Inverness Lane

12 Inverness Lane is a 3 storey property with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a 3 car garage with an outdoor lawn area.

We were recommended to the clients by our Lawyer. The client interviewed three Builders and elected us to undertake their project.

Inverness Lane had major earthquake damage which couldn’t be fully ascertained, until the demolition was completed on the inside. This exposed the damage to the concrete block foundation walls at the back of the property. This required full excavation of the material drainage in order to crack-repair, and re-water proof the walls. Ninety percent of the internal linings had to be removed. This included replacing all windows, roof cladding, and soffits.

Project Challenge

Due to the location and remote access to the property, we used a crane to get our excavator onsite. We positioned the excavator appropriately to begin the removal of the material. To speed this process up, we used 12 conveyor belts to carry the fill out, and into the trucks. Once the repairs had been completed, we had to reverse this process by putting the fill back in. This was very time consuming!

Due to the unknown nature of this work it was agreed to manage the costs on a time and material basis. For example as we dug back off the foundation wall, and worked our way along the south walls, we discovered that the laundry area was on a raft slab. This meant that all the fill underneath fell out. The operation of this project was very challenging, as it required constant direct communication between the main insurers, the project managers, Beca Architects, Cymon Allfrey, and TM consultants.

Managing our labour efficiently was challenging for the site and operations manager, as they were the link between all parties involved. They had the responsibility of keeping our clients informed at all times.

With the removal of the old cladding system, to the new sto product, there were many cladding flashings junctions that had to be designed on the go. Our team had the responsibility of designing these flashings for the Architect to draw up. In summary most cladding and interacting outdoor surfaces were designed onsite as things progressed.

During the repairs, our clients purchased the empty section below (14 Inverness Lane), and started to design a pavilion building with a multi sports courts on concrete pillars and stahlton ribs. For this part of the project we were heavily involved in the design and methodology. Extensive rock breaking, and excavations made it very difficult to price this project accurately. This part of the project required major drainage, and site preparation for the concrete sub structure on the court.

Outcome

Once the drainage and excavations were completed for the pavilion, and sports court, the project progressed quite well. We adapted and made to order pump shed doors, and pool cover accessories which were not a part of the original detailed plan. To prevent any deterioration during use, we built extra flashing trims for where the different surfaces meet.

Throughout this project we faced many challenges, which we overcame. We are problem solving Builders, and believe no challenge is too big or too small for our multi-skilled team.

Our clients moved back into their property in December 2016. We thank Andrew and Rhonda for the opportunity to be a part of their projects, and we wish them well for the future.