YOUR PROJECTS

After a sluggish planning process, Yuri and Audrey Gupta face further heartbreak on their extension as work comes to a halt after just three weeks

It was all going so well. We spent three sunny weekends packing and moving out of our renovation project in anticipation of work starting on site. We planned to stay with the in-laws until we could find a suitable rental property near the house, and boxes were carefully assigned to go to our parents, the garage or remain with us.

With the house finally cleared on the Sunday evening, work began on Monday 18 June. Week one involved clearing the substantial volume of foliage from the front and back gardens. Weeks two and three saw the house stripped of floors, walls and doors.

The grounds team arrived and started digging out the front garden to turn it into a driveway. An unexpected hiccup came with the discovery of a mains electric cable running under the garden which had to be carefully avoided. Although moving out presented some challenges and stress, it was good to see some real progress at the house and we set up a time lapse camera in the garden to document the transformation.

Then, after just three weeks of work, our main contractor told us they were going into administration. All work has since ground to a halt and, while dealing with the shock, frustration and likely financial loss, we are consulting our architect, friends and family to decide how to proceed…