Start date is fixed at 10 June when the contractor will take over the site.
Had a meeting with the demolition contractor this week to check neighbours gardens to agree protection etc. and agree what goes and what stays, he looks more like a dentist!
To save money I had the idea of masonry painting the party wall that will be temporarily exposed after demolition and before the new wall is built.
Friend Jon spent a good few hours scraping and removing loose paint but underneath the old limewash is so powdery that even with stabalising solution there was too big a risk of the temporary paint blistering and flaking off when exposed to the sun and the rain.
So plan abandoned and we are back to the more conventional battens and plastic sheeting.
I dismantled a 20metre length of acoustic lining wall that ran the length of the workshop party wall last week, took the plasterboard to the tip, Freecycled the insulation and de-nailed all the timber ready for ripping down into battens to attach to the wall. On Monday arranged to hire a van at National at what seems a bargain £38 a day to transport bulky items to Cornwall on Mon/tue next week and confirmed price and firm date for the big machine move to Cornwall on Thursday - loading at 7am!,
I will travel down with the load, spend the following day organising things and return by train Friday evening.
On Tuesday managed to secure 2 really cheap lock-up garages in Long Ashton 2 miles away. Cycled over to see them; pretty secure, tidy neigbourhood and look weathertight so I have arranged to cycle over to Portishead to sign the leases this morning.
This is all last minute stuff but decided that I can use the van hire to shuttle workshop stuff into one garage and furniture into the other rather than travel to Cornwall.
Early morning phone call today Wed from the haulier who has checked out the neighbourhood and cannot get the truck to me because the wheelbase is too long and the streets too narrow.
He recommends another haulier with smaller trucks so I make an urgent call. He is a bit nervous because I am a new customer and loads the price a bit but after some reassurances manages to match the previous quote and can do the journey on Thurday so panic over for now.
VAT
The dialogue continues with the Contractor who believes VAT is applicable on the workshop because of a clause in the Planning Permsiion concerning restriction to Woodworking and Furniture Making. I definitely think he is wrong but businesses are so nervous of getting VAT wrong that they seem to prefer to add it if in doubt to avoid potential fines by HMRC.
I have challenged the Contractor with my reasoning and while we await a response I have asked my accountant to recommend a Construction VAT expert or barrister to give me a quote for a ruling to present to the Contractor that will satisfy HMRC. This will be very expensive but the VAT bill will be more than £10,000.
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