week before rain is expected and can get a good head start on painting the roof, house and boundary wall. The interior burglar guards can be left for the rainy days plus whatever other jobs need completing inside. The boundary wall will take 4 or 5 days on it's own as it may not seem big, but stretches a good 80m and needs multiple coats.
The plan was initially for 20 days and still believe they are well on track to finish within this time frame. They are a team of 4 and have 16 days left so I do not see them going beyond 20 days. Weather is the only thing that can screw things up so they need to move quickly not leaving wet days to chance as Durban is sub tropical and can rain for days at a time. The 3rd-7th September rain is expected.
