But a very traumatic time followed when our builder phoned and said our house was in real danger of slipping into the street because there was papas rock underneath it which is very slippery. The recent heavy rain had made it so unsafe that he couldn’t continue to work on it. What a shock! We phoned the architect but he accepted no responsibility, which we felt was very unfair because he should have tested the land and discovered the rock strata before building began. Fortunately, we have a friend who is internationally-renowned for solving water engineering problems worldwide. I phoned him and he said, “Well Win, for you to be so worried there must be something very wrong. I will come and see.” He came and said that the architect was responsible, and that if he didn’t put it right we should take him to court. He also told us to make a list of dates when various work had been done, and to write details of when everything happened. We were very distressed. We also realised that we were unable to list dates of work done as we had left all that to the architect and builder. Also we felt that a court case would prolong the trauma for my husband and myself. All we wanted was the house to be finished safely with no more stress, so what were we to do? The ground behind the house rose quite steeply until it reached the road above. I could see the water was pouring off the land in large channels, so I decided to go up to the road above and see why this was. The road above was steep and rain water was rushing down. Then I saw a concrete bar across the gutter which caused large quantities of water to run onto the garden of the house behind ours. These neighbours said that they always had problems but that the council would do nothing about it. So they had dug two channels on their section which in effect ran the water down their garden and into ours. I decided to call at the council office. After much delay, I saw the man in charge. He said that the council had definitely not put a concrete bar there. I was so distressed that I begged him to send someone to check this, also suggesting that he might consider the stress we were experiencing because our life savings were in the house. Eventually he phoned for someone to bring the plan of our area, and said he had little time to spare as he had an appointment very soon. The plans arrived and the two men looked at them. I had no opportunity to see the plans myself. After a brief look at the plans he seemed uneasy, and said he would look into it. This all happened just before the Christmas holidays and I knew that if action was not taken immediately, then nothing would be done until February - I didn’t want to think of what would have happened to our house by then! I asked him if he would attend to it that day, and said, “Can you imagine how worried we are, and how helpless we feel?” “Well, I can’t promise anything,” he said, “but I will do my best.” So I thanked him and said, “I am driving to Howick this morning, so on my way home I shall stop at the road above hoping that your men have been and rectified the matter.” The plans must have shown the concrete bar because when I returned it had been removed, allowing the rain water to run freely down the street above. Our friend advised us to have drilling done into the hill and to have pipes put in to alleviate any further problems. To cover the cost of this extra work and the materials which was quite considerable, we had to take out a small mortgage so we put a small flat into the basement to pay for it. The builder then resumed building and we were extremely happy with our house. Since that time I have preferred to find houses that suit me rather than take chances on building again! |
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